"Hoori!" Mikaeel shouted as he banged his fist on the bathroom door. "What happened?"

She didn't reply but he could hear her sobs echoing from inside.

"Answer me!" The door shook heavily beneath his fists as he pounded against them.

"I need your help." It pained her to ask for his help but she had no other choice.

"I'm going to come in, okay?" he called out, praying she was still dressed.

"Okay." Her voice was shaky, punctuated by shivers that wracked through her body

"Hoori." He tried to sound as calm as he possibly could, but the pained yelps from inside began to wear on him. "I need you to tell me where the spare is."

"It's-" her voice was clogged with pain and utter terror at what was happening. "I don't know where it is."

"I'm right here, Hoori. I'll get you out, but you need to help me." He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he waited for her to remember.

"It's-" He heard her yelp once more. "It's in the back of my sock draw."

Mikaeel shuffled hurriedly through her draw, ripping it out when his search produced nothing. He dumped her draw upside down, moving things this way and that till he finally found it. "Listen, I'm coming in. Just give me a minute okay."

"Mikaeel, it's burning me." Her cries were agonising and growing worse by the second.

"Just wait, okay." He fitted the key into the slot, banging it with his palm to push the other key out as he bit his lip to hold in his expletives. He had to shake out his arm before he could open the door, readying himself for any possible outcome.

Except the one he was met with.

Steam billowed around him as he walked closer and closer to the shower. He switched off the water, supressing a gasp as blistering drops splattered over his arms, before he bent down to look at her. She was huddled in the corner of the shower, holding her legs to her chest as she tried to move away from the boiling stream above her. The skin of her legs and sides were bright red, screaming in protest against the abusive heat but her body itself was overcome with shivers that rattled her teeth.

"What happened?"

She lifted her head to look at him, wiping the tears from her eyes though her hands wouldn't stop shaking enough to do so. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" He knelt down before her, trying to look her over for any other injuries. "Did you slip? Did you break anything?"

She shook her head, watching as he reached for the towel hanging on the rack beside him.

"Then?"

"My legs won't move." She looked down, confused at her own words. Her face was lined in panic it as she tried to move her legs away from her body yet they wouldn't budge.

He stared at her, unable to truly comprehend her words, let alone help her through it. "Let's just get you out of here, okay. We need to get you to a hospital."

She nodded her head, waiting for him to wrap her towel over her shoulders.

"How bad are the burns?"

"I don't know. It just hurts all over."

He moved her forward to wrap his arm around her back, tucking the other beneath her knees as he prepared to lift her up. "You're going to have to hold on to me, okay."

"Okay." She joined her hands behind his neck, holding on as he lifted them up from the ground. She pressed herself closer to his body, unconsciously seeking whatever heat he could provide as she tucked her face in the crook of his neck.

He placed her down on the bed, covering her with their duvet. "Now," He sat down beside her as he rubbed his hands over her arms rhythmically, in time to his own quick breathing. "Tell me what happened?"

"I don't know." Her voice sounded so small in that moment that he could do nothing else except pity her. "I was in the shower and my legs just..." she shook her head, unable to tell him what happened. All she knew was that her legs simply gave up from beneath her. "I tried to turn the water off before I fell but..."

Her shivers gradually decreased beneath him, yet still he continued to rub his hands over her arms. "I'm phoning the paramedics, okay."

"Thank you."

"No problem." He stood up once she had her shivers under control and walked out of the room to place the call.

...

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Mum?" He looked up from his textbook only to find his mother glaring down at him.

"Are you seriously going to study while your wife is being admitted?" Saadiya never did understand her youngest son but this just about tipped her over the edge.

"What do you want me to do? Twiddle my thumbs while I wait for her tests to be done?" He knew he sounded snarky but he couldn't bring himself to apologise. "I start exams next week. I need to study."

"Right, sorry. I forgot it was so important."

If there was one thing he couldn't handle about her, it was her obnoxious sarcasm.

"It is important. Honours year, you know."

