Soul Asylum Chapter 7

 

CHAPTER 7

 

 

Aida put the book slowly on the shelf near the bed. It was 5.00 o’clock in the evening. They had moved Rafiq to the normal ward on level 4. Zarina promised to accompany her but there was no signed of her anywhere. Aida straightened the few hairs that had fallen on Rafiq’s face.  She felt her heart pounding every time she looked at his face. He was sleeping peacefully.

 

She had talked to Dr. Michael, Rafiq’s condition was stable and there was nothing to worry. He encouraged her to talk to Rafiq as often as she can. Unconscious patients were alert to whatever happening around. If Rafiq could feel her around, it could speedup his recovery.

 

Aida took his hand.

 

     “Hello Rafiq. It’s me again. I hope you can hear me. Everybody’s praying for your recovery. Pak Ngah, Pak Long, my dad are taking turns conducting prayers at their houses every Thursday night. Mak says she’s sorry she couldn’t come, she had additional orders for Baju Kurung this month, she’s pretty busy. Zarina said she wanted to come but there’s no sign of her.”

 

     “I’m staying home more often nowadays then at the flat, which is good because I needed some space to study.” Aida took Rafiq’s hand and rubbed it gently. She leaned forward and whispered in his ears. A nurse came to his bed. Embarrassed Aida let go of his hand and sat at her chair pretending to tidy his blanket.

 

The nurse smiled at her. Aida returned the smile, she recognized the nurse as one of the nurses in the ICU ward.

 

     “Dr Michael asked me to check up on him. I’m off duty and since I was headed down I thought of stopping by,” said the nurse. Aida smiled stiffly and muttered thank you. She didn’t like the way the nurse was looking at Rafiq. She could help feeling jealous and protective.

 

     “Your friend was here this afternoon,” said the nurse casually. Aida looked up at her confused.

 

     “She came here with you before.”

 

     ‘Sharifah? Why was Sharifah visiting Rafiq without informing her?’ thought Aida. …………..

 

 

 

 

Sharifah climbed up the dark stairs tiredly. Her arms and waist was aching terribly and she was soaked wet. Why oh why did she go kayaking by herself when she didn’t know the proper technique to paddle.

 

It was a terrible experience. She had to be rescued by a group of UiTM juniors who were also kayaking at the Shah Alam Lake. It was a hot spot for those who like water sports. You can rent a kayak for RM 10.00 half an hour. It was bad from the start. Paddle as hard as she did, her kayak only moved 10km/hr. Her arms were like butter when she finally managed to launch 5 km from the bank. She was already exhausted when she reached the middle of the lake and it was already 40 minutes. The young man in charged of the kayaks was waving his arm and blowing his whistle, signaling her time was up and to turn back to the bank. Sharifah had no idea how to turn the kayak. She made the mistake of digging her paddle too deep into the water in her feeble attempt to turn to the right. Sharifah lost her balance and toppled into the water. Bless the life jacket she was wearing! Luckily there were a couple of UiTM students kayaking near her. One of them saved the paddle from floating away. A couple, (boy and girl)tried to pull Shariah on their kayak but she was too heavy. Sharifah had to dog paddle beside the kayak with the girl firmly holding on to her life-jacket. It had made a big commotion at the bank. A few other students helped her out of the lake but the rest of the bystanders were laughing and pointing at her. How humiliating. It didn’t help when the bus driver gave her a disapproving look and the passengers stared at her on the way home.

 

Sharifah was half way up the stairs to her flat when she noticed that there was someone sitting at the top of the stairs on her level. She was about to pass the person when the person called out to her.

 

     “Hello, Sharifah.” Sharifah stopped in her track. AIDA.

 

     Aida stood up. Sharifah could see her face underneath the dim neon light on that floor. Sharifah had to admit to herself, despite her tomboyish ways and the constant frown on her face, Aida was a pretty girl, with her crew-cut hair, hazel brown eyes and pale skin complexion which brings out the natural colour of her blood red lips. People could easily mistaken her for a Caucasian or mix Europe- Asian heritage. Her eye-lashes were long and curl naturally. She was about Sharifah’s height with athletic physics. When they were together, Sharifah couldn’t help but be envious as a lot of guys heads turned towards them to look at Aida.  Aida wasn’t smiling at her , her head was bowed down and she merely looked up at Shaifah for a couple of seconds. Even under the dim light, Sharifah could see the bags under her eyes. She looked tired and forlorn. What had happened to the old Aida, boisterous and energetic? This episode on Rafiq had taken out all her energy.

 

     “You’re wet. What happened?” asked Aida motioning to her clothes. Sharifah was standing in a puddle. Her pants and t-shirt was still dripping wet. She didn’t feel like telling Aida the story, it was still painful, painfully, humiliating. She moved to the door of their flat and searched for her keys.

