Wabasta | Complete ✔

Chapter 25

The officer who came with her walked upto her with updates.

"Ma'am can I have your name?"

She looked up at him. He waited for her answer with a pen and pad in his hand.

"Fir..daus."

He scribbled it down.

"And the one who got shot? I'll need a full name please and other details please."

"Aman. Dr Aman Qureshi. He works at the Cromwell hospital."

"And you are his friend?"

She didn't have an answer, so she nodded gently.

The officer scribbled down a few more things and clicked his pen shut.

"Okay miss Fur-doze," he said, completely butchering her name. But she was used to it by now. "We will keep you updated on the case. We took the victim's contact details from the driving license in his wallet. The nurses will hand you his belongings and let you know how he's doing. I'll take your leave, take care."

She wanted to ask him about him, but did not have the courage. Her heart was in her throat and her stomach threw itself into a million knots. The wait was excruciating. Her mind couldn't help itself but wander in the lanes of memory, where she never wanted to go again.

Was she going to lose him too?

*****

5 hours and 42 minutes. That's how long it had been since they brought him out of surgery. Since she had praying without break. 5 hours and 42 minutes since nobody knew whether he going to come back or not.

Firdaus was sitting on the towel she had asked from the nurse to use it as a prayer mat, mindlessly reciting du'as without sound. From time to time, she lifted her gaze from the towel and looked at him. He was lying still on the bed, surrounded by machines and wires, an IV tube hanging down from his arm filled with blood that was being transfused.

When she looked back her eyes collided with the reflection on the glass door of the shelf in front of her. Her eyes had become hollow and puffy, her lips were chapped and there was no color on her face. The cardinal signs of tragedy. Not something she was new to. But she couldn't care any less about it at that time.

She stopped reciting du'as after sometime. Stood up, fixed the dupatta that she always kept in her bag around her head and lifted her hands near her ears in takbeer, then offered two rakaats of nafl prayers again. When she stood in front of the Almighty, she asked for many things. Inner peace, health, happiness and wellbeing of her loved ones. Today she had only one thing to ask. To beg for. Aman's life.

After saying her salaams, she cupped her hands together, lifted them and closed her eyes. Her tears had dried up for the time being but she still felt the stinging sensation in her eyes.

'Allah taa'la.

Main yahan aapke samne hazir hoon, aur mujhe aaj aapse kuch nahi chahiye siway ek cheez ke. Aman ki zindagi. Apni zindagi. Aapne usey meri zindagi mein ek niyamat ki tarah bheja, aise jaise meri saari naik amal ka jawaab ho. Phir maine apni zid mein aake ussey apne aap se door kardiya. Lekin aapne phir usko mere paas bheja. Aapne mujhe phirse ek mauqa diya ke main apni galatiyon ko sudhar sakoon. Maine phir bhi nafarmaani ki. Phirse usey dukh pahunchaya. Shayad main is qaabil hi nahi thi ke mujhe ek naya mauqa diya jai.

Lekin aap toh sabse zyada Rahmaan aur Raheem hai. Aap momineen ke har galati ko maaf kardete, baar baar maaf kardete hai. Aaj mujhe phirse ek baar maaf kardein mere Rabb. Ek aur mauqa de dein, take mein apni galatiyon ka kaffara de sakoon, usko bataa sakoon ke ussey kitni zyaada mohabbat karti hoon. Nahi rehna mujhe ussey door. Nahi karni mujhe ek normal zindagi ka intekhaab. Mujhe bas uska saath chahiye, zindagi bhar ke liye. Aur uske baad bhi.

Mujhe mera Aman wapis chahiye Allah, zinda aur salaamat. Mujhe nahi pata ke uska zakhm kitna gehra hai, mujhe nahi jaanna ke doctors kya keh rahe hai. Mujhe aap par, aur sirf aap par aitbaar hai. Mere yakeen ko muqammal kardein Allah, meri du'aon ko zaaya na jaane dein. Meri zindagi mujhse mat chheen lein. Please, please...please.'

Her voice had completely broken into sobs once again and she bowed down in sujood, crying like there's no end. She was in an immense amount of pain, so much that it had began to physically hurt. But strangely, her heart did not feel heavy anymore. Not as much as did a while ago. She couldn't what it was that changed but a feeling of triumph had started to settle in. A firm belief, that Allah will answer her prayers and He will answer them soon. Her fear hadn't died, but now it had begun to alleviate.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door and entered before she could respond. A middle aged doctor, clad in scrubs, came in with a nurse. Firdaus quickly folded the towel and stood up to face him. He looked a little embarrassed and began to excuse himdelf immediately.

"Oh no no please don't. You can keep praying. I was just here to check on the patient." He chuckled nervously and trotted quickly towards Aman's bed. Firdaus wiped away her tears and gave a weak smile.

The doctor took a few minutes to do check his condition and turned to Firdaus.

"His vitals are improving. Blood pressure has gone up too, but it will take a while before the transfusion can replenish the vast amount of blood he lost. Thank fully quick action was taken and his major organs weren't compromised."

Firdaus turned her gaze and looked at Aman, and then looked at the doctor again.

"So...is he...is he going to...?" She had no idea how to complete the sentence but he understood her cue.

"I can't say for sure at the moment. But the chances of a full recovery are very high. I have reduced the dose of sedative, let's hope he wakes up soon."

He tried to force a smile. the nurse whispered something in his ears about some patient. He excused himself and left. Firdaus found herself alone in that small ICU room again, but she felt significantly better now.

She took a few small steps and walked over to Aman's bed. Bringing her hands near his face, she ran the back of her fingers on his cheek, careful not to let the elastic of the oxygen mask slip. Firdaus wrapped the fingers of her other hand around his hand and squeezed them reassuringly, whispering to herself that he will be okay.