EXPLICIT BLOOM

16• Napalm skies

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

Her eyeballs scanned her environment for what seemed like a minute before she sighed, a one of relief because she realized it was just another of her dreams.

Then she sighed again, of exhaustion that time around.

She was exhausted of waking up like that everyday, she was exhausted of her fears and she was exhausted of having to lie to her mother every single day she leaves the house for the hospital. She hated that the most because since the incident, she couldn't look in her mother's eyes for more than one second, afraid she would get caught.

So she planned on telling her after she goes through with Zaeem's discharge. She could only hide it that long after all and the burden was getting heavier than she could carry.

More importantly, she knew her mother deserved the truth.

Nahla cleared off her thoughts and got out of bed, she entered the bathroom to do her daily sanitary routine mostly because she needed to get to the hospital early. The earlier she got everything done with, the better.

Anwar was the first person Nahla called after sitting to think about where Zaeem would live after his discharge. She knew he was the only one she could approach with the issue and get an instant solution and she did.

Anwar owned a house outside town which he made their family vacation house. It got all the requirements for someone to live in because they do go almost every summer so, he agreed to let Zaeem live there. At least until he regains his memory or at least until they get a better alternative.

That among many was one of the reasons why Nahla loved her step father unconditionally. He was her knight in shining armor, he had always been the one to save her anytime she falls.

For that, she set her mind to always cherish and love him.

As the last water drops fall on her smooth tender skin, she walked out of the shower cubical and put on her bathrobe before making her way out of the bathroom.

She sat by her mirror and applied some lotion to her skin, then moved to her closet to chose a set amongst her clothes to wear for the day. She chose a white and brown overall gown and its paired hijab and niqab before she changed into it.

After she was completely ready to leave, she picked her well arranged backpack and exited the room to her mother's room.

She found her mother; Farah reciting the holy book so she sat beside her on the bed and recited with her. At least until Farah came to a stop about five minutes later.

"I'm leaving Ummie" Nahla announced to her mother. "Okay Nahla be safe!" Farah smiled and patted Nahla's head gently before she stood up to leave. "Uhmm actually almost forgot. Abbi said to get the key of the vacation house from you, I am to give it to someone today after school" Nahla said.

"Who?" Farah asked. It was natural for her to ask because she was a mother after all, all mothers are cautious about anything they do."I do not know" Nahla shrugged looking anywhere but her mother. "If perhaps you're not in a hurry, there's something I wish for us to talk about"

"Sure" Nahla nodded before she sat back on the bed beside her mother.

"Tell me" Farah demanded calmly. "What Ummie?" Nahla asked, not because she was pretending but because she genuinely didn't know what her mother was referring to. "Nahla I've known you lied since the day you told me your father went out of town suddenly"