In the Stars ✅

Chapter 12- Last days

" See who's on fire now," He pointed out at me, letting out a laugh. The bizarre kind of laughter that was funnier than any other joke he had ever made.

Why wouldn't I laugh?

It was a mess right now, trying to balance between laughing and coughing at the same time. I had to catch my breath too.

" I need water!" I fell on my knees from the bench, my hand on my chest.

" I didn't bring any water along. Might do with the soda." He even extended this half-emptied can of soda to me to denote how serious he was. Thank Goodness he didn't decide to venture into medical school.

A few moments later, I sat on the floor, disheveled. My throat was parched and I stared at him intently as he sipped his soda.

" What do you say about making fun of me again?"

I only rolled my eyes at him and joined him on the bench. I cleared my throat before speaking. " I won't hesitate to do it again," I threw at him. He turned to look at me, unfazed.

Oddly, a long minute passed by in silence as I pondered over what just happened. It's been a long time since we had a moment like this. Like the days we sat at the back of the class in the primary. Those days were the best. I would say that we've come far. I haven't crossed paths with most people I sat in class with.

"About the Eid," I started, breaking the silence. " You can spend it with us. The Durbar is going to be lit this year."

" I bet Emraan is on the planning committee." He guessed.

He guessed right. I nodded to confirm his answer.

I couldn't deny that my mood was lightened up after our conversation. After filling each other in on the days we spent apart, I departed to my cabin to catch some sleep before suhoor. He was to leave for Kano at dawn too.

*~*

Arzika Private Hospital

Khayra.

I stared at the bloody gloves on my hand, wondering what we had done wrong to lead to the death of a sixteen-year-old boy. We were doing well with the carotid endarterectomy and then all of a sudden, he had a cardiac arrest, leading to us losing him. I stood in front of the double door of the operation room, ready to discard the gloves. I just couldn't shake it off. I should be used to such things at the moment, but I guess, I wasn't. All it took was one turn to set my eyes on the boy who lay lifelessly on the operation table. He was just a teenager, preparing for the real world. Too bad.
I heaved out a breath before sliding the gloves off my hand in a swift move generated by experience and professionalism. The surgery suit came off next, followed by the others. I got out just in time to see Dr. Khalid who had spearheaded the surgery take a left turn to his office. Who was to inform his family then?
After all of this, we are expected to meet our next patients with a smile on our faces. To get back to our daily lives like nothing ever happened. God! This has always been the problem.

Brushing off those thoughts, I braved myself for what was to come as I headed to the locker room to get a change of scrubs. Mine was soiled with blood. After changing into a pair of neatly ironed scrubs and donned my overcoat that was just as neatly kept. I grabbed my stethoscope from my locker and headed out of the room, not forgetting to close the door behind me. These were the days I didn't want to speak to anybody but it shouldn't be so. I wasn't the only person going through such a problem. Worst-case scenario, imagine if it was an intern in my place. A wave of vibration from my pocket had me sliding my hand into it to fish out my phone. It was a text from Sayida.