"Hello 911?
I saw someone jump from the first floor of an abandoned house in my neighborhood."
**********
Safa laid on the hospital bed with an oxygen mask. As difficult as it was, Rayan tried to hold him self together. He was looking at her through the glass on the door of the ICU. Tears rolled down his eyes as he saw her half dead body with bruises.
"I will be leaving now dear."
Rayan turned to look at the old aged woman who made the emergency call. "Thank you so much Ma'am. You saved her life."
"Oh not at all. It was her fate. Jesus saved her", she said and smiled before leaving.
He looked at the kind lady who saved Safa's life. He couldn't even imagine what would had happened if not for her call. His heart wasn't convinced that Safa was alright when he dropped her back home the previous day. Though he had no authority to interfere in Safa's personal life, he felt obligated to let her family know what was going on.
"Hello aunty. This is Rayan', Safa's colleague from her previous office. Hope you remember me", he said hesitantly.
"Yes beta, of course I remember you. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm good too. Is everything alright?"
"I'm not sure", he was hesitant to tell her. Maybe it was something big or maybe something that didn't require any heed. But it was too late to let it go after making the call.
"What do you mean?"
"It's about Safa."
"Beta you are scaring me."
"I don't know how to tell this to you aunty. I live in the same city as Safa. I came here to complete my studies. I have met Safa and her husband twice, in the restaurant where I work part time and she didn't look happy at all. He is rude and bossy and also got me fired. Just sometime back when I was in her area while at work, I found her outside her door freezing on the floor while her husband was inside. She had once texted me to help her too but later denied. I think she is in trouble", he said and took a deep breath. He was relieved and happy that he did his part.
"Ya Allah! She never uttered a word. My daughter is in a foreign country facing so much...", she said and tears filled her eyes. He didn't know how to console her when he himself was worried.
"Thank you so much for informing me. May Allah bless you abundantly. I'll call her right now."
*Ring* *ring*
Rayan wiped his tears off and answered his phone. "Hello."
"How is she now?", Marwa asked with her broken voice. It was difficult for her to control herself especially when two people closest to her heart escaped death in a matter of months.
"Same. The doctors say that she is out of danger. We all are waiting for her to gain consciousness", he tried to console her even though he was as broken as her.
"Thank you so much for all your help. It'll take a couple of days for us to get there. We are doing everything we can to get there at the earliest."
"Its alright. You don't have to worry about anything. I'll give you every detail."
"Ok."
After disconnecting the call, he went back to the door and noticed her hand moving. He rushed to the first nurse he saw and told about Safa gaining conscious. Within a few seconds the doctor went in and checked her. Though he wanted to go in too, he wasn't sure if it would be appropriate.
"We are going to run a couple of tests to make sure that she's alright. You can meet her after the officials have met. They need to take her statement regarding what happened", the doctor said as he made his way out.
He took several glances inside the room, hoping that Safa was holding herself together. He didn't want her to recall whatever had happened, it would only hurt her. After a long time when the officials were done, Rayan was relieved as Safa didn't look worse than what she already was.
It took Rayan several moments to gather the courage to see her in that state and not break down in front of her. Taking a deep breath, he knocked at the door and went in.
"How are you doing?", he asked.
"Take a guess", she answered with a broken voice. "How did I get here?"
"A kind lady saw you take a dive and called 911", he tried to lighten the mood.
"Where is Ayaan?"
Rayan clenched his fist at his name. He was so furious when he got to know that he tried to kill her that when he saw him lying on the hospital bed half paralyzed, he wished that he were dead but believed that he deserved to live that way and walked away.
"Far far away from you. No more talking or thinking about him."
"I want to know, please tell me."
"Fine. He is in a different hospital. There was no way that I would let that maniac and you be under the same roof."
Tears rolled down Safa's eyes. She was disappointed with herself for her actions.
"I tried to kill him", she whispered but Rayan heard her and he took no time in responding, "You protected yourself."
There was a long pause between them but their silence spoke a thousand words. She was too guilty of her actions and he was too disappointed that he couldn't save her.
"Do my parents know?", she asked.
"I told your mom two days back that you are going through a lot, she tried to call you but you didn't answer", he said. "A while back Marwa called to check in on you. They want to talk to you."
"I can't", she said and turned away, trying to fight back her tears.
"Why?"
"What will I tell them? That I tried to kill my husband? That I tried to suicide?"
"Honestly, it's not suicide when you're jumping off the first floor", he said and smiled. He tried to make her smile but it didn't help.
"That's not funny."
"Yeah, sorry. Look, you protected yourself. You were brave enough to stand up against him. You did nothing wrong."
"Easy for you to say."
