Incandescence

Chapter 10

Alisha

The clock on the adjacent wall ticked to three p.m. I was finally well enough to go home today. The two weeks of ordeal had finally come to an end. The doctor had given me his approval that if I came for regular checkups, I was allowed to go home. I could resume my old life and work as a normal person now. I was the happiest person today because I was getting rid of this dank and dark hospital. I would be back home in my own bed, with my parents. I couldn't help but celebrate my freedom. I was tired of lying on the bed all day, doing nothing. I was ready to go back to work. There was so much work that I'd left pending while I was in hospital. Shahmir and Sadaf had handled as much as they could but it was time to go back and complete the tasks that were pending. There were clients waiting for me to come back because they wanted to talk to the CEO before they awarded us the project. Although I had given Sadaf full authority, I was needed there.

I watched as a nurse stood beside my bed, removing the canola and IV tubes from my hand. She checked my vitals and updated the chart that she held in her hand. The hospital was just making sure that I was alright before I went home. I could almost feel myself getting free now. Freedom! I could almost smell it. I smiled softly at Sadaf, who was seated in one of the chairs beside the bed and watching me closely. I knew that she was worried about me. She didn't know how happy I was to finally go back home and resume my life. The nurse finally left, leaving me alone with Sadaf.

"What did you bring me to wear?" I asked.

"Here." She held out my favorite blue jeans and green t-shirt with "I'm my daddy's girl" painted on it. I swung my legs from the bed and stood up. It was so good to be back on my feet. I looked down at my feet, which looked new. Due to the doctors insistence, I had to wait for my feet to heal real nice. They were protected from the fire because they were under the table so I'd only received second degree burns on them, which had healed real nice in the two weeks that's I'd spent in the hospital. I took a step towards the bathroom but my feet wobbled. Sadaf quickly rushed towards me and provided me support to hold while I tried to take my first few steps after the accident. I walked around the room, to make my legs get to used to walking them went into the washroom.

"Do you want me to help you change?" Sadaf asked, looking worriedly at me. I shook my head.

"No! I can manage."

"Alright. Alisha will you do me a favor when you go in the washroom?" Sadaf asked me, stopping me at the door of the washroom.

I turned around and looked at her.

"Please don't look in the mirror yet." Sadaf said with a sad expression.

"Sadaf!" I said, walking over to my best friend. Her forehead was curled in a worry.

"I can stomach watching myself in the mirror now, Sadaf. What happened that day was because of the shock of seeing myself for the first time. I'm fine now." I sat, patting her shoulder. She looked like she was about to cry.

"You have no idea how much I want our places to be reversed." She said with feeling.

"Don't worry about it, Sadaf. I need to see myself, I'll see myself in you." I said, gave her a slight smile and walked to the washroom, closing the door behind me. I locked the door and rested my back against it. This was just first of the concerns that I was going to face and the reactions of people who would see my face.

I walked towards the mirror and looked at myself. My burnt side looked paler than normal, as all the blood vessels and follicles in my skin destroyed. Thank god, they hadn't affected my internal blood stream. I quickly took off the hospital gown and pull on my jeans and t-shirt. Combing my hair with the hairbrush that Sadaf had kept there for my use, I combed it till it shone. Then I parted my hair and tried to hide as much of my burnt face as much I could. It worked. I didn't like bad after I had hidden my face behind my hair. Satisfied, I unlocked the door and came out of the washroom.