THE DAZZLING SHADES OF WHITE- A Love Story (Book 3-TDSOW SERIES) #Wattys2016

CHAPTER 3- At The Brink

"Shed?" I heard two fingers snap and my shoulder shook. I slightly flinched and slowly opened my eyes. I realized that Huria's body was still in my arms.

"You've been in here for the past five hours. The nurse says that she needs to take her body to prepare it for the funeral." he said and tried to take my baby girl from me. I squeezed her more closely to me and slapped his hand away.

"Shed; look I know how you feel," he said and sat on his knuckles beside me. "But the hospital needs to take her now." He beseeched but nothing was affecting me.

"Look what has become of you. You need to change, eat and rest for a little bit." He insisted.

"Can Khadijah eat or be with me?" I mumbled. Larry was silent. "How can I sleep or eat when the love of my life is suffering right now?" I said dryly and closed my eyes. "Just leave me be. I just want to be with my little girl right now." I beseeched and began rocking the chair again. Larry didn't persist and left.

I opened my eyes when I heard the door close. My hands and arms were stiff as I shifted Huria in them; they were cold as much as her small being. I tried to open her little hand with my index finger but her fist wouldn't open. It hurt me so much to see that there was no life in my precious child's body. How I wanted to have her hold my finger like the first time she did when I saw her.

Her eyes were so much like Sophia's to me—but the rest was all Khadijah.

I glanced at my wrist watch; it was six a.m. in the morning.

I placed Huria back in her crib as I stared at her face. My eyes welled up as I removed a small portion of her head cap and I bent down to kiss her forehead while my tears fell on her cap.

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I splashed my face with water and wiped my hands with a paper towel which got covered with orange and red tinges—I then realized that my hands, the right side of my face and most of my white shirt under my black coat was covered in blood. The scenes of  the accident replayed in my head as I stared at myself in the mirror.

What's wrong Shehzad?

I saw my conscience mask itself into my mirror reflection while my eyes stared blankly. I thought I had killed my conscience. How was it alive?

Didn't you want her gone? Didn't you always want her out of your life?

He accused me.

You did this to her; you brought this on yourself.

Did I really bring this on myself?

Can you really live with this guilt?

What will you do when she wakes up? What will you do if she doesn't remember you? Will you happy? Because you know that now losing her daughter, she will fall into despair forever.

Oh Khadijah.

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"Shed," Courtney touched my shoulder.

"It's time. Your grandfather is calling you." She said ad left. I mustered my strength and got to my feet. The male members of the Atish household were bent to carry the Mai'yet. I also bent down to carry the front of the coffin.

At the moment when her small body was being taken out of the coffin, I took it from the Chairman's hands and laid my daughter's corpse, which was covered in a white cloth, to the bare ground so deep in the earth; when I got out, I took a shovel and began covering the grave with dirt; my mind burning the images as dirt and mud crumbled on the white cloth of the kafen.