You are mine now, Deal?

Chapter 4

Father!

I stood beside my father who was struggling to breathe. You know something else worse than death, having unsupportive family members. It is like dying while still alive.

“His condition got worse by the day. I should have called you earlier but your mother suggested I don't to enable you concentrate on your upcoming exams,” the nurse said calmly in order not to make the already tense situation worse.

I dropped out of school about a year ago. None of my family members knew I was a dropout, not even Zoya. I still haven't figured out how I successfully hid it from her but I guess I can do whatever I put my mind to.

Telling my parents about my dropout would break their heart, especially my father. If I could successfully tell my mom and my brother without my father having to hear a thing I would have but that was extremely impossible.

The unbearable shame that comes from dropping out of school didn't allow me to tell anyone about the decisions I took to save my father from his condition.

Giving up being the first neurosurgeon of my community was such a huge sacrifice but my father was worth it.

I melted in an instant, I picked up my phone searching for consolation wherever I could. I dialed Zoya's number.

“My father just slipped into, Cococcoma.”

“Wait I can't hear you at all. What did you say?”

“I tried repeating myself but I couldn't get the words out.”

“Where are you now?” she asked.

“At the hospital,” I answered.

“I'm coming over,” she hanged up.

The world was silent. I could hear a drop of pin. The whole hospital smelled of drugs and blood. I had an immediate sweat trickle down my forehead, down to my cheek then to my laps.

The sight of an emergency patient wheeled into the hospital on a bed made it worse.

I started to feel choked up. I ran out of the hospital. The vomit I was struggling to hole in escaped my mouth and plastered on the hospital walls.

The cleaner standby mumbled in disgust, minutes later she approached, “are you okay? Do you need to be attended to? I can help.”

“No, I am fine. I just need to breathe,” I responded giving her no room to disturb herself over whatever I was going through.

She kept her mop and bucket close to the wall and rushed into the hospital to pick up a towel.

Afterwards she came out with a bowel and cold water, deeped the towel inside and dabbed it on my forehead.

Time had passed my mom wasn't here yet neither was Yazmin but staring at a distance I can see Zoya running towards me with her hair quite and unkept.

“Baby girl what happened you look out of this world,” she querid.

“My father's condition got worse. I feel like I'm sinking into the earth. I have lost all hope,” I said sinking into the chair.

“You better not sink. This is the time to be stronger than before. Tough times make tough people.” She said making a fist.

Zoya was good with words. She said those things to raise my already dampened spirits but it wasn't working.

“It's all me now. I'm lost,” no amount of words were enough to make me feel better.

“Don't say that I'm here and we'll figure it out together what is the doctor saying?”

“Thank you Ma,” she told the woman who was helping me calm down. She took the towel from her and continued dabbing my forehead. I was still panting and chasing my breath like they were running away from me.

“She said it's got worse so he sleeped into coma. He's still breathing and all but unresponsive.”

“Can I take a look?”

“I don't want to go in there now, the sight is depressing but I can give you the room number you can go and see for yourself.”

“No. I won't go without you. Not when you're like this I'm not leaving you here,” she shrugged her shoulders and held my hand.

She placed her hand on my neck and pushed it to calmly rest on her shoulders. It felt like home till it didn't.

“Miss Dana,”

“Yes, that's me,” I answered. Immediately I heard my name my heart skipped. “What's the news now?” I thought. But I most certainly knew that whatever it was it would be worse than earlier giving that the nurse was in a haste.

“I need your attention now,” she ordered running into the hospital without hesitation.

Zoya held me tight by my hand as a mother held a child. We both rushed into the hospital to my father's hospital bed.

My father was jerking on his bed intensely shaking the bed and all that surrounded it. His eyes were wild open. His pupils had disappeared leaving only the cornea exposed.

The nurses swung into action working tirelessly to figure out what the problem was but the more they tried the more he jerked. Finally, they administered an injection to him which would calm the situation but his eyes still refused to close.

“Is your mom still alive?” the nurse asked

“Yes she is. I thought she was here I have tried reaching out to her but her number isn't going through.”

“You have siblings?” she scowled her fave in disappointment.

“Yes I have one. He's in school as well but he comes home occasionally,” so I thought.

“This is not something you should do alone your family members have to be close in case of any new developments especially his wife to give proper accounts or sign documents when necessary.”

Zoya in her normal protest attitude blurted, “She's old enough. She would sign it were necessary. I am her family,” I was sitting close to her. She responded and wrapped her hands around mine.

“I don't want to lose my father,” I soaked begging the nurses that surrounded him.

Nothing much had changed just the jerking stopped. My father's nose and ears started giving away little droplets of blood.

I had a little ray of hope seeing the effort put into keeping him alive.

At exactly 11:15 p.m. Monday night, my father gave up the ghost for good!