Chapter twenty-three starts off with Amir drifting in and out of consciousness. Finally after two days Amir is able to remain alert and awake. The doctor explains all of Amir's injuries to him and the were extremely extensive. He is extremely lucky just to be alive. However, after the doctor finishes explaining everything to Amir the only thing he can focus on is that "The impact had cut your upper lip in two, clean down the middle." page 297. This reminded Amir of a harelip. This is ironic because that is what Hassan suffered from before Amir's Baba had it fixed with plastic surgery. Even at a time of great peril Amir is able to make connections between his current life and with memories of Hassan. While in the hospital Farid would bring Sohrab to visit Amir, and then one day he brought Amir a letter from Rahim Khan. The letter was basically an apology from Rahim Khan, stating that he was sorry that he and Amir's Baba were sorry for lying to him and Hassan all those years. Also Rahim Khan confirms that he did in fact know about the situation that occurred with Hassan. Hassan had told him about it shortly after it had occurred. He goes on to state that "Your father, like you, was a tortured soul, Amir jan." page 301. From this statement Rahim Khan is revealing that Amir and his Baba were more alike than Amir had ever expected.
Farid informs Amir that it probably is no longer safe for him to remain in the hospital much longer, because Assef will soon be sending his officials to look for him. Amir decides to leave the hospital the next day but he sends Farid to look for Betty and John Caldwell. While they are packing up to leave the next day Farid tells Amir that there never was a Betty and John Caldwell. This fact suggests that Rahim Khan had possibly expected Amir to take Sohrab home with him to America all along. This gives his statement "There's a way to be good again." page 310 yet another meaning. After Farid helps Amir and Sohrab escape to Islamabad he takes his leave and returns back to his home. Amir remarks that this is the last time he ever sees Farid.
The author employs the use of parallelism when Amir finally tells Soraya the whole truth about his past. Although Amir had always dreaded the day when he would have to tell Soraya about his past he remarks that he feels as if a giant weight has been lifted off of his chest. He goes on to say "I imagine Soraya had experienced something very similar the night of our khastegari, when she'd told me about her past." page 325. There is the repetition of the action of characters admitting to their past sins over the phone. As Amir states, Soraya had already done this at the start of their marriage and now he was repeating the same action. Amir takes Sohrab to the embassy to discuss adopting Sohrab. The news is not positive and they inform him that it will be extremely difficult for him to accomplish this. However, the man in charge gives him the name of a lawyer that may can help him. However the lawyer gives him the same basic information. The only option the lawyer offers him is to place Sohrab back into an orphanage and then go through different legal channels to adopt him. Amir tells Sohrab about this plan and Sohrab is distraught. Amir calls Soraya and explains the situation to her and she tells him that she has another way for them to bring Sohrab to America, they believe that they should be able to get him a humanitarian visa. Amir is thrilled and runs to tell Sohrab the good news. He opens that bathroom door and begins screaming. This ending to the chapter leads the reader to believe that Sohrab has harmed himself in some way.
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