It's been two days since Hamdan's accident and we still didn't know what was wrong with him. The time has finally come for us to know the truth. The nurse had some papers in her hand about his situation. "Mr. Hamdan has a moderate to severe head injury" she said slowly with her eyes focusing on me. "Hamdaaan, my son !!!" Hamdan's mother yelled. "Madam, it's okay we will take care of him." "He will be under the doctor's supervision, and will have to undergo a surgery" she continued. "In this surgery we will put a hollow tube called a catheter into the fluid space in the brain called the ventricle" the nurse stated while reading the papers. Shamsa began crying, making Hamdan's mother cry hysterically. Their eyes were on me, expecting some sort of reaction. I kept moving back and forth while repeating the sentence "he's not going to die". "He's not going to die" "he's not going to die" "he's not going to die" i kept repeating. They all looked at me, with affection. I didn't need affection, i needed Hamdan. He was the only one who understood me, who knew how to make me happy. "Go talk to her, habibti" Khalaf whispered in Shamsa's ear. She wiped her tears with her abaya, and sat next to me. "Layla, Layla, calm down" Shamsa stated while holding my shoulder. "He's going to be okay, it's just a surgery, then he'll be back with us" She said with a fake smile. Khalaf sat on the other side, "Layla, we all have to be strong for each other" he mentioned. I remained silent, still moving back and forth like a lunatic. They gave up and walked hand in hand towards the parking lot. Hamda came and sat next to me, while Nayef was asleep. "Hey" she said with a big smile. "Remember when Hamdan first came to school, with his long black hair, and sat in the first chair in class taking notes." "He couldn't take his eyes of you" she continued. "Layla, things will get better i promise." "He won't leave you, he'll come back for you" Hamda said while hugging me. I stopped moving and sat still. Flashbacks were zooming through my mind. The first day we met, the first time he sat next to me, the first time he talked to me, and all the other moments.
Later on during the day, Shamsa and Khalaf both came back together with Mc Donald's bags in their hands. "Where were you guys, i was worried?" Hamda asked. "We went to get some food for everyone" Shamsa replied. "Foood" Nayef said as he woke up from the delicious smell. They gave me a meal, but i was revolted by it. I couldn't eat anything since his accident. They all dove into their meals from hunger. The nurse came to us, and we were scared she was bringing us more horrid news. "The doctor says Hamdan will undergo the surgery tonight, for his own good" she said. "We need you to sign a few papers" the nurse stated to Hamdan's mother. She nodded and walked with her to the main desk. His life is based on this surgery. If it doesn't work out, we all know what's going to happen. There were only a few hours till the surgery and we were all frightened. Hamdan's mother came back with tears in her eyes. "Let me drop you home auntie" Khalaf uttered. "Yalla, i need to check on the kids" she replied. Khalaf held her from her arm, and walked her to his car. Shamsa and Hamda both went to the bathroom to freshen up, while Nayef was on his phone. "What's up?" he burst out. I shook my head as to say nothing. Words couldn't come out of my mouth. "Want some water?" Nayef asked. I nodded in agreement and he got me a bottle of water from the vending machine. I smiled as to thank him, and he smiled back. Nayef was busy on his phone and the girls were in the bathroom. That meant i could sneak into his room without getting caught.
I walked in slowly and pulled a chair next to his bed. I looked at him, such innocence, such fragility. "How's my handsome man today?" i managed to say. Looking at his hand, the ring was still there. His beard started growing, making him seem even more irresistible than usual. I held his hand, and began to talk. "Remember valentines day?" i laughed. "You came to school wearing a red Kandora, and had a bouquet of roses." "Each of the 500 roses had a quote on it written by you" i uttered with a big smile. "You came up to me in recess, when i was talking to the girls." "You closed my eyes, and put the bouquet in my hands" i continued. "I held the bouquet in one hand and reached for your hands in another." "As i caught sight of your eyes, i lost all my senses" i said. "I felt like no one was around us, just you and me, where it was actually in front of all the school" i laughed. I stopped talking and stared at him. "Are you going to leave me alone in this cruel world?" i asked still holding his hand. "Will this be the last time i ever see you?" i began to cry. My heart pounding with every tear jolting out of my eyes. I brushed away my tears, and bent down slowly to kiss him on his cheek. I put the chair back in it's place and walked towards the door. Before closing the door, i took one last look at him and closed the door.
I went back to the sitting room where everyone was sitting. Khalaf was back and so were the girls. They questioned my absence and i lied as usual. The nurses went into Hamdan's room and began with the surgical preparations. The doctor came our way and said "He is in safe hands, no need to worry." "It's a small brain procedure and hopefully he'll be as good as new" he stated with confidence. "It will take around 3-4 hours, so i advice you all to go home as it will take time." He soon left to Hamdan's room, and prepared himself. Minutes later, we see them pushing Hamdan out in the bed to the surgery room. Everyone began to cry when they saw him. Khalaf was covering his eyes, Nayef was tearing, Shamsa was crying heavily, and Hamda was bursting into tears. I remained silent and just looked at them. Could one person really have such a big impact on so many people's lives? I got lost in my thoughts again. "Layla, Hamda and I are going home, if anything happens please let us know" Shamsa said. They both hugged me with tears in their eyes, and left with Khalaf. "I miss you" i whispered to myself. "I miss you, Hamdan."
No comments:
Post a Comment