Love So Far

Shattered

"Bhai, let me expl..." 

I ended the call before she could finish. 

"Ya Allah, meri Hania ki hifazat karna." Mina kept repeating, tears streaming down her face. 

*"Oh Allah, protect my Hania." 

"Mina, you need to stay calm for Iman's sake." I muttered, but the image of my baby, my little girl, wandering around the busy streets of old Lahore was killing me from the inside. At one point, my eyes blurred with tears and I barely avoided an accident, but I had to remind myself that not only did I have Mina and our unborn Iman in the car with me, but also that Hania needed us both.

"My Hania... on the streets..." Jasmina seemed to be having difficulty breathing, and I wondered if I should even have told her or not. 

"Mina, Hania is safe now. She's with a lady, who lives nearby."

"What do we know about this lady? What if she lives with an abusive husband? Or other cruel people? What if...what if... Hania." 

"Mina, stop. You're her mother, and I can understand your fears, but have faith in Allah. We're going there, and we'll get our Hani back safe and sound, In Sha Allah." 

The ride felt so long that I felt like I was driving to the other side of the world, rather than within Lahore itself. The traffic was awful, and I couldn't stop pressing the horn of my car. 

"Get the f**k out of my way!" Seemed to be my motto during the drive.

Mina was reciting supplications silently, begging to Allah to keep our daughter unharmed. I felt her fear, because our fear was the same. Even if a lady had called me about Hania, we had no idea what kind of family they were, if the lady was alone, or if something had happened to Hania. It was a legit fear of parents that had become a living nightmare for me and Jasmina. 

"Little Hania in the Lahori traffic..." Mina muttered suddenly. "All those dangerous, reckless drivers."

"Mina, please, stop!" I snapped at her. "I really need to focus on driving right now, and you're making things worse." 

My phone was ringing and I saw Zafar's name pop up on the screen, but I ignored it.

"It's Zafar Bhai. Maybe he got to her already!" Jasmina reached for the phone and answered the call on speaker. "Assalam Alaikum, Zafar Bhai." 

"Walaikum Assalam, Bhabi." Zafar sounded, grim. "Please tell Bhai to give me the address for where Hania is. It is important for us to get to her as soon as possible. Hania's safety comes first." 

Although I was beyond p***ed at them right now, he was a policeman and he was absolutely right. I needed to set my anger aside for my Hania's sake. "Jasmina, read off the address from the GPS and give it to him. It's right there at the top of the screen." 

She gave Zafar the address.

"Don't worry about her. I'll get there soon." Zafar reassured her.

"Don't worry about her." I repeated with a scoff. "Weren't we told that earlier as well?" 

Zafar was silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Bhai and Bhabi. I cannot even begin to imagine how you both must be feeling right now."

"If you think an apology is enough for this, I'm afraid I'm not that generous of a person." I shook my head, before reaching out and ending the call. 

And for once, Mina didn't speak up in defence either.

****

Zafar had called us again and told us that Hania was with him safely, but that lady must have been someone really angelic, because she refused to hand over Hania to him until Jasmina and I got there. She wanted to see my ID and make sure we were the same people as the ones whose details were inside Hania's little bag.