Rihana woke up from her short nap inside the visitors' room, where the hospital was cold. She felt something strange in her heart, as if an invisible force was pulling her in another direction. She moved her body sluggishly, got up from the bed, and went out with her mother, Salima, into the middle of the hospital.
The place was filled with sounds, yet it remained strangely quiet. The long corridors twisted around some closed rooms, while the dim light penetrated through the small windows, passing through the silent white walls.
As she walked with her mother through those corridors, Rihana stopped when she saw Maria, the grandmother she had met several times before, sitting quietly on a chair in a distant corner. Mateo, her little grandson, was playing around her, running lightly and trying to catch her attention.
Rihana and her mother approached, and Maria started talking to them with a warm smile, as usual. But soon Maria whispered, pointing to the door:
— "I need to go to the restroom. You can stay here with Mateo."
Rihana had no problem with that, so she smiled and said:
— "Of course, no problem."
When Maria left, Rihana settled on the floor in front of Mateo and gently held his small hands, watching his innocent smile. But while she was busy with the child, she suddenly felt something strange behind her.
The sound of strong footsteps approached her. She slowly turned around to find a tall, handsome man standing a few steps away.
The first thing she noticed were his gray eyes, sharp like hawks, looking at her with an unexplained coldness. His broad body seemed as if it left no room for hope, as if strength itself possessed him. His black hair resembled the night, and his eyes reflected a sharp gleam.
Rihana asked, her feelings mixed at that moment, her voice a little uncertain despite her usual smile:
— "Who are you?"
The man paused for a moment, then came closer. His gaze passed over every detail of her well-shaped body, the tight red dress that revealed the curves of her figure, her black hair flowing freely behind her, her smile which was gentle but mysterious, and her long eyelashes.
That was the moment... when Rihana realized he was watching every detail of her. His look was filled with a mysterious desire to understand, as if he was studying her with intense focus.
But suddenly, he spoke in his deep voice, carrying something irresistible within it:
— "You... who are you? Why are you holding my son?"
It was not an ordinary question, but filled with mystery, and the look he sent her carried more than just inquiry. It was like a test, as if he wanted to break through her shield and discover something inside her.
Rihana answered quickly, despite the tension beginning to creep into her heart:
— "I am Rihana... I know your wife from the hospital, I have met her several times."
The man, in whom Rihana noticed a slight nervousness, silently took his son Mateo from her hands without saying a word of thanks or showing any emotion.
Only for a moment... he looked at her with a cold, dry gaze, as if she had not been there.
A look that carried something incomprehensible, something of isolation and rejection, then he pulled the child and took steps away.
Rihana watched him calmly as he walked away, while her questions multiplied in her mind:
"Is this Mateo's father?
Does he know about his wife's death?
Why did it feel like we knew each other?
Why did it seem like he carries a heavy secret inside?"
And in that moment, in that cold corridor, Rihana tried to breathe slowly, but her heart was pounding fast, as if that brief moment was the beginning of something bigger than she ever expected.
The story is available in Arabic on Wattpad under the account name Alice31j.
The second novel will come after the end of this novel, but it will be a mystery and horror story.