The Eclipsed Heart

Chapter 3

No matter how hard they tried, the next flight Meerab and Anwar Khan secured to Pakistan was two days after receiving Maa Begum's call. Anxiety crept over Meerab as she observed her father's visibly disturbed condition. Despite the myriad of questions swirling in her mind, she opted to spare him any additional burdens for the time being. Once they reached Pakistan and her father reunited with his brother, she hoped that all her confusions would find resolution.

Two days later, Meerab and Anwar Khan arrived at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi at 7 in the morning. Another two hours passed before they reached the place her father had referred to as the Khan Haveli in Hyderabad. Anwar Khan's breath caught as soon as the haveli came into view, signaling to Meerab that something was amiss. Numerous cars lined the surroundings, and the grand garden was crowded with people dressed in white, and seats were arranged everywhere.

The mighty haveli stood in eerie silence as Meerab and Anwar Khan made their way inside. Whispers filled the air, creating an incomprehensible hum, but the tear-streaked faces revealed the unfortunate truth to Meerab—they were too late. The ragged breaths of her father weighed heavily on Meerab's heart as she followed him inside with heavy steps.

Entering the expanded lounge, Meerab's suspicions were confirmed. Her father's brother, her uncle, whom she didn't even know about two days ago, had passed away. The unfamiliar faces in the room gawked at Meerab and her father as if they were strangers from another world. Her gaze halted at an older woman seated close to the body, weeping in the arms of a man in his late twenties or early thirties, whose cold eyes were fixed on her father.

The room's silence was shattered when her father suddenly fell to his knees, crying out loud, his face buried in his hands, grief weighing heavily on his lowered head. Meerab quickly sat beside him, attempting to console him.

"Dad, please," she whispered, her voice barely audible amidst the somber atmosphere.

"He repeatedly reached out, called me countless times, but my arrogance blinded me, deafened me to his pleas, to the urgency of meeting him. I—I feel utterly pathetic. How could I let this arrogance overshadow the calls of my beloved brother? How will I ever be able to get his forgiveness now."

As Anwar Khan choked on his words, Meerab could sense the heavy burden of regret weighing on his shoulders. His eyes, clouded with remorse, mirrored the pain etched on his face. Meerab rubbed her father's back, offering silent reassurance as they navigated through the labyrinth of emotions in the Khan Haveli.

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Murtasim watched as his uncle weep and plead before him. Though they had never interacted before, excluding a few blurred moments he had of his uncle from his early childhood, but an unspoken sense of familial duty drew Murtasim closer to Anwar Khan. In Anwar, he could discern the reflection of his father, and the haunting words of Shahnawaz Khan echoed in his mind.

"If Anwar ever comes back and I'm not here anymore, tell him that I'm sorry for everything. Tell him that my life's biggest regret is letting him go when he needed me the most. Tell him that there hadn't ever been a single moment when I didn't miss him, when I didn't regret my actions. Only if I had the courage to go and apologize to him, only if I knew that so little time, I would have instantly found him, hugged him, and told him how much I missed him and loved him."

His father's remorse lingered in the air, and now, Murtasim found himself confronted with a similar monologue from his uncle. The weight of regret, its palpable presence, and the haunting what-ifs swirled around the room.

Regret, Murtasim knew, was the most agonizing emotion one could experience. The ache of wishing for different actions, different words, and contemplating how circumstances might have unfolded differently kills a person from inside. The cruel truth about time mocked every desire to control it, yet, it slipped through one's fingers like elusive grains of sand. It never slows or reverses for anyone and that's what aches the most.