Alexand’s recovery has been slower than she would like. She has been impatient, but uncharacteristically following her doctor’s advice.

The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Alexand is wired up to many observation machines, and so remains in her bed. She takes the mirror, and reluctantly holds it up to her face. (Congratulations to the LGBT community in India for the Supreme Court ruling to decriminalise same sex relationships.)
Doctor Azizi managed to empty the hospital ward of Alexand’s family, so that he could brief her on what has happened to her whilst she was unconscious.
Abouna Panak has seen the future and the past, yet he is still quietly upset at seeing Lieutenant Colonel Merek’s condition. He stands at the back of the room as her family stand at her bedside, waiting to hear her prognosis from Doctor Azizi.