Hiya.

Sorry.

Been procrastinating and watching La Casa De Papel. Hahahahahaha.

Anyway, here is the next chapter.

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Voices. I heard voices.

They sound like a song. I felt at ease listening to them… I felt like the voices engulfed me in a protective cocoon.

They were hazy at first and gradually became clearer. They were actually the sound of one person. Malik. That is Malik's voice. He was singing a familiar song. It was beautiful. The song became clearer as I began to wake up and I could hear the song words by words. It was Surah Yaseen. My eyes moistened at the beautiful recitation and so I opened them slowly. As my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I saw my firstborn. He was holding a small book, reading it to me. My throat felt dehydrated, even after I swallowed my saliva.

"Malik…" I croaked, tears falling down.

His eyes shot to me swiftly. The he dropped the book on the bed and embraced me tightly. His small arms gripped my shoulders while hiding his face in the crook of my neck. I was still trying to figure out what is happening and why is my son crying. I was crying because his reading is flawless and touching.

"Mom…" he wept. "Momma…" His shaky voice tugged my heart more, making me upset as well. I wanted to return his embrace but my body couldn't move.

I could hear footsteps approaching and then Lee and Mrs. Weller appeared by the door. I finally realized that I was in a hospital as my eyes travelled at my surrounding. Why am I at the hospital? How long was I out?

"Oh, thank the Lord," Mrs. Weller breathed out.

"I can't move," I whispered, feeling a little panic.

Lee immediately came to my side and checked my vitals. After that, she poured a glass of water and put in a straw. I noticed that I didn't have my prosthetic with me so I tried to reach the glass with my left hand but my hand just stayed at my side. My doctor friend placed the straw against my lips. Parched, I sucked the drink to quench my thirst. "How are you feeling?" she asked in her doctor's voice after I was finished.

"Nothing. Just thirsty," I honestly replied. I felt like I had just woke up from a normal sleep. The difference is I couldn't move my body.

"Try wiggling your toes or fingers first. Take it slow."

My brain ordered my fingers to twitch, but I don't think they moved, at all. "Mind to fill me up? I can't remember anything." I felt slightly frustrated for not being able to make any movement, but I didn't give up.

"There was an airborne attack at a birthday party," she answered, bitterly.

Then everything came back to me. The sweet fragrance I smelled, before I passed out. I hope everything and everyone is all right.

"The gas basically numbs everything. Some of the people who got affected woke up just a few hours after and some… just like you, stay immobile for a long period of time. You've been on that bed for weeks. I was lucky. I woke up an hour after."

Eyes widened in shock, I exhaled a shaky breath at how long I have been out. I asked for another glass of water and Lee gladly give me more. Then I felt tiny jerk so I looked at my left hand. I have successfully moved my fingers. Then I felt a move under the covers – I had made my toes wiggled too.

"Your parents are here in Gotham. They're staying at your brownstone. We take turns on looking after you here," Mrs. Weller said, patting Malik's head, who was still hugging me. "I'll give them a call." Then she exited the room.

Lee rubbed my shoulder, saying how glad she is now that I'm awake. "Malik is strong, you know. He comes everyday, praying for you." She pressed her lips on my cheek while I looked at Malik in ultimate affection. "I'll leave you two alone."

After she left, I tried my hardest to scoot over to the left. I was careful with the rubber tubes on and in me. They felt rather uncomfortable, especially the one for my bladder. My muscles felt so weak but I managed to move aside. I patted the new space. "Sit here with me." Still with teary eyes, he climbed the bed, nestling beside me. "Did you take care of Izzah while I'm here?"

He nodded, hiding his face against my chest. "Izzah is with grandpa and grandma," he mumbled. "You were gone for thirty six days, mom."

I let a few moments of silence passed, drinking all his emotions. "I'm sorry, my sweet. Thank you for being by my side. No wonder I never felt lonely. I can feel that you're with me," I kissed his head. "But I'm here now."

Malik had lost his father. Seeing me lying on a hospital bed for weeks and not knowing what's going to happen must be very hard for him. I combed his hair with my fingers weakly.

