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Author's 𝐏.𝐎.𝐕.
F L A S H B A C K
"Max?" Shifa said as he came running towards them and hugged Shifa who then broke into tears in his arms.
"Max she's- she's in a coma. Please tell her not to do this, you- you know she will listen to you!" Shifa weeped as he gently caressed her back and said, "Shifa, I know how hard it is for you to deal with this right now, believe me I am hurting as much as you are. But we have to be strong enough to handle the others, right?"
"Will she be okay?" Shifa asked him and he nodded, saying, "You know, people who are kind, helping and caring towards others are like angels, and Layla, she is indeed an angel. Nothing will ever happen to her, you know angels are under His protection, right?"
She nodded and wiped her tears and he said, "Yeah, that's better. C'mon now, we've gotta go to her parents, they must be traumatised."
Lexi, Iqra and Zayn were sitting in the hospital room with her parents and Zahra. "Zayn," Max said and he came forward, hugging him whilst controlling his tears.
"She's gonna be fine, I know her, she's my sister," Zayn mumbled and Max nodded as they sat down, discussing about her condition.
The door to her room flung open, revealing a panting Imran followed by her mother and Theo.
"Wha- what happened to her?" He managed to ask as Zayn said, "Coma, coma happened. Even the doctors can't say when she will be out of it."
"Layla," Zayn's mom said as tears flowed from her eyes. The bond between Layla and Zayn's mother was as strong as the bond between Layla and her mother. They considered Layla as their own flesh and blood, loved her unconditionally like their own daughter.
It was a pretty big deal for Zayn's parents to handle this news.
"She'll fight back aunty, she will, please don't worry," Shifa said and sighed, glancing at Imran who looked horrible.
His bloodshot eyes and messy hair made him look scarier than the ocean. "I'll be back," Shifa excused herself and went out, texting Imran to meet her in the cafeteria.
Seeing Imran leave in such a hurry, Iqra followed him and found Shifa standing there.
"What happened?" Imran asked showing lack of interest in Shifa's talk. According to him, it could wait and him being with Layla was way more important than any goddamn conversation.
"That's exactly what I've been wanting to ask you Imran! What the hell happened between you two that day?"
"Shifa, calm down, fighting or arguing with him isn't gonna pull her out of the coma, we need to handle it with patience," Iqra said and sighed as Imran said, "We had a talk which didn't end up well."
"What did you guys talk about?" Iqra asked and he shook his said, saying, "I don't know if I should tell this to you, I can't-" "We know your past Imran, we do," Shifa said in a calmer tone this time, knowing Imran's anger.
Imran looked at them in confusion. "What do you know?" He asked as his nostrils flared and Iqra said, "Everything. How you guys met, how you became close to each other, how you guys developed feelings for each other and what happened when she found out that you were Zayn's brother Imran, we know everything."
"Yeah so you must know one more thing, I'd never do anything to fucking hurt her, I could never," he said in a rather louder voice.
"Could you be any more louder? This is a hospital and you're gathering attention," Iqra whispered and averted her gaze.
"You do know that I don't give a fuck about that, right?" Imran said, clearly showing his anger. "Yeah well I do, alright? I don't get what the hell's with that silly attitude of yours Imran," Shifa said and narrowed her eyes at him as realisation struck him.
"I- I'm annoyed, I shouldn't have taken it out on you both," he sighed.
"We were dancing that day, in the party. I didn't wanna let go of her, it felt too unrealistic that she was in my hand after all that happened. We danced and were happy, it was as crystal clear that she was happy then."
"So if she was happy, what happened all of a sudden that you both left the party?" Shifa asked softly, concerned about her best friend.
"In the midst of dancing, she suddenly told me that she liked me, she fucking liked me Shifa! She had tears in her eyes that I wanted to wipe away so badly, I couldn't see her crying. She said that she liked me but then found out about me and Zayn," Imran said as pain and hurt reflected through his eyes.
"She said that she hated Zayn's brother Imran from the depth of her heart but at the same time, she loved me more than anything! I know I fucked up bad, real bad, and yes, I do not have any explanation for that as well. But that doesn't make my love for her any less. Not you, not even her, nobody can ever say what I felt for her was fake or I used her. All of it was real, every bit of it!"
No matter what they thought of him before, hearing this, Iqra and Shifa's thoughts about Imran changed.
"Did you really love her?" Iqra asked and Imran let out a sigh.
"Of course I did. You guys have no fucking clue how bad it stings my heart to see her with that piece of crap Amaan. Do you really think he likes her? Or can keep her happy?" He asked as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
They simply shook their heads, knowing damn well he was right about Amaan. They never liked him, not since he became his dominant self and tried manipulating Layla.
"So you're saying that you never used Layla to get back at Zayn?" Shifa asked as she looked at Imran.
"Of course not, I fucking adored her since the moment I saw her that day at the florist. Who knew she would turn out to be my brother's best friend?"
He scoffed and continued, "I would never let anyone hurt her, let alone hurt her this bad myself. I would tear apart the person who even tries to hurt her, I would fucking do that, no matter who it is. My intentions towards her were always as pure as her soul, I could never even imagine of fucking using her Shifa!" He exclaimed in frustration.
