Sohrab used Amir's razor blade to cut his wrists, in an attempt to end his life. Amir found him before it was too late and had him rushed to the hospital. The surgeons managed to save his life, after his heart stopped twice. Dr. Nawaz told Amir, Sohrab would have died if he hadn't been young and strong.

He was now in the intensive care unit and under suicide watch. Amir stayed with him for three days and nights, before returning to the hotel to try to get a decent night's sleep. This was a forlorn hope though and Amir spent the night restlessly. The next morning, the hotel manager told Amir he would have to leave the hotel, because having someone attempt suicide in his hotel was bad for business. Amir understood and checked out of the hotel.

When he returned to the hospital, he found Sohrab had been moved from intensive care to a regular room. His body was recovering from his ordeal, but his emotional state was not. He told Amir, after some prodding, that he was tired of everything and wanted his old life back. He wanted his parents, Rahim Khan, and his grandmother back. He wanted to live in Baba's house once again, but he and Amir knew this was an impossible desire. They all were gone and the house was occupied by the Taliban.

Amir read Sohrab a book he used to read to Hassan, the Shahnamah, which contained the story of Rostam and Sohrab. This was Hassan's favorite story and where he found his son's name. Sohrab listened to the story, but didn't react to it or respond to Amir's attempts at conversation. Instead, he told Amir he wishes he had left him to die in the bathtub. Amir told him not to talk of such things, because he couldn't bear to hear him say those words.

Amir told Sohrab, he was going to tell him he could go to America, the night he cut himself. He asked the boy if he wanted to come to the United States. He also asked for Sohrab's forgiveness, for telling him he would have to live in an orphanage, after promising him he would never go back to one. Sohrab didn't answer Amir's questions, instead he told him he was tired.

Sohrab never told Amir he accepted his apology or that he wanted to go with him, but they both knew he had nowhere else to go, after being released from the hospital. The words "I am so khasta." I am so tired, where the last words he would speak for almost a year.

About a week later, in August of 2001 at the age of eleven, Sohrab arrived in America with Amir. Soraya picked them up at the airport. She was full of hope for the family they would form and the wonderful times she thought laid ahead for them. These feelings were soon dashed by one look at the vacant eyes of the emotionally empty child. He wouldn't talk to her or Amir, no matter how hard they tried to engage him in conversation or give him experiences they hoped would please him.

Soraya parents came to see him the day after his arrival. Soraya's mother had knitted Sohrab a sweater to wear in the winter. She wanted this boy to be the fulfillment of her daughter's dream of a child. The General was wary of the Sohrab. He wanted to know why Amir brought the boy to America. He also was worried about how the others in the San Francisco Afghan community would look at the family, because Sohrab is a Hazara boy.

Amir explained he is Sohrab's half-uncle and felt a responsibility and connection to Sohrab. He also told General Taheri he was never to refer to Sohrab as 'Hazara boy' in his presence. This is the first time Amir ever stood up to his father-in-law.

Sohrab's silence created a hole in the lives of Amir and Soraya. They had to deal with this and the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attack against the United States. Amir felt he needed to do something in the Afghan community to show his civic pride, so he and Soraya became comanagers of a fundraising project for a hospital, on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

A small significant change came to their lives one day in March of 2002. Amir, Soraya, Khala Jamila and Sohrab went to a celebration of the Afghan New Year's Day at Lake Elizabeth Park in Fremont. Sohrab at first stood apart from everyone else, looking out at everything and yet nothing. Soraya had quit trying to induce him to talk, but Amir was still trying. Suddenly Soraya saw some people flying kites. She showed the kites to Amir and told him a man was selling kites in the park.

Amir bought a kite, which was just like the kites he and Hassan used to fly, complete with glass embedded twine. Amir showed the kite to Sohrab and offered to let him fly it with him. The boy at first looked uninterested, but after Amir launched the kite, he saw Sohrab standing next to him. Together they flew the kite and then they cut another flyer's kite. Sohrab's eyes lit up and for the first time he showed real interest in something and then he smiled. He smiled because Amir offered to run the kite for him. It might not have changed everything for the family, but it was a start to a better future.

Sohrab's response to the fear of returning to an orphanage was to cut his wrists. Fortunately, Amir found him and the doctors could save his life. Afterwards the two made the trip to America, but Sohrab wouldn't interact with anyone. He and Amir made a little progress towards coming together, after flying kites. The boy and the man both started the process of healing from their internal and external wounds.