ALERT:EDITED
Song: Silence (slowed).
Artist(s): Khalid.
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(Author's POV)
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*Household of Shehu Sani*
There's a knock on the door by 9:20am in the morning as the family were having breakfast together in the dining room.
"Summaya please go see who's at the door, I'm not expecting any guest" Hajiya Maimuna said
"Okay, Ummah" Summaya responded getting up from her seat walking to the huge door.
Upon arriving to it, there's another knock.
"Coming" she said in an audible voice as she unlocked the door opening it revealing Khadija.
"Assalamualaikum, hi" Khadija said smiling
"Walaikum Salam" Summaya responded returning the smile as she gestured her to come in.
"Assalamualaikum" Khadija said greeting the family at the dining room
"Walaikum Salam" they all responded in unison smiling at her
"Ina kwana ku" she said again
"Lafiya, Khadija ke ne a nan yau" Hajiya Aminah, Assar's mum said
"A, Ummah, ya kike, ya ana ta fama" Khadija said smiling
"Muna nan lafiya, ya mutanen gidan ku" Hajiya Aminah said again
"Lafiyan su kalau Alhamdulillah" Khadija responded as she looked at Alhaji Shehu who had his gaze fix on her, his hoping she's not here to cause a scene regarding Assar's marriage.
"Ina kwana sir" she said a bit nervous to the elderly man
"Lafiya Alhamdulillah, what brings you here this morning?" He asked at once making his family member look at him.
"I stopped by to greet the family, I just dropped my dad off at the airport and thought of saying hi before heading home" she lies
"Oh I see, how's he doing?" Alhaji Shehu said as he let out a forced smile.
"His fine Alhamdulillah" she responded returning the smile.
"Okay, Khadija come and join us for breakfast" Hajiya Maimuna said
"I'm fine ma, na koshi" Khadija said politely refusing the invitation.
"Haba mana, ko a Kai miki daki ne" Hajiya Aminah said
"Ah, Kar ku damu wlhi, na koshi, na chi kafin na taho nan" Khadija said again
"okay, torh, Summaya ku tafi parlour kafin mu gama mu zo mu sa mai ku" Hajiya Aminah says to her daughter as she nods
"Mu tafi" she said with a smile gesturing Khadija to walk to the living room.
"Aunty Summaya, how have you been?" Khadija says as she broke the silence making Summaya chuckle
"Wlhi Khady I can't even say I've been fine, this school wants to use exam and finish us, can you believe we had a test last Monday and every single thing I read nothing came out" Summaya said reminiscing about her school struggles
"Haba dae, you know the problem with this lecturers is they'll never tell you were to read from and then you'll end up reading on your own and being unlucky" Khadija responded also going through the same issue in school.
"Kai ki bari kawai, makaranta nan ma sai a hankali da a dua" Summaya said making Khadija chuckle as the rest of the family comes to join them in the living room minutes later, while the dad and the men all went out after bidding their goodbyes.
Khadija looked outside the window from where she was sitting making sure they've all driven out of compound before finally opening up to speak on why she's actually here this morning.
"Ummah" she said gaining the attention of both Hajiya Aminah and Maimuna
"Na'am Khadija" Hajiya Aminah responded
"Ummah, I saw from Ya Aliyu's phone last night that Assar had been admitted to the hospital" She says recalling when she got in contact with her brother's phone when an incoming message came in from Mubarak.
"Meye?" Hajiya Aminah said in fear as she felt her heart sunk
"Ummah, I saw a message from a doctor on his phone last night saying Assar's surgery had gone well" she said again
"Surgery kuma, me ya harda Assar da surgery kuma" Hajiya Maimuna said
"Me ya faru da Assar na?" Hajiya Aminah asked
"Ummah Gaskiya I have no idea about that, I tried asking Aliyu but he just got angry and told me not to go through his phone next time" Khadija explained remembering the sour relationship between her and her brother that's not getting any better.
"I hope your useless brother don't have anything to do with my daughter's condition" Hajiya Aminah said getting up to grab her veil
"Ummah, I think it's that her stupid husband and Aliyu would know about it but doesn't want to say anything, I reported him to our dad which made Aliyu upset and leave the house" Khadija said as everyone stood up
"Khadija, did you perhaps find out the name of the hospital?" Rukkaya asked
"No, but I got the contact of the doctor, I tried calling him this morning but the number was switched off" Khadija explained
"Inna illahi, what has that stupid boy done to my daughter" Hajiya Aminah said as she broke down in tears.
"Hajiya kiyi hakuri, I'll go to his parents home to report this, just because they're rich doesn't mean they can mistreat people this way and we're family for that matter" Hajiya Maimuna said
"Mummy calm down they didn't mistreat anyone, their son did, just be careful when you emphasis that you know they have this bad habit of making enemies" Maryam said
"Kiyi min Shuru, it's the same thing" Hajiya Maimuna said annoyed by her daughter
"Same thing kuma, birin in ma bi ki kafin wani abun ya faru" Maryam said getting her veil
"Yaran nan" she said sighing looking at her daughter run up the stairs heading off to her room.