"What are you guys doing here?" They looked towards the source of the voice and saw Sarah.
"How did you find out?" Imran questioned Sarah and Iqra said, "I called her to let her know of Layla's condition."
"How is she? Are there any improvements?" She asked as Shifa shook her head and Sarah let out a sigh.
"What were you guys talking about Imran?" She repeated her question and he said, "I was just asking 'em how it all happened. It's quite a shock."
Saying this, he left for Layla's room and the three followed him inside.
"Sarah?" Zayn's mom asked on seeing her and brought her to Zayn's notice. "Aunty, hi," she said and hugged her followed by hugging Layla's mom. "How did this happen?"
"Nobody knows the reason behind it. Doctors said it's because of anxiety and stress. She couldn't handle that level of stress and- and she gave in," her mom sobbed as she went to comfort her.
"Have Tawaqqal (faith) in Allah aunty, have Tawaqqal. He'll make things right, In Sha Allah (if Allah wills)"
"Shifa did you call her here?" Zayn asked Shifa in a slow voice, but loud enough for Sarah to hear. "Zayn this is not the time to express your discomfort towards her. Please," Shifa whispered at him and went after Sarah who exited the room.
"Hey, where are you going?" She asked and Sarah replied, "He doesn't want me here, and he's not even discreet about it."
"Are you really gonna let his words or behaviour affect you Sarah? Will you walk away from Layla because he doesn't like it when you're around?" Shifa said and Sarah was dragged into thoughts.
Layla was a really good friend to her, she stayed with her when no one did. Trusted her when her own boyfriend didn't. She couldn't leave her in a situation like this. Not because Zayn doesn't want her around anymore.
She shook her head and wiped her tears. "I can't leave Layla now when she needs me, she stood by my side when I needed her even when Zayn asked her not to. I'm not like that."
Shifa smiled a bit and hugged her friend. She knew what Sarah had been through and it indeed was tough for her to stay around Zayn- her ex boyfriend- who certainly didn't want her around him.
"C'mon, let's head back inside."
"Mom, you all go home, you need rest. I'll stay the night here. Someone needs to be around her," Zayn said while gently caressing her hair. "I can stay as well," Max said, nodding at them.
"Are you sure Max? We don't wanna trouble you all anymore-" "Please uncle, she's my friend. It's no trouble for me to be with her in her time of need," Max smiled politely at Layla's father who had been in utter stress.
"Okay alright, but just ring us in case something happens, hm?" Layla's mom said and they nodded. Her parents and Zayn's mom left with Zahra while the ones left behind were her friends.
"Imran, you can go if you want to, you've been here all day," Zayn said and looked at Imran.
"Nah I'm fine, I think I'll stay the night with you both," he said and put a full stop to the conversation.
"Hey, it's pretty late now, I guess you girls should get going," Imran said to Lexi, Iqra and Shifa.
Sarah had left a while ago when her mom called, saying that she would visit again tomorrow.
"We'll stay here as well," Shifa said and Imran spoke, "It's a hospital, not a picnic spot Shifa. I'll drive you guys home and then you can come back again tomorrow morning," he stated, leaving no space for arguments.
Iqra knew he was right, these many people couldn't be at a hospital all at once. "Okay, Theo, you're coming with us?" She asked him who shook his head. "Nah, you girls go."
Lexi hugged her boyfriend tightly, knowing how hard it was for him to see his friend in such a state.
"She'll be fine, please don't worry," she sighed and looked at Max, giving him reassurance. He nodded and let go of the hug. "How are you all going? None of you brought your cars," Zayn asked and the girls looked at each other.
"We'll take an Uber or something, don't worry-" "No, it's not safe. I'll drop you girls off," Imran said and got up, gesturing them to leave first. "I'll be back, if you guys want anything, message me and I'll get it on the way back" he said and left with the girls.
"Thank you Imran, but you didn't have to do that, we could have managed," Shifa spoke and Iqra agreed by nodding. "Have you looked at the time? It's almost 1 in the morning," Imran said in disbelief and shook his head.
"You sound just like her," he muttered under his breath loud enough for them to hear. Iqra simply let out a sigh as they sat in Imran's car.
"Are you okay, Imran?" Lexi asked, being concerned for her friend.
"I'm not fucking okay Lexi! How can I be fine when- when she's at death's doorstep? How do you expect me to be fucking okay?" He banged his hands on the steering.
Iqra and Shifa flinched seeing him act this way while Lexi's eyes nearly popped out of her eye-sockets.
"Im- Imran, she will be fine, control yourself," Iqra managed to speak as he said, "I cannot control myself, not when I am the fucking reason behind her being like this!"
"What makes you think that you are the reason she ended up like this?" Lexi asked.
"Because I was the last person she talked to before she decided to go home, it was all me. And I'm gonna fix this bullshit when she wakes up. I'm gonna tell her what I feel for her as soon as she is out of the bloody coma," Imran said and drove off to drop the girls home.
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