The Diary Of Iqbal Syed-A Raazi Fanfiction

A Loss

Thursday,

29th April

11:40 P.M.

We received terrible news today. Hidayat Khan Sahab—Sehmat's Abba—passed away last night in his sleep. We only got to know this morning, when Sehmat's mother gave us the news over phone. Sehmat is distraught, and understandably so. She tried to get through the day normally, but she finally broke down into tears when she caught sight of a photograph she had brought with her—one with her, considerably younger, smiling into the camera sitting beside her father in a grove of Chinar trees. She remained inconsolable for a long time, and what struck me was that I didn't know how I could help her, if at all. It was Munira bhabhi who finally got her to eat and convinced her to go to bed early, even if she has been unable to sleep.

Another person equally devastated is Abba, although he has been more successful in reigning in his emotions. While he hasn't allowed himself the liberty to cry—not in our presence anyway—his eyes betray his sorrow. He has lost a friend, one of the only people on this planet he had ever truly trusted. I don't know how to console him either, none of us do. He spent the entire day immersing himself in work, but only to distract himself. The rest of the time he spent in a disconcerting silence.

Sehmat and I will leave to attend his funeral tomorrow and come back on the second. I had suggested that she stay back there for a while longer—give herself time to heal—but she refused, looking at me with an expression that practically pleaded me to not push that argument further. Abba, even though he wished to pay his last respects to his friend in person, is not going to be joining us because of an important meeting in Islamabad on that very day which requires him to be present.

I just wish I knew how I could make them both feel better.

Iqbal S.