 

     “It was an accident. Come on in, I’m sure everyone would be happy to see you.”

     “Can we talk outside? It’s for a short while. I don’t feel like meeting them right now.”

 

    Sharifah turned to Aida and nodded. 

 

     “A nurse told me that you went to see Rafiq. May I know why?”  Aida was looking at her carefully.

 

Sharifah shrugged her shoulder she didn’t know whether she should tell Aida about her dreams. This was Aida, they live in the same flat for the past year and a half. They cooked together and they even slept side by side (on separate mattresses) but Aida was acting weird and edgy lately. Sharifah was worried for her. Even in her state now Sharifah couldn’t bare lying to her. Who knows maybe Aida could help her out.

 

Aida was walking to and fro he eyes not leaving Sharifah, waiting for an answer.

 

     “I’ve met him before,” mumbled Sharifah . Aida stopped in her track.

     “ I met him in the commuter to Seremban. I didn’t know him at that time. We were in the same carriage.  We were sleeping in the train. Separate rows(Sharifah added  quickly) and when the both of us woke up, everyone had gotten out and the doors were locked. We managed to get out together. We hardly talked to each and I didn’t remember him until I saw him in the hospital with you that day.”

 

Aida turned toward Sharifah, she looked at Sharifah coldly. She didn’t say anything but she just looked. No smile, no blinking, nothing. Sharifah was shaking from head to toe and she doubted that it was from her damp clothes. She wish that she could just go into the house. It was so intense that if Aida had heat ray visions, there would have nothing left of Sharifah. Aida was waiting; waiting for her talk. She didn’t want to, but somehow her mouth had a life of its own and Sharifah blurted out how she had been visiting Rafiq and about the dreams. She skipped the part about what Dr. Michael had told her.

 

     “You are something you know that,” said Aida quietly.

 

     “What?” asked Sharifah a bit taken back.

 

     “You pretend that you’re my friend and support me when all this time you like him yourself.” Sharifah  was too startled to say anything. Aida continued, looking at Sharifah like she was a stranger.

 

     “You were being nice to my family member, acting concern. You just can’t wait for him to wake up and that you’ll be  the first person that he’ll see. You are low.”

 

     “Your wrong,” countered Sharifah but that was the only thing that she could say.

 

     “I am ? Don’t tell me his not handsome. Any girl would have fell for him like flies. Don’t pretend to be naïve.  Here you are talking about weird dreams. That’s all excuses to go see him at the hospital. You know how I feel about him,” hissed Aida. Sharifah was too stunned by the accusation.

“No Aida I don’t know how you really feel about him. I’m not a mind reader. For all I know that your just concern for a cousin. You don’t …. You won’t say anything and its eating you up. What is actually your relationship with Rafiq?” asked Sharifah. Aida didn’t answer.The door  to their flat opened and Sofia stepped out. She saw Aida and

 Sharifah and was about to greet them both when she noticed how tense the two of them were. Neither of the girls said anything but they were locked in a staring match.                        

 

 Aida looked like she was going to swallow Sharifah, while Sharifah looked like a wet cat with her solemn expression and her clothes dripping all over the floor.

 

Aida didn’t say anything to Sofia, with a final ice cold look towards Sharifah, she turned her back and walked down the stairs. Sofia jaws dropped open.

     “What happened to  the two of you?” asked Sofia not giving Sharifah the chance  to enter her flat first.  Sharifah didn’t say anything, her eyes were brimming with tears. This was all too much for her. All she wanted was to get out of her wet clothes and crawled underneath her blanket. She walked past Sofia and headed towards the bathroom at the far end of the kitchen. Luckily the kitchen was beside the entrance to the flat. Her flat mates would have looked disapproving at her for dripping all over the living room. Sofia helped to get her a  towel and change of clothes. She was still waiting outside the bathroom when Sharifah had finished taken her bath and changed. Sharifah went to her room and pulled out her mattress from the rest of the pile. Sofia stubbornly sat beside her mattress and watched as her friend pulled the blanket over her head. Sharifah could still feel her presence even though she had laid there for almost 10 minutes. She pulled the blanket off her face and sure enough there was Sofia looking back at her.

     “Well, are you going to tell me what happened? Why suddenly Aida looked like Maya Karin in ‘Pontianak Harum Sundal 1?”asked Sofia indignantly. Sharifah gave a soft smile.

     “She didn’t look like her at all.”

     “Oh yeah, did you see her expression when she was looking at you. Her eyes went big, and round, and red, and the way she was clenching her fist. I bet she was hiding her claws.” Sofia shook her head. “Pity, she was once a pretty young woman” said Sofia faking her sorrow. Sharifah giggled and flung her pillow at her classmate. Trust Sofia to lighten the moment.