"Khadija Dan Allah please try the doctor's number again maybe he'll pick up now" Hajiya Aminah said trying her best not to cry as Khadija nodded
Khadija dials the doctor's contact again and this time it was ringing.
"Alhamdulillah it went through" she said looking at them as she folded her lips anticipating for him to pick up the call.
The call ends without a response from the doctor as she sighs and call again, this time the doctor finally picked after the 5th ring.
"Assalamualaikum" Khadija said in a hurry
"Walaikum Salam" the masculine voice responded giving Khadija chills.
"You sound familiar" she said almost like a whisper which the doctor heard
"Well I'm a doctor so maybe you were once admitted" he responded
"No, I've not" she said quitely
"Khadija ask him about Assar" Hajiya Aminah said breaking her out of her thoughts
"Doctor, please I'm calling on a patient with the name Assar Shehu Sani" she said
"I heard that she was admitted and her family would like to reach out to her please tell me the name of the hospital so we can come over" Khadija explained all at once
"Assar Shehu Sani?" The doctor questioned
"Yes, please check your list of patients I'm sure her name will pop out" Khadija said
"I'm quite busy I can't do that but I'll check and call you in 15 mins" The doctor responded
"15 mins, no please doctor, it's quite urgent please try to remember, you spoke with my brother over the phone regarding her" Khadija said
"Your brother?" He asked
"Yes, Aliyu Muhammad Galadima" she responded
"Oh, yes Aliyu, I do remember, the patient you're talking of should be Assar Arman Abdullahi" he said correcting the name
"Yes, she's the one" Khadija said letting a breath out
"How is she doctor and what hospital are you treating her in?" Khadija asked
"We just performed a surgery on her and still waiting for her to be conscious so I can't say anything on that, the name of the hospital is *******, and well I'm not the doctor treating her, I only assisted on the surgery but you can call me when you get here I'll redirect you to the doctor in charge" the doctor explained
"Okay doctor thank you so much, I'll call you a soon as I arrive" Khadija said
"Okay then" the doctor responded ending the call
"Ummah I got the name if the hospital" Khadija said looking at Hajiya Aminah who has been looking at her in anticipation
"What did he say happened to my daughter?" Hajiya Aminah asked
"Ummah, he said he'll explain better when we arrive let's hurry before your husband finds out about this" Khadija said as they nodded all heading out.
Standing outside the house Rukkaya got her car ready and they hopped in heading straight to the hospital Khadija directed them to while Maryam and Hajiya Maimuna later comes down and head of to Arman's mother house.
Arriving at the hospital after a 34 mins drive the family gets down and walks straight into the building while Khadija calls the doctor as he directs them to his office.
"Assalamualaikum" Summaya said opening the door to the office
"Walaikum Salam" the doctor said looking at the 4 women walking into his office. His eyes meet with that of Khadija as he kept staring at her as if he's seen her somewhere before.
"Doctor I'm Khadija, the one you were speaking with over the phone" she says as she got closer extending her hand for a handshake.
He smiled looking at her small hands before saying
"I thought women and men aren't supposed to shake hands in Islam" he said as she got fluttered scratching the back of her head.
"I'm sorry" she said embarrassed
"It's okay" he said as he let a small chuckle
"I'm Doctor Mubarak, I'm a Cardiologist" he said with a smile gesturing the ladies to have a sit.
"Nice to meet you, this is Assar's mum Hajiya Aminah Shehu Sani and her sisters Rukkaya and Summaya" Khadija responded introducing them.
"Nice to meet you all" he responded letting a small smile
"Doctor please tell me what happened to my daughter" Hajiya Aminah said immediately
"Yes, regarding Assar, she was brought it the day 3 days earlier, she was examined and the results stated she was physically and sexually assaulted, she suffered internal injuries due to that, broken rib cage, legs and ankles and she's a PTSD patient before that which cause quiet some complications but she's fine now, I think" doctor Mubarak explained
"Sexually assaulted?, You mean raped?" Rukkaya asked
"Yes" the doctor responded as Hajiya Aminah felt her heart sunk, her tears pouring out of her face uncontrollably, how was she supposed to forgive Arman for what he has done go her daughter now.
"Inna illahi wa inna illahi raji'un" she let out as her cries followed
"Hajiya please be calm, I assure you that your daughter will be fine you just have to keep praying for her" doctor Mubarak said as the door to the office opened revealing doctor Umar.
"Umar?" Hajiya Aminah said getting up from her sit
"Aunty Aminah" he said as he walked over to hug the elderly woman
"Aunty please don't cry, everything would be fine" he said patting her to calm her
"Doctor, they're the family of Assar" doctor Mubarak said as his heart sunk for a moment.
"What?" He said confused as Hajiya Aminah broke the hug looking at him
"Assar, where's my Assar?" She asked looking at him
"Aunty, Assar is your daughter?" He asked, a shocked look on his face.
"Yes she is" Hajiya Aminah responded.
Umar is the nephew of Hajiya Maimuna, which made Rukkaya, Mukhtar and Maryam his biological cousin's while her rival Hajiya Aminah's children Salim, Assar and Summaya his distant cousin since they aren't blood related.
