Please, Find Me

Chapter 5

"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for your husband?"

"Yes. I don't need my husband here." Hoori wrinkled her nose at her speech. Ever since she had woken up that morning, she had been speaking with a slight slur that she couldn't remedy no matter how hard she tried. She especially did not want Mikaeel to hear her talking like that. There was only so much humiliation she could take and she would rather not do it voluntarily.

"Okay." Dr. Krenak looked at her sceptically. But it was not his business so he happily kept his opinions to himself. "But let's just chat for a bit, okay?"

"Okay."

"How's your head feeling today? Better than yesterday? The aftereffects of lumbarpunctures can feel really awful."

"It's a little better today." She tried to smile at him but she wasn't feeling much like it.

"And what about you? How are you today?"

"Uhm..." Hoori bit her lip, trying hard not to feel panicked. "When I woke up this morning, I couldn't walk. I couldn't even take a step. The nurse had to wheel me into the bathroom." She felt so shy all of a sudden. She was completely dependent on another person and she hated it. Four days ago she could walk by herself yet there she lay, completely immobile and she didn't know why.

She hated it. She hated having someone help her to the bathroom or open the tap for her or squirt soap into her hands. She hated having them look at her body as they washed her with a sponge or brushed her hair for her. She was damned well capable of doing this by herself.

 So why couldn't she?

"I'm so sorry, my girl." He was often the pinnacle of professionalism but he felt so sorry for her. His daughter always shouted at him for being too soft. 

She smiled slightly at his reaction. "My grip is gone too. I couldn't pick up my toothbrush." She said sadly as she heard her voice. She just wanted answers. That's all she needed. She just needed to know why her body was breaking down. 

He jotted down a few more things in her file before he set it down on the table. "Mrs Ebrahim, I think we may know what's going on with you." He took readying breath, perching himself on the chair next to her bed.

"Uhm hmm." She could only turn her head to look at him, thankful that he sat in her line of vision.

"I know you're scared." He leaned slightly towards her as he spoke. "What's happening to you is not easy, I know that. Sometimes our bodies don't function as it should. These rare anomalies can cause a great deal of stress but I need you to know that this is not permanent." He spoke kindly to her. "Do you know why we perform spinal taps?"

Hoori shook her head.

"We need to do it in order to to test your cerebrospinal fluid." She looked up at him as if he was speaking complete gibberish. She had never taken biology in school for a very specific reason- She could never get it. "It's the fluid found in your brain and spine. It's sort of like a cushion that's protecting you brain from outside pressure and provides buoyancy and stability and..." He didn't realise he was rambling. "But that's besides the point," He cleared his throat, embarrassed at having gone of on a tangent. "What is the point is that your CBS fluid contains a little more protein than usual."

"Okay..." Hoori replied, prodding him to continue.

"It happens for various reasons but the symptoms you've shown and the rapid progression with which it occurred has helped us to narrow it down." He shifted the spectacles perched on the edge of his nose as he stared down at her. "I believe what you have is something called Guillain-Barre Syndrome."