“You said you two were taking a break from each other?” Her mother asked. Amaal turned to her, seeing her need to take her mind off this, too.
“Mmm.” She hid her mouth behind the coffee cup.
“It doesn’t look like a break.”
She shrugged.
“Amaal.”
“He asked for time, and I gave him. In the beginning it was easy, even in long distance. But you know how it is… we are both so busy, always tired, fights are inevitable even on phone. And then when you are not together, it’s so easy to not talk for days or just say ok or thanks on message and get done for a few weeks. It’s been like that. The last few months, he has been quieter.”
“What are you doing, Amaal? So much time has passed since his accident. I thought you both were getting serious at that time.”
“Hmm.” She looked away, using the classic Samar tactic to get out of a difficult conversation.
“Amaal.”
“Mom!” She held back her tears. “I can’t think about anything else right now, please.”
Her mother sighed.
“I’m sorry.” Amaal lay her head on her shoulder. Her mother wrapped her arm around her, gathering her in. “It will be alright. Dad will be ok.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How are you so strong?”
“You are also strong.”
“I am not.”
“You are. Stronger than both Dad and me.”
“I am bluffing right now.”
“I know.” Her mother patted her arm. “You and me both.”
Amaal glanced up as a shadow came closer, and raised her brows at Samar. She pulled her head up and began to stand when he crouched down in front of them.
“It’s bad news…” Her voice thinned.
“No.” He whispered.
“Then why are you crouching in front of us?”
He glanced down at himself and an amused expression crossed his face. “I don’t know.” Samar looked at her mother and smiled. “His BP is now 140/85, dropping well.”
Her mother exhaled the loudest sigh of relief Amaal had ever heard.
“He was groggy for some time and went back to sleep again,” Samar looked at her. “And the swelling is marginally smaller than the last scan. They are going to keep him sedated all night. He will be on hypertonic saline,” he told her mother, because she clearly understood what that meant. “If pupils are reactive and there’s no midline shift, then we are looking at a clean window in the next 48 hours.”
Amaal saw her mother’s hand reach Samar’s shoulder. “Good, that’s good.” She squeezed. Samar grinned, his dark eyes sparkling through his specs.
“That means, both of you get to go home and I’ll stay here…”
“No!” Amaal cut him off. “I am not going until Dad wakes up.”
