A/N: Thank you so much everyone for the love and support. I was so worried that you guys wouldn't want to read anymore for the long gap. Who would remember the story? Even I read the full story twice (and found a bunch of spelling/grammatical errors and typos! I'm sure there's more. Sorry about those!) to avoid plot loopholes or repeating the same stuffs. But I'm sooooo happy you didn't forget me or my story! I love you all really. You all are amazing!

Qualm

(Naoki POV)

I have again lost the track of the time. I'm not sure for how long I sat beside her, holding her hand. Everything except Kotoko had ceased to exist. A hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality. Hana held out a sandwich and a water bottle at me.

"You should eat this, Irie-san. I am sure Kotoko would want that."

Of course Kotoko will want that. When did she ever want anything for her? All she cared about was me and my happiness. Nothing else mattered to her. Tears filled my eyes and I tried to compose myself with difficulty.

"Thank you." I thanked her in a broken voice taking the food from her hand without meeting her eyes. She only nodded and left me alone with Kotoko.

I sat there quietly with the food in my hand. I didn't want to eat. I didn't have any appetite. But I needed the strength. I couldn't fall ill now. Not when Kotoko is in critical state. I need to be at my best condition to take care of her.

I needed to wash my face but I didn't want to leave Kotoko alone even for a second, so I decided to ditch that and opened the water bottle to drink some water. My mouth hurt due to the dryness. I ate the sandwich slowly thinking about her condition.

It was about 12:30 pm when I decided to call home. Since her condition wasn't changing, I delayed informing home as oka-san was also not feeling good. The stress of Kotoko's condition made her weak and she was ill the whole week. Otou-san received my call and I briefly informed him about the condition. He assured me they will join me as soon as possible.

Oka-san, otou-sans and Yuki arrived at the hospital within 1:15 pm. I was busy with Dr. Ayano when they arrived. We both came out in the hall in front of Kotoko's vacant cabin to see them.

"What had happened Naoki-kun?" Otou-san asked me who looked very terrified.

"Kotoko… She had a severe breathing problem and her blood pressure dropped way out of the line suddenly and she nearly had a heart attack." I trailed off unable to continue. Dr. Ayano took it as his cue.

"Kotoko-san's condition is critical Aihara-san. She is in coma right now. We did everything we could do but her condition had not improved. We are looking for different approaches now."

"Coma?" Oka-san nearly cried. Yuki held her hand and rubbed the back of it.

"When will she wake up doctor?" My father asked.

"It is uncertain. It could be any duration of time. It could be a day, week or even months or years. I'm not going to give you false hopes. I'm sorry everyone."

I closed my eyes. I knew all of this but hearing it out loud made it more real and it crushed my inside. At least he didn't say there is a chance that she might not wake up at all. Yuki helped oka-san to sit on a chair placed near the wall. I was feeling light headed myself. I didn't want to lose my confidence and definitely didn't want to show me getting weaker to my family.

So I left.

I retreated like the coward I was. I needed air. I went out into one of the balcony on that floor near Kotoko's cabin. I stood near the railing looking at the distance. I could see vehicles running at full speed on the roads a bit further from the hospital. There was a park near one side of the hospital. Everything looked normal. The world looked peaceful unlike my heart which was far from it. Tears filled my eyes and started to fall all by themselves. Crying seems so much easier to me now whereas I wasn't sure if I had tears in my eyes even a month ago.

I felt a presence beside me after a while. I tried to remove the tears from my face quickly and hide my soaked face.

"It's okay son. It's okay to cry." My mother said putting a hand on my shoulder.

I couldn't voice anything, just nodded.

"You know, I believe she will wake up sooner than you think, and that she will be just fine."

"I know. I know oka-san. I believe that too. It's Kotoko after all."

"Yes Naoki. Our Kotoko is the strongest person I have ever seen. She wouldn't lose her fight."

"Yes oka-san. You are absolutely right."

I hugged her while saying this. She looked very tired. I knew she was actually trying to convince herself that what she was saying was correct. I knew she wanted me to agree so that she can believe what she was thinking. She was afraid and she needed my confirmation. I slowly patted on her back while she cried.

