Posheeda (پوشیدَہ) -
Concealed; Hidden
*****
Marwan Qureshi, a commando in the Indian army had two goals set in life. One, not to let his father's poisonous words get to him and two, spend the rest of his life serving his...
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*****
"I look quite handsome, nahi?"
Daiyan's playful words did nothing to ease the hard glare that Marwan was sending his way. He had woken up early the next morning, wincing every now and then due to the bruises that lay carelessly around his form but nothing he couldn't handle.
A scoff was all Daiyan received along with a silent treatment. Marwan had gone ballistic when Daiyan had finally gained consciousness, hyperventilating over every little movement that he made and when Daiyan had angrily snapped at him for treating him like a child, Marwan decided to remain mute and let him do all his work by himself.
"Marwan, main theek hu-"
"Say that again and you'll have more drawings across your face."
Marwan's sharp words gave no hint of sarcasm or joke and Daiyan gulped knowing well that his best friend wasn't joking.
"Acha theek hai. It's hurting, okay? Ab bas kar yeh dramebaazi. I'm alive."
"You mean partially alive. Wanna take a look in the mirror?"
"Marwan!"
Ziah reprimanded him softly. The one called out to just gave her a look before rolling his eyes, not understanding why he was spending time with the nuisance of a friend that he had.
Madiha shook her head at her son's behaviour. She knew very well what was going through his head and found it tough to deal with it all.
"Marwan, cut the guy some slack. Abhi toh utha hai."
"Toh sone ko bola kisne tha."
Laiha gave him a blank look that clearly said how poor of a joke he had said. Ignoring the looks he was receiving from his family, Marwan ran a hand through his tousled hair and the look of seriousness that replaced the sarcastic amusement from his eyes gave Daiyan a hint of what was about to come.
"Kya hua tha?"
The simple question was met with an eerie silence. The light in the room dimmed metaphorically as Daiyan felt the anger and desperation from a day back resurfacing in his mind with full force. The image of the car being turned upside down in the middle of the highway, the terrified scream of Parizad, the screeching and thuds of the metal surface coming in contact with the hard ground, the sound of the glasses being shattered and the constant thudding of his blood made him close his eyes and try to control his breaths.
Everyone in the room was aware that this incident would leave a mark in the memories of Parizad and Daiyan- a memory that brought back nothing but pain and horror.
"We were driving to the airport. The road wasn't all that crowded seeing as I took a shortcut, opting for the less crowded one that happened to be highway no.6. Raat bahot thi kuch sahi se dikha nahi but what I am sure about is that when we were moving through the road, the truck that had accidentally hit was not in view until a few minutes before the crash."
