Episode 2 — Season 1 Between Life and Death

Part of: Season 1 — Life After Coma  
Read all episodes from Season 1 here

 

That night did not end at the hospital.

It followed us home.

At 11:00 PM,
my father’s phone rang.

A voice said:

“Tariq has passed away.”

My father replied quietly:

“May Allah have mercy on him.”

We cried.

We prayed.

We tried to accept it.

We thought…

This was the pain.

We were wrong.

Five hours later…

At 5:00 AM…

The phone rang again.

My sister was awake.
She heard my father answer.

The voice said:

“Abdulaziz is dead.”

My sister screamed.

She was pregnant.

The caller paused.

Then said:

“No…
Tariq has passed away.
Abdulaziz is in intensive care in Riyadh,
at Al-Shumaisi Hospital.”

The line went dead.

Silence.

Shock.

Fear.

My father held my sister.

He said:

“He’s alive.
They took him to ICU.”

At that same moment…

In another hospital in Riyadh…

My other sister was giving birth.

Same night.
Same hour.

Her phone rang.

“Tariq has passed away.
Abdulaziz is in intensive care.”

Click.

No explanation.

No comfort.

Imagine that moment.

A newborn crying.
A family mourning.

Life and death…
in the same hallway.

At the funeral…

People came.

Some said:

“May Allah have mercy on him.”

Others said:

“Congratulations on the baby.”

My mother stood there…

Receiving condolences…
and congratulations…

At the same time.

The next day…

My second sister started bleeding.

She was rushed to the hospital.

She gave birth.

Another baby.

Another life.

Surrounded by loss.

Those babies became my mother’s only hope.

Then…

One week later…

Sultan passed away.

Another funeral.

Another wound.

Another goodbye.

And me?

I was in a coma.

Four months.

Four months of darkness.

No memories.
No awareness.
No control.

When I woke up…

I didn’t know my name.
My place.
My story.

My speech was broken.
My body was weak.
I couldn’t walk.

Sometimes I pulled everything out.
They tied my hands.

Not to punish me.

To protect me.

Two months after waking up…

Metal surrounded my leg.

They told me:

“You fell from a tree.”

I believed them.

When I finally left the hospital…

The first face I saw…

Was my mother.

Smiling.

Happy that I survived.

But…

Something was missing.

In her smile.

Something hidden.

Something unspoken.

Something waiting…

For me to discover.

Not yet.

Not now.

But soon.

But the truth was still hidden from me.
And when I finally learned it…
everything collapsed.

End of Episode 2 — Season 1

 

Continue the Season 1 :

← Previous: Episode 1 — We Were Three  
Next → Episode 3 — When I Woke Up and Everyone Was Gone