The thunder scared the brittle heart that slept peacefully. And then as though it were a dream, he began to hear the groans of pain that were coming from the person seated next to him, even though the sound of the showers of the rain along with the wind blowing the windows off was making it hard for his ears to hear. He turned and wanted to go back to sleep, to the beautiful dream he was having of creating a paradise for the little sister that laid patiently in his mother’s womb.
A soft smile crept to his lips when her little fingers touched his, and when he looked up to her face; Mammi had kept to her words. The baby in her stomach was indeed a girl. And a very beautiful one that he childishly wished she could marry off to him. And even now, he wished Mammi didn’t say it as impossible, that he couldn’t marry his sister.
The screeching of the sky was becoming more ominous as he turned to the other side, Mammi said whenever he had a bad dream, he should turn to the other side. And even though this dream felt so amazing and he was even smiling, he felt a feeling of foreboding and there seemed something dangerous surrounding him.
A hand tapped his shoulder and he abruptly jolted at the touch. Lazily, his eyes began to open and even though they were engulfed in utter darkness, he could see the figure that sat beside his sleeping body. “Mammi?” His 10 years old sleeping voice muttered, and he moved towards her but before his outstretched hand reached her, there was a loudening thunder strike that convulsed his soul and he dropped down to his knees, both hands on his ears to block away from the deafening sound.
He felt her warm body against his, shielding him from all harms imaginable and for the few moments he was in her embrace, he felt safe. But then he heard it, the cries he thought were in his dream. The groaning of pain he thought was a nightmare joined with the fantasy he was having as a dream. He quickly looked back at her face, and with the soft light illuminating through the room, he saw the sheen of sweat covered on her forehead.
“Are you in pain, Mammi? Is she coming now?” She was about to shake her head at him with her lower abdomen made an excruciating move that she cried out along with the rain blasting upon their windows nonstop. It seemed as though the universe cried along with her pains. As though the strange wind today was there to comfort her aching body. And the thunder strikes deafening all ears from hearing her cries.
“You’re crying, Mammi!” He said in a voice that shook. He had to speak loud for her to hear what he was saying and he rushed to where she always kept her phone. Somehow, in his baby mind, this little boy was glad he was so persistent to sleep in his mother’s chamber today. Who would have helped her now?
He brought the phone to her and she took it gladly, “We should call Abba, he will have maids here to help you and they will take you to the hospital, Mammi.” He was already crying, seeing how she winced in pain and was already in tears herself.
“There’s no network,” she whimpered and dropped the phone down. It was too much agony for her body to take and she didn't know what she would do if help didn't come through in time. Her protruded belly twinged in pain and she held his shoulder, crying silently.
He waited until she seemed to have eased off before he stood, “I'll run to his chamber to tell him. Maybe I can find someone that will help you even before I reach him.”
She silently shook her head and held his wrist. “You can’t leave alone, Your Highness.”
“Mammi!” The little boy cried. Even when she was in pain, she couldn’t just call his name? “Then let’s go together, it will be easier to get the help that way.” That was the only solution his mind could come up with, and when his mother agreed to that, he seemed proud of himself, albeit terrified at the situation at hand.
She wrapped a veil over her head and he helped her tie it tightly so it wouldn’t get loose, Mammi hated having her hair revealed. She held his hand as they trudged out of her chamber. The rain was heavier than they thought, the sky so dark one could hardly see what was in his presence. It felt as though they were walking through the asylum, and there seemed a dangerous aura surrounding them both, but all they wanted was to get her out to help and have his baby sister safely delivered.
The rain had blinded their eyes, the wind shivered them enough to lose their balance and the loudening thunderstorms and instilled fears in their minds that with each step they blindly took, the rain showers making their paths muddy, fear intensified in their innocent hearts. They had involuntarily closed their eyes as they walked through the path that seemed to lead them to Abba’s chamber until he felt a sound. It was in no way connected to the downpour gracing the earth. Something, precisely a metal had hit something. And then came a thud on the ground, and that was when he realized Mammi was no longer holding his head, she was slumped on the floor.
He looked around, even though blinded by the rain as she whimpered in sheer agony. “Run, Your Highness.” She begged. He saw a looming figure in a raincoat with everything masked, the dark exterior giving more mystery to this man or woman as he held the metal he had hit his mother with.
“Mammi, let’s run!” He cried, talking above whispers to be heard clearly.
She pulled him painfully to her body and hugged him for a split second before she whispered into his ear, “He’ll kill you if you stay, Your Highness. Run, okay? Go to Abba, he’ll protect you.”
She tried to push him away but he was being adamant, “Mammi!” He cried, “I can’t leave you here, we have to go to the hospital to deliver the princess.”
She smiled painfully and with one tight hold on his wrist as the light began to ease out of her body, she urged, “Run, Na’im! You have to live, okay?” The first time she had ever called his name, which also happened to be the last. He cried bitterly as he did what she said, he ran, but it took less than a minute before he hit something. The world swivelled around his eyes, the few memories he had accumulated in the ten years of his life rustled through his mind as though it were an avalanche before he slumped on the ground, the rain washing over him as the wind tried to lift his petite body. The last words he heard were, ‘Run, Na’im!’ Before everything became pitch black and he gave up his fight to live.