I gazed at the Yaseen book in my son's hand and nudged him. "Why don't we finish the surah together?"

Father teared up the moment he entered the hospital room I was put in. Malik had to jump out of the bed to give space. I was showered with kisses on my cheeks and forehead. He kept on praising the God for my condition. Mother was relieved as well. Sobbing, she hugged me tightly, whispering how grateful she is that I was all right.

They brought clothes for me. And of course, my prosthetic as well. The doctor said I could go home now because I can finally moved my body.

"Princess, we're so worried about you," Father expressed. "They said the gas wasn't life threatening but the doctors were not sure when you will wake up. Anything could happen."

Then there was a cry from a baby crib. "Momma! Ija want momma!"

Oh, my Izzah. My baby.

Izzah saw me and wanted to get out of the crib instantly. She struggled, throwing away her small blanket and toy. As quick as I can (which is still slow) I picked her up and hugged her. Either she was unexpectedly heavy or I have just a little above zero energy. She quietened down, laying her head on my shoulder. I rocked my body side to side to calm her down.

"Momma's here, baby. Momma's here."

My youngest kept on crying loudly whenever I put her in her carriage or whenever I passed her to someone else. So I told everyone except Malik to wait at the receptionist area so that I could change.

"Don't go anywhere, Momma. Momma stay," she said sternly, pouting her lips. "Or Ija will cry."

Placing Izzah on the bed, I kept on talking to her. "It's okay, baby," I reassured. I slid the curtains just to block the view of my son who was sitting at the sofa, since I'm in one of those VIP hospital rooms. I put on my clothes while singing to my daughter. She hummed together with me, swaying her body left to right. Once I was done, I tickled her tummy. Her giggles lifted my spirits. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." I carried her in my arms before opening the curtain.

Momentarily I was shook, before I regained my composure quickly as I saw the person beside Malik. My stomach churned. My lips were then set in a tight line and my jaws hurt from clenching too hard when I noticed Malik wasn't his normal self. I glared at the taller person.

"Ivy…" I scowled, trying to suppress the twitches at my lips. "Let go of my son."

The redhead beauty was haughty and relax. She was propping her hips against the end of the couch, tending the leafy tendrils around her arm. A few seconds after, she finally turned her head to look at me. There was a touch of a coy smile on her face as she cocked her head to the side. It made me even madder.

"Get my son out of your perfume."

Izzah noticed the tension inside the room because she whined and gripped my clothes tightly. I glanced at my firstborn again, who was enormously infatuated with Ivy.

"I know it was you," I continued. "The attack at the party. It was you!"

"Aww… you're gonna make the baby cry," taunted Ivy as Izzah's whine is getting louder.

I held the back of my daughter's neck and kissed her cheek, whispering to her sweet hushes, before I talked to Ivy. "You broke my heart, Ivy."

"This is not a love story."

"What you did… " I cleared my throat to rearrange my words. "Although you tried to hurt me and two hundred other people, no one died. That makes me feel a tiny bit better. Just a tiny bit. But I hate what had happened to me in the past weeks."

She strolled closer slowly, swaying her hips side to side. "No! Go away!" shrieked Izzah.

When Ivy glared at my daughter, I raised my voice. "Hey! Don't look at my baby like that!"

She took a deep breath. "The reason why I am here is because you're awake. I need to give you something." She tossed something to me and I caught it. It was some sort of fruit with the size of a golf ball. The color is reddish brown and it smells horrible. It has the smell of rotting death! "Eat it," she ordered.

I scoffed incredulously. Not only she put me out for more than a month, now she is trying to force feed me? "No. What is this?" The fruit felt very hard in my left palm.

"If you eat that, you won't be affected by my poison. Did you know that I had to change the gas last minute because you were at the party?"

"You mean… if I… was not there… everyone else would…"

"It depends…" she shrugged. "Some would be blind, others would be paralyzed for the rest of their lives, if they are lucky, they would just lost their sense of taste of their tongue."

"So if I eat this pit, I would be safe?" I spat. "That's what you want?"

"I'm not that mean, Sarah. I know how to reciprocate. I'm saving you."

