Tay Tay's POV
We reached New York around 1:00pm that day and my bestfriends were transferred to NewYork - Presbyterian Hospital for immediate treatment. I, Zakiyah's father, and Juwairiyah's mother headed to the hotel Zakiyah's father had reserved for us, Edge Hotel, to freshen up and get something to eat before heading the back to the hospital. Reedo already has an apartment in the city, so he found his way there, he's going to meet us at the hospital when he settles in as well.
I've never imagined travelling to New York in this kind of situation, it would have been more thrilling to walk the bustling streets of the city with my besties by my side. Hopefully, when they get better we'll enjoy the vibrant city. After freshening up, making my salah and getting dressed, I join Zakiyah's father in the hotels restaurant for brunch. Juwairiyah's mother decided to eat in her room and join us when she's done and I like being around the company of Zakiyah's father, so here I am.
" What would you like to eat?" He asks as we both scan through their menu. They have pretty normal food, oatmeals, pancakes, waffles, spaghetti and chickenballs, ah , that should be my order. " A plate of spaghetti and chicken meatballs please" I say to the waiter waiting to take our orders. " I'll have that too" Zakiyah's father adds. " Anything else?" The waiter asks with an effortlessly prefect American accent, I love American accents honestly, it just makes me excited for some reason and I certainly don't try to fake it. I just like how they talk, it's simply classy to me. " What's your best non alcoholic drink?" Zakiyah's father asks the waiter. " Well there are a variety of options on the menu, but personally, the Açai Pome Blue Mojito is my favourite" he says and I scan the mocktail list on the menu. It's a fruity blend of mint leaves, blueberries, Club Soda, lime juice, Açai roots and Açai Pome Blue Juice. It looks nice, I'd love to try it. " We'll have that" I respond to the waiter and watch him take it down on his jotter. " And two slices of your moist chocolate cake" Zakiyah's father adds and he takes it down too.
My lips form a smile as I recall how he served himself the chocolate cake we found on Zakiyah's table with Haneef last night. It was cute watching him really, well it was cute watching an adult become hyperactive only from the sight of chocolate cake. That sight alone made me imagine how cute he was during his youth, I mean he's still cute. I know he's a grown man, but he's a cute grown man.
I can't believe I'm regarding my bestfriend's father as a cute grown man. My face flushes in embarrassment at my own thoughts and I suddenly meet his gaze. Trying to suddenly change my facial expression to a serious one from my embarrassment isn't usually this hard. " You have a very adorable smile" he compliments and I suddenly feel my heart pound faster than normal. " Thank you" I respond, trying to hide a blush as I gulp down a glass of water. " Don't choke on your water"
" Su.." How stupid of me to cause my own choking when I was just told not to. As he passes a napkin my way, I try to regain myself while coughing and averting his gaze because my life and sanity depends on it.
How can my stupid heart react that way to his compliment?. How absurd.
" Isah said they're administering some drugs to help dissolve the blood clot in her brain. Hopefully when she wakes up, they'll run more tests on her and hopefully then they'll start her chemotherapy for the cancer cells. If the chemo isn't successful, she'll have to undergo bone marrow transplant" He says after sipping from his glass of water. " I can't believe she has to go through all that"
" It's honestly not easy. She's so young and full of life and I don't think she can handle all this. Her mother went through a lot, she was always undergoing different scans, she was on multiple medications and she was always with the doctor. I watched her struggle for her life everyday. It killed her slowly"
" At least you were by her side all through"
" I was, at least she wasn't alone during her last days"
" We're not going to lose Zakiyah"
" In Sha Allah. We're here for her, for them" He says, eyes stuck on me. " I just hope that when all this is over, we'll get time to at least enjoy our stay here in New York"
" That would be lovely, let's hope it all goes well"
" Yeah, by the way, what about Habeebah?" It's been ages since I last saw her. " She's travelling around, don't worry, our problems with her are going to end soon"
" When Zakiyah told me what you did for Ameerah, I remember how stunned I was. The more I get to hear about you, the more I admire you"
" It's nothing to admire really, Habeebah was my wife's close friend at a point in their lives and she has a condition, I saw Ameerah that day and thought she didn't deserve to get a share from the life her mother was living. So I had to calm down and create a plan to help her and bring her mother to justice"
" Too bad she took all that for granted"
" Well, people will always be people" he says and the waiter finally arrives with our meal. They look very yummy. " Do enjoy your meal" he says before leaving us and I instantly dig in, I'm actually starving.
