Written In The Scars

Chapter 27

Haifa placed her empty bowl on the table and turned to Diya, however, her sister still didn't look her way choosing to stare into the remnant of soup drying up at the bottom of the bowl.

"Before it happened, Baba came into my room. I woke briefly and was drifting back off to sleep when I heard noises. They became louder but I was scared to go and see because of what happened last time,"

Diya's voice cracked. Shuffling closer, Haifa wrapped her arms around her.

"When I went to check, it was already too late. B-baba was on the floor and his b-blood w-was pooling around h-him,"

Before she could finish, Diya broke out into a sob, the image of her father replaying before her eyes. She clung to Haifa, resting her cheek on her sister's shoulder for comfort.

Haifa's throat tightened and tears slipped from her eyes.

"It's my fault, if only I had gone out earlier I could have,"

"What could you have done?" Haifa sobbed. "If you had gone out, you would have risked yourself too,"

"But I c-could have,"

"Diya, even if you had gone out, there wouldn't have been anything you could have done,"

Diya's cries grew louder, the truth of her sister's words sinking in deeper.

"Besides, you stayed in because that's what Baba told us to do and you know it," Haifa continued, with a firmer voice. "He told us that if this were to happen again in the future, he wanted us to stay away to prevent what happened last time,"

"So you regret defending Mama?"

"Of course not! Yes, I have experienced plenty with this scar but there has never been a moment where I regret what I did. I had to intervene otherwise we don't know what those men would have done to Mama," Haifa explained. "What I'm saying is, you did the right thing. You did what Baba told,"

"Haifa's right,"

At the sound of their mother's voice, the two sister's turned to the direction of the door.

Yumna stepped inside the Study, gently shutting the door behind her, before making her way to her beloved daughters.

"Your Baba would bury himself with guilt if you got hurt. Do you know how much he tortured himself when your sister got hurt? He wasn't able to sleep for days,"

Memories of the past brought more tears to Haifa's eyes.

"When did you come back?" Haifa asked, as her mother took a seat beside them.

"Just now, Abbas is waiting downstairs for you,"

Haifa nodded but stayed rooted in her spot.

"I don't want either of you to blame yourselves for what happened," Yumna continued. "It was meant to be and there was nothing any of us could do about it,"

The girls were silent, allowing for their mother's words to sink in slowly and heal their wounds. Yumna gazed at them with drooping eyes, her heart shattering at the reality that her daughters would be without a father. Her arms drew around them, bringing them closer to her.

Haifa and Diya rested their heads on each side of their mother's shoulders, basking in her comforting warmth. The three of them stuck close, silent tears falling from their eyes as they relished each other's presence to fill the emptiness in their hearts.

Yumna kissed the top of their heads, gently bringing her palm up to her face to wipe the stream of tears that painted her cheek. Sobs threatened to escape from her but she gulped them back, refusing to let her sorrow show in front of her grieving daughters.