Somewhere! (Hunaak!) (18 page)

I wiped what remained of her tears. I decided that I would help her forget all that she had been through. This was why I had come back to this world, this is what I lived for now.

“Maram, Mom and Dad told me to take care of you. From now on, crying is not allowed. Is that clear?? By the way, I was never in a coma, I was living in another world but that is a long story. Now, let me change out of this stupid robe and attack these spicy nuggets before they get cold!” — I said.

Maram was surprised when she saw me jumping gracefully and how I picked up the clothes and moved towards the bathroom. I did regain most of my fitness and another strange thing also happened
… my clothes were no longer my size! I remember this pair of jeans and shirt very well. While I could understand the extra space caused by my loss of weight during my coma, the jeans felt a bit short… or was it that I was also a bit taller? I also felt that my bones were growing fast —defying the laws of puberty!
—
I returned to Maram and ate  the Baik meal. I admit that I devoured it all alone and she only had but a few fries in her mouth and she went on to tell me her story for the past three months.

A young man in a nurse
’s coat knocked the door and asked if he could enter, he spoke to me as if he knew me for some time:

“
Husam! How are you dude?” — the Doctor said.

“
Hello doctor, come on in!” — I responded.

“
So tell me how are you today?” — the Doctor asked.

Maram excused herself to catch up with her studies and left me with the young doctor.

“Of course I know you and you do not know me… I am Eyad Alzayd, I graduated two years ago and asked to be transferred to King Fahad Hospital just for you!” — he added.

“
It is a pleasure Doctor Eyad…” — I began answering.

“
Just plain Eyad please… consider me your friend” — he interrupted me.

“
OK plain Eyad, you did not say why you requested your transfer here for me.” — I inquired.

“
Listen Husam, your case is unique and would not repeat in the history of medicine, after a month of your accident your story spread amongst doctors, and I pulled every string I had just to be able to follow your case.” — he began explaining.

“
What is so strange about my case?” — I asked.

“
Husam, you have cheated death. Your brain was damaged, every doctor expected you to die within a few days or at best case to stay in a coma forever.”  — he began explaining.

He took a quick glance at my vitals and went on.

“Something in your brain changed after the accident, the damaged cells regenerated and this had never happened in recorded medicine! Not only your brain, but your entire body. Your bones healed in record time, your wounds have healed as well. Last week, when we checked your vision, you had perfect vision although your records show that you were three points short!” — he added.

I just realized then that I saw everything clearly without my thick glasses! Dr. Eyad
Alzaydi went on frantically.

“
Your cells are in a continuous active and regenerative state, your temperature and pressure are always high and yet your body does not seem to care. My personal analysis is that you have a stem cell explosion. Meaning that all of your cells have become stem cells! They are always regenerating. You, Husam, have turned into a superhero and doctors have even called you the human salamander!” — the Doctor added.

“
This is a very logical analysis Eyad… but it is not true… this has nothing to do with stem cells!” — I responded.

“
How would you know? You just awakened from a three month coma.” — the Doctor responded.

“
The change that has happened is all in my soul… I mean, within my subconscious. The subconscious has unlimited capabilities as it controls everything. Inside each of us is a super hero that cannot move unless we let go of the boundaries we take for granted and delude ourselves with!” — I explained.

“
You seem affected by the soul energy books and the laws of attraction… all of these things are but ideas that have no scientific bases!” — the Doctor responded.

“
Trust me, it has nothing to do with all of that. Eyad, my heart had stopped for seven minutes and my soul went to another world where I lived for a full week before I came back!” — I tried to explain.

“
I have heard about dreams and hallucinations during comas…” — he interjected.

“
These were not dreams nor hallucinations… I lived there in the flesh and blood …in another world! A world more realistic than this one! It was as physical and as clear in a way that made me feel that my real life —in comparison
—
was nothing  but a dream. In this moment, I see you in front of me but I do not feel that it is as real as I did when I was there!” — I explained.

“
I was going to say that you have lost your mind. After the accident, had we not been through a crazy experience myself and my wife, that would allow me to believe anything. I will try to believe you, so that you might also believe me when I tell you my story!” — the Doctor said.

