Lipi
Tarot is not propaganda, you fool!
Do you even know what propaganda means?
Poppy
Wait. Back up. Salman messaged you guys?
Shirin
yeah
he keeps asking if he should go to the hospital to see you
but we told him not to
might be a bad idea since auntie is there
Lipi
I did a reading for you, Poppy??
I pulled the Fool
It signals that you’re on the brink of transformation
And a leap of faith
So don’t worry!!
Poppy
Thanks
24
We spend a few hours at the hospital but thankfully I don’t have to stay the night. They checked my vitals and the burn again, and that’s about it. I tell them about the pain, but they say it’s normal and give me instructions on how to look after it.
When we get home we don’t watch a film or have a takeaway since it’s so late, and Ma wants me to do nothing but rest. Which sucks. After seeing Salman’s parents tonight, I wish we could chat about it all.
‘But I’m fine, Ma,’ I whine. Even so, she won’t hear of it. She hovers by the door as I brush my teeth and won’t take her eyes off me until she’s physically tucked me into bed. She even kisses my forehead like she used to when I was a kid and was afraid of the monsters hiding underneath my bed.
‘I nearly lost you today,’ she whispers, her forehead pressed against mine.
‘No, you didn’t,’ I say, hoping she can’t hear the way my voice falters, because she’s right. Things could have gone terribly wrong if Salman hadn’t rushed in to get me out of there. Even though the cabin was small, it wasn’t a place I’d been to before and being paralyzed by fear certainly didn’t help either.
‘I messaged Sadia from your phone to let her know you won’t be coming in tomorrow,’ she says as she gets up to leave.
‘You did what?!’ I try to spring up but fail miserably because Ma has tucked me in so tightly that there’s no room for movement. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘Because we’ve just spent the evening at the hospital, beta,’ Ma reprimands. ‘She said for you to take as much time as you need to recover. You need rest. Not just for your leg, but for your mind. What you’ve been through is traumatic.’
‘I mean, I guess .?.?.’ I mumble, but I can’t stop thinking about how badly I messed up tonight and how I need to explain to Sadia what happened.
So in the morning, after Ma has gone to work, giving me strict instructions to stay in bed until she gets back that evening, I sneak out of the house and go to the office, my anxiety pushing me through every painful step.
I know from Sadia’s diary that she’s not got any meetings this morning so I knock on her door and barge in when I hear her shout, ‘Come in!’
