Once Upon A Lifetime

Chapter Twenty-two ~ He's gone too

Taalia's POV~

I woke up one morning the following week and checked the time. It was only ten. I couldn't sleep anymore because my head was hurting so I decided to get out of bed and take some medicine. After washing up quickly, I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I almost screamed when I saw Aasim standing there with his parents and brothers and my parents and Raza. The first thing that came to my mind was hijab. Luckily, their backs were facing me so I took this opportunity to escape.

I ran back to the living room but saw more people coming in through the front door so I made a mad dash towards the bathroom on the lower level.

I cursed myself for not paying attention to their loud voices. I was too busy focusing on the headache that had now increased in pain. I took a few deep breaths while leaning against the sink until I calmed down enough to call out,

"RAZA!" I waited for a few moments then finally heard his voice.

"Taali?" He called out.

"In here." I said.

"In where?"

"In the bathroom, doofus!" I heard the knob jiggle but the door didn't open.

"It's locked."

"I am aware now listen. I need you to go up to my room and get my scarf." I said.

"Why don't you have your scarf on?"

"Because I didn't know we had guests now go get it!" I snapped.

"Yes sir!" He mocked and I heard his footsteps walking away and up the stairs. A few minutes later, he was back and gave me my scarf through the small opening of the door. I quickly wrapped it around my head and finally exited the bathroom to get my medicine.

Aasim and his family were still there talking to my parents and Raza. I opened the cupboard and found my medicine for the morning.

"Asalamu Alaikum." I heard a voice behind me and I turned around to see Aasim.

"Wa Alaikum Asalam. Umm, sorry I wasn't down earlier." I apologized. He shook his head and smiled. 

"Don't apologize. I saw you taking medicine. Is your, um... tumor, umm..." 

"Um, it hasn't been so bad lately, Alhamdulillah." I said. 

"Ahamdulillah. Just make sure to get enough rest and take your medicine on time. Have.... um, have you considered the surgery?" 

Ugh, I hate this question. 

"Well, I want to try the therapy first." I said. 

"Are you sure? You never know when the tumor could get worse." 

"Yes, I am sure." 

"Do you know what stage your tumor is in?" I winced at the question. I had recently gone to the doctors and gotten another x-ray done and turns out the tumor had gotten worse. The therapy wasn't helping much but they couldn't force me into surgery and I didn't want to do it yet. Even though everyone else around me was insisting so. 

"Um, it's now a grade two tumor." I finally replied. I peeked up at his face and winced again when I saw his eyes had widened and his facial expression was a pained one. 

"And you still don't want to do the surgery?" I quickly shook my head. 

"InshaAllah, I will be fine without it." I smiled. But he didn't look convinced. 

"Yo, Aasim!" Raza called and we both turned to look at him. 

"Yeah?" 

"When is your flight?" My heart skipped a beat.