"Hiti" [Fevers]

I was sick all of last week. It was progressive but swift, and I knew when it hit me full force – after my initial visit to the doctor.

"No fever," smiled the docile Malaysian Dr Reyhana from our company clinic, who has also seen me through an eye infection and swollen hands from a royal tantrum I once threw. She gave me medication anyway, and it didn't seem to work.

Back to the clinic I went the very next day. There was no Dr Reyhana.

In her place was a large, (also) seemingly docile Egyptian (I was so sure of it!) woman. That 6ar7a.

"No fever, just hiti," she said.

I leaned in to show my incomprehension. I could barely speak, anyway, as my teeth clattered inside my head with the cold, and my entire body was breaking out into a fast, cold sweat in that air-conditioned consultation room.

"Sometimes, you think you have a fever but it's really just hiti," she explained, pointing inwards her chest with both hands.

I caught her drift, because I'm a valedictorian at context and foreign languages, but I pressed on with looks of confusion; I wanted to know if hiti was indeed a medical term.

I also wanted to push her to the point of ya 7abibaty. To prove her nationality. I grew up with Egyptian doctors.

"Hiti," she said with finality. "You can take the day off from work today, but," she swivelled her chair away from me  and towards the computer, "that's it, too much."

A2oullek eih.

I thanked her, took the meds she gave me, and went straight home to Google.