Only In Jannah

30: R.I.P

Safina drew in a breath looking up at the uninteresting roof of the ambulance, she had managed to tune out the continuous sound of the siren, somehow not hearing the alarming sound calmed her down. Since the arrival of the Paramedics she had promised herself not to break down, she was alone and she had to be strong.

Looking down at her grandmothers pale hand which was loosely holding onto hers she smiled, that gave her hope. Everything happened so fast and she prayed it would return to normal even faster, her grandmother was such a happy person and cardiac arrest was the last thing she thought would happen to her but she had noticed a few changes in the last two days. Grandma had been worried since she received a call from her daughter asking about her family's old residence in Bauchi, she was scared they would find out the truth. That she had lied about not having any family and that the person who was once the closest to her heart was living in abject poverty while she enjoyed all the luxuries of life. She was ashamed of that period in her life, so ashamed she had tried to forget and she had done so for the past forty years.

The ambulance came to a stop outside hospital, the rush of getting the stretcher out the back and into the hospital weakened Safina, she could feel her own pulse slowing down. Seeing Abu-Bakr walk into the hospitals reception where she had managed to sit down gave her room to breakdown, she immediately felt her tears beginning to flow as if they were waiting on him. Abu-Bakr dashed to where his wife was, enveloping her into a hug and as she cried her heart out he drew circles on her back which he hoped would grant her some form of ease.
"Everything will be fine Saf, you don't need to cry" she nodded staying put, she wouldn't trade that comfort for anything.

"Should I inform mom and dad?" Abu-Bakr asked, Safina sniffed wiping a tear from the side of her face she retracted from the hold leaning back on the adjoined chair they shared.

"No, moms going to freak out. I'll call Mahmoud when I'm a bit relaxed"

"Okay" they waited for another half hour watching the hospitals activities go on until a doctor approached them asking the a family member of the patient to see him in his office.

"I'm her granddaughter" Safina said getting on her feet, she turned around to look at Abu-Bakr "This is my husband" the doctor nodded.

"Great, shall we" within the snap of a finger they were within the confines of Dr. Williams office.
"The patient suffered a cutoff of blood and oxygen to the brain" he proceeded to display three brain scans on an Xray display board "this shows the normal blood circulation of the brain and this is the patients" he moved away from the display board leaning on the edge of his table "we tried our best but the patient has slipped into coma. We will observe her for the next twenty four hours to determine the chances of recovery" Safina was sure she had drained all the fluids in her body, she felt numb and all she did was nod unconsciously. The little ounce of hope she had was whisked away, she blinked continuously as everything seemed to slow down.
"Thank you Doctor" Abu-Bakr ended the conversation and took his wife's hand leading her out of the office, they took the elevator to the second floor where they found grandmas ward. They stood apart outside the ward watching her sleep through the glass opening on the door, Safina sighed pulling her phone out of her trouser pocket. She had a call to make.

***

Mahmoud took a bite of his apple humming a happy song tasting the tangy sweet flavour of his red fruit, he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and pulled it out settling down on one of the stools bordering the kitchen island.

"Safina baby" he smiled switching to hands free mode he dropped his phone in front of him taking a second bite from his apple "zo ki ci apple" he teased and when she didn't respond he called her name.