Newfound Destination

~ 21 ~

We were all currently standing in Taheer's hospital room, all of us staring down at his sick body on the bed.

The doctor came into the room, "You said his parents are out of town, right?"

"Yes." We said in unison.

"Well, then I'll need at least one of you to come with me to my office." He said.

Khalil immediately volunteered to go and we all watched him walk out of the room with the doctor.

There was absolute silence again.

I fell into a pool of thoughts.

I could barely imagine how it felt to be left out. We were all his friends, that's agreed but these days, Amir was always with Salma and Khalil was getting closer to me, in the process drifting away from Taheer.

I was able to understand how he felt but I couldn't say I had experienced the same thing before.

It must have been hard for him. If it were a different case, such as a case where he had someone too, like a girl...I doubt he would have had to worry about it.

But the point is, that wasn't even close to the case. We were paired but he wasn't. Hanging out with us must have been a great feat too.

If you ask me, it's too much to handle.

And that resulted to this.

Now, he's doing drugs and just collapsed today. I feared for what the doctor was going to say.

Khalil came into the room with a blank expression.

He came and stood next to me.

I nudged him, "Tell us, what did the doctor say?"

He gulped but didn't utter a word.

"Kai, what's with the long pause now? Talk please." Amir snapped.

He opened his mouth but closed then he went on with that process continuously. Like a fish.

"Can you talk?" Salma asked now annoyed.

"The doctor said...he has a lung disease and that he would need to undergo surgery." Khalil finally broke the news.

My heart sank.

"What?" I said in a breath.

"We are going to have to call his parents and tell them about it." Amir muttered.

We all nodded.

"The doctor said he should be admitted and that we could all go home since it's late then come over tomorrow." Khalil added.

Again, we nodded.

"I'll take you home, Salma." Amir said.

Salma smiled at him sweetly as they walked out of the room together.

Then it was just me, Khalil and of course, Taheer left in the hospital room.

"And I'll take you home?" Khalil offered.

I chuckled and smiled at him before going over to Taheer's bed.

I stood by the bedside, "Get better soon and wake up but don't do anything stupid when you do."

Khalil snickered a bit and we went out of the room, not forgetting to switch off the light.

"So, how did tonight go for you?" He questioned me as we got on the road.

I sighed, "Terrible."

"Come on, we had a little fun." He demonstrated 'a little' with his fingers.

"Yeah, when we bowled ba? Taheer ended up in a hospital so it's not such a good day." I told him.

He agreed with a nod.

I switched on the radio to get rid off the awkward silence.

I started nodding my head about to sing along to the song that was playing when Khalil turned off the radio.

"Oya, sing it on your own now." He said.

"Kai," I hissed and turned it back on.

"Ehn, you don't want to sing on your because your voice isn't so good koh?" He taunted me.

"If you keep this up, I'll actually slap you. I don't care that you're driving." I threatened him.

That was enough to get him to keep shut.

We soon pulled into my driveway and I thanked him before hopping out of the car.

It was when I knocked on the door and heard a tiny male voice in return that I remembered...

"Coming!"

Yusufa!

The door swung open and a little boy pounces on me. I'm able to balance myself and him.

"Ya Karimah! I've missed you so much!" He screamed in my ear.

I dropped him and squatted down to his level, I pinched his little cheek playfully.

"Wai Yusufa! Look at you, your face has enlarged!" I teased him.

He giggled ever so cheerfully.

I smiled warmly, "I'm so happy to see you."

He sent me a toothy grin, showcasing his barely complete baby teeth.

I gagged in pretence, "Close your mouth please."

He pouted and folded his arms, "I don't want to talk to you again!"

With that, he ran into the house.

I followed after him and headed straight to the living room.

There, Ummi and Aunty Raliyah sat together chatting.

I immediately went and squatted down in front of them.

"Ummi, Ina wuni. Aunty, Ina wuni." I greeted.

Ummi smiled at me lovingly, "Sanu Kari, ya makaranta, ya karatu."

I returned the smile, "Lafiya Kalau, Ummi."

"I'm working part time too at the moment." I informed her.

"Oh really? What do you do? And where do you work?" She asked.

I responded, "I work as a secretary at a company."

"Wow. I'm so proud of you. How thoughtful!" She commended.

Aunty seconded her, "I thought so too. Karimah is such an intelligent and mature girl. You're so lucky to have her."

I couldn't stop myself from beaming with pride. Like, who wouldn't? Wouldn't you?

"You must be exhausted, go and shower and come down to eat. Ah, do your Maghrib prayer before doing any of that." Ummi instructed.

I nodded and left.

I prayed first and then took a shower before going down for dinner.

Since the rest of the family already had their dinner, I was left to eat on my own at the dining table.

Once I was finished, I washed my plate and went up to my room.

I didn't waste any time before hopping onto my bed and lazily saying some prayers before closing my eyes.