The Risk Game

Chapter 25

Aisha finally walked into the room after I spent about an hour with Hasani, the two of us revelling in, and praying over, the fact that we'd both been saved from the clutches of death. Her pace was hesitant as she walked to my side, her eyes glued to me as I sat against the pillows and subtly pumped the pain medication through my body for the first time since I woke up, not wanting her to notice how much pain I was in.

No words passed between us as she pulled the chair and sat beside me. I used the silence to look at her properly, noticing that her eyes were puffy, hair tied into a low bun, missing its usual glow. Her lips were trembling as we continued to look at each other.

Aisha suddenly propped her elbows onto the bed and threw her head into her hands. The sobs that filled the room were unlike any I'd heard since we got here. I stretched my arm as far as possible and carressed her arm as she continued to cry.

"Baby girl? It's okay. I'm here, okay?" I soothed, my heart aching at the sight and sound of the obvious torture this had put her through.

She lifted her head and fixed her eyes back on me as if she were in awe. It was as if she had never heard me speak before. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I watched as she heaved a breath and wiped her eyes, her head shaking from side to side.

"It's not okay, Chi. These past few days have been absolute hell. And I know that's so unfair coming from me when you're the one whose whole body was smashed under a car and your big buff best friend, but you need to understand, I thought I'd never see you again. If you didn't wake up, do you know what that would have done to me?" her voice cracked as more tears fell from her eyes.

She looked exhausted, sitting there with stiff shoulders and trembling hands. It was obvious that this accident had indeed taken a toll on her and I sat there wishing there was something I could physically do to completely erase the past few days from her awareness.

"Hey. Come here." I beckoned and watched her stand immediately, her hand softly carressing the side of my face as she hugged me and cried some more. I ran my gauze-covered hand up and down her hip as her hot tears fell onto my neck.

"Chi." she said through a hitched breath. "You can't do that to me again, do you hear me? I thought I lost you."

I nodded into her chest, my eyes closing as I soaked up this moment of comfort in the arms I'd missed for three months. The boundaries had gotten harder to uphold as the time went by and I'd been drowning in my desire to take it all back, struggling daily to stay true to my word. Without actually having a conversation about it, I could tell we were way past those boundaries now.

Aisha clung onto me and silently communicated something I'd wanted to hear from her for months. It didn't take much for me to see that she truly had been ready to lay her cards on the table at the club that night before the accident derailed her.

We stayed in that hug for a little longer as Aisha calmed down enough to sit back down and take my hand in both of hers. When her eyes landed on my face again, she was more composed. A small smile formed on her lips as she stretched an arm to run her hand through my recently washed hair.