Anyways he knew his aunt and her rival Aminah but has never met any of their children which means the woman his been trying to hurt all this while is actually his cousin, that isn't what even bothered him. He liked Hajiya Aminah alot and respected her, she was a good friend to his mums even though they weren't related and finding out all this means no matter how much he didn't like Assar and how much he wanted to hurt her he couldn't knowing that it will affect her mum and his relationship with the family as well.
Hajiya Aminah use to visit his mum's along with his aunt Maimuna back in the past and she was always complaining of her daughter's health, back then she never smiled cause she was always in worries of the health of her daughter but he never cared to find out whom the daughter was and now meeting her 12 years later finding out the daughter is the woman he despised the most was really disappointing to him. Now he was both angry at himself and Assar, he had no reason to be angry at Assar but if only she had not bumped into him that day at the airport maybe he would have probably never met her or wouldn't have met her in that manner and probably wouldn't have hated her as much as he did today.
Good thing Assar had no idea he hated her so she won't say a word to her mum, the only one who was aware of his hatred was his brother Kabir and he trusts Kabir won't say anything so he felt his mind relieved now, maybe he'll eventually stop hating on Assar soon, who knows.
"Umar" Hajiya Aminah called again snapping him out of his lost thoughts, she had been calling him since but he was was just staring at her lost in the million things going on in his mind.
"Are you okay?" Hajiya Aminah asked
"Yes, yes, aunt I'm fine" he responded scratching the back of his head, now that he looks at her, Assar sorta resemble her and they even blink the same way. Looking at the elderly woman was like looking at the older version of Assar.
"You really look like your daughter" he said unknowningly
"My Assar" Hajiya Aminah said more like a question that's when he realized what he has said and quickly tried to brush it off
"That girl" he said pointing at Summaya who also looked like her mum but not as much as Assar did as she let a small smile
"Umar, where's my daughter" Hajiya Aminah asked as Umar looked at the lady
"Assar, right" he said
"I'll take you to her" he said as he gestured for them to leave heading off to Assar's room
"Thank you" Khadija said to doctor Mubarak making he released a small smile as Khadija walked out of the office following the rest of them.
Arriving at the private ward doctor Umar opens the door revealing the patient whom still had the live support machine attached to her.
"Ya Allah" Hajiya Aminah said as she breaks down in tears again walking towards her daughter
"Ya Allah, why my daughter?" Hajiya Aminah says crying as she bent down to hug her daughter.
"Doctor what's her current condition now" Summaya asked doctor Umar as he looked away from the mother and daughter to Summaya
"Ah, yes, she's unconscious now and well yet to wake up from the surgery" doctor Umar explained lost
"When was the surgery?" Khadija asked
"Yesterday, 11:26am to 12:44pm" he responded
"And she hasn't woken up since then?" Summaya asked
"Yes, lucky enough she's out of coma" he said as Khadija and Summaya looked at themselves before looking back at the confused doctor.
"Out of coma?" Summaya said
"Was she ever in coma?" Khadija asked
"Yes, she fell in coma the same day she was brought in" he explained
"Who brought here in?" Summaya asked
"An elderly lady, she hasn't come back here ever since" he responded
"That must be a house worker, and what about her husband?" Summaya asked
"Well, I can't say much, he was here to pay the bills and sign the lawsuit but hasn't come back to visit her ever since" he said
"That wicked man, Allah ya'isa" Summaya said
"It's okay, men can be cruel at times just pray for your sister that's what she needs now, I don't know when she'll wake up but she needs to for her wounds to heal" doctor Umar said looking in the direction of the patient and her mum as he walked closer to them.
"Aunty Aminah" he called as she looked at him getting up
"When will she be awake?" She asked wiping off her tears
"I can't be certain, that's depends on when she's ready the regain consciousness" doctor Umar responded looking at the patient
"Aunty Aminah, is she in therapy?" He asked
"She was in the past but we stopped when she started get better" she responded
"She's going to need it again" he said as he walked closer to Assar getting a clear view of her face
"After whatever happened she's going to be really traumatized especially towards men" he said as he looked away from Assar and back to her mother
"Is it possible for you to call her old therapist back, she's going to need it when she wakes up, I would have recommended another therapist but I feel she won't be comfortable with any new person in her life at this point" he explained.
"That therapist is currently in kano, I don't think she'll be able to come here on short notice" Hajiya Aminah said
"I see, can you try reaching out to her I'll settle her transportation" Doctor Umar said
"You don't need to, we can settle that but what If she's currently dealing with another patient" she said
"Well we won't know if we don't ask, try calling her" he suggested as the woman nodded walking outside the room to make the call
"You two can sit" he said to Khadija and Summaya pointing at the couch by the window to the room as they nodded and went to sit.
Looking back at Assar sleeping face her eyes suddenly opens looking directly into his as a shocked look was visible on his face. He definitely wasn't expecting Assar to wake up this soon.
"You" she said with a scared look on her face as she abruptly got up moving backwards in fear making Summaya and Khadija run towards her.
"Calm down Assar, you'll be fine" Summaya said trying to go close to Assar.
"Stay away, all of you" she said as she let out a loud scream obviously from the internal injuries she abruptly disrupt.