"No. No. No." I fisted the fruit and it crushed to pieces. Some bits fell through my fingers. "I'm not going to eat this, knowing others would die but me. No."

Her eyes faltered and her eyebrows creased. "Your lost then." But it sounded like it was her lost. Her disappointment was openly felt. Then she walked towards the door while I rushed to Malik to check on him. Swiftly I put the crushed pit inside my cardigan pocket. "He'll be back in a few minutes," she murmured. Then, she left, leaving a trail of sweet scent behind.

Ija don't like her," my daughter suddenly said. I let her sit on the couch when waiting for Malik to get his conscious back.

"How did she do that?" Malik questioned, looking very scared and anxious. His breathing is fast and heavy.

I sighed in relief when the effect of the perfume had worn off. Then, I held both sides of his face. "Sweetie. Look at me," I said. "I know you're confused and scared but everthing's gonna be alright. Trust me…" Nevertheless, I sounded unsure myself.

"I felt like she is everything to me. And I just agree to everything she said, mom."

"I'm sorry." The guilt I felt was enormous.

Then he looked at me straight in the eyes. There was a faint curiosity in them. "It was quite a unique experience."

I blinked and then tucked my chin, staring at him dumbfoundedly. The feeling is the same as when I accidentally said 'Love you, bye' to Lucius through the phone a few years back. That's because before calling him, I was talking with Hassan in the phone too.

"Unique… experience?" I repeated slowly.

He looked as if he figured out something. "Mom?"

"Yes?" I whispered, feeling uneasy.

"Is that what you call love at first sight? I have read about it."

"Um…" I don't know if I should be honest or not. I wanted to say 'no' but then I had to explain Ivy's unique abilities to him and then he might get scared. But if I say 'yes', I would be lying to him. "Ivy is very beautiful, isn't she?" I asked instead, avoiding his question.

He nodded vigorously. "She smells nice too. But why are you angry at her? And why I've never met her before?"

I don't know what he had gone through but from what I know, the people who were affected by Ivy's perfume remembered the events that happened when they were under influence even after they regained consciousness. Malik didn't seem to hear what I had said to Ivy a few minutes ago.

I faked a smile. "We had a misunderstanding and things go out of hand."

"Why? What happened?"

"It's quite sensitive and it's not something that I'm ready to share now."

He puckered his lips and nodded in understanding. I bit the insides of my cheek and wondered if I did the right thing. I let out a loud heavy sigh. "Alright now… What do you guys want to do today?" I questioned my kids. "I'm out of the hospital now. We have so many things to do. I miss you guys so much."

Malik's eyes sparkled in excitement. "Grandpa already has plans. He wants to have a barbeque party!" he chirped. "We're gonna do it at the rooftop! It's been forever since we had barbeque party."

I chuckled at Father's plan. It was slightly not surprising, but I silently hoped that he would not do it. Or overdo it.

The inside is pink.

And it is softer than the shell. Still hard but it easier to chew, I guess. I haven't tried it.

The pieces of the fruit that Ivy had given to me; I put them inside a small mason jar. A part of me stopped me from throwing them away. There was a thought in my head, but I wasn't sure if I should do it or not.

"Mom?"

I slightly jumped in surprised at Malik's call. I quickly hid the jar behind me when I turned around to talk with him. He had return to himself about five minutes after Ivy left the hospital room. I didn't tell anyone what had happened. When I reached home, I looked for a place to keep the crushed fruit.

"Yes?" I smiled.

"Grandpa is looking for you," he beamed. "Come on. Let's go to the rooftop."

"I'll be right up. I need toilet," I lied.

Then he scurried out of the room, looking thrilled to return to the party. I hoped he didn't tell anyone about Ivy and his 'infatuation' for her. Once he was out, I rushed into my bedroom and hid the jar inside my closet. Before I closed the closet door, I had made up my mind.

My kids are going to eat the fruit.

Barbeque party was enjoyable. Lee was there. Bullock was there for a few minutes. He even smacked my back while saying how good it was to see me standing and well. Meanwhile Father was giving Bullock a cold shoulder. He is still not fond of him.

