Free HWJN (English 2nd Edition) by Ibraheem Abbas, Yasser Bahjatt

carry out Grandfather’s wish of protecting Dr. Abdulraheem and his family. To protect Sawsan! I had been away from her for one full month. I hadn’t even told her goodbye. I wondered if she missed me as much as I missed her. But how could I let her know I had come back? I would wait until she opened her tablet, and try to move her fingers with mine. I wanted to see her so badly, I went directly to her window. However, she wasn’t there. No one was at the house other than the maid, and everything seemed bleak, as if the place had been abandoned for days. I wondered what had happened in my absence.
    My worry grew as I searched for anything that would hint at where they were. The house phone rang, and the maid, who was watching TV in her room, did not hear it. The caller might have been a family member. The maid had to answer! I tried to push her TV over, my hand would slam into it but it wouldn’t budge. I tried to unplug it without success. The phone stopped ringing, then started again, and in my anxious effort to unplug the TV, it suddenly fell to the ground. Both the maid and I were frightened. The phone’s ringing pulled her out of her daze, and she moved to answer it.
    Hurry up, for God’s sake! I thought. She picked it up, and her words tore my heart.
    “Yes… Mister, Madam everyone went to hospital for Sawsan… Very ill… Room 307, specialty hospital.”
    I didn’t wait to hear the rest of the conversation. I had all the information I needed to be next to Sawsan in just a few short moments.
     
    ***
     
    Hattan tried to take the burden of talking with the doctors and visitors off of his father’s shoulders. Dr. Abdulraheem was quite frozen, with tears in his eyes and his arms around Mrs. Raja. She cried too as she recited versus of the Quran. This sight was enough to make me collapse, but I got a hold of myself and went to Sawsan. She lay alone in a room, behind a glass window through which visitors could look at her. I went right through. Her body showed no signs of life other than her chest’s slow movement. Tubes went into her veins and her lungs; her life would end if these machines stopped. Her breathing, pulse, and eyes, which were open but without life, all showed that Sawsan was in a deep coma—one from which she might never get out of, only to go to her grave.
    It seemed the tumor had caused pressure on a vital area of her brain, causing the coma. The cross-section images of her brain and the chatter of her doctors and consultants all pointed to the fact that Sawsan, if she were lucky, would live this way forever, or might regain consciousness but with major damage to her brain that could hinder her capabilities for the rest of her life.
    “You have my condolences for your grandfather, cousin!” Xanam said behind me. Fortunately for him, my sadness curbed my anger. I didn’t even turn to face him; I just kept watching Sawsan. Although, I was sure, he had something to do with her current situation, he continued to pretend to be sympathetic.
    “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the funeral. But if you need anything, I’m at your command. As for your sweetheart…”
    I turned to him now, and was about to cure my sad heart and anger by breaking his neck.
    But he quickly responded, “Any rash actions from you and she’s gone. You will have finished off both your grandfather and your love! Stay calm and listen to what I have to say so we can both benefit.”
    This meant Sawsan was somehow under his control, and he might have harmed her or even killed her. I could hardly control myself, and could not hold back my tears of sorrow.
    “Damn you,” I said. “What have you done to Sawsan?!”
    “First of all I’ve come to you with full respect and good intentions, but if you misbehave you will force me to—”
    Sawsan’s vital signs fluctuated, and two nurses rushed over to check her. A doctor entered the room and monitored her. He looked anxious. Xanam was serious and meant what he said;