The baby stirred again.
Aanya instinctively adjusted her arms around her.
For a few seconds, she simply looked at her.
There was something almost impossible about holding a child who carried her name.
A little girl who had existed for three years of a life Aanya had never witnessed.
Araadhya watched her quietly.
Then she smiled.
"She likes you."
Aanya looked up.
"How do you know?"
"She's quiet."
Aanya looked down at the baby.
"Maybe she's just sleepy."
"That's possible too."
Aanya smiled.
The conversation drifted into something lighter after that.
Not because the difficult things had disappeared.
They hadn't.
They were still sitting beneath everything.
The wedding.
The accident.
The coma.
Three years.
Sagnik's guilt.
Araadhya's memories.
But for the first time, Aanya didn't feel as though she had to understand all of it at once.
She could simply sit there.
Holding a baby.
Listening to two people talk.
Existing.
Eventually, the little girl began to fuss.
Araadhya took her back gently.
"Someone's hungry."
Aanya smiled.
"She was quiet for a long time."
"That's probably because you were holding her."
Sagnik glanced at Araadhya.
"Don't encourage her."
Aanya looked at him.
"I didn't do anything."
"You were already getting attached."
"Maybe."
Araadhya laughed.
"That's fine."
She looked down at her daughter.
"She has enough people to spoil her."
The door opened again.
This time, a nurse stepped inside.
She smiled when she saw them.
"Good morning."
"Good morning," Araadhya replied.
The nurse looked toward Aanya.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little tired."
"Any pain?"
"A little."
"Anything severe?"
Aanya shook her head.
"No."
The nurse nodded.
"Good."
She checked the chart and made a few notes.
"Doctor will be coming around shortly."
Aanya nodded.
The nurse left.
The room settled again.
Aditi arrived a little later.
She stood in the doorway and looked at the scene.
Aanya holding the baby.
Araadhya beside her.
Sagnik sitting quietly.
Aditi smiled.
"Okay."
Aanya looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Aditi walked in.
"Apparently I've missed a lot."
Araadhya smiled.
"She met Anu."
Aditi looked at the baby.
"Anu?"
"That's what we call her."
Aditi looked at Aanya.
Then the baby.
Then back at Aanya.
Her eyes softened.
"You've been busy."
Aanya smiled.
"Apparently."
Aditi sat beside her.
For a while, the four of them talked.
Nothing particularly important.
That was what made it feel important.
The conversation moved from the baby to food, from food to Aanya's sleep, from sleep to how terrible hospital coffee was.
Sagnik complained.
Aditi agreed.
Araadhya laughed.
Aanya listened.
And slowly—
The room stopped feeling like somewhere she had woken up from three lost years.
It began feeling like somewhere she was simply spending a morning.
Eventually, footsteps approached from the corridor.
A doctor entered with another physician and a nurse.
"Good morning, Aanya."
She straightened slightly.
"Good morning."
The physician smiled.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Better."
"Any dizziness?"
"No."
"Nausea?"
"No."
"Headache?"
"No."
"Pain?"
"A little."
The doctor nodded.
"That's expected."
He began examining her.
Her pulse.
Her blood pressure.
Her temperature.
Her reflexes.
He asked her several questions.
Her name.
Where she was.
What she remembered.
Who was with her.
Aanya answered each one.
The physician looked satisfied.
"Good."
He turned toward the chart.
"Your neurological responses are good."
Aanya watched him.
"Does that mean I can go home?"
The doctor smiled.
"You've been waiting to ask that, haven't you?"
Aanya smiled.
"Yes."
He laughed softly.
"We've been monitoring you carefully since you woke up. Your condition has remained stable."
He checked the reports again.
"Your investigations are reassuring."
Aanya looked toward her mother.
Her mother was already smiling.
The doctor continued.
"There's no reason to keep you admitted purely for observation at this point."
Aanya's eyes widened.
"So?"
"You can be discharged."
For a moment, she simply stared at him.
Then smiled.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Aditi immediately leaned back.
"Finally."
Sagnik smiled.
Araadhya looked relieved.
Aanya laughed softly.
"I thought I was never getting out."
"You've only been awake for a short time," the doctor reminded her.
"I know."
"But you're doing very well."
He went through the instructions carefully.
Rest.
Adequate nutrition.
Medication if required.
Follow-up appointments.
Avoid overexertion.
And most importantly—
Don't try to compensate for three lost years in three days.
Aanya made a face.
"I wasn't going to."
Aditi immediately said,
"You absolutely were."
The doctor laughed.
"I agree with your friend."
Aanya sighed.
"Everyone has suddenly become very controlling."
Sagnik looked at her.
"Suddenly?"
Aditi laughed.
Araadhya smiled.
Even the doctor shook his head.
The examination continued for a little longer.
The nurse removed what no longer needed to remain attached.
The paperwork was prepared.
Her mother spoke with the staff.
Aditi checked that nothing had been left behind.
Sagnik quietly collected her things.
And Aanya watched them.
It was strange.
Everyone seemed to know what to do.
Everyone seemed to have learned how to take care of her while she had been absent from her own life.
She didn't know how to return that.
Not yet.
But perhaps she didn't have to.
Not today.
When everything was finally ready, Aanya changed into comfortable clothes.
She stood beside the bed.
For the first time, she looked at it without feeling like it belonged to her.
This place had held her for three years.
And now—
She was leaving it.
Her mother came to her side.
"Ready?"
Aanya nodded.
"Yes."
She looked around once.
The room.
The window.
The chair where Sagnik had been sitting.
The place where Araadhya had held her daughter.
The bed where she had opened her eyes.
So much of her new life had begun here.
Yet she didn't feel sad about leaving.
She felt something else.
A strange sense of possibility.
Aanya picked up her bag.
Sagnik reached for it.
"I'll take that."
"I can carry it."
"I know."
He took it anyway.
Aanya looked at him.
Then smiled.
"You're still like this."
"Like what?"
"Annoying."
He smiled.
"Some things survived."
Aditi opened the door.
"Come on."
Aanya stepped into the corridor.
The hospital was busy.
Nurses moving between rooms.
Families speaking quietly.
Doctors walking quickly.
Phones ringing somewhere.
A trolley passing them.
Normal life happening all around them.
Aanya walked slowly.
Not because she was weak.
Because she was looking.
Taking it in.
She had spent three years inside a room while the world continued outside.
Now she was walking back into it.
They reached the hospital entrance.
The doors opened.
Warm air touched her face.
Aanya stopped.
She closed her eyes for a second.
Breathed in.
Outside.
The sky was enormous.
The road was noisy.
Someone was laughing nearby.
A car horn sounded.
A child ran past holding her father's hand.
Nothing had changed for the world.
And yet everything had changed for her.
Aanya opened her eyes.
She looked at the people beside her.
Her mother.
Aditi.
Araadhya.
The little girl sleeping peacefully against her.
And finally—
Sagnik.
He was watching her.
Aanya smiled.
"I'm going home."
Sagnik smiled back.
"Yeah."
This time—
She was.