The Red Line by R M Reef Read Free Book Online

Even your roommate herself, Dr. Rheem, stopped by to tell me that she has a place available for a new resident."
    "No one told me anything, and I wasn't planning to leave at all! There must be a big misunderstanding. Let me talk to Rheem. No one has the right to kick me out!" Nora said angrily. She forced herself not to cry in front of the woman, who was looking at her in a curious way.
    "I understand, Doctor. I understand. I thought you were planning to leave. Okay, I'm sorry. But if you change your mind, just let me know."
    Nora couldn't go back to the floor. She went directly to her room, her heart burning in anguish. Her closest friend ! She could hardly believe it. ' I want to kill her. Just let her ste p into the room. I'll kill her!' She called the hospital information service and paged Rheem.
    "Hey!"
    "It's me, Nora. It's urgent. I need to see you. I'm in the roo m." She was filled with so much anger that she couldn't say more.
    "Okay, I'm on my way." She just shut the line without waiting for Nora's response.
    When she entered the room, Rheem wore a stony expression. Her gaze was shrouded, and she wouldn’t look directly at Nora.
    "I learned that you're kicking me out of our room."
    "Oh please, Nora! You're not living in this room! For once, be honest with yourself. Just tell me, what are you keeping here? The stuff you hardly use? And since when did you really care about this place or about your friends? You've been drawn into your own crazy world, and you’ve forgotten all about us." Rheem was facing her now, and all her pent up anger and frustration finally showed on her face.
    "I never, never expected you, my best friend, to stab me in the back like this. What did I ever do to you to make you so hateful toward me?"
    "Me? Hateful? Nora, didn’t you ever notice what's going on around you? People are talking behind your back. Everybody knows that you're living with a guy. And it wasn't my big mouth that gave you away; it was your own attitude. People saw you with your lover everywhere. Did you think West Beirut was Sweden? Or China? These people here are worse than us, and they despise Christian girls. They think that we’re cheap liberals, easy to sleep with. The other day Ramzi saw you and recognized Tamer. He got insanely mad. He told everybody about you and started calling you ' the Muslim’s w----. ' I fought with Farid because of you. He wanted me to move out of our room. And guess what? He told our parents, and I have no idea if the news reached your mom. Did you get the picture now?"
    Nora was pale and felt ready to faint. It was like h er whole life had turned upside down, and she was living a nightmare from which she couldn't awaken. She fell on her bed and covered her head with both hands. She couldn't think. She felt dizzy and nauseated. But throwing up wouldn’t solve her problems. She wanted to run away and disappear, but there was no way out. Facing her mom…Oh my God! Telling her that she'd been lying to her for almost two years! She wanted to die; she couldn't face that. How could this have happened? It was all her fault. She deserved everything that was happening to her now. It hurt; it hurt so much.
    "Nora, Nora, are you okay? I'm sorry I was so harsh—but you needed to hear the truth." Nora pushed Rheem back and left the room. Out in the hallway, she stopped. She couldn't go back to work. She was shaking all over. She wasn't supposed to see Tamer till late, at the end of the day.
    "Dr. Nora, you're needed in O.R.” Reminded of her duties, she knew that she needed to stay in control and go on as usual. No one had to know how much she was hurt. She had made her choice, and as an adult, she had known what the consequences would be. The only thing she hadn’t been expecting was her friend’s rejection. Back in the O.R., she stoically finished her day without anyone noticing how much her heart was bleeding.

XVII.
     
    "Hey Uncle, I would like a word with you.” Tamer was standing at the