Chapter 12: Sadistic Sister
1159 Words
Shadi stood up. “I’ll go check on Fahd.”
"Why? Is he okay?" Talal blinked. "You seem worried."
Shadi glanced at him, thinking whether or not he should tell him about the suicide attempt. "Sort of. He should be okay, but just to be sure. He was trembling of the cold earlier. Maybe he's still cold."
"Oh. I'll go with you then," Talal stood up and wiped his mouth quickly. "Come on."
As soon as they left the kitchen, Shadi stopped. "He tried to commit suicide."
Talal's eyes widened. "Why?"
"His sister saw him, and when I saved him, she complained. She said she wanted him dead." Shadi started walking soundlessly, and Talal understood the hint. They walked stealthily back to the main hall, and they found Rania sitting next to her brother and holding his wrist, about to inject him with a yellowish substance. That's when Shadi cleared his throat and walked into the hall. Rania then hid the injection in her sleeve and turned to him. "I was checking on my brother. Can you give us some time alone?"
"Actually, no." Shadi smiled at her. "I need to check on him first."
"I'm his sister. I'm obviously more important than you!"
"If you were his sister, you wouldn't be angry because he survived a suicide attempt."
Rania rolled her eyes. "Whatever, he's all yours."
She left the room, and Shadi instantly grabbed Fahd's shoulders, attempting to wake him up. Talal joined him and lifted Fahd's eyelids. "No use… He's drugged, and he won't wake up any time soon; it must be a potent drug. Search for a needle mark."
"His neck." Shadi pointed at Fahd's exposed neck. "There's a mark here. It's even bleeding. Must have hurt."
Talal sighed. "This is bad. She is seriously trying to kill him. Also, his temperature bothers me. His body is too cold. Did he tell you anything?"
"No. Not really. He said he wasn't aware of any diseases."
"Hm… This is troublesome. We can only wait and see what happens." Talal carefully laid Fahd on the couch and covered him. He observed his slow breathing patterns with palpable anxiety. "He cannot be left without supervision."
"I'll do it." They glanced behind, and Zain walked towards them. "I finished eating. I wasn’t feeling hungry anyway. I can stay here. You two go back."
"Are you sure?" Shadi raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were enemies."
"We are, but I won't allow anyone to kill him." Zain pouted and folded his arms, looking away. "I didn't know his sister was holding grudges. That's annoying."
Shadi and Talal smiled. "Well then, we leave him to you."
"If he doesn't wake up in a day, tell me," Talal added. "I will see if I can tinker an IV."
"Okay." Zain nodded, and the others left.
A day passed, and the night didn't come. It was morning all the time, and the twenty people would lose the sense of time if not for their phones which were counting the days for them. Zain watched Fahd sleeping, annoyed.
Talal returned. "I actually found an infirmary. It has got all the equipment we need. Let me take him there." He carried the black-haired and blinked, noticing his hair roots were white. He frowned and walked towards the infirmary. Joud joined him. "How is he?"
"I don't know. Too cold for sure." Talal glanced at Zain. "Did anything usual happen?"
"Not really."
"He's too light. He can't combat disease with this body." Talal sighed. He lay the black-haired on a bed in the infirmary and started preparing the IV. Zain yawned and sat at the corner of the bed. He blinked, seeing signs of pain showing up on Fahd's face. His breathing started getting faster as his fingers gripped the white sheets. Zain frowned, confused. "What's going on?"
Fahd gasped, and blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He breathed a name the others couldn't understand, and tears ran down his temples.
"This is bad… The drug is probably making him hallucinate. It took its time to kick in though. Strange."
Zain watched Fahd gasping and hyperventilating, shocked. "Why is he in so much pain? What… kind of trauma did he have?"
"It's not necessarily linked to trauma. It can be anything." Talal glanced at Zain. "Well, if you're curious, ask him later."
Fahd suddenly cried out in fear and sat up, eyes round. He was shuddering and gasping, blood and saliva running down his chin. His messy black hair covered his face, and Zain sat next to him, called out his name several times without receiving an answer. Fahd brought his hand up to his face and broke into a fit of blood coughing and gasping for air. Zain stared at him, not knowing what to do.
Fahd clung to his shirt and eyed him, and Zain saw a mixture of fear and exhaustion in his dull eyes.
"It was an overdose of drugs. Damn." Talal nervously glanced around and started searching for the right equipment.
Zain removed the hair from Fahd's face. "What is it? Tell me."
"M…" Fahd's eyelids started dropping as he fell to the side. "S… S… Si… s…" His voice gradually disappeared into a whisper as his head tilted to the side, and he fell silent. Zain leaned down next to his mouth.
"He's… He's not breathing?!" His eyes slowly widened. "He's not breathing! Do something! He will die!"
"I know. I know. Just go out for now," Talal helped Zain stand. "I will tell you when his condition is stable. He will be fine. Don't worry."
Zain nodded and glanced at the black-haired one more time before leaving the room and sitting outside on the floor, waiting.
The others quickly joined him. "What happened?" They all seemed anxious. "We heard Fahd screaming. Is he okay?"
Zain shrugged. "I don't know. Check by yourselves."
"Why are you always like this?!" Rahma frowned. "Why do you hate him so much?"
"Because he hates me too."
"That aside, we can only wait now," Jassem spoke. I assume Talal and Joud are with him."
"Yeah. They say the infirmary is like a damn hospital. It contains everything." Zain moved his gaze to the crowd and caught a glimpse of Rania smiling in triumph from behind. He felt his blood boiling but lowered his head and bit his lip. Shadi watched her silently from behind. He closed his eyes and started walking away. He stopped in front of a room, hearing the sound of a glass bottle breaking.
Opening the door, his eyes widened, finding the room filled with the finest types of wine around the world. He entered the room and glanced around, swallowing hard. As his hand reached for one bottle, he stopped, remembering his promise to himself after he stole his brother's money to never drink again. His hand started shaking, and he forced himself to lower it. He took a few steps backwards and left the room without looking back. He found Oussama outside, who smiled at him. "Trying to quit?"
"S-Sort of." Shadi looked away and rushed out of sight. Oussama sighed and glanced back at the room before closing the door and leaving.
- Writer
