When I got to Grace's ward, her face was ghostly pale and her lips were dry. She was still asleep, just as I had left her. I asked a nurse who came in to note down her temperature and condition,

"Did she ask for me when I was away?" I asked, hoping for an assuring answer, but she only confirmed my suspicions. She shook her head, "No, she has been asleep since you left."

With my throat closing tight in panic, I went in search of the doctor. I found him stepping out of another ward. I ran to him, "Why is she still asleep? I was gone for quite...