A Castle In The Air [Completed]

47. And Before It Rains

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For the days when Hisham was away, a number of predicaments came her way. His father got quite unwell, rendering him weak so much so that he couldn't walk to the bathroom without support.

As much as Morteza was discomfited by his illness himself, he had no choice but to call out to Zoha for help. Zoha on the other hand was panicked and agitated, because taking care of someone and nursing them round the clock, unaccompanied by anyone, was something she had never done before. Her mother wasn't by her side, no doctor was available to supervise her, no fellow students to assist. And then her patient was a person who she couldn't even properly communicate with. She was all by herself and hence rather apprehensive.

She evaluated his condition expertly but wanted to leave no stones unturned in his care so she took him to the clinic nearby to get him checked by a doctor and that was a task in itself; to support him to the elevator and out of the building, to help him into the cab, into the clinic and then all the way back.

In a couple of days then, the cooking lady took leave to tend to her expecting daughter, rendering her to deal with the demanding responsibility of cooking meals all alone, when she already had a sick person to look after and could have used help with fixing special food for Morteza.

To top it all, when she returned after picking up certain items from the fruit and vegetables shop, she ran into, to her crushing despair, an inoperative lift. The electricity was out once again, and this time round Hisham wasn't there to carry her up the seemingly unending stairs.

She went up to the third floor without breaking but on the fifth, the helplessness, the burden of all the responsibilities, the sense of being alone, along with the pain in her constricting lungs and aching legs, the pounding headache came crashing down on her like a huge wave in the middle of the ocean. Her knees buckled as tears lodged in her throat. That moment she realised that she had become used to Hisham like no one should ever depend on anyone for their own good. She could not imagine a life without him now, could not imagine parting him, losing him. She had become so used to his presence that the few days without him felt miserable to no extent. But it was just a test, she kept reminding herself, just a test. One should know how to deal with all kinds of situations anyway, her mother always said.

At last, when she got to the apartment she was drained of all energy and so tired from the day's work that she didn't want to do more cooking. But it was time for Morteza's prescribed medication and she was supposed to prepare his lunch. And because at times you are required to do work even when you're immensely unwilling, Zoha had to give in to the necessary.

Night came but the headache hadn't completely melted away. So with a heavy heart, yearning for her mother, she sat down in front of the mirror to massage her head with coconut oil. Tying her tangled hair in a bun when done, she prepared to catch her night sleep.