ikcrus:
Fareeha stood up and walked behind Angela, she placed a hand on Angela’s shoulder and bent down slightly so she could get a better look at the screen. She murmured the words that she read under her breath, then stopped when Angela started explaining. Perhaps, this was the only joy she got out of socializing — hearing someone speak so animatedly about something they’re passionate about, seeing how they light up. That was what she enjoyed the most.
Oh dear, while she was caught up in her thoughts she stopped paying attention to the actual conversation. And now she’s in the middle of talking about it. Oh if only there was a way to rewind what she’d said. Now she’s going to feel like an ass once Angela realizes she hadn’t been paying attention half the time. And even now she wasn’t paying attention. Fuck. Wait, what was that? Something that might be able to… regrow limbs? Fareeha glanced down at her prosthetic hand, then back to Angela.
Now that her attention was caught again (for real, this time), she listened intently. “So,” she started slowly once she was done speaking, “if this thing gets green lighted, if it works, you’ll be able to regrow entire limbs?” Honestly, Fareeha never dreamt about the possibility. It was so far-fetched she didn’t even entertain the idea of having flesh limbs again. She didn’t allow herself to, to let herself fester over it and become bitter and sad again. She never wanted something like that to happen again. But now… now she was allowing herself to think about it. “Entire limbs… your own limbs?” Now that the idea could very much be a possibility some day (hopefully sooner than later) she started to let herself get her hopes up. It was something that sounded so simple — that sounded like it could very much fail, but it was something. Something that might help the affliction that she believes it is. To never have to rely on metal limbs that she couldn’t even feel. “Will it actually work?”
The sudden interest in her research has Angela pausing for a moment, genuinely surprised to see and hear that someone was actually paying attention to her rambling. Usually it would only be Mei or Winston who would listen to her once she begins talking too much, and even they would eventually show hints of disinterest once it becomes too long. Thus her surprise upon hearing Fareeha ask her questions about it --- brows creasing to the middle until finally she figured out why, lips parting to answer the question only for her to take a moment and truly think about it.
After a few more seconds of silence, she finally brought a hand to rest on top of Fareeha’s; guilt written all over her face as she looked at the Egyptian. “ I cannot guarantee whether or not it will work just yet. So many scientists and doctors have gone through this research already --- from the early twenties to date --- and there’s yet to be a successful regrowth of actual limbs. There is so much that must be taken into consideration after all; from the tiniest of nerves to the muscles in a limb, and while it is already very hard to recreate a limb, to make it functional without the need of wires and cables and give it the sensation of touch is still the hardest part. ”
Another minute of heavy silence swallows the both of them whole, the doctor already feeling much too guilty for having mentioned her research to Fareeha, quietly scolding herself for not having been careful, but also reasoning with herself at the same times, blaming exhaustion and the lack of sleep for her carelessness. “ I truly am sorry, Fareeha. ” She finally sighed, shoulders slumping. This was exactly the reason why she never liked talking much unless it was with either Winston or Mei. “ Know that I am doing my very best. ”
