You, Alone. ✅

Chapter 32

Ammarah's POV

Out of love- Alessia Clara

For the first month, Rayyan and I kept a constant communication. We text, FaceTime, call and discuss about each others's days. His body started becoming weak and then the messages stop. We FaceTime and call when he can pick the calls and other times, Binta holds the phone for us.

Two months, three months went by and as the clocks move its hand, so does our string of communication wethers. He had the surgery and after that a series of chemotherapies. There are days Rayyan won't answer my calls because he beats himself up after every chemo and the one day he did agree to talk to me through Binta, It took every ounce of patience to not explode on him.

"Why are you shutting me out? For what reason exactly?

Rayyan coughed lightly and said "I'm sorry Ammarah" then he paused, almost wanting to say something but kept shut instead.

"I'm not angry Rayyan but I don't want you to shut me out also. I want to be there for you, but I can't if you don't let me"

There was a deep sigh and I could almost swear I heard Rayyan sob which he quickly mask and said "I love you... so much Ammarah. Beyond my art"

By the fourth month, Rayyan was convinced the cancer cells will keep regrowing and he will keep having chemos which makes him more sick than he already was. He was so sure about this that he started slipping back into his depressed state. By the end of the fourth month, Rayyan succumbed to it and told me he was now awaiting dead.

Which was why on the fifth day of the fift month, I arrived at airport. Salim came to pick me up and we went straight to my parent's house.

The first thought that crossed my mind was a genuine curiosity of how rich these people were when I saw their house. My foster parent's house and Binta's home was nothing compared to this. It was huge, stood tall with a round about of planted cactuses that looks like a man outstretching his hands. A huge garden expanded from the parking lot to behind the mansion. Salim knocked and an elder woman opened the door, Salim greeted her and together we walked inside.

He started going up the stairs and I stopped at the huge living room admiring the amount of interior design that was poured into it. Salim turned and stared at me then said "Come up, your room is cleaned"

I looked around and he seem to pick on my thoughts because he said "They're both at work. You'll see them when they get home"

I nodded suddenly remembering my mom apologising for her absence when I get here. I walked up the stairs and followed Salim down the hall way staring at the paintings and then gradually at  pictures. It started as a picture of my mom alone, then my dad alone, then the two of them on what seem to be their engagement day, their wedding day and a picture of them holding two children in their hands and looking down at them. Us.

Further more were pictures of Salim and I at different stages in our lives, as I walk from one frame to another, so does our growth increase until I got to the final frame and the pictures stopped.

"It looks like from this picture, life stopped" I said staring at the last picture.

"well, it kind of did"

I raised my head to see him standing at the door of a room, he said nothing and pushed open the door walking in.

I followed him and stepped into a pink room that has a huge wardrobe by the side and a little turn that I followed into a walk in closet. I suppressed a squick seeing all that is in the closet and walked back into the room to inspect the wardrobe. I opened it and met tons and tons of my toys, dolls and other childhood memory that had to be stuffed into a wardrobe.