Mentally Occupied

6

Naglaa was the first to attend, she sat in her seat at the beginning of the table to the left of the chair reserved for Naim at the head of the table, following the arrival of the doctors and they sat in their places awaiting the arrival of the director of the sanatorium, grunts circulated among them in which Najla did not participate, but she was listening well as no one around her, everyone fell silent when Naeem appeared, quickly took his place after giving a brief greeting to those present. He wasted no time and started talking about the negligence caused by Sharif, and threatened everyone that he would not allow this to be repeated and warned them that if such incidents were repeated with any of the patients, the consequences would be dire for whoever caused them. In it, the secretary passed a paper to the doctors present that had been requested from her by an administrative order, meaning what he had said verbally. They signed it silently, and in a sharp tone asked them to leave and continue their work and take extra care of Malika's condition so that she would overcome her crisis.

The doctors stood up and left the meeting room quickly. Najla remained in her chair. Naim looked at her after everyone had left and asked her:

- Why didn't you go with them?

Najla shook her head dismissively and said:

- I am not an ordinary doctor in this clinic.. I am a forty-nine percent partner.

Naeem laughed as he nodded back.

*

Fouad suddenly stopped laughing, he was shaking the meeting room a few seconds ago. He stood up and leaned on Najla, his eyes widening in a frightening way, and he said to her while pointing towards the door:

- Come on, go and practice your work as a doctor, or if you are a partner in this percentage or more or less, this will not be until after my death.. Come on.

She stood up and ran towards the door outside. Fouad regained his calmness as he followed her exit, smiled in satisfaction, and sat again alone at the meeting table.

He loosened his tie and wandered into memories of more than three decades of his life, when he was in the prime of his youth, armed with his knowledge, money, and a clear future ahead of him. Everything goes according to what he plans. The land of his sanatorium will soon be acquired for a small price, after the mediation of one of his uncles for him. When the Minister of Investment and got a signature from him to allocate the land in a mass in the church, some simple procedures and he begins to build, but there is one thing that disturbs his life.

The priest was very angry with him after he raised the idea of adoption. He asked him to confess, but Fouad refused. What sin did he commit in order to confess when he thought of adopting a baby who would have a support when he grows up and continues his life? The priest got angry at him and refused to feed him. Fouad was not one of those who cared about that, but his wife Yvonne could not live with a man who was not committed to the teachings of the church. She spoke with her aunt, and they congregated together over him. His mother blamed him for angering the priest and asked him to do everything he ordered. He must immediately go to the church to confess his sin. Naeem did not respond to them, but he left them and headed to the church. When he arrived, he asked to meet the father. They told him that he was at the altar and would finish his prayers shortly. He decided to wait for him to end this dispute in his own way.

Less than an hour later, the father came out of the altar smiling, but his condition changed as soon as he saw Naim. His facial features darkened, his eyes narrowed and a frown frowned. The priest was about to return to the altar had he not heard Naim calling out to him, putting the title (Your Holiness) at the beginning of his speech. He stopped waiting for him to come. The doctor who returned from the West after obtaining a Ph.D. from a famous university, Naim hurried towards him and said to him quietly:

- Your Holiness, I did not come here to confess a sin I did not commit.

The priest's face grew more grim, but Naim did not leave him a chance to leave and said:

- Sir, I am here because I am loyal to Jesus and the Church.. but I noticed some things here..

The priest noticed Naim's speech more and shook his head for him to continue. He said while wrapping the priest's arm and taking him out into the courtyard of the church and pointing towards an empty space in it:

- This area is suitable to be a play area for the children of the church.

The priest smiled as he anointed Naim and gave him his blessings.

Naim returned from his wanderings to the world of the sanatorium, at the sound of one of the doctors asking him for permission to enter. He allowed him immediately, and the doctor stood in front of him giving him a detailed report on Malika's condition and the beginning of her recovery of consciousness.

***

In the same day, Fouad was up early. He ate his breakfast. he wore a brown shirt and black pants then he headed to the hospital which he works for, He appears at first sight as emperor from the Roman Empire, or an actor from the ancient era, seems to be living in a time gap or a parallel world, when you see him, you will make sure that he is not affiliated with this world or this time we live in, Erosion his house's design which is old fashioned, It contains a big library full of historical books.

He aspired to open his own clinic as a psychiatrist, but that opportunity did not come yet. He is now working in a large hospital to treat mental illnesses, despite his appearance. His young age, however considered as the most skilled and most efficient doctors at work.

And fate wills choice falls on him to go to sanatorium(the start)Instead of the sheriff. The senior hospital director asked to meet him in his office as soon as he arrived.

The boss spoke with Fouad just once his arrival to the big hospital saying:

- There is something important I want to share with you.

- Of course, go ahead.

- They called me a little while ago from a sanatorium (the start) They want a good doctor allowance from another doctor. He is called Sherif; He resigned for his own reasons, Of course you are the first to come to my mind at that moment, it is the first time that they use our doctors, the work team has not changed since they took over work in that place since its founding, So I don't want to send anyone because I don't want to let them down and I don't want the big hospital's reputation to be tarnished either.

Fouad smiled.

- Yes, I understand you and I am very honored that you nominate me for this job, but I am used to working here in peace and quiet and talking to patients smoothly, I am not used to the noise of mental illness is a lot, although I know how to deal with them.

The large hospital was specialized in psychiatric diseases only and had nothing to do with mental illness. It was also a government hospital that did not have many instructions restricting the freedom of its employees, unlike private clinics that had many systems and regulations restricting the freedom of doctors, especially for those who were not used to working in private clinics, perhaps. This is what made Fouad stick to his work in it, the hospital director understands this very well, but he tried to dissuade Fouad from his opinion in a practical and polite way as well, so he said to him while returning a smile to Fouad:

- You can stay at work here if you want and go to the sanatorium at specific times, but this will tire you out a little bit. Anyway, I'll let you think about it and then let me know your opinion.. And don't forget that your salary in a private sanatorium will be three times higher than your salary here.

Fouad went to his office and sat thinking about it and his routine boring life. The days are very similar to each other.no new under the sun, He wakes up at the same time every morning, he eats roughly the same types of food for each of his meals. He goes the same places to see the same faces to say the same words, but it seems that he longed for a random life.