Come, Fly With Me

SIXTEEN

It was only Sami and I at home, everyone else had gone to my grandparents house out of the city to entertain the extended family who had travelled to attend the wedding in just a few days time. Considering I only had less than a week before I had to leave the country, I had been busying myself packing the things that I wanted to take abroad with me, giving me the perfect excuse to spend as much time at home as possible without having to constantly go from house to house and just sit around.

Don't get me wrong, I loved entertaining guests, but when you have limited time to spend with your family before you have to wave them all goodbye, it doesn't seem so appealing.

I decided to take a break from packing and go for a cup of tea downstairs. Sami was watching TV so I thought I'd join him. I made two cups and carried them into the living room. As I set them down on the coffee table, I couldn't help but notice how pale he looked, and tired. Eyebags rested beneath his eyes and he looked really sick. I knew he was still coughing slightly, but that's because of the chest infection he'd had a few weeks ago, and the antibiotics had done wonders in clearing that up. 

We sat and talked for a while, before he started coughing again.

"You okay?" I asked, hitting him on his back.

He nodded, still coughing and breathing heavily.

"Yeah, its just the cold weather, it rattles my chest and makes the cough worse." He carried on talking, and as he did, I became extremely alarmed as I noticed his lips slowly losing colour and turning blue-tinged. 

"Sami, you aren't okay! Come on, get up, let's go in that room where it's warmer. The fireplace is already on!"

He got up and I rushed the hot tea cup into his hands and guided him to the family room, then grabbed my mobile just in case. I kept a sharp eye on him as we continued to converse. He mentioned he was feeling drowsy, and then he started getting dizzy, so I shot up and immediately dialled for an ambulance.

"Sami, sit down, put your head between your knees. Are you feeling faint?"

"Yeah, a little bit." I knew he was only downplaying how he was really feeling, and I was beyond worried. If I called my parents, they wouldn't get in for another hour, plus the traffic which would delay them even more. I didn't know what to do, Sami was getting paler and his lips were getting more blue, and he looked as though he was about to faint any moment.

Adrenaline kicked in as I heard the thud that indicated he had fallen to the ground and my fingers called 999 immediately.

I don't know what I said to the call handler, or how long it took them to arrive, but before I knew it we were in the back of an ambulance, Sami with an oxygen mask on and me praying that he was going to be okay.

* * *

I sat in the corridor of the hospital - I already called my parents and sister and they were on their way, but traffic meant they wouldn't be here any time soon. I tried calling Rima for support, but she was out of town visiting her younger brother in university, so I felt truly alone. I didn't yet know what was wrong with Sami, but the doctor had asked me to stay outside and he'd call me when he was done. It had been 45 minutes already, and I realised that I was getting late for salah.

I got up and headed towards the hospital prayer room. Though it was a multi-faith room, they had a stack of musallah / prayer mats and some qur'ans, along with an arrow on the ceiling pointing in the direction of the qiblah. I prayed my salah then an extra nafl prayer for Sami's health. On my way back to the room, I quickly grabbed a coffee from the machine and sat back down outside on a chair.

I stared at the floor, the squeaky nurse's shoes rubbing against the cold floor in front of me, the mops that the cleaners effortlessly flicked around, the wheels of the trolleys that were transported from one end of the corridor to the other. Finally, the door opened and the doctor stepped out. I rocketed out of my seat to go and speak to him.

"Ah, hello there. May I ask what your relationship is to the patient?"

"Of course, I'm his sister."

"I see. Well, we've carried out some thorough tests and thankfully the situation isn't as bad as it may seem. Mr Sami has a very mild case of pneumonia, but the antibiotics he was taking for the chest infection have helped in flushing out some of the bacteria - they just haven't been effective enough. He's on some fluids now as he was a little dehydrated, that's the most likely explanation to why he collapsed, and I've added some meds to get his strength back up and running. He shouldn't need to stay overnight, I'm hoping he'll make a full recovery by tonight, he'll just need to take his medications regularly to treat the infection."

"Okay, that is great news. Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome Miss. Any questions, you let me know."

"I will do," I responded as I pushed open the door to Sami's room and hurried to his bedside, taking a seat beside him.

"You scared me!" I scolded him.

"Sorry about that," he laughed, still in line with his normal sense of humour. I was glad to see he was already acting more like his usual fun self.

"For a second, I almost thought I had lost the most important guy in my life." I confessed to him quietly.

"That's a lie," he was quick to respond to that.

"What do you mean? I asked, confused.

"I mean, I'm not the most important guy in your life anymore, am I? Ehsaan is, right?" he teased, making me smile.

"You don't need to answer that, I already know the answer. And to make it worse you're running away to another country with him too! When am I ever going to see you? Huh?!" 

"Oh Sami, I'll always be here. And no matter where I am, I'll always be your little sister."

"I still can't believe you're leaving me for Dubai."

"Neither can I, though I'm seriously doubting my decision now seeing the condition you're in. How can I leave only days after my brother has been hospitalised for pneumonia?!"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You go with Ehsaan. Your life together is more important, and I'm only a phone call away if you ever need me, I'll jump on a flight right away if you need me to!"

"I love you, bhai."

"I love you too little sis" he smiled, resting his head back on the pillow as we waited for his fluids to finish and for my parents to arrive to pick us all up and take us home.

The clock was ticking on the time I had left to spend with them before I left, and I was determined to cherish every moment while I could.