Mending Broken Hearts

14. Together

"Both of you, keep quiet. Stop stressing her out", Madi told them sternly, and put her stethoscope on my chest. 

"Breathe through your mouth", she instructed, like she was the only adult in the room. 

"Noor, your lungs are clear. Does your throat hurt?", she asked. 

"Not as much as before", I replied, she smiled and started to move away but I caught her white coat. 

"What did I miss?"

She shook her head and grinned, "Oh God, a lot. Get better soon". 

Her gaze wandered to Omar who was bickering about something with my husband, "I'll catch you up on everything later", she sighed. 

Uh, what in the world is going on? I wondered. 

*******

When Madi, Omar and others from my medical team left, the nurse came in with some wet washcloths, "Let's clean up your face and neck with these"

"I can do that for her", Salman immediately spoke up.

The nurse grinned at him and then me, "Of course you can. Noor, this man is crazy about you. In case you didn't know that already"

"I am crazy about him too", I smiled at my husband, and he flashed his breathtaking smile at me. Which was a problem, because my breathing wasn't exactly normal right now. Taking my breath away would become a medical problem. 

When the nurse stepped out, Salman took the washcloth and gently wiped my forehead, "How are you feeling...my love?"

"My love? Is that a new nickname for me?", I teased him.

"I had a lot of time to think sitting on this chair, and I realized that I never gave you a nickname. So I was testing the top two on my list"

"What's number 2 on the list?"

"Meri beti ki maa", he replied in a heavily accented voice. 

I couldn't help giggling at his name for me as much as the way he had said it, but to my surprise instead of smiling back his eyes filled with sadness, "Actually, I don't want a nickname for you. I just love calling you Noor"

He gently held my chin with one hand, and bought the washcloth down to my cheeks, but did not break eye contact, "Because you, my gorgeous, intelligent, funny wife, are the literal light of my life. Without you there is nothing but darkness. So my dear wife..."

He bent forward till his lips hovered just above my ear, and whispered, "Noor is the perfect and only name I ever want to call you"

I knew I should say something in response to his words, but I couldn't look away or think when he was looking at me like that. All I wanted to do was pull him in and make him kiss me, but I was still hooked on to IV lines and monitor leads. I did notice something else that I hadn't till now.

He seemed to have aged years since the last time I saw him. His eyes were warm but sunken, his cheeks were sagging and he looked like he had lost weight. The laugh lines around his mouth were deeper, and he hadn't shaved in days.

I had been so absorbed in myself, that I hadn't seen how he had barely been able to survive himself. He loved me and my daughter, and the last two weeks must have been absolute hell for him.

"Come here", I pulled him in for a half-hug, nuzzling my face against the crook of his neck I inhaled his scent deeply, "I am so sorry that you had deal with everything on your own"

He didn't say anything at first, but as he leaned his head on mine I could feel his body shudder, and his voice cracked when he finally said, "I almost lost you Noor. I almost lost everything I had ever wanted". The pain in his voice broke my heart.