45 Phone Calls

#3rd phone call

'Assalaamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh Ummi,' I greeted stepping into the kitchen and my mother surprised me when she smiled as she responded,'Wa'alaikum assalaam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.'

I had set my alarm at 8am so that my ummi would be upset with me for sleeping late again but I felt terrible. My nose was blocked, my chest felt tight, my head was throbbing-this pain stood out the most, my throat was scratchy and my body hurt all over.

'Oh Amal, you don't look so good,' my mother said frowning and I forced a smile.

'I'm okay, I just have a slight headache.'

It felt as if someone had hit me with a hammer repeatedly. No exaggeration here.

She placed her hand on my forehead and clicked her tongue against her palate.
'No no, you're burning up. Get back into bed and I'll be right there,' she told me, leaving no room for argument. I walked up the stairs on unsteady legs and fell into a mess of a heap onto my bed. I groaned, regretting it immediately when my head hurt even more.

My phone buzzed and forgetting about how terrible I felt, I jumped and reached for it under my pillow.

'Hello?' I answered breathlessly.

'Amal...'

A small smile broke out on my face.
'Assalaamualaikum Ishaan,' I greeted and got under the ugly purple covers once I finished propping my pillows into a comfortable position.

'Wa'alaikum assalaam Amal, why do you sound...like a man?'

Strike one.

I frowned feeling offended and answered,'I think that I might be sick.'

'Oh well then I'm sorry. How do you feel?'

I thought deeply about the question. I could not decipher my emotions at that point due to the fact that all my attention was focused on my throbbing head.

'I feel fine, you?'

'Alhamdulillah I am always well.'

A moment of silence passed between us before he said,'Amal, I'm sorry about yesterday. I had no right to mention Adam but I just wanted to-'

'It's okay, just drop the subject,' I cut in whilst trying to sound more kind than rude.

'What is your biggest fear?' He asked changing the subject but the question he had asked gave me anxiety all the time.

'Heights,' I lied before adding,'and bugs. How about yours?'

He went silent before saying,'My biggest fear has already happened so do not worry about that.'

I tugged the blanket closer to me and narrowed my gaze at nothing in particular. 'Not fair, tell me what your greatest fear is.'

'It was bound to happen but my biggest, I mean greatest fear was losing my grandma and I did at the age of 14.'

'Oh I am so sor-'

'Why do you want to apologise?' He cut me off and I felt my cheeks tinge.

'Because that's what we do here.'

'Why? Why apologise when you have nothing to do with her death?'

I felt stupid for some reason.

'Why don't you google it?' I asked firing his own words which he had used when I asked what meri jaan means right back at him.

I could sense him smiling as he said,'You're quite cheeky.'

I snickered and felt my heart stop when my mother barged inside with a bowl in her hand.