At the same time, Pradeep found himself marooned in the stark waiting room, the twin refrains of his babies’ cries echoing in his ears, while he clung to the hope of his wife’s safe return.
An uncanny sense of unreality gripped him as he cradled the twins in his lap. It felt as though he was caught in a dream, a grotesque pantomime of their everyday life. Moments ago, he had shared a tender kiss with Lily, her warmth and life palpable against his lips. Now, she lay somewhere beyond these sterile walls, vulnerable beneath the surgeon’s knife, a mysterious anomaly threatening her from within.
As he tried to keep his babies content, his mind mirrored their unrest. Thoughts spiraled into a vortex of anxiety, the opaque curtain of uncertainty about Lily’s condition serving only to amplify his unease. “What if something went wrong?!”, “What if the doctors made a mistake or couldn’t help her?!”.