HER CHALLENGING LIFE (on hold)

Chapter 49: She's A Friend

"She said she is going home and we didn't stop her," Rahul explained.

"Are you guys seriously out of your mind? How did you guys let her go knowing that..." I stopped as I realised what I was going to say in front of Inayat. "You know what just leave it and you guys better wish that she is home." I said to them in a threatening tone and walked to the car.

I could sense Disha's discomfort near Inayat. Why was she behaving like this for? My mind then diverted to the thoughts of Jasmin. Was she fine? Did she reach home yet? "Rahul call ammi and ask her if Jasmin reached home or not."

Rahul called mum and then put the phone on speaker. After a few seconds, she picked it up. "Hello," I heard her say.

"Hello, mum did Jasmin reach home yet?" I asked her instantly.

"Aly? Yes she is home. Aly what happened? Tell me the truth. You have no clue in what state she came...." I looked at Inayat as mum was speaking and I couldn't let her continue. This is not how I want Inayat to find out about Jasmin.

"Mum I am driving right now, I will explain to you everything when I get home, bye." I told her and then cut the call, releasing a breath that I didn't know I was holding after she told me that Jasmin was home, safe.

The first thing I heard when I opened the door was the faint discussion of my family about Jasmin. 

"Mum something 100% happened. Jasmin was looking so upset. I am sure Aly must have done something," I heard Ilham say. Worst part is that she wasn't lying. It was all because of me that Jasmin is stuck in all this. 

"You weren't there when I opened the door for her. She looked like she received some big shock and she looked... broken," my mum said.  

Just then, Disha, Rahul, Inayat and I entered the living room where I saw mum, dad, Ilham and Danish bhai. 

"Aly, you are back. What happened to...." mum said as she got up from her seat and walked towards me but stopped in her tracks as her face expressed the shock she just received looking to my right. "Inayat?" My mum whispered, sounding confused and shocked. 

Inayat went up to mum and hugged her. "Oh my God... this is truly you. You are alive. How is this possible?" Mum was sounding just as bewildered as I had been. 

"5 years Inayat... 5 damn years. Where were you this whole time?" Ilham questioned her. 

"Everyone please sit down, I will explain everything to everyone." Inayat mentioned. 

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Inayat sat next to Aly, placing his one hand in between both of her hand. 

"It's true that I got into that accident on our wedding day. It's true that I almost died in your arms Aly that day but somehow I didn't. The doctors had to shift my ICU room with another patient's one. The girl who died wasn't me, it was someone else. After my operations, I was in coma for 3 years Aly," everyone was astonished by this shocking revelation. 

"Once I came out of coma, the doctors found out that the accident caused damage to my memory. One moment I would remember my name, the next moment I would forget who I was. I only knew the basics, my name and where I live. I forgot pretty much most of the people in my life. In fact, I forgot you and our childhood," Inayat spoke with pain in her voice.

"The day I went home, everyone was shocked and almost refused to believe it was me. The doctors told them what exactly happened and due to the patient swapping they didn't realise that the dead body was mistaken to be mines. The doctors had also talked to my family about what was wrong with me and I think because of this, everyone in my family avoided mentioning your name. It could have been dangerous for me if I had put too much pressure on my brain to remember things. The doctors started these treatments to bring my lost memory back and to stop me from forgetting things. Slowly slowly I started to remember everything and about 2 weeks ago, I had fully recovered and remembered everything. I recalled our childhood, your proposal and how excited we were about our wedding. I could remember everything and the first thing in my head was to find you all. I went to your old house and found out that you all moved. Then I came across news articles and papers about Aly's business and eventually found the office where you worked Aly. I went to your office this afternoon and one of your friends there said that you went to some carnival and that's where I found you," Inayat finished off.