HEAL

Chapter Two

 (unedited)

He didn't regret leaving Abdul and Tee Tee behind at the bar, it was Friday and he was supposed to spend the weekend at their apartment in the state’s capital as he always does since he got to Bala. He was always at their apartment every weekend to get some companionship and a little bit of fun that was amiss in his life at Bala.
   His excuse to the two for leaving barely thirty minutes after they got to the bar was that he was having a headache and although they both said to him that it was alright for him to leave and hoped he felt better, he didn't miss the skeptical look that was on their face.
   They knew something was wrong with him because it was unlike their friend; Hassan who was the most sociable among the three and who is always playing pranks and trouble even in the face of trouble so withdrawn and awfully silent most of the times.
   Hassan also admits that something weird had been happening to him lately, coupled with the series of nightmares he had been having, he found himself often being irritated with everything and everyone with no apparent reasons.
  Noises coming from the bar crowded with people made him all heavy and dizzy and when he felt that familiar creeping coldness, he took that as a cue to a leave.
   As he strolled down the district thoughtlessly in his uniform, a group of young, half-naked children ran after him and sang some gibberish words he didn’t understand, but he was sure he heard them sang the word ‘English’ as they rhyme their jargons with claps.
   He turned to them and waved which made them cheer and got them more excited, he was amused but not surprised by the acts of these kids because it is not every time of the year that they see youth corpers and this is because most corps posted there usually seek for a transfer to other places where big industries and companies existed.
   The kids finally eventually tired themselves out and stopped the cheerful chase.
   He missed the short-lived pleasure the kids brought him and unconsciously kicking a stone on his way, he continued his lonely walk.
He stopped in his tracks as the creeping coldness came back, and this time it was overwhelming and all he could remember before falling face down was losing the control of his limbs.
****
   The sunlight that escapes through the window blinds jerks him up and from the white walls that surrounds him to the groaning of someone beside him, he needed no one to tell him that he ended up in a hospital bed.
   He sat down on the bed and looked at his bare feet; looking at his feet made him realize that his boots are gone and so are is uniforms as he was in a white hospital gown.
  He was perfectly alright and couldn't comprehend why and how he ended up in a hospital.
    He felt helpless; he was not with clothes “technically he wasn’t”, had no idea who undressed him or took him to this hospital and the weird look he keeps getting from the old man that lies on the bed beside him wasn't helping at all. So, he stood up to exit the hospital ward with the little dignity he had left.
   He had barely taken a step when an aged nurse he hadn't noticed sitting by a worn-out desk said, “Where are you going young man?”
   When she got no reply from him, she told him he can't leave the hospital until he has been reassessed by a doctor.
   He sat down back, looked around and found his wristwatch and phone on the bedside table. He reached for his phone and powered it only to find loads of missed call from his friends, he wasn't ready to talk to them, not that he had anything to tell them anyways, so he decided to play games on his phone instead.
   He was a bit startled when the Matron got to his side and took his wrist to check his pulse, she did some other strange things to him like pulling down his cheeks to check his eyes and other procedures he had no idea about.
   Just as the Nurse left him, a young woman in a white coat entered the ward. He stared at her as she went from a patient to the other, marking something in the brown file she held and giving small smiles to the patients through her Hijab-wrapped face.
    She gave him that same smile when she got to his side, “Our patient is finally awake”. She said to nobody in particular.
"Do you remember me? “It took Hassan some moments before he realized that the Doctor was referring to him.
He stared at her face for a while, he was pretty sure he hadn’t seen her face before.
"I was the one who brought you here."
   Hassan found himself staring at her again, thinking about how ridiculous her words sounded.
   "Not that I was the one that literally lifted you up, I don't have that much strength.” She said, laughing at her own joke, "Alright Mr... What is your name?"
   "Hassan Ibrahim."
   "I'm Dr.Aaisha."She said smiling again that Hassan wondered if she ever gets tired of smiling.
   "Can you remember anything from last night, I mean how you ended up in the hospital?”
   "Except for falling down on my way to my apartment, I’m not sure I remember anything else".
   "Mr. Ibrahim you had an epileptic fit and had been unconscious for nearly twelve hours”. She said as she takes some notes down on the file.
   He shuddered at her words, the scary images of people with epilepsy flashes in his head; body shaking vigorously with saliva and some white stuffs running from their mouth.
   As a kid he was always scared of having anything to do with people with epilepsy as he was always told that he would automatically get the disease if he comes in contact with people having the disease.
   "Has this ever happened to you before?"
   "No"
   "Who in your family has epilepsy?"
    "Nobody I think."
   "How old are you?"
   "26."
   The room went silent as she scribbled something down.
"These are some tests you have to run, please do come with the results next week".
    He collected at the sheet of paper she handed out to him.
   "You will be discharged as soon as you settle your bills, you can meet the hospital Porter, she will help you with that.”Aisha said as she turned to attend to another patient.
   She swiveled back and added; “Oh! your clothes will soon be ready, I arranged for it to get laundered, it got pretty dirty".
   He took walk back home because trekking is the cheapest and convenient method of transport within Bala since it is a small community and houses aren’t that far from each other.
    A few steps ahead him, he saw Dr. Aaisha and jogged to her side.
    She seems startled at first when she saw him heading towards her but nodded to him as he got to his side.
    "I never got the chance to thank you properly for what you did yesterday, Doctor”. He said the moment he got to her side.
   "You are welcome, and please call me Aaisha, we are out of the hospital".
   “Alright then.”
   They walked a couple of steps in silence before Aaisha said;         "Till the test results are out, I can't make a proper diagnosis but try to be careful".
   "Okay, I will."
   "Anytime you feel dizzy, it will be best to stay away from crowds because let’s face it, not many people are ready to get close to a person having an epileptic fit”. She added
   "That is the sad part, I am also guilty of running away from people with epilepsy even after knowing later in life that it is in no way contagious”. He reflected sadly.
"We are in a confused world aren't we?"Aaisha said in a low voice.
    They went silent for a while before he said, “You don't look like someone from here are you also a Corper?”
She replied with a short laugh, “I’m here on housemanship program which is more or less like being a corper".
That piqued his curiosity, “housemanship, what’s that?".
“It is a year program that all new doctors have to do before…”
They went on conversing, him asking question and her answering his questions till they got close to her apartment which is surprisingly not far from his.
She turned to him and said, "My apartment is over there, I’ll be going, Salam Alaykum".
"Ok, bye."
And they parted ways.