Soon after our delicious meal, Zakiyah's father found his way around New York to the hospital in the car he had rented for our stay here. We got to see a lot of cool things ranging from different kinds of street art, there were paintings as usual and live performances, street dancers, singers, and magicians. If these were in Nigeria, people would have literally chased them away from their spots because they'd be disturbing. They would actually call attention though but definitely not the good one.
The hospital was bustling with people as we got there, Juwairiyah was settled in a very comfy room on the third floor and Zakiyah was still unconscious, even after the medication that had been given to her. This is me craving to hear at least one of their voices. " Ah, you're here already" Doctor Isah says as he finds I and Zakiyah's father sitting side by side on a couch in her room. " You managed to get some rest?" He asks as he gets up to greet him. " I did"
" Good afternoon sir" I greet as well getting a proper smile from him. " Any improvement?" Zakiyah's father asks. " Well we successfully administered her medication to her, she's been unconscious for long so she's going to wake up soon. When she does, we'll run tests and conclude our next move"
" What could be the possible outcome when she wakes up?, what kind of effects might the stroke she had have on her?"
" Well paralysis is the most common outcome of stroke, hers was mild but I really can't say until she wakes up" oh my goodness, paralysis. She won't be able to move. In Sha Allah that won't happen. " Let's see what'll happen when she wakes up then"
" I'll go check on Juwairiyah's nurse, in case if there's any improvement on her part" Doctor Isah says before leaving us in our room. " Don't ponder on it too much dear, let's just brace ourselves for the outcome, good or bad, at least we're by her side" Zakiyah's father says to me and I look over at where she laid with the oxygen mask on her nose and so many hospital equipment around her. She's going through too much and that asshole for a human being made matters worse. Hiring goons to beat up Haneef isn't even enough, Ameerah deserves her share of torture. The one she went through that day was small.
" There's something I saw on our way here outside one store, I'd like for us to go check it out" Zakiyah's father says, bringing me back from my train of thoughts. " What's that?"
" It's like a game, I've been seeing it in movies and right now, I'd love to try it"
" I wonder what that is"
" You'll see" he says, getting up. " What about Zakiyah?"
" We won't take too long"
We took too long. He took us to this toy store that had this machine outside of it, where you had to pay a coin to play. The last time I saw a coin was when I was maybe 2 years old. Well you had to pay a coin to play rounds on trying to get a stuffed fluffy animal or a Teddy bear. He could have honestly just bought a stuffed companion but no, he was excited all through trying to win for over an hour now and I enjoyed watching and laughing at his facial expressions when he lost. He would actually stomp his feet like a baby and pout but he playePd again. Watching him was an interesting.
" Yes!" He screams and I find myself being lifted off the ground and hugged tightly, my goodness my heart wants to leave it's position. " Yes I won it" he says again, letting me breath New York's air. He won a small stuffed panda, it's so cute, Zakiyah is definitely going to love this. " Here, I won it for you" He says, leaving me in shock as I stare at the cute panda in front of me. " You..you did?"
" Yes, you like it right?" The huge smile on his face makes my heart flutter and I instantly give myself an inner slap. " Thank you" I respond, taking the panda from him shyly. " Yes that smile, that's what I like to see" he says again and I use the panda to hide my face.
This is meant to be awkward Tayibah, why in the world are you happy about it?
" Let's get back to the hospital" he says and I take the panda off my face. There was an ice cream shop he promised to take me to once we were done and it's just a few walks away. " the ice cream?"
" oh yes, sorry let's go" he says and he pulls my hand to make me stand by his side. Why's my heart doing me like this na?!
Ice cream abroad is top notch please, I couldn't stop myself from ordering 5 scoops of mint chocolate chip for both I and Zakiyah's father. 5 scoops and yes I'm not going to get tired. " Zakiyah and Juwairiyah would have loved some" I say as he drives us back to the hospital.
" Have faith in them joining us next time. I'm not a fan of ice cream but this, this is amazing"
" Definitely, mint chocolate chip is amazing" I answer, taking a spoon out of my cup. " which university did you apply?" He asks. " my dad said to register for Nile" this left me wondering why he didn't let Zakiyah go to a private university. " Same course as Zakiyah right?"
" Yes"
" oh well I don't want to sound old.."
" But you're not" I say under my breath but apparently he's able to hear me. " yeah I'm not so old" that made him happy, funny enough actually. " Well I prefer public universities cause of the scrutiny they give. Private universities actually make things less problematic for you guys but in public universities, you'll know what life is, I want Zakiyah to go there and see different kinds of people, I'd like her to experience that kind of environment" she sure is aware of that. " I understand"
" but you'll be fine"
" In Sha Allah. We're meant to resume by the end of the year"
"You and Juwairiyah?"
