Endurance

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Sa'ad, what's going on?." Layla asked after she stepped out of the hospital room behind her brother and right then Mansoor emerged by the double doors. Her breath hitched momentarily in her throat when eyes her were fixed on him.

He wore a deep blue bespoke Kaftan in fabric that had a slight soft golden embroidered finishing running along the front top of the cloth with the usual Tangaran to match. That instant was the moment she felt subconscious of her appearance watching him approach because she was wearing the same outfit she wore the day before and she was starting to look raggedy as hell.

He smiled, the slight rosiness of his lips grabbing her attention and she had to look away before her mind drift to imaginations she'd rather not entertain as he greeted them then stood by her brother's side and enquired.

"Any improvement?."

"I was just about to relate the news on the girl's diagnosis. The doctor confirmed that she has Aplastic anemia, pneumonia and a liver infection." Mansoor's expression turned grim, a mirror of Sa'ad's just a while ago.

"The infection is suspected to have come from prolonged consumption of a certain medication, something that led to accrued toxicity which has to do with a hepatic injury. Aina confirmed the medication part, said the girl had a bottle of herbal medication when she first came to their home." Sa'ad stood tall with his arms across his chest. "The pneumonia is not as severe as expected though."

"The anemia?."

"She'll need a stem-cell transplant as soon as possible."

"I'm not following any of what you're saying Sa'ad. What exactly is going on apart from the pneumonia part?." Layla asked with a confused wring of her hands as her head was already spinning with a speed she could hardly contain.

"She has to be transferred to a better hospital then. Here won't work." Mansoor directed the statement at her brother instead.

"I'll see to it." Sa'ad nodded and moved to the doctor's office, leaving her standing and feeling as lost as a child that couldn't find their mother.

"A'isha, where have you—" Her mother peeked out but trailed off when she saw Mansoor and right then her face broke into a wide smile. She ushered him into the room and worked to grab a chair for him but he laughed and quickly beat her to it, not allowing it.

Layla stood by the doorway as the bond between this man and her mother unfolded before her eyes, while on the other hand Hafsa's condition plagued her mind, making her miserably weak and anxious from the inside. Her mother offhandedly passed her phone which she took with a shaky hand and checked to see messages and calls from Amira and Zaynab. Tucking it at the back of her mind to call them a little later, she leaned on the wall and surfed through the web to find out about what she heard in the hospital hallway.

Her mind refused to be at peace at what her searches revealed, a weight so heavy she couldn't possibly imagine dropped itself on her shoulders, killing every single bit and shred of hope she had of Hafsa's recovery.

She stood there, rooted on the spot as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her, the spinning in her head thoroughly affecting the last bit of strength she had left. She had no idea what happened, or how it happened but she could feel the familiar arms that held her days ago encircling her frame as the ground that held her became closer, where she was slightly being shaken by the arm. An indication that someone was trying to keep her awake and calling her name.

Distantly, she heard her mother's anxious supplications to which she shut her eyes so she could stop the painful spinning of the room. Oblivion was all that was before her eyes and she dove into its darkness like a fallen star, weak and worn out with slight relief at the prospect of having some semblance of respite from the pain her life had become.