Deafening Silence

I can see her lips moving but I cannot hear a word she’s saying. The noise Malak was hearing was as loud as a crowd of shouting men, but somehow soundless. She narrowed her eyes and tried to focus on what the woman in the white coat was saying, but the voices were too many and too loud, but then again, inaudible.

This wasn’t the first time this happened to Malak. It happened once before when she woke up earlier and found her eyes covered. She also heard a man talking to someone else, saying that her condition is now stable and that she needs to take an injection every six hours. This made her very scared. That when the voices started.

It was like she was able to hear all the people in the world but couldn’t distinguish one from another. She heard one word though that was louder than others, Sophia, and then she couldn’t hear anything but the loud noise until she gave in back to sleep.

“Can you hear me?” She started hearing the woman’s voice fading in. “Are you okay?”

“Where am I?” Malak said. “Who are you?”

“It’s okay,” The woman said with a calm voice and a smile as she approached, “I am Dr Sarah Kofman and this is Dr Adam. You are in the hospital and we are here to help you. Try not to move.” She saw Dr Adam standing across the room saying nothing with his eyes fixed on hers.

“The other one, the blonde one,” Malak said remembering. “He told them to inject me with something.”

“That was Dr Albright and it was just something to help you sleep.” Dr Adam said not moving a muscle.

Dr Sarah moved closer and sat on the bed beside Malak. Smiling softly, she looked in her eyes interestingly.

“Tell me, do you have a name?”

“Malak.” She said with a frightened voice.

“Oh, that’s a nice name. What does it mean?”

“I don’t know.” Malak actually never thought about it.

“That’s fine.” Dr Sarah said. “I think you have been hit hard on the back of your head.” Malak saw flashes of everything that happened to her these last few days. She didn’t want to say anything that would raise questions about the man and the woman she met.

“Yes, I think I slipped and hit my head.”

“This was before the accident, isn’t it?” Dr Adam asked as he looked to the patient’s information sheet. “You have been brought here because of an accident. You remember that, don’t you?”

There was something familiar in the way Dr Adam was asking his questions. But Malak couldn’t remember why.

“Yes, it was before the accident…” Suddenly Malak remembered. “The driver!” Malak said almost screaming. “How is the driver?!” Dr Sarah’s smile was gone as she stood up.

“I am sorry my dear. The taxi driver didn’t make it. It was too late for him by the time they brought you here.”

Malak’s eyes started watering, and the next moment she burst into tears. Malak was crying like she never did before. Dr Sarah came closer and hugged her tightly without saying a word. Malak wasn’t hugging her back at the beginning but then she did.

She cried and cried. She cried for all the feelings she’d ever felt; She cried for the parents she never knew, for living on the street like an animal, for the fear she felt when that filthy man tried to rape her. She cried for the man and the woman who wanted her dead, for the fear she felt when she saw them killed, for the fear of the driver’s burning eyes. She cried after realising the most terrifying thing, I killed him!

“Do you know that I had a sister that looked just like you?” Dr Sarah said. “Her name was Sophia.”

The name made Malak calm down a little.

“Sophia?” Malak said.

“Yes, but I lost her in a car accident. Now, do you see how fate arranges things?” Dr Sarah said smiling sadly with tears in her eyes.

“It’s time, Dr Sarah,” Said the nurse standing at the door. “for her next shot.”

Dr Sarah, wiping her teary eyes, nodded to the nurse and looked back to Malak.

“I’ll leave you now to have some rest,” She said as she was standing up. “This will make you go to sleep right away, and I’ll make sure to be there when you wake up.”

Malak nodded with a faint smile as she watched Dr Sarah leave, letting herself go to sleep as the injections effects kicked in.