"Wha-"
Zameer didn't say anything and went back to his chair.
Sadia looked at the plastic tubes, their cut edges dripping with the clear liquid. She knew what he had done. She knew it so well.
'Now die.'
Those two words, so cold and heartless.
But for some reason, she had sensed an underlying meaning behind those words.
He was trying to intimidate her. She knew that if he wanted her to die then he could simply shoot her and be done with it but he didn't. So what was he doing now?
"What are.....you-"
"You wanted to die." Zameer interrupted, looking at her with his hard dark gaze. "I'm simply granting your wish.". Fear exploded in Sadia's chest when she saw the cold look on his face and even more so, the coldness of his voice.
Sadia's eyes quickly darted back to the cut IV lines. There was silence, She didn't say anything, not like she had much to say after what Zameer had done.
She knew that he was watching her, gauging her expression and reaction.
She knew what he had done. Cutting off the IV line meant cutting off her medicine. Knowing her body, she was still suffering from the infection and stopping the drugs from treating her could make the situation worse.
"What's the matter?" Zameer's voice pulled her out of her reverie.
"Didn't you want to die?" He sounded so condescending yet his tone held mock victory. Sadia refused to acknowledge his victory.
There was silence for a while. Sadia could hear her heart beat fast.
"What's the matter, Dr. Sadia?" Zameer said, his tone soft.
Sadia closed her eyes and turned her face away. "Please leave." She whispered. And to her surprise, she heard movement at the side and she knew that Zameer had gotten up to leave however, when she felt a shadow behind her close lids and the presence of warm breath so close to her face, her eyes snapped open and her breath got caught in her throat when her eyes connected with those of Zameer's as he hovered above her, his face only inches away from hers.
"You're a smart woman, but even you can be stupid." He spoke, his warm breath colliding against her tear stained cheeks as they flared up with color and without realising, she sank back into the bed, wanting desperately to maintain space because the expression Zameer had on his face, it scared her that she couldn't even feel the offence of his words.
He looked beyond intimidating, his handsome features darkened and his eyes hard, his gaze calculative.
"I asked a simple question: do you want to die?" He repeated, his hard gaze keeping hers locked in. "Yet you are unnecessarily being stubborn and stupid."
Her brows twitched and Zameer noticed a flash of emotion in her blue brown eyes. And he was fascinated: the warm brown was a contrast to the cold blue. It was so extraordinary but he didn't allow himself to dwell in it. Now was a serious time. So he kept his stone cold mask on.
And what he wanted to see, he saw it: Sadia was frightened. But the only reason she was being stubborn was because she wanted to be brave and not give into her fear. But he knew that a girl like her would easily give into fear, given if she was intimidated enough.
"I know you don't want to die."
Sadia kept her mouth closed. She was scared of him but she wasn't about to give in so easily.
"If you wanted to die, you would've said so a long time ago. Remember when I asked this from you the first time, you had said that you'll do anything to live."
Sadia inhaled deeply, her eyes glaring at Zameer with so much fury. "Th-at was......Then. Now I'm,"
"You what?" Zameer smirked. "Had a change of heart? No, the situation might've changed but your stance hasn't."
He was clearly provoking her. Sadia's jaw clenched and quickly, she tried to push Zameer away with all her might because the close proximity was causing her suffocation.
But Zameer didn't move an inch. Sadia tried to push him away but she felt so drained that her hands hands fell back, her cheeks flared with color and her breathing deepened. Her hijab became a little disheveled, letting loose a few wisps of her dark hair on her forehead.
Zameer's heart beat fastened. After watching such an expression, any hot blooded male would be turned on. And he was no exception as he felt a severe attraction towards her.
His eyes went from her eyes to her parted lips as they slightly quivered, drawing in air. And those plump lips, dry and chapped yet so tempting, were drawing him in. And he recalled how it felt like when he had kissed her, so soft and sweet and......
Stop! He mentally shouted at himself, causing his thoughts to come to a screeching halt. Fucking focus!
Zameer had to control himself. He not only found Sadia's feeble attempts adorable but also alluring. The little girl was unintentionally seducing him. But he wasn't about to give in so he gently grasped her jaw, feeling the heat of her skin at the tip of his fingers as he made her forcibly look at him.
Her blue brown eyes widened, fear evident in them as she saw his eyes shift from her eyes to her lips and then flicker of emotion that she saw in his dark orbs, it was enough to cause her to be on high guard however, the need didn't arise for his eyes went back to their usual dark empty pits as he grasped her jaw and made her look at him.
