Chapter 1- Accident

'Quantum Physics' 

It was written in big letters on the board of a classroom of college. An enticingly handsome young man in his early thirties (might be 32-33 years old) was giving a lecture. A white shirt paired with black trousers were perfectly hugging his tall lean body. His chiseled jawline covered by shortly trimmed beards, sharp nose, and a pair of deep black eyes under the gold-rimmed glasses were making him very appealing and attractive. 

Pushing his glasses a little upon his nose bridge with his forefinger, he continued his lecture "In Classical mechanics objects exist in a particular space at a particular time while in Quantum mechanics objects exist in probability. In other words...."

Knock.... knock...

He looked at the door and saw a peon.

"Yes."

"Sorry to disturb you, professor. This is a parcel for you."

"Parcel? Who sent me a parcel here?"

"There is no name of the sender."

"Ok, thank you."

He took the parcel and looked at it suspiciously for a while before keeping it on the table, and resuming the lecture. After finishing the class, he went to his office and opened the parcel. He saw a few photographs of a man and a woman kissing and hugging together. His eyebrows pulled together, and his face turned gloomy immediately after seeing these. Anxiety, anger, frustration mixed in his heart as if different color pallets blended all at once, causing him unable to breathe. He felt a sharp pain in his heart as if thousands of knives were stabbing together ruthlessly. He clutched his chest on the left side tightly and leaned back on his chair. He was gasping for the air. Cold sweat appeared on his forehead. He tried to calm down, closing his eyes. 

After a long time, when he calmed down a little, he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a familiar number. 

The call was connected after a few rings, and he heard a mesmerizing female voice, "Hello." 

His voice didn’t come out of his throat for a while, so he kept quiet.

"Mr. Black, are you there?"

After a long pause, he answered, "Coming home, wait for me." 

He hung up the phone immediately after saying this. He grabbed the car keys and walked out.

........

One hour later. 

Ring... Ring... Ring...

"Hello," Lisa answered the call.

"Hello ma'am, this is the sheriff here, calling from the city hospital." 

An unfamiliar male voice sounded from the other end of the phone, and she also heard him say, "Mr. Carl Black had met with a car accident. Please come here as soon as possible."

Dud.... dud... dud...

Lisa's face turned pale immediately, and her expression froze. The phone slipped down from her hand. Time had stopped for her, and she rooted on the same spot statically. It seemed that she even forgot how to breathe. She would be mistaken easily as a statue if someone didn’t notice her up and down moving chest. After some time, she regained her senses. Grabbing her phone and purse, she rushed to the city hospital. 

Half an hour later, she reached the hospital and ran towards the reception. She asked something to the receptionist and after getting the desired information, she ran to the emergency room. She was pacing back and forth, rubbing her palms impatiently outside the emergency room.

Several minutes later, a nurse came out and asked her, "Are you the family member of the patient?" 

Lisa quivered and responded, "I am his wife."

The nurse sized her up carefully and handed over a bunch of papers to her, "Please sign these papers so that we can start surgery immediately."

Lisa took the papers and signed without delay wherever needed. She asked her in a shaky voice, "How is he?"

"He is seriously injured. Lots of blood loss. We can't say anything right now." The nurse walked back to the ER after saying this.

Surgery was going on. Lisa was sitting on a chair outside the OT. Her solemn gaze focused on the closed door of OT. The nurse's words kept on resounding in her mind. She was quite scared at that moment. 

"Ma'am, are you alone?"

An unfamiliar male voice sounded from the top of her head. 

She looked up and saw a sheriff. He might be the one who called her. She was staring at him blankly unable to say anything.

"You should inform your family members."

After a long pause, she came to her senses and responded, "Yes. I will."

"It looks like a hit and run case, though we will investigate thoroughly."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Take care, Ma'am."

The sheriff left after saying this.

Lisa informed her brother-in-law, Mack Black, about the situation.

In a blink, another hour passed. The light of OT was still on. Lisa was moving back and forth, continuously rubbing her palms. Her hands and feet were ice cold. Her mind was blank. At that moment, a terrifying thought appeared in her mind… 

‘what if he can't make it?’ 

A shiver ran through her spine, causing her hair to stand from head to toe. 

'no no no no no.....' she shook her head vigorously. He wouldn’t leave her, would he? She was feeling so helpless and distressed that she started crying.

"How is the situation?"

Mack Black's voice startled Lisa. She turned around, only to meet Mack Black's questioning gaze, and her mother-in-law Helen Black's pitiful face whose eyes turned red and puffy due to crying. Unable to answer anything, she pulled back her gaze and looked at the door of OT.

After another two hours, the light went off, and the door of OT pushed open. The doctor came out with a long face. 

Mack Black rushed towards the doctor and asked with a shaky voice, "How is my brother?"

"He had suffered a severe brain injury. Though the surgery was successful, the next 48 hours are crucial. Till then we can't say anything."

The doctor left after saying this.

Helen Black was crying uncontrollably.

"Mom.... everything will be fine." Mack Black comforted his mother, rubbing her back up and down. "I will send you first. Sister-in-law, you also go back. I'll update you about brother’s condition."

"No, I'll stay here." Lisa denied instaantly.

Mack Black sighed deeply in dismay and without saying anything, he left to send back his mother.

Carl Black was in ICU. Only one person was allowed to see him at a time. Lisa entered the ICU to see him. He was lying senselessly on the sickbed. His head was wrapped with a white gauge and several bandages were there on his body. He was in ventilation and several wires were attached to his chest. The beeping of the machines echoed the ICU. 

Seeing him in this condition, Lisa felt tremors in her heart. She couldn't hold back her tears from falling and ran out. She leaned against the wall outside the ICU and started crying miserably.

48 hours later…

Lisa and Mack Black both were in the doctor's chamber. The doctor started explaining slowly about Carl Black's situation, "Mr. Black's vitals are normal but due to severe brain injury, he is in a coma now. We are shifting him to the ward today."

Hearing this, Lisa was stunned. Chill ran through her spine, and she stared at the doctor speechlessly. After a long pause, she heard Mack Black's low voice, "When will he wake up?"

"It's difficult to say. It may take 3 days or 3 months or 3 years or more. It depends on how he responds to our treatment. But nothing to worry about, we will try our best to bring him back."

After that, they both came out from the chamber, hanging down their heads. In the afternoon, Carl Black was shifted to a VIP ward. After finishing all the arrangements, Mack Black left for office. As an IT professional he had lots of pending works to complete. 

Lisa was alone with Carl Black in the ward. She sat down on the edge of the sickbed holding his hand. Tears streamed down uncontrollably and she whispered, "Mr. Black...." 

Who knew how long she was crying like that. Several terrifying thoughts were pouring into her mind, and she was feeling very helpless unable to shake off the fear from her mind. She lost the track of time. The sky turned dark, but she was still sitting in the same position on the sickbed motionlessly, staring at her husband.