Incandescence

Chapter 37

I was sitting outside Turkish Döner in Safa Gold Mall, waiting for Asad. After returning from lunch, I'd texted him to meet me here in the evening. I thought it would be better to meet here because Safa Gold Mall wasn't overly crowded like the Centaurus Mall. I could see only a few tables occupied by the shoppers of the mall. The interior was better than Centaurus mall, which had a silvery touch to it. Safa Gold Mall had a little gold touch, with its polished floors and décor, I liked being here. Sometimes, I just brought a book here and read. The ambience was great and it gave me a comfortable effect.

I looked around at the elevator again. Where was he? Asad was always punctual so what was taking him so long. I turned around and saw a little girl, with curly brown hair and beautiful chocolaty eyes were looking at me with wonder in her eyes. She must be five or six years old. I smiled at her as she came near me. I loved kids, especially girls, as they looked adorable in frilly frocks, clips and headbands. This girl was dressed in a dusty pink frilled frock, with matching headband and shoes. She looked adorable in her outfit.

"What's wrong with your cheek?" she asked as she stepped nearer me.

"I had an accident and it got burned." I told her. She winced slightly and came towards me.

"Can I kiss your cheek?" she asked in her innocent manner. A smile spread on my lips at her innocent request. I offered her my other cheek, the one that wasn't burned.

"No, I want to kiss you on that one." She pointed towards my left cheek. I offered it to her and she kissed it.

"You are beautiful!" she said and ran away, towards her mother who was getting her ice-cream from Red Mango. She must've told her mother for her mother turned around to look at me, then took her daughters hand and left. But before she left, I could read her expressions well. There was pity in her eyes for me.

"I'm so sorry I got so late." Asad said as he sat down in front of me.

"It's alright." I said and pasted a small smile on my face. He was dressed in jeans and black dress-shirt which was open at her throat. His hair was all disheveled as if he'd rushed to get here.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, pointedly telling him that I'd noticed his disheveled appearance.

"Yeah! I had a rough day at the hospital today." He replied.

"I can understand." I responded.

"So, would you like to eat something?" I offered him.

"Nah! I just had lunch an hour back." He declined. "Anyways, what was the important discussion you wanted to have with me that you mentioned on the text?"

"Ummm... Well...!" I cleared my throat and tried again. How should I ask him the question I'd called him to ask?

"Well! I've been thinking..." I said. He looked attentively at me. It was becoming so difficult to talk to him.

"About surgery?" he asked me, clearly reading my thoughts. I nodded. He looked around the hall, looking at people but there weren't many.

"Can I see the extent of your burns, Alisha? If you're comfortable, that is." Asad asked. I looked around the mall but there weren't many people so I pushed the hair back from my left side. Asad didn't even wince once as he saw my burns.

"Third degree burns." He murmured to himself as he looked at my skin closely. "You will need full-thickness skin grafts, Alisha especially on your face and neck. I don't know about the other parts of your body."

"Asad, does it hurt? The surgery?" I asked, completely distraught.

"No! Anesthesia doesn't hurt and you won't feel a thing."