“I’m done. We can’t keep going like this,” Lulu said suddenly. “Khaled’s coming in a little while. I’ll call the imam. He can marry us here.”
“What are you going on about?” Ammi asked.
“I’m saying we’ll make it official and call it a day,” said Lulu. “The guests will understand.”
“The mehndi is this evening,” Ammi said. “You can’t miss it.”
Lulu looked at her, incredulous. “Are you kidding me?”
“Where is the joke? I certainly didn’t make one.” Ammi pressed a button on the remote and adjusted her bed upright. “A mehndi is one of the most important days of a wedding. You told me yourself it was the mehndi you were most excited about.”
“Ammi,” Lulu said slowly, as though she couldn’t believe she had to explain this. “Things have changed since then.”
“I will not have tonight’s festivities canceled on account of me.” Her voice took on more power. “I mean it, Lulu.”
Lulu continued to argue with Ammi, but Hena could already see there was no sense trying to fight this. As weak as she was, her mother was refusing to take no for an answer.
“I’d like to be discharged,” she said when the nurse returned to check her vitals.
“I understand,” the woman replied. “It’s difficult to be cooped up in this room. Dr. Kao will be here in a little while. We’re waiting on a few more tests, and then he’ll go over the results of everything and—”
“He can phone me with whatever updates he needs to relay,” she interrupted. “Where do I sign the forms to leave?”
“Ammi.” Lulu was clearly exasperated. “You can’t just leave.”
“I can do as I wish,” Ammi retorted. “I’m a dying woman, and I get the final say with how I spend my final moments, don’t I? Isn’t that the least I deserve?”
“Ms. Mirza, I understand the urgency, and we will discharge you as soon as we are able,” the nurse hurriedly assured her. “But we need the doctor to go over your results. It won’t be much longer, I promise. I’ll ping him as soon as I step out.”
After everyone forcefully and firmly sided with the nurse, she relented, requesting her favorite peppermint tea and the metal bracelet to help her nausea while they waited for the tests to come back.
“Let me get it,” Hena offered.
Lulu handed her car keys over, and Hena headed down to the lobby as the sliding door opened. Khaled, Haris, and Irum hurried inside.
“How is Auntie Frida?” Khaled asked worriedly. “Lulu said…she thought…”
“She’s awake, and she’s in good spirits,” Hena told him. “Lulu’s there with her right now. They’ll be happy to see you.”
“I’ll catch up,” Irum told Khaled. She turned to Hena. “Lulu texted me the mehndi was off?”
“It’s back on,” Hena said. “Our mother is insisting we keep everything as scheduled.”
Irum balked. “Is she joking? I saw her pass out. She’s in no condition.”
“I know, and mehndis can go on for hours. There’s no reasoning with her. We tried.”
Irum considered this. “How about we shorten it?” she asked. “We can push it to an earlier start time. Maybe four o’clock?”
“Good idea,” Hena said. “And we can cut some of the rituals as well.”
“I’ll set a strict schedule. Every ritual will have a hard end time. We can make sure she’s in bed by eight.”
“Sounds perfect.” Relief swept through Hena. “Thank you, Irum.”
Irum headed down the hallway, but Haris hung back.
“Glad to hear your mother is doing better,” he said. “You doing okay?”