Daksh waited anxiously outside the Operation Theatre. Priya walked out of the OT and sat beside him. Their Dad sat in a chair at the extreme end of the corridor. Priya ran her fingers thru Daksh’s hair, put her arm around him and let him rest his head on her shoulder. With tears in his eyes, Daksh asked.

Daksh: How much time do we have left?

Priya: Not much…

Daksh: Look at him, this is all my fault. I can’t see him like this, heartbroken and wailing.

Priya: Hmm…I wish I could lie and tell you it wasn’t your fault.

Priya looked at Daksh and just giggled out loud and looked around to see if Dad noticed it. Daksh disgusted by Priya’s insensitivity decided to not talk further. Priya sensed this and tried to ease his mind.

Priya: You know me, I don’t act or react well in such situations. Well, how would you know? it’s been ages since we had a decent conversation.

No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, Daksh knew Priya was right. They were pretty close as kids, it was only after their Parents split that things changed. Daksh grew up with their Dad while Priya lived with their Mom. It was difficult at first, eventually things fell into a routine and they got busy with school, college, work and well, life took over. Gone was the connection, the love, the bond they shared. Over time they molded themselves into the society set standards of being ‘Mature Adults’ who spoke formally over phones calls couple of times in a year. This was the first time in years that he was having a face-to-face conversation with his kid sister. He wanted to apologize for being a jerk, but his ego wouldn’t let him. He checked his pocket for the joint he had rolled earlier; he couldn’t find it though.

Priya: Mom was right, Dad just spoiled you too bad with this freedom and independent decision-making nonsense. You have absolutely...