At the orphanage
Melinda had finally recovered and returned to the orphanage, the love the kids showed her was just enough to get rid of her sickness. Ever since she declined her mum’s request for her to leave the country, her mum had refused to speak to Melinda and at one point she claimed she was no longer her daughter but Melinda didn’t let that bother her because she knew she was just angry and like other times, her anger would subside. Mia on the other hand tried to continue her life, she tried to forget about her fear just like Miss Joyce had told her but things only became more challenging for her, she always felt like she was being watched. She felt like someone kept on following her and she couldn’t take it anymore. “Leave me alone, get away from me” she covered her ears and screamed at the gate of the orphanage. Hearing her awful screams Melinda rushed out of the orphanage only to find Mia on the floor with her school uniform, she had clearly lost consciousness. Melinda quickly went inside to get her car key and informed Miss Joyce about what had transpired in a haste. “But what happened to her!” Miss Joyce ran after Melinda who was running down the stairs. “I don’t know, I will explain the little I know later. Watch after the kids” Melinda yelled at the entrance of the house. She picked up little Mia and almost threw her in the car before rushing her to the hospital. Once again Mia found herself in the ICU, the doctors had been there for over 2 hours and Melinda just couldn’t get herself to settle at a place. She would stand then sit then stand again, then pace around. She just made random and unnecessary movements until a chocolate skinned lady walked out of the ICU with a lab coat. “How is she?” Melinda rushed the doctor at once, not giving her any breathing space. “Well she is fine but there are some things we need to discuss but not here. Please come to my office with me” the doctor gestured towards her office and Melinda obediently followed her without uttering a word. “What is it, doctor? You said she was fine and now we are here?” Melinda barely sat on the chair in the doctor’s office before she started to panic. “Miss, you will have to calm down. The little girl is fine but I would like to discuss the reason why she lost consciousness in the first place” the doctor shut the door and took a seat in front of Melinda with a rectangular wooden table in between them. “I would also like to know the reason why she passed out. What exactly is the issue?” Melinda still wasn’t settled. “Well, from my observations, I am 99% sure that she passed out due to over thinking and for someone with her condition it is normal to overthink but the guardian of such a child should never allow things to get to this point” the doctor had lost Melinda at the part where she talked about “condition”. “I’m lost? What condition are we talking about exactly?” Melinda stopped the doctor from going any further with stating her diagnosis. “You don’t know?” The doctor was quite shocked. “Know what doctor?” Melinda was more surprised. “Mia has autism?” The doctor told Melinda very calmly but Melinda was still scared. “Is she going to die or something?” Melinda was exaggerating but she couldn’t be blamed though. “No” the doctor held back her laughter. “Well it is a kind of disability that affects one’s verbal and non-verbal communication. Common signs are the reliance on rules and routines, inability to have eye contact, delayed speech, being upset by minor changes and not understanding other people’s emotions. There are other symptoms but these are the most common. However autistic people tend to use their brain more differently than normal human beings do, this makes many of them have extraordinary abilities” the doctor tried her best to break things down in the simplest way. “Wow” Melinda took a huge breath, she was in utter shock. She couldn’t figure out what shocked her the most, hearing about autism for the first time or the fact that Mia had Autism for the past 2 years she had spent with them and she had no clue whatsoever. Mia barely fell sick, but the explanation made Melinda to comprehend certain characteristics in Mia that she found strange. She remembered when a kid in the orphanage had used Mia’s textbook and didn’t return it at the exact spot Mia kept it. That made Mia look for it and she was very unsettled, it made her panic and freak out a lot, she behaved in a way a normal person wouldn’t behave. “You can take her home in two hours” the doctor brought Melinda out of her thoughts. “Thank you doctor” Melinda stood up to take her leave while the doctor picked up one of the many files on her table. Melinda took a deep breath before she entered the room Mia was and found her awake. She sat beside her bed and there was an awkward silence “So.. you passed out” Melinda put her hands on her knee while she rocked on the chair which wasn’t a rocking chair. “You will get hurt if you don’t stop moving like that” Mia warned not taking her eyes off the ceiling. “Thanks” Melinda stopped moving at once. “So.. she also said you have autism Mia. Do you know what that means?” Melinda was saying things very slowly. “Yes, I have known about my disability since I was 3. I am ok with it” Mia hurriedly said, still fixing her gaze on the ceiling. “Ooh. But why didn’t you tell anyone? Why did you decide to keep it to yourself?” Melinda was very curious as to why a child would want to hide such “No one is proud of having a disability” Mia looked at her for a second and turned away. “But yet everybody has one” Melinda began to stroke Mia’s hair gently. “You don’t, you are perfectly fine” Mia blinked severally. “No I am not. I get sad easily, that isn’t normal. And if you go through everyone’s life then something is definitely wrong with them in one way or the other. I don’t want you to feel you are different or you don’t belong with the rest okay” Melinda’s voice was gradually cracking. Mia was silent again and Melinda couldn’t help but cry. Mia turned to look at her and wondered why she was crying when she wasn’t the autistic one. Melinda’s POV For the first time Mia had requested for me to buy her ice cream on the way back from the hospital and I gladly accepted, I was so happy seeing her smile, something she almost never does. Although it wasn’t a big smile but at least it was still something. Little did I know what had awaited us when we got back to the orphanage. “Yeii. Miss Melinda is back and Mia is with her too, more good news” Rebecca jumped in joy when she saw me arriving with Mia. She jumped on me and I carried her in my arms and kissed her forehead. “Rebecca you can’t keep jumping on me like that every now and then. You are not as little as you used to be” I laughed and Rebecca didn’t even move an inch as she clung on me. “At least she won’t be doing that anymore” Miss Joyce slowly walked towards my direction. “Yes, she is getting older and will surely get wiser” I replied thinking that was what she meant. “Not really thought. She will be wiser yes, but she would also be going to her parents very soon” Miss Joyce finally dropped the bomb. Mia, who had been quietly standing there watching everything, walked away. “Mia wait” I tried to stop her but she didn’t even turn around to look at me” “Mia what is it? Why did you drop your ice cream on the floor like that?” I held her head and drew her close to me on the bed. But she didn’t give me any reply, she just laid her head on my stomach without moving. “Is it because you are going to miss Rebecca?” I whispered not trying to sound too emotional but still Mia remained silent. She freed her head from my arms that wrapped around it and laid on the bed. Miss Joyce walked in on us and saw the whole thing, she signaled for me to come. “I think I know what is wrong with her” Miss Joyce said as I leaned on the door while she leaned on the wall facing me. “Yeah, it’s because she is going to miss Rebecca” I guessed. “Yes but that isn’t the only reason. She is upset Melinda, and it is because ever since she came to this orphanage, couples and even single parents have been coming here and they have all turned her down. They would find her cute and adorable at first but after spending little time with her they would end up picking another child” Miss Joyce was trying to keep her voice down so Mia wouldn’t hear us but I wasn’t comfortable with discussing such in front of her, even if we stood by the door which was a distance from the bed. “Let’s go somewhere else” I demanded and we walked out of the room, leaving Mia all by herself. “Why would you think such a thing? Are you trying to say she is jealous or what?” I held Joyce’s wrist as we walked down the hallway. “No, that is not what I meant. I just feel she is hurt and she just needs her space, you should give her that for the meantime, I have to go now. The kids would want something by now” Joyce explained and went to do other things. Maybe Joyce was right, time heals all wounds and maybe the rejection Mia is feeling right now will heal with time.