3rd POV
Knock! Knock!
'The battery already 1%? Mak aih(sigh), in an instant? I need to charge it' Nurul wanted to charge her phone but the person who knocked on the boor beat her to it and unbeknownst to her, her two best friends texted her as well as she just had time to look at the battery percentage before the knocking started. She then put her phone on the seat.
"Who's that?" She shouted while walking to the door and twisted the knob later.
"Your friend" The unwelcome guest answered and stay put until she opened the door.
"Amanina?" She was shocked but her face said contrariwise as she quickly composed herself before meeting whoever the unwelcome guest was.
"Yes. Um... I wanna give you this" Amanina said and gave her a plastic bag. A sincere smile was visible on her face.
"Oh, thank you. Food again?" She thanked and guessed it was food as Amanina gave her spaghetti carbonara last two weeks. She also beamed as she got another food again from Amanina. She was a good cook howbeit.
"Yup, I made popiah yesterday," Amanina told and nodded at her question.
"Woah, popiah... I like popiah. All types of popiah" She said and almost stared into space thinking about various types of popiah in the world.
"You like popiah, really? That's good. By the way, how are you?" Amanina grinned ear to ear after she said she was interested in popiah.
"Yes! Hehe. I'm fine thank you. And you?" She giggled at her demeanour and returned her query.
"I'm fine too. You must eat those popiahs by today, okay? I'm afraid it will be expired early" Amanina told further as she was afraid if anything bad happens to her. Guilt-ridden.
"Don't worry. I definitely will" She said and smiled after with a nod.
"Okay then, I have to go now. See you again soon. Bye!" Amanina looked at her watch and then bid goodbye as she has to go now.
"Okay, see yer. Bye!" She waved and bid goodbye as well. She then stepped inside and closed the door. She immediately put the plastic bag on the dining table and washed her hands before serving the popiah on a plate. "Whoa, mushroom and carbonara popiah? These look delicious. Let's try" She said under her breath as the popiah looks appetising and made her drool. She then grabbed mushroom popiah and tasted it before trying the carbonara popiah. Both were marvellous. 100 per cent. But she liked carbonara popiah more. Once done eating, she went to her room and charged her phone when abruptly she recalled what had happened yesterday at ante meridiem.
Nausea started engulfed in her belly. She straightly sprinted to the loo although her head wildly spinning. She gagged multiple times yet nothing came out. She unexpectedly threw out blood after the retch sickness. Afresh episode. But this time with a clump of hairs. A 15-centimetre long hair was stuck in her windpipe. She pulled it all gently in horror yet did it nevertheless.
She put the hairs on the right side of the sink as proof to show her parents and siblings but what was the most crucial was the proof she needed to keep. She leaned on the wall and slowly slid her back till she fell on her bum to the floor. Not knowing there was blood trickled and splashed on the floor and on her shirt as well as blood dribbled on her lips. She tried to stabilise her respiration as her heart beats faster than usual. She gently inhaled and exhaled innumerable times while thinking about death.
The doctor told her it was just a sore throat but why did the same event occur once again? Much worse than the last time and this time there was a clump of hair too. She was a human and she ate meat. Not hair. How come she puked hair? She was confused. She rubbed her temples while shutting her eyes to soothe the dizziness. She did not bother to clean the blood. She stood up and walked out of the loo. She went to her room with wobbly legs and a shaking body. She took her phone under the pillow and slowly sat on the floor. Not wanting to make it dirty and smelly with her vomit. She then switched on her phone looking at the time.
'2.39 am? How long I've been in the loo? When did I wake up?' She thought and glanced at a notification below the clock.
'Eh? Messages from Aifaa and Dee? Yesterday?' Yet shrugged it off after she read the messages.
She clicked on the notification and began to read them. They were asking how she was feeling yesterday but she did not reply. So, the two thought either she slept early or charged her phone at that time. She then switched off the phone and put it back under the pillow. She wanted to keep settling down on the floor but forced herself to be on her feet to inform her parents. She bore her groan even though her anatomy undergoes such frailness at this moment.
She slowly trod to her parents' room with vital fluid still on her lips, smeared on the chin, a bit on her teeth and stains on her shirt as well. She knocked twice but none of them opened it, accordingly, she was inside after she opened the door by herself. Her parents were deep in slumber. She then knocked on the makeup table nearby fourfold as her energy drained thus she cannot speak with a normal voice. Only a low voice or whisper could be made.
Both her parent blinked in slow motion and felt groggy not long after the fourfold knock. Her mother asked what was the matter with a husky voice to boot while her father remained nictated trying to fully wake himself up. She gently moved beside her mother and sat on the floor. "I... Vomit... Blood... Again" She spoke with an ailing tone but the last word came in a whisper.
As soon as she mentioned blood, her parents' fronts were written in horror, especially her mother. Her mother quickly checked on her but choked the moment she saw blood under her lips. Her mother then fortuitously travelled her eyeballs towards her shirt. Agape and dilated peepers could not go unnoticed. It made her mother in awful trepidation. Whilst a frown was visible on her father's countenance. He closely gazed at the blood part by part and initiated a conversation as he did nothing other than blink and gaze.
"What happened?" Her father asked with his expression changed to a worried one.
"Look at... The loo..." She whispered and looked at the door as the incident took place just minutes before while her father rise from the bed and walked to the loo.
"You lay on the bed. Stay put, you hear me lass? I will bring you water" Her mother gently ordered and immediately went to the kitchen.
"Okay..." She answered in a murmuring sound. Defeated. She could and wanted to do it by herself but the condition was not letting her do anything. 'Sorry for being a burden, mum. I'm so sorry'
Her mother returned back after 3 minutes and brought a glass of water as well as gave it to her. She got a mouthful of it all in one go as all the food and water she ate and drank earlier were gone caused by the threw out. At least the water could fill her stomach in a while before she got a bit of shut eyeballs later. Her mother then stroked her upper back to allay the illness and disturbance. She went out like a light after a minute of stroking from her mother.
Her father, on the other hand, did not believe her at first but remembered she was unwell cause spew last week. Awareness of the illness, her father became worried the moment he saw the vital fluid. He was in front of the loo and nearly unlocked the door. Her father's peepers widened and gaped after examining on sink and floor to boot.
"This is grave dreadful. I have to do something before it exacerbates" His head swung momentarily with cant brows.
Nurul was getting prepared to meet one Ustaz with her father. She wore a loose light blue shirt and a black long skirt as well as a black hijab and legging inside to cover her awrah if any unpleasant accident happens. The ustaz named Ahmad lived in the next block. Her father knew him yet not close. He knew him as he went to the mosque to pray for Friday prayer every week and saw him every time he arrived there. He brought her to Ustaz Ahmad's apartment as he asked for his help after thinking for hours to find people who could cure his daughter. Her father tried another method than science as her daughter was still sick.
10 minutes after arrival, Ustaz Ahmad began recited surah ruqyah after opening prayer, al-Fatihah and ayatul kursi. He also ordered her before, to be strong and recites all surah that she remembers. She felt odd as he did not ask many questions to the point he started doing what he should the moment she stepped into his house. Her father already told ustaz Ahmad everything, perhaps. She guessed. Yet both al-fatihah and ayatul kursi were not working on her. Those should be usable on her and at least something alarming must took place. What's amiss with her?