Being Mrs Dantata

03

Amal smiled sheepishly at her doctor, feeling much stronger. "I'm sorry."

Dr Judith shook her head, exhaling audibly. "You're not going to kill me, Amal." She turned to Zayd who sat on one of the available chairs in the room. "It's a stomach upset, thanks to the sugar she's been consuming. She confessed she's been taking a lot of Schweppes and chocolate. I take it that you have been funding this indulgence."

Zayd smiled innocently. "It made her happy. We'll be careful from now on, Dr Judith."

"That's more like it." She turned back to Amal. "Take it easy, Amal."

Amal's smile was pretty. "I will, I promise."

"And," The other woman's tone softened. "I'm glad you're doing okay."

Amal's smile dimmed. "Well, life has to go on." She got off the bed. "Thank you, Dr Judith."

The female medical personnel smiled easily. "You're welcome. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure...Sa'ed?"

Zayd rose to his feet. "Thank you, Dr Judith."

"You're welcome. You two should take care."

They promised to do so. A minute later, they were walking down the corridor hand in hand. Amal sighed. "Sorry for cutting your discussion short back at Athena."

He gave her a warm smile. "You being alright is more important, Amal. You don't have to apologize for anything."

"Before I left, I saw that she was smiling." She grinned. "Thank you, for putting that smile back on her face."

"Thank you for pushing me towards her."

"Yet you said you'd kill me if you ended up making a fool of yourself."

He rolled his eyes, both of them stopping in front of the elevator. "Don't even start. She was actually nice to talk to...She was stood up by people she considered friends. I'm sure I'll be called a bad person but I keep wishing every single one of them have bad days today."

"Know that I'm right behind you. How mean can you be to get someone so excited only to stand them up?"

The elevator doors opened and they stepped in. He pressed the ground floor button. "They kept her around to while away time. She's a corp member and they've been in camp so..."

Amal was ready to melt. "I just imagined her in khaki. She'll be beautiful."

Zayd stared at her with so much love. "You're quite attached, Amal, even though you don't know her."

She smiled a bit wider, the elevator slowing down. "Thank God a certain architect I love got to know her. I'll get to know her from him, as long as he is willing to share details."

The elevator carriage stopped just as he replied. "You know I can't keep things from you, Amal. I'll tell you everything I know about her so far."

They stepped out immediately the doors opened.

Amal's smile shrunk when a new mother walked past them, rocking her fussy baby. Zayd softly squeezing her hand made her look away from the new mother. She looked at him, her heart warming at the sight of the smile on his face. Her smile got back its warmth and she squeezed his hand just as softly as he had squeezed hers.

"Let's go?"

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They walked out of the building in comfortable silence and once they were in the car, Amal demanded that he start talking. He told her everything he had learned about Hanan in the little time they spoke. Just as he was stunned when Hanan revealed that she had a bachelor's and master's degree at twenty, Amal was ready to jump out of her seat.