The difference she made!

"Feel me"

Can't you listen to what my eyes say?!
ألا يمكنكِ أن تسمعي ما تقوله عيناي؟!

They entered the hospital through the emergency room side door. Khalid headed for the elevators, Fajr followed one step behind him, falling into new habits without a thought. when they heard the girl at the desk called; "Mr. Khalid.".
Both stopped right on their spots then retreated their steps walking toward the big reception desk.
"Good morning Miss Manar." Khalid greeted, reading her name from the ID card dangled around her neck.
"Indeed it is a good morning." Manar had a sweet smile, her eyes did not leave Khalid's face.
"any problem?" asked Khalid.
"Not really, it is just that visiting time does not start until 9." She threw a quick look in Fajr's direction who looked at Khalid with a frown on her face.
"but I can make an exception for you." Again a smile crept across Manar's face as she looked back at Khalid.
"Thank you. Actually the doctor suggested someone stay with granddad, therefore we came earlier."
"Sorry I wasn't informed. Go ahead then." she stretched her hand as a gesture for them to go, scarlet nail polish decorated her fingertips and plastic bracelets encircled her delicate wrist.
Fajr was disgruntled at the way the girl was staring at Khalid and ignoring her completely, she had never experienced a feeling like this before.
Khalid thanked Manar with a nod, looking back in the direction they were walking. As soon as they were out of the girl's hearing
Fajr huffed; "what an attitude!"
With a puzzled look Khalid looked at her and pressed a button on the wall, the doors of the elevators opened.
"what attitude?" he asked, confused.
They got in, and the elevator doors closed.
"you do not find it lacking behavior the way she was staring and talking with you?"
They started feeling the motion of the elevator as it went up.
Khalid realized she was referring to Manar. "it's her job."
"her job to make an exception for you?" her annoyance reflected in her voice and the way she raised her eyebrow.
In a careless manner, Khalid titled his head towards the display of the floor numbers; "she was trying to help."
"Apparently!"
It came out of her mouth so scornful and sarcastic, not noticing that her antenna went up.
The elevator stopped as they reached their destination at floor 2, and the doors opened again.
Khalid stepped off , while Fajr stood still, lost in her thoughts, not realizing the elevator had stopped.
"come on."
Without waiting for her reply, he took her hand and led her off the elevator. He looked at her in disbelief, offering her a "you can't be serious" look; "you choose the wrong time to travel through your thoughts."
She rolled her eyes and let him lead her through the corridor.
Before entering the grandfather's hospital room, Khalid told her to wait outside.
As he swung the door open, he saw the grandfather lying in the bed, with his eyes closed. A nurse was standing by the bed with a cup of water. When he walked toward the bed and greeted the nurse, the grandfather opened his eyes. He was awake.
Khalid took the cup from her thanking her and she left them alone.
Stooping, he slid his strong hand behind the grandfather's head and lifted it, helping him to drink. He titled the cup to the grandfather's mouth then put the empty cup on the side table.
With so much concern he asked; "How are you feeling today?"
Slowly, the old man shook his head as if uncaring; "take me home. you know that I hate to be captured prey to someone else's care." His eyes focused on the ceiling. His days in hospital had been made up of hours of extreme boredom and he would no way be satisfied with staying there.
"I will." Khalid assured him; "just when you feel better."
He could not argue with Khalid when it was related to his health.
"has your father come back?" he changed the topic.
"he is coming tomorrow if Allah wills."
The grandfather closed his eyes, he seemed tired. After a short while Khalid hemmed to get his attention.
"I have to go to work..." he began and paused to take a breath, quite unsure of the old man's reaction.
"it's ok, you can go." He didn't let him finish.
"I'm not going to leave you alone so ...if you don't mind, my wife is here to stay with you."
The grandfather stared at Khalid; a long stare it was, one that spoke without words.
Khalid waited for his reaction, knowing without a doubt that there would be one, but there was silence, only silence. Why didn't his grandfather talk, say something? What was he thinking?
"Can I let her in?"
Again no words, but the grandfather shook his head a little, it was a clear gesture of approval. Khalid immediately approached the door of the room, he summoned Fajr to come in.
She was passing him as he stood with the door in his hand and whispered into her ear; "Just Arabic, no English."
She swept past him nodding, walked in with steady steps; approached the bed and looked into her grandfather's face closely.
At last... those steps were towards her goal, the difference she was seeking to make. The old man didn't advert his eyes from looking at the ceiling. Suddenly he got in contact with Fajr's skin, his granddaughter, with whom he swore that he would never be in contact. First he felt the soft hand on his right hand rested at his side on the bed, then her face appeared in his sight as she leaned in to place a kiss on his forehead, whispering the Dua; "La ba'sa tahoorun in shaa Allah."
