Chapter Twenty-Two: The White Room
The white light was painfully bright.
Everything in the room looked the same — the walls, the floor, even the ceiling, as if she were inside a blank page.
Noor sat on the bed, her eyes swollen from crying, the sound of the wall clock knocking slowly against her mind, as if reminding her that time here was merciless.
"One… two… three…"
She counted the ticking seconds to make sure she was still capable of thinking.
Dr. Layla entered with a calm smile that carried a hint of coldness.
She sat on the chair across from her and asked softly:
"– How are you feeling today, Noor?"
"– I don't know… everything feels strange. Am I… in a hospital?"
"– Yes. You're in the psychiatric ward. You were found unconscious in your apartment, talking to yourself, and the mirror around you was shattered."
Noor fell silent for a moment.
She remembered Niyar's voice… his face in the glass… the blood on her fingertips.
But she said nothing.
"– Can I see my mother?"
Layla smiled.
"– Of course, but she hasn't visited today yet. You need some rest first."
Then she stood up and closed a small file she was holding before saying slowly:
"– Noor… do you still see your reflection in the mirror?"
She froze.
The question struck like a slap.
"– Why are you asking?"
"– Because you said in the previous session that the reflection talks to you."
"– No, I didn't say that."
"– Yes, you did. We have audio recordings to confirm it."
Noor gasped.
"– Recordings?!"
"– Yes. We've been monitoring your condition for weeks, but you don't remember anything. You used to come here for treatment, then disappear for days."
The doctor's words felt like knives.
"– No… that's impossible… I've never been here before!"
Layla smiled faintly, mysteriously.
"– Memory betrays us sometimes, Noor. Especially when we try to hide pain."
Then she left quietly, leaving behind a strange scent of alcohol and disinfectant.
Noor kept staring at the closed door, her heart pounding wildly.
That night, she couldn't sleep.
The light was never turned off.
But something made her notice…
a faint sound coming from under the bed.
As if someone were whispering her name:
"Noor…"
She froze and slowly looked down.
There was no one… only her reflection on the glossy white floor.
But the reflection wasn't moving like her.
It was smiling.
She lifted her head and saw that the small mirror on the table was no longer covered.
The gray cloth had fallen to the floor.
The mirror shimmered with a soft light, breathing slowly.
Yes… breathing.
She took a step toward it, and everything around her began to distort.
The walls turned into gray glass, the ceiling cracked, and a moaning sound came from every corner.
Then she heard Niyar's voice, very close to her:
"Welcome back, Noor."
She screamed, and images flashed before her rapidly —
nurses running, the doctor shouting, "Inject her!"
But she heard nothing except her heartbeat and the mirror's light growing brighter until it swallowed everything.
When she opened her eyes, she was sitting in the same room.
But something was different.
On the opposite wall, instead of the clock, there was a massive mirror stretching from floor to ceiling.
And her reflection was not alone in it.
Behind her stood Niyar, wearing a white coat, holding a medical file, his gray eyes smiling with a doctor's confidence.
He said calmly:
"– Good morning, Noor. You're late waking up today."
"– You… you're the doctor?!"
"– I always was. Did you really think the mirror invented me?"
She stepped back.
"– No… that's impossible… you were with me at home!"
"– Yes, and I was here too. Just as you were everywhere."
"– What do you mean?!"
"– That everything you saw was inside you, Noor. I am nothing but a part of you… the other face of the mind, the one you locked behind the mirror for years."
He moved closer, and the mirror behind him began to ripple like moving water.
"– But don't worry. I won't disappear. You've only just begun to remember who we are."
He reached out to the glass and passed through it like smoke until he stood directly in front of her.
He lifted his hand to her cheek and whispered:
"Sometimes, madness is the only way to understand the truth."
He smiled… then vanished.
Noor woke up afterward with her hands restrained to a white bed.
A nurse whispered to the doctor:
"– The hallucinations are recurring tonight."
"– Replace the mirror immediately. We don't want her to see it again."
But Noor, despite her exhausted eyes, was smiling as she whispered:
"It's not a reflection… it's me."