THE TALE OF SARAH

Chapter Twenty Two

"Wa'alaykumus salam. How are you?" She heard his hoarse voice that sounded like he was exhausted.

"Alhamdulillah I'm fine daddy. I wanted to ask you whether you've spoken to your doctor."

"Oh, yes, I was just about to call him when your call entered." He said with yet the same low tuned voice.

Jameela sensed it and she became concerned. "Dad, what's wrong?" She asked.

"What's wrong?" He threw her question back at her.

She heaved a sigh and dismissed the matter. "Okay. Please speak to your doctor as soon as possible and please let me get a feedback."

That's when it hit Sa'ad. "Have you told her about it?

"Not yet, but I'll once I know that she can get treatment."

"Oh, okay. Assalamu alaykum."

"Wa'alaykumus salam." Jameela hung up the call.

Then, Sa'ad dialed his doctor.

"Good morning sir." He greeted after the first two rings.

"Good morning doctor. How's work?"

"Fine sir."

He inhaled deeply before he asked the next question. "How's Hamad?" His doctor was working in the hospital Hamad was admitted to.

"The doctor in charge of his case said he's fallen into a coma, and you know how unpredictable the condition is." The doctor looked around to make sure he was alone before he lowered his voice and continued, while Sa'ad braced himself for the worst.

"He said the whipping affected his nervous system and that it was a little bit severe. He also told me that he might not recover from it at all; that the chances are very little. And that, if he's going to survive it at all, its going to take a lot of time."

Sa'ad closed his eyes deeply and heaved a sigh. He raised his hand and checked the time. It was five minutes to the meeting.   

"Okay doctor, the rape victim is suffering from trauma."

"Oh, hope its not PTSD?"

"yeah I think it is."

"Okay, I'm gonna refer you to a psychologist for that. I'll send the address to your email."

"Okay, I'll be expecting it. Thank you very much doctor."

"Thank you too."

And then the call was hung up and Sa'ad proceeded to the round table hall for the meeting. 

**********

A few hours later, Jameela received the psychologist's address. She then proceeded to book an appointment. But there was just one problem; Sarah didn't know about it. She might not even know she's suffering. So, Jameela approached the only person who had been taking care of her; Umm Hakeem.

She had requested her to inform Sarah about it and capture her reaction.

And now, that was Umm Hakeem's goal as she entered the guest bedroom in which Sarah had been staying for almost a month now. In her hands was a tray of toasts and milk which were to serve as breakfast, although the morning was long gone.

Her morning sickness usually lasted longer than normal. Lets just say everything surrounding her pregnancy was, because to start with, the baby was the result of a foolish mistake.

But it was believed that with time, the medical care she had started receiving will normalize all the anomalies.

Sarah was still seated on the prayer mat, unaware of Umm Hakeem's absence when she heard her order. "Sarah, come have your breakfast." Umm Hakeem placed the tray on the bed, and took her seat on a stool beside it.

Sarah stood up and folded the mat before she proceeded to her bed, on which the tray was kept. But before she took her seat, a certain familiar scene flashed back just before her eyes.

She hated that scene a lot. It always made her feel worthless, guilty, shameful. What she always did after was cry, but now that Umm Hakeem was here, she couldn't.

But the tears threatened to spill. In order to control it, she gulped and then her breath increased. She started to breathe out loud. Then her head felt very heavy. She took her seat and held her head in her hands. And that's when the tears started flowing.

She hated this.

She hated herself.

She hated this routine.

She hated her life.

And then, everything came back live and clear.

Her tears then turned into sobs. She tried her best to avoid this but oh, there was little she could do.

Umm Hakeem sat there watching the poor girl go through her trauma. She was contemplating on what to do. She decided it was the best time to bring up the topic of the therapy treatment.

After all, no one deserved to go through this.

"Sarah?" She began softly, because she didn't know how else to.

Sarah couldn't hear her amidst all her sobbing. So Umm Hakeem tried again.

"Sarah?" She called again, this time with a louder voice.

Sarah snapped her head up alarmingly on hearing her name. She stopped sobbing for a moment a looked around, as if tracking a suspicious person.

Umm Hakeem tapped her shoulder in order to gain her attention, which made Sarah to jerk up in fear. Then she put her head in her hands and started crying again.

This was enough.

Umm Hakeem stood up and pushed the tray aside, making space for herself to sit. She sat down and faced Sarah. She then gently separated her hands from her head and hugged her immediately after.

She rubbed her back in order to calm her down, and when her breathing evened, she pulled her back and wiped her tears. Then she held her by sides and tilted her head a little, so she could look her in the eye.

"Sarah, you don't deserve all these." She started.

Sarah didn't give a reply, which was a cue for Umm Hakeem to continue.

"You see, we all love all love you and that's why we want to help you." She said cautiously and waited for some seconds to get a reply.

When she didn't get any, she continued.

"We think you're suffering from trauma and we want you to get therapy. We've already contacted a psychologist and booked an appointment. Do you consent to it?" She asked carefully.

She had to adopt that manner in whatever she did concerning Sarah, because she was unpredictable.

Sarah took her time and thought about it. She didn't think it will help her but there was no harm in trying. She nodded her head slowly, giving consent.

Umm Hakeem's face broke into a huge smile. She scooted closer and gave Sarah a warm hug, and Sarah hugged her back.

Umm Hakeem didn't expect it to be this easy to convince her.