All For What!

76

After lots of cajolement from Sa'eed, Maryam finally obliged to go all the way to Nafisa's village to see her family, reluctantly.

If she had had her way, she wouldn't have agreed to go with him, but knowing all too well, the kind of husband she had, she knew he wouldn't stop, until he succeeds in inveigling her — which he did.

The wound Nafisa had created by the sword she lunged into her heart was still very fresh. It hadn't healed and she wasn't sure if it would ever heal...

Heaving a ragged sigh, she disdainfully pushed the thought aside and solicitously waited for Sa'eed to return from the doctor's office. He had gone to make more inquiries on Imran's health and when they would be able to go back home, since he had already regained consciousness.

Few minutes later, the door cracked open. Sa'eed sauntered in, muttering Assalamu'alaykum and took a seat beside Maryam on the couch.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet until Maryam anxiously spoke, breaking the silence. "What did the doctor say?" She inquired, fidgeting with her fingers.

"That his health has greatly improved and we can go home by tomorrow." He proclaimed, gleefully.

Relief washed over Maryam. "Alhamdulillah." She muttered inaudibly. "I'm glad he's alright now."

Sa'eed smiled in acknowledgement. "We can plan our visit to her hometown immediately we get discharged."

"But..." She trailed off for a while, before continuing. "Can't you give me enough time to prepare?"

"The sooner the better." He propelled. "We can get her case off our minds afterwards."

Maryam let out a fatigued sigh. "Alright." She replied, reluctantly.

"Do you know exactly where her house is located?" He inquired.

"Yes." She replied nonchalantly. "She once told me. It's in Agaie."

"Yeah, I think you've mentioned it before. The question was; do you know exactly where the house is located?"

"I don't." She replied, truthfully. She never asked. "That's the reason we shouldn't waste our time going there." She discouraged.

"We can ask around." Sa'eed countered. "Agaie is a small town. I don't think we're going to have a hard time locating her family."

For the umpteenth time, Maryam heaved a sigh — obviously, her husband was hellbent on going to the town and there was little to nothing she could do to make him cancel the plan. She huffed. "Okay."

~~~~

Very early the next morning, Imran was discharged from the hospital and they were back home already. They couldn't help scanning the whole house and reminiscing how Nafisa had died on their floor.

"I'm so grateful to Allah for sparing Imran's life." Maryam voiced. "I was scared something bad was going to happen to him. I'm to be blamed for what happened. Had it been I didn't leave him all alone, any of this wouldn't have happened."

"But something else would have happened to him. It's kadr, so quit blaming yourself for every single thing that goes wrong." He smiled. "In shaa Allah, things are going to go well for our family now."

"In shaa Allah." Maryam's lips curved into a duchenne smile. "Finally, Manal will be able to return back to us. I can't wait to let her know. She'd be extremely happy."

"Yeah." Sa'eed agreed. "She's going to be."

"When are you bringing her back home?" Maryam whined. "Can't you do it today or tomorrow?"