"Think about this clearly and when you've seen reason, I'll have the doctor put you back on treatment." He said and let her go.
***********
Sadia's eyes stayed on the white ceiling, tears continuously falling from the corner of her eyes and soaking into her scarf.
"Stop being so stubborn." Zameer spoke. "Just say so and I'll have the doctor replace the drip and you're treatment will be resumed."
Sadia refused to acknowledge him or what he was saying.
So, this is how I'm going to die? Of an infection. She thought to herself, feeling her body as it turned hot over the hours and the fever was back.
"You don't really want to die, do you?" Zameer repeated his question. He stayed seated in a chair at the corner of the room as he observed Sadia. It had been a few hours since he had cut off her IV lines. So far, Sadia wasn't giving in.
But, he knew what he was doing. It was a power play after all. He wasn't going to let her die but he was most certainly about to make her submit.
"I know you don't want to," He started and got up from the chair, walking towards the bed as he kept his hands deep in his pant pockets. Sadia closed her eyes and turned her face away. Zameer knew what she was doing; he knew that she knew he was right but she just didn't want to admit it.
"Because then it would be a miserable and meaningless death." He revealed ans as he had expected, he got the reaction that he wanted when he saw Sadia's eyes snap open and her head slowly turned to look at him.
Bingo! He smirked. At this point, he needed to play his cards right. He was a skilled manipulator and he knew how to twist and turn people around.
"And the type of death that you've wanted was a quick and honroable one."
Sadia's eyes narrowed.
"But I've got to ask, what's so honourable about it? Dying for a cause? It doesn't make sense at all."
Sadia's nostrils flared and her brows creased in a deep frown as she felt her pent up anger surface. "You wouldn't.....understand." She whispered.
"Simply because there isn't anything to understand. I don't believe in that."
Sadia glared at him with all the fury she felt for him. He was being so insufferable right now that she couldn't help but glare at him.
"Ju-st leave.....me alone."
Zameer kept his cool expression on. "I have you all figured out. You wanted to die in the name of the country. But dying like this," he looked at her from head to toe. "it's just not acceptable to you, right?"
Sadia couldn't say anything. He was right.
Her heart was in so much turmoil. How could he just say it like it doesn't mean anything. How dare he mock her like that. But he was right.
"And I won't kill you. If you really wish to die then you can die like this, in misery and in pain."
Sadia closed her eyes as a shaky sigh left her quivering mouth. It was the pain or the suffering she feared. It was the cause. And there was no cause to it. She would die for nothing. She wouldn't die a martyr's death.
"Wha-t.....do....you want?" She murmured, feeling utterly defeated, as tears flooded behind her closed lids and leaked out.
She felt Zameer's presence grow near and she knew that he was hovering above her once again. She winced when she felt his rough finger tips wipe her tears away.
"It's simple. I want you to live." He murmured above her.
"W-why?"
"Because," he paused, his fingers lingering on her cheek. "You are too important an asset to be lost."
A whimper left Sadia's lips. She didn't want to live such a life.
"However," she opened her eyes and saw Zameer looking at her with a serious and hard expression. "If you decide to live, remember, you'll become my ward. Thus, you will belong to me."
Sadia's breath got caught in her throat. Her despair led way to anger as she clenched her teeth together. "I'm not......a piece......of property."
Zameer smirked and pressed a button on the side of the bed. "From now on, you are."
"N-no!"
The door opened and a nurse entered the room. She quickly placed a new drip and connected it to the cannula on Sadia's hand.
"Wha-"
Zameer snapped his fingers and the nurse quickly left. Sadia's eyes remained on him as she saw him draw out a piece of paper from the inside of his coat.
"You've already forfeited your life. But I've decided to spare it. And for good cause. My boss's wife still needs treatment and you're the only one who understands her situation. Therefore," he drew the bed table close to Sadia's chest and pressed a switch to make the bed inclined. Sadia was utterly lost.
Zameer watched her. He knew how she would react when he would show her what that piece of paper was.
"What is......th-at?" Sadia inquired in a whisper, automatically her hands going up to adjust her scarf.
"This my dear," He said and placed the paper in front of her. "Is your fate from now on."
And indeed, what he had expected, happened.
Sadia's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened to the extent of almost bulging out of their sockets when she saw what that white piece of paper was.
نامہ نکاح
Marriage contract