New faces

Soft whispers drifted through the haze of unconsciousness.

Maliha frowned.

At first, the voices seemed distant, almost as though they were coming from the other side of a thick wall. But gradually, they became clearer two grown adults speaking in loud voices somewhere nearby. Their words were difficult to make out, yet their hushed conversation was enough to irritate her.

"Why are they speaking so loud?" Maliha's murmurs to herself annoyingly.

She tried to ignore them, hoping they would eventually stop. Instead, the murmuring continued, occasionally breaking into fragments of straight, unmistakable conversation. The irritation slowly pulled her from the darkness.

Maliha's fingers twitched.

Then, with considerable effort, her eyelids began to open. A bright white light greeted her. She blinked several times, her vision blurry at first. The ceiling above her was unfamiliar. The air carried a faint sterile smell, and somewhere nearby, a machine gave a quiet, rhythmic beep. Her brows knitted together.

"Where am I?" Maliha thinks to herself questionably.

She slowly turned her head.

White walls. Medical equipment. In patient's clothes.

A hospital.

Maliha's eyes widened slightly.

She tried to move, but a strange sensation in her arm caught her attention. Looking down, she saw a drip connected to her vein, the transparent tube running toward a hanging bag beside the bed. Her memory felt distant and scattered, like pieces of a dream she couldn't quite grasp. Her headache starts to grow when she remembers what happened last night; her father's death and getting knocked out by Isba.

Maliha lefts out a sigh while looking at the ceiling, she was mixed up in feelings, she leaves a tear from her eyes. And that tear was for her father's death, that tear rolling down her cheek and her mind filled with thoughts. She tries to sit straight and gets up looking here and there something lying on the sofa caught her attention. A leather bag rested quietly on the bed.

Maliha studied it. It wasn't hers; the sight immediately gave her a clue.

Someone had visited her.

But who? besides her father she never knew anyone. The question suddenly occupied her entire mind.

She slowly looked around the room again, listening carefully to the fading whispers nearby.

Her expression hardened with confusion. Whatever had happened before she woke up, someone clearly knew more than she did and Maliha intended to find out who.

Suddenly her room's door opens, and two figures came in walking from it; she doesn't know none. But by judging their clothing Maliha understood that the person who opened the door was a doctor. Maliha was judging both of them, she didn't utter a single word from her mouth, because the doctor was there to do the honors.

"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked her.

Before answering Maliha looked at him with raised brows.

"I am good." she answered him with no emotions.

"Alright, let me check your blood pressure." The doctor said while coming towards her.

Maliha didn't say anything and looked at the person: standing beside the door resting his back on the wall, arms folded veins on the forearm visible, wearing a fitted suit and a luxurious watch. From top to bottom, that man was an epitome of richness. That slim face and beard with visible cheekbones, he was handsome yet seemed old.

The doctor checked Maliha's blood pressure and was satisfied with the results. He stood up and went towards the door; he passed a smile to Maliha; "what a cheerful doctor" she thought to herself. Before going the doctor said to that man "Take good care of her.". The man nodded and the doctor went from there closing the door.

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