{"id":363,"date":"2023-03-16T12:49:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T12:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/?p=363"},"modified":"2023-03-16T12:49:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T12:49:56","slug":"dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/?p=363","title":{"rendered":"Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had been sitting in the waiting room for almost fifteen minutes. Other patients were there, they were all looking the same: Pale faces, bald heads, and skinny bodies. On my left, my wife was sitting beside me and staring from the two big windows at whatever was happening outside. She was pale, bald, and skinny too, yet her angelic face and her blue eyes did not lose their charm. The large waiting room of the oncology clinic was meticulously organized. On the white walls, there were three small paintings that I could not understand. The alternating black and white seats made the room seem even larger. In the middle, there was a fancy low table made of glass, with a flower vase on top of it, and few health magazines that no one used.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnna,\u201d I whispered. \u201cI promise it is not what you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She kept looking from the window, ignoring what I was saying.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon Anna, we\u2019ve been together for seven years. Have I ever done that to you?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen where were you last night?\u201d she asked, whisper-shouting at me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026 can\u2019t tell you,\u201d I murmured.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She fixed her gaze at me for a long second, smirked sarcastically, then turned back to the window.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am trying to protect you!\u201d I softly said while putting my hand on her leg.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProtect me? By cheating on me?\u201d she screamed in her high-peached voice, almost unaware of her tone, and aggressively pushed my hand, as if she were grossed out.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was not cheating on you!\u201d I screamed back, with the exact same tone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the patients simultaneously turned their heads towards us, all of a sudden. The judgmental look they were giving us made us realize how loud we were. However, Anna could not care less.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou left me alone for the whole night. I was puking my guts out while you were having fun with whatever slut you were with!\u201d she screamed, trying her best not to let her tears fall.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone in our audience let a gasp out. I saw jaws dropping. The pale faces got paler, as if they all forgot their breaths held. The lady in reception quickly came to us and firmly asked us to lower our voices as we were bothering the other patients. I nodded and apologized on the behalf of the two of us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust\u2026 go,\u201d Anna said, without looking at me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I responded.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want you here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not leaving you alone,\u201d I said while reaching for one of the magazines on the table.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She burst out laughing, ironically.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had to go yesterday, I can\u2019t tell why or how or where, but I had to.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t even pick up my calls?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t even leave me a text?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t,\u201d I said again, without turning my eyes from the magazine.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat could\u2019ve been more urgent than your sick wife home alone?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you, and it\u2019s for your own good,\u201d I answered, trying my best to make her believe me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re either telling me, or I swear it\u2019s over,\u201d she said, looking me right in the eyes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s over?\u201d I asked, confused but scared of what was coming.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUs, our marriage, everything is over,\u201d she answered, without even blinking once.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was stressing, Anna never swore for nothing. But I could not tell her, it was not the right moment. What if she passes out? What if something happens to her?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about it after your chemo session,\u201d I said. \u201cFor now, just calm down.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNope, you\u2019re going to tell me now.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My mouth became dry, my heartbeat raised, and my veins got tense. I could feel my body starting to sweat. I swallowed, put the magazine back on the table, gently took her hand, and said: \u201cYour dad shot himself last night.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had been sitting in the waiting room for almost fifteen minutes. Other patients were there, they were all looking the same: Pale faces, bald heads, and skinny bodies. On my left, my wife was sitting beside me and staring from the two big windows at whatever was happening outside. She was pale, bald, and … Continue reading “Dialogue”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[5],"class_list":["post-363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-stories"],"authors":[{"term_id":5,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"anas-ben","display_name":"Anass Ben sliman","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d85cc0dd30868ba705c59fa81f7c3cddc563ddc23618f2869a6c6fd353a3de1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Ben sliman","first_name":"Anass","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=363"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trove.aui.ma\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fppma_author&post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}