" Yeap. You're the one that ruined our plans of going to the same university"
" I'm glad to have ruined it" he says, letting out a supposed cackle. My goodness, cackles are meant to sound evil, his sounded more like when a car's about to start and it triggered my laughter.
His phone suddenly blares up with the usual IPhone ringtone and he takes it out to see the Caller. " Unknown number, I'll call later" he says and silences the phone, placing it on the surface near the gear stick. The phone rings again and he silences it. It's ringing again. " can you pick it up and put in on speaker please?"
" Alright" I respond, accepting the call and putting it on speaker, stretching it close to him. " Hello, Assalamu Alaykum" it's a male voice. " Wa'alaykumussalam, yes who is this?" Zakiyah's father answers. " Hello can you hear me?"
" Yes I can"
" Helloooo" this voice. " Hello, I can hear you" Zakiyah's father says again. " Hello?" The voice says before ending the call. That voice is definitely familiar, oddly. " does the voice ring a bell to you?" I ask, keeping his phone on my thighs. " no I don't think so" it's the Assalamu Alaykum that keeps ringing in my head, the only person with this voice is already dead.
My goodness I'm more than sure of it.
The number rings again and I feel my heart begin to pound faster as I put I answer the call and put it on speaker again. " Hello" how can the voices be this similar?.
Taking my chances, I swallow a lump in my throat before responding to the Caller. " Saleem?" I ask, heart about to burst out of my chest. Seconds gone and the person doesn't speak up, but I can clearly hear them breathing. " Tayibah, is that you?" Inalillahi wa ina ilaihi rajiun.
I'm literally shaking right now. How can this be possible for crying out loud?. I thought he died in that explosion, come on we all thought so. I can't believe this, if someone is trying to pull a messed up prank on us, I swear I'll make them pay.
" Saleem?" I hear Zakiyah's father ask as he parks the car by the side of the road and picks his phone from where I dropped it. " There are so many things I need to explain to you Sir, which hospital are you at?" Is it really him?. " Saleem is dead" Zakiyah's father says, completely fazed.
" I'm not. I know this isn't something to easily comprehend but I need to talk to you, please"
" Who are you truly and what do you want?" He snaps sternly. This is clearly a joke. " I survived the crash, I wasn't even part of the explosion luckily. It's me, Why're you finding this hard to believe?. Please tell me where you are, I need to talk to Zakiyah" the desperation in his voice makes my heart ache even more. " Did Haneef hire you to break my daughter's heart even more?. Stop all this, the person you're claiming to be is dead" but we didn't get to see a body.
There was no body to confirm his demise amongst the hundreds that were found.
" Presbyterian" I say, thinking about the odds of it been Saleem. Chances are that it truly is him and chances are also that Haneef is planning something cunning again. " I'll be on my way there" he says and the call ends. " Remember Saleem's body wasn't found?. There wasn't a Janazzah" I say to Zakiyah's father who's sending daggers my way. As his facial expression changes to that of realisation, I say again, " I believe Zakiyah wasn't the only bait Haneef used to get Ameerah back" my totally insane suspicion yesterday seems to be unfolding itself.
" to see is to believe" He says and starts the engine.
Many things cross my mind as we stand outside the hospital waiting to see who the caller truly was.
How did he possibly get out of the explosion where there were barely any survivors?.
How did he not get back to us as early as possible?.
How and why is he here now?. My phone's default ringtone erupts in my bag, snapping me out of my thoughts and the evening breeze slowly begins to bother me. The dress I'm wearing is short sleeved and I'm sensitive to cold, no matter how little. The hair on my skin literally stands when I'm cold. " Hello Reedo?" I say into the phone and suddenly feel a warmth cover me. A warmth in form of a jacket.
A warmth in the form of my bestfriend's father's jacket. " Juwairiyah just woke up" Reedo says and I squeal in response, loudly, happiness overtaking my entire system. " Alhamdulillah" Thank you Allah. " We'll be on our way in now" I end the call and happily inform Zakiyah's father about Juwairiyah's status. The dopamine surge takes control of my actions and I find myself hugging my bestfriends father tightly.
My bestfriend's alive, Ya Allah thank you so much for answering our prayers. My goodness, I'm more than happy. There and then, as if lighting struck me out of nowhere, my eyes meet a tall-figure running our way, his handsome features still striking. He still looks the same even after being dead for the past few months.
Our eyes meet and realisation dawns on me, we mourned in vain. My bestfriend had to go through all this because of his absence but here he is. Here he is, he's still taking in natural oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.