Unapologetically

chapter ten

Marwa stood under the roof of the entrance, waiting for a call, or for his car to stop in front. Or for even the rain to pass. Her lab coat was tucked over her arm and her hand held her phone, stethoscope and bag.

She was waiting for him, but felt immensely stupid doing so. He hadn't confirmed he'd come pick her up. Even in the morning she hadn't seen him. When she'd asked Afia, the older woman had told her that he'd left early and that she should go to college with the driver.

Rotations would be starting soon, and they were at the same teaching hospital that Rohail worked at. She didn't understand why he didn't just get a job at some other hospital. She already saw him at home, she didn't want to see him in the hospital.

Things between them were like a canoe in a lake. At times it was placid, calm, amicable even. That was usually when they both upheld the unspoken vow of silence.

As soon as one of them spoke, the canoe became unbalanced. The more the spoke, the greater the lurch of the water. And as the casual speaking drifted into an argument, as fury overtook them, as need for each other and want to be away filled them, the canoe tipped, submerging them, and they wouldn't be able to look at each other for a few days.

But today, today she needed him and wanted him. She was willing to overlook everything if he just came. She waited like the stupid woman she believed herself to be. Five minutes turned to ten. Then a classmate stopped by and asked about her schedule.

10 turned to fifteen, the rain was beginning to stop.

15 to 20, and anger laced her through and through. Desolation, hurt. No matter how much she pushed him away, he always came. Then why not today?

And just at she hit the half hour mark, her pride overtook her. She was running low on money these days, choosing to let the amount she had in her savings account be solely for Rumaisa's everyday expenses. Counting the bills, she deduced she would have enough for an Uber.

Her hands shook as she typed in the familiar address. Her heart thundered as she waited for the ride to arrive. And then she stilled her hands by clenching her fists as she got into it. She weakly replied to the clarification question from the driver and then directed her gaze towards the window.

The car drove by the same campus, the same city, that she had never bothered to remember before she had come to live with Rumaisa. She had always been bad with directions. She now knew each road by heart. She knew where to go when there was a greater amount of traffic. Yet her brain fell quiet as they entered that part of the city that was quiet, posh, lush.

The houses became farther and farther apart. Bigger. Grander. She could recall the names of the people who lived there. And then, at the end of the road lay in ruins, the most magnificent one of them all.

The firefighters hadn't made it in time. Hence the majority was burned down, especially the east wing which is where the fire had supposedly started. However the west part of the house where her father usually worked on his paintings was still there.

She looked at it as she got out of the Uber, not meeting the driver's curious and concerned gaze as she slipped him the money.

"Aap theek tho hain baaji?" He asked, as if he had a sense of duty towards her.

"Gee. Aap jaye." She breathlessly responded. Her eyes were glued onto the west wing. She could see the pergola of the terrace the melted edges expanding and eating away at the center until frayed prices of steel remained, blackened.

Then her gaze felt on the curved part of the western wing, that always resembled a cylinder or a tower.

Like Rapunzel's.