Cora

After they were asked to leave for the third time, Cora and Meer exited the hospital and strolled around the parking lot, not bothering to reach Meer’s car. Gapping and laughing at the sunless shy, she shuttered, “Meer, wha-t was your mom thinking when she decid-ed to give you such a pathetic name?! Meera?”

“You think I want to talk about it right now or any other time? Would you answer me if I asked you: what is the matter with Zara’s head because she named her daughter ‘Coral’? Do you know what was wrong with her head?” Meer said over the already awkward silence in the empty parking lot where they could see nothing but their flashy red car and another flashy red scooter parked at the disabled spot.

‘Maybe she had the cancer when she was naming me,’ Cora tried not to say it out loud.

Meer glowered at Cora who clearly avoided eye contact and simply lurked over to the red scooter and asked Meer for the keys.

“Cora, can you stop this? I wished you knew what I am going through right now. This is the last and I mean the very last thing I want to deal with,”

“What is it?”

“Don't touch my Macaw bumper sticker. And Cora, please don’t make me say it. I-”

“Hey, let’s just leave. And you don’t have to act like my mom anymore. I ha-d a lot of fun meeting her today if that’s what you want to know,” Cora called out without any consideration to what she was saying.

“I’ll have to take this one. Here, sit in the car,” said Meer as she tossed the car keys and walked away to a distance after clicking her phone.

Opening the car door, she sat on the front passenger seat and recalled the meeting that felt so short inside her mother’s intensive care unit. She remembered her mother smiling through the mount of strangely heavy display of monitors and strangled wires as they walked in. Cora nearly shed a tear before Meer opened the door and let the humidity fill the space inside just enough to make her frown.

“Why did you leave the car open?” Meer asked irritably.

“Someone would come in and take me away?” Cora added, “Chill out. Jeez, why are you so annoyed all the time?”

Sighing, Meer whispered, “Hey, we talked about this before, right? You know I-”

“Why?! Talked about what? For real, what is the matter? Is it a rule to always be sad and upset and to make a concerned expression, a sad expression all the God damn time if your loved one is suffering?” Inhaling heavily, she banged the door and added, “I am sad. I am upset. I am concerned as fuck! I swear you don’t know what’s going through my head EVERY. SINGLE. SECOND!” she paused and added, “But I love my mother and I am just relieved to know the fact that she fighting, fighting so bravely. I want to be happy with what I can see. She and you are all I got-t. All I want is to spend more and more time with her.”

There was a short pause. Looking at the empty view outside her window, Cora heard Meer say, “I got a phone call from my office.”

“What now?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t important but you wanna know who called?”

Cora nodded and Meer whispered, “Elissa”

“Oh? You still like her?”

Cora smirked as she saw Meer blush who said, “I don’t know. I like her but, did I tell you what happened when I confessed?”

“No! You didn’t even tell me that you were thinking about confessing.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I was not. I just said it. It just happened and I felt so embarrassed after that. She had a serious girlfriend back then.”

“Aww. But yeah, what did she say now?”

Just as Meer mouthed some syllables of her words, her phone rang. Before clicking, she informed Cora, “It’s from the hospital.”

“Yes? This is Meera Kozi.”

Cora heard the speaker say, “I am speaking from Southlands Sussex Hospital. I am deeply sorry to inform you about the death of Zara Kozi. Please visit the hospital immediately.”

“What did she say?” Cora asked, pretending she didn’t hear the lady on speaker.

*

Thank you! Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story. I hope you liked it, please leave heart if you did. Tips are always appreciated. And thank you once again.

Here are some other fictions where the following characters were featured:

Zara: What symbolizes her strength

Elissa: What Rida Gets

Meer: What Rida Gets