My mother, who always tries to look after every aspect of our lives, even sometimes crossing the boundary and deciding and assuming everything on her own, didn't know what to do in this situation. She doesn't know how to keep me from falling apart. I knew it was breaking her. She was the strongest person I knew until now, and she was breaking down.

It was my turn to look after them all. It was my turn to look after my wife and my mother- the two women who loved me with their entire hearts. I wanted to shoulder all the burdens but maybe I was failing again miserably. Kotoko is in coma and I don't know what to do now. I was a failure and I failed everybody. A pang of guilt pierced my heart.

I failed but I came to realize something. I realized how important Kotoko is to me. I realized I loved her more than I could think or I have ever imagined.

My father joined us after a short time and informed me that Dr. Ayano was looking for me. I left oka-san in my father's hand and went inside to go to Dr. Ayano's office.

Dr. Ayano was analyzing some documents. The state's doctors have reviewed Kotoko's condition and came up with some points. We had another session of video conference about that and after that we immediately started to examine the suggested procedures.

This was another part of her treatment which made me very scared. Everything was experimental. One wrong move and I might lose her forever. It was frightening. But nonetheless, I kept working my best.

Oka-san forced me to eat some lunch way past the lunch time. After that I spent some time with Kotoko. I couldn't rest. My mind was full awake. My eyes wouldn't budge from her face. How can I close them and rest?

After another half an hour, I checked Kotoko's present condition and then returned to our research area with the recent data. I updated everyone about the condition and instructed Mio to go and watch over her. I knew it was unnecessary to watch over someone in ICU since she was already under observation but I couldn't relax. I joined with the rest to continue with the work.

...

Days turned into weeks and weeks to months. During this whole time I read about several hundred research papers and examined more theories than that. Everybody else was a huge support. All the people of the team wanted Kotoko back. They all worked hard with me. I spent the entire 2 months mostly in the hospital, either researching or beside Kotoko.

Whenever I spent time with her, I talked to her. I made promises to her and to myself. I vowed to correct all my mistakes. I vowed never to take her for granted again. I vowed to put her before everything in my life and myself. I knew she wasn't listening or even wasn't aware of my presence. But I kept doing it. It was just a futile way to feel comfort. I didn't care if the other doctors or nurses pitied me. Nothing else matters anymore.

It was pure hell, two month of seeing her unconscious in bed, not moving at all except from the slight movement in her chest due to breathing. But I didn't give up the hope. Because giving up wasn't even an option.

Then one day, finally after two months we got the outcome we were eagerly waiting for. Kotoko started to respond to the treatment technique. We found a fresh new ray of hope.

Kotoko was a special case in Japan. None of the previous patients in the history of Neuroshia was someone who inherited it due to their mother's pregnancy. All the other patients were triggered due to their own pregnancy complexity. Which is why, Kotoko was having problems in her treatment now. The treatment procedure did not match with her condition. Several things had to change according to her criteria. There were a few patients with similar conditions in the US and Europe.

At one point some doctors strongly recommended to move her to the US. But Dr. Ayano dismissed the idea. She was in too vulnerable state to move, let alone a long journey. Instead he invited one of his colleagues from the states to Japan who happily volunteered.

The improvement in her treatment was astonishing. All we could do now was hope that the best would happen. Finally all the prayers were answered one morning. I was talking to her holding her hand when that happened. I was telling her about a dream I had seen.

In the dream she was singing at the top of her lungs near my ears and I was trying to cover them with pillows. But we both were laughing. We both were happy. But I didn't tell her about the ending of the dream, where I was alone inside a maze, desperately looking for the right way to get to her.

Suddenly she fluttered and opened her eyes slowly. I froze. I couldn't believe my eyes.

She tried to talk but nothing came out of her mouth.

"Kotoko…" I called her name sounding breathless. Then I acted fast and pressed the emergency button to call in Dr. Ayano.

"Irie… ku…kun…" She called my name with difficulty. I couldn't hold back my tears. They just dropped. But I restrained throwing myself at her in a hug. She was extremely weak right now.

"Kotoko… kotoko… Thank goodness… you're awake… you… finally…" I smiled like a fool through my tears while I was checking her vitals and her current state. I removed my tears when she smiled back.