Transcendence (A Muslim-Christian Story)

Chapter 24: Care

I woke up to find myself lying on the couch, with a blanket over me. I sat up quickly and glanced at the clock on the wall. 11:08 pm. I'd slept for almost 3 hours!

The room was dimly lit, only by the night light. It was enough to see Isa snuggled up against Sebastian on the bed with his head resting on Sebastian's arm, without a blanket.

The side table had empty containers. Sebastian had fed Isa the strawberry-banana mash and his dinner as well.

I couldn't believe I slept through all that noise. I was usually a very light sleeper, but on rare occasions, you could blow a trumpet at my ear and I still wouldn't budge. Today was one of those days.

I took the blanket from the couch and covered them both with it. I then tiptoed to the bathroom to freshen myself.

I sat down on the couch and started reading on my iPad wanting to stay awake till Sebastian woke up. But since studying is probably the strongest sedative, not much later, I drifted into wonderland again.

I woke up to find Isa still sleeping and Sebastian working on his laptop, sitting on a chair beside the bed.

He looked up when he heard the sound of me placing my feet on the floor.

I glanced at the clock. 5:05 am. It was my usual time to wake up. I felt guilty seeing Sebastian still here. I moved towards him and sat on the corner of the bed.

"You should have woken me up, Sebastian." I lowered my head in shame.

"Hey, it's absolutely fine. I actually haven't had such good sleep since a very long time. And I did try to wake you up but you were probably very exhausted. So it's a win-win."

"You should go home now, I guess. You must be tired. I can take it from here, Sebastian."

"I'm not tired. In fact I haven't felt so good in a long time. But I will go get ready and then bring you both some breakfast." He said with determination.

He wasn't going to give up any time soon. I just nodded and let out a sigh.

He waved a goodbye and left.

At 6, Camilla, one of the older nurses on the night shift entered.
"Hey, good morning Dr. Ameerah! How'd you sleep?"

"I slept very well, thank you, Camilla."

"I saw Dr. Sebastian leave just a while back. He seems to care a lot about you."

I didn't like where this was going. I looked at her face and just saw a genuine smile and not even the slightest hint of mischievousness.

"Umm, yeah, he's really cares for my son, Isa. They've grown quite fond of each other's company."

She just smiled and said, "I came yesterday night while you were sleeping on his lap and he was just looking at you with a very loving expression. He didn't move until I came and helped place a pillow below your head and then he asked me to cover you with the blanket. So, he does care for you as well."

I jerked my head up, "What? Me- sleeping on his lap?"

"Yes, you didn't know?" She looked very confused.

"Err... I don't remember when I fell asleep. I was sitting on the couch beside him and.... Oh crap!"

Camilla chuckled. "Hey, it's no big deal! You were probably exhausted."

If my skin blushed, I'd probably look like an extremely ripe tomato now.

She then moved towards Isa and started noting down his vitals. Just before leaving, she threw me a reassuring smile.

Isa was up by now and was really hungry, making him irritable.
Luckily, Sebastian strode in right at that moment, with breakfast.

"Look who's up, my little champion!" He said out loud.

Isa started giggling. "Bash-bash!"

Sebastian brought out a tiffin box and handed it to me. "For Isa."

I opened it to find Isa's favourite, Strawberry-banana mash.

I mouthed a 'thank you' to him. He just smiled and shrugged.

We all ate breakfast silently and after we were done, Sebastian stood up.

"I've got to go. I'll see you both soon?"

"Sure. See you later!" I waved at him.

And while Isa was busy colouring, I was lost deep in thoughts of none other than... Sebastian.