"No harm, (it will be a) purification (from sins), if Allah wills."
He ignored her face and concentrated on the figure standing behind her then closed his eyes.
Khalid looked at Fajr then at his watch. "I'm leaving. Call me if you need anything."
Fajr confirmed with a nod, the grandfather's ignorance didn't bother her, at least he didn't mind her presence.
"take care." She told Khalid as he made his way out the room door.
She pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down, reaching for her grandfather's hand again; "if you just could imagine how much I dreamt of this moment. The moment I hold your hand in mine, although I wished we were walking somewhere. But at the current moment I am satisfied with just staying near you."
Her soft voice forced him to open his eyes,
unexpectedly it was comforting to look into her face.
In a spontaneous manner Fajr started talking about herself, her life in London, her memories and her dad, as if talking to herself, overwhelmed by emotions. For the next hour she talked non-stop, sharing every detail of the life she wished if she had spent among her relatives.
Lying in his bed, the grandfather listened intently. Not only did he find himself listening, but what was more surprising, he found himself waiting for her to continue every time she paused for a minute or less.
When she finally stopped talking, he opened his eyes and looked at her. There was a warm smile on her face when she met his gaze.
A sharp feeling of guilt washed over him, he swallowed hard and closed his eyes before speaking.
"Do you hate me?"
His sudden question surprised her. She was surprised at the question, surprised at the tenseness in his voice, surprised at the rigidness she saw in his stance as if he had momentarily frozen.
She couldn't understand the change. Anyway, she was not going to pass up the chance to talk about it.
"I would have possibly hated you if it wasn't for dad's teachings. the sparkling love for you in dad's eyes never faded. I couldn't help but admire your effect, and I really got curious to meet you and be around you."
The grandfather sighed and shifted in his position. He needed to talk with someone about that. Not expecting that SOMEONE could be Fajr! He needed to think clearly about it, and sometimes thinking clearly meant talking it out.
How unfair he was with Muhsen, by distancing him from everyone. Ever since Khalid told him about his son's health condition, every once in a while the thought that Muhsen was likely to die soon climbed into his mind, and he found himself choking up.
Fajr broke the silence, commenting on his question; "When someone wronged us, we wouldn't let go or even try to forgive them, unfortunately we build too many walls and not enough bridges. Looking at facts we can't change the past but we can make a change in the present."
The grandfather felt a burden lifting from his shoulders. She summarized the situation as if responding to his thoughts. He had not dared confess the troubled feelings he had at that moment. But he promised himself to make a change.
Along with Fajr's speech, Khalid's words replayed in his mind.
"I'm here for you, granddad. I don't want you to regret or feel guilty if something happens to him. However choice is yours, you decide whether to see him or not, but I really wish you do."
****************
At office:
With a little jolt, as if he had suddenly remembered something of great importance. A thought troubled him; what if granddad talked with Fajr about her father's health?! A tight feeling of terror caught him for forgetting such an important detail. He could not seem to dispel this feeling, so he got his phone out of his pocket and called Fajr, praying that nothing like that happened.
Fajr pulled her ringing phone from her purse and left the room trying not to wake the tired man .
Outside the hospital room, she picked up on the third ring and her quiet voice said; "hello." Her light tone indicated she was calm as usual.
"How's everything going?"
She leaned back against the wall and replied cheerfully; "Everything is great."
Khalid sighed into the phone then asked; "how's granddad?"
"He has eaten his lunch and is sleeping right now."
Khalid silently thanked Allah for saving him.
"It's work break. I'm coming in a while, you need anything?"
"No, you can head home." Her suggestion surprised him and he arched an eyebrow; "You don't want me to come?"
"No, there is no need."
"No?!" He repeated in disbelief, sounding more irritated than he intended.
Recognizing his sudden irritation, she looked a little confused; "I mean you can go home and take rest instead of coming here." She clarified innocently.
"You had lunch?"  he asked as casual as possible.
"Not yet. I'll go to the cafeteria to have something."
"Don't. I'll bring lunch with me."
"Ok."
With that, the line went dead, she wasn't sure if he'd even heard her 'Ok'. She shrugged and returned to the room.
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