6 - Where Is She?!

When I returned home late at night, my mother looked worried at my disheveled and troubled appearance. My sister, her eyes red from staying up late, began asking me what was wrong until they made me swear that nothing had happened to my brother Raafat... I assured them I was just exhausted.

In my modest room with its lime-green walls, I sat smoking and flipping through my old books, untouched since my teenage years...

What a terrible defeat my diagnosis had suffered in less than four hours: the boy had fled, answering the Nadaha's call. Of course, his family was now cursing that arrogant fool—me—who claimed their son had rabies and thus made them less cautious in dealing with him... It doesn't bother me to be called clueless—I've heard it before—but I hate to see scientific truths defeated so brutally...

When Koch, the brilliant German scientist, claimed that cholera was caused by comma-shaped bacteria, one of his rivals challenged him and drank an entire culture of cholera bacteria in front of witnesses—a culture enough to kill a hundred men—and yet, he suffered nothing, not even indigestion (*)! And so, science was defeated for reasons that cannot be explained...

The same situation is repeating itself with me, on a smaller scale...

I know that the brain inflammation associated with rabies causes temporary madness... The patient might flee from his family, but this means they'll find him dead somewhere in the village within twenty-four hours... If they don't find him, who will convince them that what happened has nothing to do with the Nadaha?

What confusion...

In the morning, I went—my eyes red, my hair disheveled—to check on my brother. Najat opened the door for me... As soon as she saw me, she smiled smugly and exclaimed:

"I heard Abu Abdel Razek's son was called by the Nadaha yesterday..."

I said to her irritably, scolding:

"People usually say 'good morning' first..."

She continued harshly:

"They say they wanted your opinion, but you said a rabid animal bit him... Right? So you didn't know... That's something to be proud of..."

I looked into her eyes... clenched my teeth, then muttered:

"Najat... what do you want...? What makes you so happy about this story? Are you really this pleased by your husband's failure?!"

She froze for a moment, unsure what to say, then lowered her head and invited me in...

"Forgive me... I spoke out of anger..."

I pushed past the children playing in my way and added:

"You don't believe... and that's why I said what I said... Forgive me!"

We entered my brother's room. Everything was the same, except she had done what I wanted to do—she had tied his wrist to the bedpost with a silk scarf... He was asleep, his mouth open, looking utterly exhausted...

Najat explained:

"He kept getting up and tossing all night... That's why I had to tie him down... The cursed one called him for three hours yesterday..."

"And Raafat can't untie this silk restraint?"

"He's very weak... Didn't you notice? His mind is confused... He can't even figure out how to undo the knot..."

"And that boy... Abu Abdel Razek's son... He was tied up too... and escaped..."

"No... They untied his arm because of what you said! They left the room for five minutes to decide what to do... When they returned, he was gone, and the window was open..."

Then her eyes welled up, and she whispered bitterly:

"And you said a rabid animal bit him!"

Dr. Asem said confidently:

"Your scientific opinion is beyond doubt... The brain fever made him flee... But how do you convince these fools?!"

We were sitting in his room at the clinic, the examination room... The crowd of patients had begun to thin... His face in the morning light was even more grotesque than I'd seen it at night... like an old, skeptical owl wearing a white coat...

I said absently:

"I have an idea..."

"What is it?"

"You're as interested in this legend as I am..."

"Of course..."

I tapped the table with my knuckles and exclaimed:

"We need a lot of patience and caution..."

"I don't understand..."

"Wait..."

"You told me yesterday there's a patient who hasn't answered the Nadaha's call..."

"Yes... His name is Raafat Ismail..."

Why hadn't I told him that Raafat Ismail was my brother? I don't know... Some hidden impulse made me do it... The same impulse that made me not take my bags to Dr. Richard Cummings' house in Yorkshire... The same impulse that made me decide to stay in that filthy inn in that wretched Romanian village... And I've sworn—long ago—to always follow those mysterious impulses because they're always right...

I said to him:

"We'll organize ourselves... We'll take turns staying up to watch the area around his house... If this so-called Nadaha appears, we'll catch her immediately..."

He looked at me for a moment to see if I was serious... then scratched his bald head, thinking... and said:

"That's an exhausting plan..."

"It is... but I don't expect we'll have to wait more than two nights..."

"And emergency night calls?"

"You can tell a worker you trust where you are so he can call you if needed..."

He thought for a moment... Just then, a beautiful nurse entered the room carrying a small bottle with a thermometer... As soon as she saw me, she nodded in greeting and turned to Dr. Asem, saying in a husky voice:

"The last examination is done, Asem..."

"Asem..."

At the look of surprise on my face, Dr. Asem smiled and gestured to the girl, saying:

"Sorry... I forgot to introduce her... Awatif, my wife!"

Then he scolded her, smiling:

"Awatif... How many times have I told you not to call me by my first name in front of others?"

She laughed coyly and said in a bold rural tone, touching her neck:

"I know Dr. Raafat well... He's a son of the village, not a stranger..."

I nodded, greeting her with a "Pleased to meet you"... then asked her:

"Do you know my family?"

"Not exactly... I'm originally from Fagus..."

Something strange... It never crossed my mind that the man was married... The look of his room yesterday and his lifestyle suggested bachelorhood... Where was his wife last night when I was with him? And I have some reservations about such a marriage, which might not offer the highest degree of cultural and social compatibility... But what's it to me? They're happy... and I understand what isolation does to people... At least he's fulfilled his physiological existence, while I'm still a child playing by the pond of life, throwing stones into it from time to time but never finding the courage to swim in it...!

Dr. Asem said, guessing half of what I was thinking:

"She's a good woman... She understands me completely, and I wouldn't trade her for anyone..."

Then he said, guessing the other half:

"Yesterday, she went down to the village for an urgent delivery... They prefer a midwife or nurse to handle that here..."

"That's why I didn't see her last night..."

"And that's why I closed the nurse's quarters completely... because we live together in the doctor's quarters... This small room has become our luxurious home..."

I reached out and fiddled with the thermometer in the bottle... then said:

"So when does our little project start?"

"Tonight, if you want!"

"It's night again..."

Once more, that mysterious black entity full of secrets returns... In my room, I dressed, ready to join Dr. Asem at the health unit. I put on light shoes, stuffed a flashlight into my pocket, and made sure I had enough cigarettes for a long, harsh night...

Then I did something I never thought I'd do... From the lining of my medical bag, I took out my small licensed pistol, which I'd obtained after my adventure with Count Dracula... I checked that it was loaded and tucked it into my pocket...

The next step—the most important—was taking the small Quran my mother had given me and placing it in my inner jacket pocket...

I was prepared for anything...