"I know." Her smile was tight as she looked down at him. "If you want to waste your money playing with microscopes, that's your prerogative." Her voice was filled obvious disdain at his choice in career.

He ignored her, uncapping his highlighter before he looked back down at his books.

Saadiya never understood his fascination with biology, neither did she want to. It was a stupid choice as far as she was concerned. He would never rake in the millions of his older brother nor would he join the company like his sister. He couldn't even make it as a doctor.

So, obviously- it was just fucking useless.

"It's no use waiting, Mum. She just went in."

"Her parents are in London. She has no one here for her."

Bullshit.

"Her uncle is here. He's gone for a smoke." Mikaeel looked back down at his textbook, praying she would get the hint and leave him alone.

"Fine." She tapped the tips of her stilettos in agitation. "Enjoy your studying."

"Thanks." He capped his highlighter before he looked back up at her. "I'll call you if there's any news."

"Okay." She shook her head at him before she walked away, leaving him to breathe a sigh of relief. He just didn't have it in him to deal with her as well.

And he didn't want to have to deal with her either. Not this close to his exams.

"Mr Ebrahim?"

"Ya?" He looked up at the nurse waiting for him in the doorway.

"Could you come in for a while, please?"

"Sure." He closed his textbooks, making sure to leave them in a neat pile before he walked out of the waiting room. He was almost certain they wouldn't get stolen. Besides, it was too upmarket a hospital for anyone to need to steal his textbooks.

"Mr Ebrahim?" A kind looking, older gentleman addressed Mikaeel as soon as he entered Hoori's room.

"Hi." He flashed the doctor a quick smile.

"Sorry?" Hoori's voice interrupted them.

"Yes?" Mikaeel asked.

"Is my uncle here?" She scratched at her right arm in a nervous habit she had never truly broken out of.

"Ya, he's here."

"Okay." He could see the relief in her face as soon as he answered her question. "Could we wait for him please?"

"Sure." The older man turned to Mikaeel once more. "I'm Dr. Krenak." He held his arm out for Mikaeel to shake.

"Nice to meet you." Mikaeel shook his hand, dropping it almost immediately before they descended into a pained silence.

"Here I am. Sorry." Hoori's Uncle, Ashraf, walked in with three bottles of water in his hand.

"It's not a problem." Dr Krenak replied, his eyes crinkling as he smiled at the girl before him. "The results of your CT scan came back."

"And?" Hoori asked, impatient for whatever bad news he had.

"It's all clear." he looked down at his folder. "The burns as well- they should be gone within a few days."

Her uncle whispered a prayer, rubbing his hand over his face before he brushed a kiss over her forehead.

Dr. Krenak smiled sadly, all too aware of the bleak news that was to come. "Unfortunately, there's some bad news."

"Okay..." Hoori answered quietly, dreading what was to come.

"We have an idea as to what may be the problem, but we need to do a spinal tap to make sure."

"Oh." She knew too well what those were, and she really didn't want to do it.

"I need your consent, so I can book it for tomorrow morning."

"Fine." She gave only the hint of a nod before she turned her face away from the doctor to look out the window. "I just need to confirm it with my medical aid though."

"That's fine."

"Thank you, Dr Krenak." Hoori turned back to smile at him, yet her lips weren't able to move just yet.

"It's a pleasure, Mrs Ebrahim."

"Call me Hoori, please." She said softly, watching as he gathered up his files.

"Hoori." He repeated, his mouth curving upwards at the sound of it. "It's a pleasure." He nodded one last time before he held his hand out to her uncle. "All the best."

Uncle Ashraf shook his hand before he walked him out the door, leaving Mikaeel to stand awkwardly beside her until he came.

"You doing okay, my baby?" Her uncle asked, gathering Hoori up into a tight hug as soon as he stepped up to her bed.

"Yeah, I guess." She replied, looking at Mikaeel over her uncle's shoulder. She looked towards the door, clearly throwing him a hint at what she thought of his presence.

He didn't need to be told twice as he turned around and walked away...