Judging Me | On Hold

{Chapter 17}

"She felt helpless, she didn't know what to do."

{S Y E D A}

I step inside the room, a nauseous feeling at the pit of my stomach. I never liked hospitals, they carry so much pain and sadness to the point that it burdens me. My eyes trail around the whole room, stopping when it reaches the bed. A frail unconscious figure too recognizable for my liking, is on the bed living off from fluids. The white sheets covering their whole body, leaving out their head and a hand which my mum clutches so dearly. Their black hair streaked with grey and white spill around the pillow, a big bandage with spot tainted red is wrapped around their forehead, their eyes closed. I take a step forward, Osman close behind, my heart running a marthon. My mother looks up, her red rimmed eyes filled with tears, her wrinkles much more prominent than usual, a scarf loosly wrapped around her head as if she was in a hurry. I look down at the figure, my legs weakening. I would have fell if Osman wasn't tightly holding onto my shoulders. I shrug his hands off my shoulder and walk to the other side of the bed, dragging a stool to its side, sitting down on it. I take my father's hand, holding it with both of my hands, my elbows sinking into the bed.

"Never in a million years did i ever think i would see you like this, Abu," i croak, my eyes beginning to blur.

Tear begin to slide over my cheek and plop onto his hands. I take in a shaky breath and let go of my father's hand, standing up. I walk towards Osman, who is next to Adnaan who looks like he just woke up, my legs feeling like jelly.

Standing in front of them, i notice Adnaan's state:

His hair is sticking out in every direction possible, his eyes are bloodshot red, his clothes are wrinkled and he just looks terrible utterly terrible.

Osman isn't any different, he just look more, you know, tidy.

I take in another shaky breath, formualting a sentence in my head before voicing it.

"What...what happened?" i gulp, my brain going to every possible worst case scenario.

Osman and Adnaan glance at each other.

"Well, Abu...he slipped and fell down the stairs and hit his head. He didn't start bleeding until we were outside, his body was so cold, so cold, Syeda and there...there was so much blood, Syeda, so much blood," says Adnaan, his voice cracks as tears spill down his face.

"He...he will recover, right?"

There's a deep silence, my heart cracking with every second going by.

"He would've recovered quickly but because he got a st-roke, it will take about 4-5 weeks."

My eyes widen.

A month. I have to wait for a month.

My legs lose every ounce of energy i had collected minutes ago, as i crash down onto the couch. The tears roll and roll, nothing seems to stop them. Osman and Adnaan sit beside me, hugging me as they cry with me.

"Aliya. Did you tell Aliya?"

Adnaan shakes his head as i begin to cry even more.

How is she going to deal with it? She can't even come, she just went abroad.

~After about an hour~

Amma suddenly gets up and walks to us,

"My children, go home, you have school tomorrow and i don't want you sleeping during lessons," she says, sounding hopeless and tired.

"But Amma what about you? We can't leave you here," says Adnaan, his voice hoarse.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," says Amma, smiling weakly at us.