Nevertheless, I felt happy with everyone here.

"Sorry, we're late."

I turned around to the voice. The Gate Street children are not so children anymore. Rue is a cashier at a department store. Sean is a barista and currently involved with the manager of his workplace. And Troy is a mechanic and an MMA fighter. Rue and Troy are not together anymore.

"Hey. It's been a long time…" I smiled at them. I often met with Sean since he worked near home.

"Mr. Kimata gave us this," Sean said, showing a box of blueberry cake. "He said congratulations on your hospital release."

"That's so nice of him. This looks delicious. Thank you. He got my approval, Sean." I wiggled my eyebrows while his ears slowly turned red. I know they're together for a couple of months now.

Troy not so softly nudged me with his fist against my upper arm. "Hey, I got a match this weekend. Come and watch me," Troy grunted. Troy didn't change that much. At least he got his dream job, where he got to beat people's asses off.

"I cannot promise that I'll come," I responded.

Looking at Troy, I couldn't help but remembered Kid. She had suddenly gone missing. It was hard to look for her because the only date we have is her physical appearance. We had spent two years looking for her. It's been a decade. She must look quite different now.

"Help yourselves. We have plenty of food," I offered. Rue then approached me after the two blokes moved towards the table of foods.

After hugging me, she gave me a small bag. "Here. A little present. I bought it with staff's discount."

I peeked inside and widened my eyes at a nice pastel blue winter scarf. "It's adorable. Thank you."

"I know you like cute things. Where's Malik?"

"He's playing with Barbara inside the tent." I gestured to a small kid's size tent that I had set up with Lee an hour ago.

"I'm gonna give them a bit of jump scare," she sneered mischievously. Then she rushed to the tent in tiptoes. She sneakily approached the entrance of the tent and then jumped in, making a loud roar. I could hear Malik and Barbara screamed in surprise before they laughed playfully.

I giggled at their actions. Looking at the blue sky, I smiled in content. Ah… this is so nice.

When night came, we began to clean up everything since it was getting very cold. The other guests went home. My family prayed Isha together with Father as the imam. Most of us were curling up under blankets at the living room watching Space Jam. Izzah slept in my bedroom since it had passed her bedtime. I curled up in Father's arm while Malik was hugging my other side. I think we looked like a hugging train.

Malik fell asleep during the movie so I had to carefully move him to his room. Father and Mother decided that they wanted to go back to the brownstone since it was getting late.

"How was it? The house, I mean," I anxiously asked, as if things had changed there, after being unoccupied for years.

"Still wonderful. We're glad that you sent housekeeping staffs there once a month. Everything is tidy," answered Mother.

I stared at the three people in before me who are my real parents and another person who I sometimes consider as my parent too. "I want to move back, as soon as possible," I informed. "It's a first step, right?"

"Now that's good news," said Mrs. Weller. "It will be finally quiet around here."

I chuckled. "Oh, you love us, Mrs. Weller. But you need to have your own space. I'm sorry we barged into your life."

"Shush. I get to eat your brownies. It's a win-win!"

I shrugged my shoulder with hers in a friendly manner. She immediately whispered to me that I owed her brownies and I giggled heartily.

"Actually it's a second step. How are the eligible men in the dating agency?" Mother heartily asked.

Both Father and I groaned simultaneously. "Aisyah honey, you need to stop that," Father sighed. "Princess is doing fine."

She raised an eyebrow in disagreement of my father. "She needs a partner. We've talk about this already and you agree with me."

"Yes, but not forcing her and rushing things."

"Umm… Hello? I'm here," I announced my unmoving presence.

Then Mother swiftly took my prosthetic hand and looked at me with hopeful eyes. "Malik told me there is this programmer you're seeing."

I resisted an eye-roll because if I showed it, she would feel dispirited. "He's a pro-gamer, Mother," I pronounced the occupation slowly. "Professional Gamer. Not programmer. I don't think we match."

"Oh, that's not good," she mumbled. "Well… keep on looking."

Father and I stared at each other, making tired faces. Meanwhile Mrs. Weller looked like she didn't want to get involved with any of it.