He sighed and said, " Look, I don't know what your life was with him and you have no clue how much it hurts me to see you this way. But I can promise you that it is over and he will never be a part of your life. That maniac has messed with your head a lot and it's time for Safa to be back. Once you are out of here of course."
"I want to go home", she said and her eyes filled with tears. He immediately held her palms and he got teary.
"We'll go home soon", he assured her. "but you really need to talk to your family, now."
"I can't. I can't let them see me this way."
"They should know what happened. They deserve to", he said and in return she just nodded.
He wiped his tears and made a video call to Marwa.
"Hey. Someone wants to talk to you", he said and turned the phone to Safa.
"Ammi, Abba come soon. It's didi!", she screamed and looked back at her screen and bursted into tears.
Rayan placed the phone in front of Safa so that she could talk without holding it and got up to leave.
"Please stay", Safa insisted.
Rayan nodded and stayed. He heard the entire conversation and he was overwhelmed. He couldn't believe that so much had happened with her in the past three days. But was also incredibly proud of her for fighting back. When he noticed that Safa was in too much pain recalling everything, he took the phone.
"Ok Marwa, Safa needs to rest. I'll call you soon", he said.
"Keep me updated. Call me anytime, do not even think about the time here", she instructed.
"Done ma'am."
After disconnecting the call, he turned towards Safa, "are you alright?"
"I'm actually fine now", she said and smiled. "I should had spoken to them long ago."
"Better late than never", he smiled and got up. "now you take some rest. I'll see you later."
"Please don't leave me alone", she insisted feeling helpless.
His heart felt at ease when he saw hope in her eyes and smiled. "I'm not leaving you ever."
**********
The next couple of weeks were rough. Though Rayan offered her to stay at his place, she outright denied and seeked help from the doctor whom she had met at the emergency room several weeks ago. She was kind enough to let Safa live with her until her parents arrived.
Even with the support of her parents, she wasn't able to get over her past 6 months with Ayaan. She had to constantly tell about her story in front of officials and finally in court where she was not plead guilty as her actions were accepted as mere self defense.
Facing Ayaan was the most difficult thing she had to do. He was paralyzed from waist down and she constantly blamed herself for it. Though his mother insisted on talking to Safa, her parents didn't agree. With all the evidences against him that were found in his house, he was pled guilty and was taken to a rehabilitation center for treatment.
After two months of constant struggle, she was finally free to go home. Before leaving she wished to visit her apartment where Ayaan and herself lived saying that she had to pick a few things from there. After a lot of convincing, her mother agreed on one condition that she would accompany her.
**********
As she stepped closer to the entrance, she halted as she had a flashback of the time when she was freezing on the floor.
"Is everything ok," her mother asked.
She nodded and went in. The house looked like a mess. It looked nothing like Ayaan's place. There were couch cushions on the floor and dust on most places. A tear escaped Safa's eye as she recalled her life there.
"We have seen enough. Let's go", her mother said and held her hand when she noticed Safa in tears.
She held her mother's hand before saying, "one last time."
Clenching onto her mother's hand, she opened the door of her bedroom. It was just how she had left it.
"This was my room", she said and smiled. "This is where I used to sit and call you", she said and sat on her bed.
She turned around and pointed to the floor, "this is where he tied me", she said and bursted into tears.
Her mother hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, "It's over now. I'm with you."
When Safa felt safer, she broke the hug and went to her closet. She pulled out all her things and stuffed it inside her bag. She turned around to leave and her eyes fell on the bathroom door.
"That was supposed to be my bathroom. But I wasn't allowed to use it because my husband didn't think I was worthy enough to share a bathroom with him", she said and tears rolled down her eyes.
"I told you we shouldn't had come her. Let's go", her mother said and pulled her by her arm and stormed out the house.
They stood outside when her mother's phone rang and she took a few steps further to answer it. Safa turned around and took one last look at Ayaan and her house.
"Safa, your dad reached the airport. We need to leave now", her mother said.
She whispered, "goodbye" before turning around and leaving with her mother forever.
__________
Hello my lovely readers 🥰,
With this, my book comes to an end.
Thank you all so much for giving my book a try and sticking till the end.
I feel proud and honored to have you all read and like my book.
Do hit the star if you liked my book and spam me with your comments, it's my favorite thing to read and respond to. 😋
Special thanks to:
indifferent1820 for supporting since the beginning, right till the end.
sheryllongbottom for being incredibly motivating.
Minu1991 for helping me with my grammatical errors.
And to all my readers who have loved every chapter and showered me with love.
Let me know if you liked the ending or if you would prefer it another way?
Also let me know if you all would want me to write a sequel of this book.
If Yes, would it be the continuation of Ayaan and Safa or a second chance to Rayan and Safa.
Much love ❤️❤️❤️