“
Ok. In short, during the week that I lived
Somewhere,
I met the most beautiful creature as if she was a nymph from heaven. She introduced me to Leonardo de Vinci, Beethoven and Bruce Lee. I also role played as a superhero and battled space monsters! All was a reality not a dream!” — I said.

Eyad froze for a moment
… he did not even close his mouth until I continued.

“
You can consider all of these hallucinations. How would you explain how I learned more than one language during that coma?! Ho imparato a parlare Italiano fluentemente, als auch die Deutsche Sprache!” — I said.

As I expected
… in addition to my soul’s ability, or subconscious to control my body and gaining amazing fitness that made each cell in my body work at super-human efficiency, I also retained all of the knowledge and experiences that I had gained while I was
Somewhere.

I knew that Doctor Eyad would not understand my Italian and German sentences but I just wanted to prove a point. He tried to play along as he said in a broken French accent as he sat baffled:

“Impossible! J'ai passé toute ma vie juste pour apprendre un peu de Français!” — he said.

I smiled and continued:

“If this a pure medical matter, how would you explain how a person in a coma would learn martial arts? I learned more things during my coma than everything I had learned in my entire life!” — I said.

I handed him the notes that I had written with all my memories from the days I had spent
Somewhere
along with perfect sketches. Doctor Eyad’s eyes popped out as he went through the pages and reading some statements and looking at some of the sketches.

“
I had heard of cases were patients had gained extreme skills after getting electrified or had had sudden accidents but I had never thought that it was possible to this extent!” — Doctor Eyad added.

I stood in front of him and pointed at my short pants.

“Above all the skills, I do not think Doctors have noticed this.” — I said.

“
What is this?” — he asked.

“
This are the pants that used to be my size before the accident.” — I said.

“
No No No… this is impossible! I am not leaving this place until I know everything… with all the details!” — he said.

Something made me put my complete trust in Dr. Eyad. I decided not to tell anyone else about my experience other than to Maram and Eyad, who had become my best friend. He helped me get rid of the Hospitals’ pressure along with the team of consultants who wanted to confiscate my freedom and make me a Guinea Pig to try and understand my case. All their greed of extracting the drug of youth from my blood had been severed after Eyad had enlisted the help of a team of lawyers to prevent them and any other organization from running any tests on my blood. Thus, the medical teams that had come from all over the world —motivated by greed
—
returned with nothing. All of my wounds had healed and so did my bones. Nothing from that accident remained other than a scar that devoured my eyebrow and a few metallic bars in my arm.

My body was flowing with a strange energy that mastered my control over my subconscious. The barriers between me and my dreams had collapsed. My athletic body was fat free although my apatite was multiple times that of what I was used to eat when I was chubby. I had grown eight centimeters taller and
…
I was still growing!

I mastered the arts of self-defense; I left my job and I partnered with Eyad to open a training center for all creative arts. This was an academy for preparing super heroes!

In the past, I had wasted my life only wishing. The ceiling for my hopes was to reduce a few kilograms from my weight or to increase my income by a few Reyals —without effort that is. At my best, I would only flip through some motivational books and get a bit motivated before I returned to my beloved couch and the bucket of Nachos with salsa.

Making ends meet was our greatest concern but now I was convinced that making a fortune was the easiest step.

In the past, we would damn poverty without rolling up our sleeves or taking any action. If any poor person really worked hard, his
income would fly to him! The chances of a hard working person in need to achieve success are much higher than those who are distracted with a golden spoon in their mouths. You could ask history’s greatest. 

Need is the mother of all invention and innovation. It too is the mother of all achievements and successes and riches but with one condition: to free yourself from the paralysis of laziness, fear and hesitation.

I did not care anymore for anything other than Maram’s safety and future. As for me, I no longer even feared death
…
on the contrary! Death had become a friend and we comforted each other. I longed for death to take me back to
Somewhere!

I managed to build a humble fortune and with it, built a home for me and Maram in
Ubhur north of Jeddah. In short, I have achieved all of the dreams that I had before I went to
Somewhere
… but now only one dream remained,
to return to her
… when I looked at the sky, I felt her looking at me and waiting for me… I smiled to her as I said…

Someday I will return to
Somewhere
…

Someday I will return to you
Malak
!

–
The End –