A year on Venus

45: He is family

Hello readers, this is Asmaa your writer😀 hope you are enjoying the book so far! Dont forget to follow, vote and comment!

Adams's eyes bulged out before he glanced at me with unsquinted eyes, I rose my hands up in surrender, and together we bursted out laughing at Ruby.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Ruby." I borrowed her mouth.

"You look pretty Ruby!" He complimented and I watched as she giggled over receiving a compliment from him. I couldn't stop smiling at that.

Our next stop was the hospital.

Adam had to stay outside because he wasn't family. The doctor checked my eyes and thought the situation was really complicated. I told him I was being careful, I was neither watching YouTube nor reading much anymore, yet, his answer made my heart sank.

"It's not about you! It's about the nature surrounding you. Your environment. Earth!"

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Remember what I said last time?"

My heart sank at that, I ended up nodding at him.

"That's the issue." He replied.

I couldn't say today was the worst day of my life, but it's about to be one.

"Doctor, I don't know if this is your field too, but I've been having abdominal pain that I was taking medicine for, outta sudden the pain has skyrocketed."

"How long since?"

"Ever since I started having period. I went to a certain hospital back home and the doctors assured it's mild appendice that doesn't require operation."

Okay, am i the only one finding his intense gaze on me weird?

"You are cute?" He said, in a questioning tone rather than statement.

"I don't know." I answered back honestly. If he thought i'm cute and is asking me whether I am, then I don't know. I don't know if i'm ugly or cute.

"It's not a question cutie." He said with a smile and I ended up scrunching my nose at that.

"I think I'll need your family to discuss the situation at hand."

"Well, network over there been playing around." I replied, when suddenly I remembered Adams, he's equally a family to me! He's the only one I got over here!

"Well, let me call Adams. He's family."
I knew he knew who Adams was to me. Because he'd asked countlessly that I was beginning to think it's weird, and every time I had only one answer; 'he isn't family' but today I was calling him one, I knew it's normal for the doctor to question that.

"I know he isn't one. Be honest with yourself." He simply said.

"Anyways we need to examine your body and see the diseases we can get out of there!" He said.

I got in an MRI. I was asked not to move, if not I would lose my life, lasers were to scan all the diseases in my body and every single thing that's wrong with me. And I knew physics, I knew how dangerous lasers were. So I wasn't scared of the diseases the doctor was likely to find out, I was afraid of losing my life before the diseases are even found, due to laser! Laser could cut and chop off my organs and melt down my body. I was left with no other option than to lay down and close my eyes. I kept praying to Allah to protect and not allow anything go wrong.

Minutes later I found myself sitting in front of the doctor with teary eyes. He bowed his head down. Then let it out, "i'm sorry!" And right there I knew there wasn't going back.

"So I tend to have dinner with my patients, I was wondering if you will accept my offer."

I wasn't thinking straight so I found myself nodding, because after all, my days were numbered. "I'll come along with Adams, please don't let him know any of this." I begged.

"Patients secrets are safe with me."

"I don't want him to worry about it. That's why." I added. That's the truth, I just don't want him to find out about this, he'd done enough for me already.

I got out of the doctor's slowly, as if an egg had break in my tummy,

I rose my head to see Adams seating on one of the chairs with his head pressed to his knees.

"Adams!" I gently called out as I walked up to him. For the first time I knew I had to either tell him a lie or not say anything at all.

He quickly stood up and smiled which suddenly vanished before it even reached his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

I forced out a smile and shook my head at him.

"You want me to believe that?" He said again.

"It's just... It's just...I was scared and tired and feeling nostalgic. I haven't seen my parents in many weeks and it's hard for me." I said as I broke out in tears. My whole body was shaking as I cried away my heart. But even though those things were disturbing me, the main essence I was crying was my sickness — the sickness that was more than just eye pain!

Once at the car I found myself saying to Adams, "is it okay for a doctor to call you cute?"

"Why? He called you cute?..." He started.

"Yeah!"

"I think it's normal. When someone's cute, you call them cute."

"Yeah maybe he was just trying to be nice." I said.

"Yeah." Adams said as he concentrated on driving. By this time I've stopped crying. I knew for the safety of my eyes I couldn't allow myself to cry for long. 

"He invited me over for dinner, but I don't wanna go alone. So I told him I would come along with you. He kinda said it's part of the treatments, getting closer to patients and all! So I could feel okay around him, otherwise i might be hiding things from him and stuff." I said as I glanced at Adams. I saw his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.