     “Will you please not mengumpat about my friend in front of me.” Sofia smiled and flung the pillow back Sharifah, landing right on her face.

 

     “Ok seriously, what happened? Aida was never that hostile before,” said Sofia. Which was the truth, Aida was a sweet and care-free person. Was….as in past tense! Everything changed with this whole Rafiq thing.

Sharifah was glad Sofia was there. She had to tell someone about her problems. The WHOLE story not just about Rafiq and Aida but also on her disturbing dream and the figure she saw the other night. She knew that Sofia would not push of her dream tale as just a mere dream and tells her that it was only her imagination playing. No not Sofia, she was an avid fan of X-file.  She practically remembered each episode of the whole nine seasons. Her secret fantasy was to be a real life Mulder although Sharifah doubted they would spot any UFO’s in Malaysia.

 

Sharifah told everything to Sofia from A-Z. Sofia scratched her head and got up. Her waist was aching from sitting too long on the hard foor. She went to sit at the study table.

 

     “You know that figure that I saw sat at the same place you are sitting now,” said Sharifah pointing at the place Sofia was about to sit. Sofia yelped and returned to her previous position, sitting beside Sharifah. Sharifah used her elbow to prompt herself up. She looked at her friend.

 

     “You don’t think I’m going crazy, do you?” asked Sharifah. Sofia scratched her head. Her glasses were sliding down her nose. One thing that Sharfah and most of her friends beg her to do for them was to exchange her glasses with contact lens. Her special features which everyone notice except Sofia was  her eyes. They were big and dark brown and full of emotion. Her eyes would light up and sparkle whenever she was happy. They  would go lifeless and glassy whenever she was sad. It was hard for Sofia to fake her emotions from her friends. They could see it through her eyes.

Right now those big brown eyes were looking at Sharifah in excitement and wonder. It reminded Sharifah of a small child.

“That’s hard to say,” said Sofia, her eyes twinkling playfully. Sofia moved to the mattress. “Or this could be nothing,’

 

“What do you mean?” asked Sharifah her heart sank. She had hoped that Sofia would say that she wasn’t hallucinating, that there was something wrong with her.

“You like him,” said Sofia shortly.         

“I don’t think so,” said Sharifah.

     “Don’t think so or don’t want to think so.” Was the respond she got from Sofia. Sofia edged closer. “Dreams are a powerful tool my friend. I read that dreams can  show our subconscious feelings. You dream you’re a member of a firing squad and your target is your boss, it shows that your angry and you hate your job. You dream of earthquake or avalanche, it show’s that you are facing some personal problems. You dream of a guy that you met a year ago that shows……”

 

“How lonely and pathetic I am,” continued Sharifah. “Tell me one thing Sofia, why am I dreaming about the guy, his fiancée and his family and wake up to see a figure sitting on my study table?”

     “You were probably dreaming about the figure also. Either way you could be in denial,” said Sofia getting up and headed towards the door.

“From what? I have no feelings towards this guy,” said Sharifah hotly.

     “Maybe so, I might be wrong but one dream doesn’t show much.”

 

     “What about the second dream. It was so real, it was as if I was facing it, it was so intense and sad. I woke up crying. What was that all that about?” asked Sharifah trying to control her temper.

     ‘I don’t know Sharifah, it’s just seem that you are having feelings about this guy and your feeling guilty towards Aida. Your emotions were playing with you. You know that you can’t have him so subconsciously your creating a scene where your breaking away from him.” Sharifah punched her mattress in frustration. She so badly wanted Sofia to see from her side. That she was not creating all this, it was as if she was pulled into the dream.   

     “So you can’t help me?” asked Sharifah. Sofia was about to step out of the room.  She looked at her friend and her pleading eyes. To Sofia, keen as she was to supernatural  events, somehow she didn’t think this was one of it. She didn’t however had the heart to turn her back from her friend especially the incident with Aida earlier. Sharifah clearly needed someone beside her now. .

     “I didn’t say that. Look I’ll search any information that I can find about dreams and you have to take note of anything weird that happens okay?” answered Sofia softly “Oh and Sharifah?”

“Ya.”

“I think it’s best that you stay away from Rfaiq for a while,” said Sofia giving her friend a gentle smile and left the room. Sharifah watched her friend closed the door and lay back on her mattress, she put a hand over her eyes. Somehow the neon light above her was shining brightly and hurting her eyes.

 

“ Sharifah,” said a soft whisper. She quickly remove her hand from her eyes, she could see a figure looking down at her. She couldn’t see the face clearly as the light was shining brightly giving only a blurish image of a male figure not a few metres above her. Sharifah blinked to focus her vision through the blaring light but the figure was no longer there.

 

 

Sharifah blinked again and the only thing she could see was the long neon light blaring down on her……….