Ishq

Part 4

"Ahad, I have arranged a medical camp for the poor and it would be nice if Sahar and you could assist me. It's going to be free of cost as they are extremely poor and can't afford basic treatment from the local clinic." Zaydaan shot a text to his father, informing him about the same and then turned his attention towards his younger brother who was looking at him in awe. 

"Yes of course, this would be really nice. I'll inform Sahar and then we can leave after lunch perhaps?" Zaydaan nodded and got up from the dining table since he was done with his breakfast. 

He had already stocked their bungalow with medical supplies in abundance so he didn't really have to arrange for anything. He just had to call in for local nurses and wardboys from the neighboring hospital.  

         •••

Sahar was all dressed up in a baby pink jora, she wrapped an embroidered shawl around herself and walked out of her room, only to bump into someone who always managed to take her breath away. 

"Dekhke chala karo, lag jaati tou?" Zaydaan frowned at her careless behavior, this girl managed to bump into everything and hurt herself. He hated seeing her getting hurt.

"Galti aapki hai, aapko kisne bola tha aise aane ko mere room mein?" She rolled her eyes at him and then chewed on her lower lip, realizing what she had done. No one rolls their eyes at him, but of course she was an exception. 

"Umm.. chalein? Warna bohot raat hou jaayegi saare patients ko dekhte dekhte." He nodded his head but his attention was on her lips, she looked like an enchantress in pink. He loved how she could manage to look so beautiful effortlessly. 

"Sahar, please stay close to us and don't roam around. You don't really know this place and I don't know why I have a feeling that something is going to happen so please just this one time don't defy me." She simply nodded her head.  

•••

The medical camp was a success and it was almost 3 am when the last patient had left. Zaydaan was making a list of patients who required to be hospitalized, he would have them transferred to their hospital immediately. He was busy making calls since it was obviously difficult to handle the transfer single handedly.

It was almost fajr by the time the ambulances had arrived and Zaydaan took a sigh of relief seeing everything going smoothly. He asked one of his guards about Ahad and Sahar to which he replied that Ahad had already left around 1 am while he had no clue about Sahar, but he was sure that she was not at home since the security had opened the gate only for Ahad and had not seen her at all.

Zaydaan panicked looking at the time and then called up Sahar incessantly, only to have his call go straight to the voicemail. He yelled at his guards for being this irresponsible and then asked them to look around everywhere for her. 

He could feel his heart in his throat as he looked around for Sahar, he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard someone giggling. He knew who that melodious voice belonged to and he banged open the door of the hut from where the sound was coming.

Sahar, on noticing Zaydaan, realized that it was almost 6 in the morning. She gulped knowing that she shouldn't have disappeared with the sarpanch's daughter. She smiled at the polite girl and took her leave.

Zaydaan had been awfully quiet till the time they walked towards their car. As soon as they reached the car, he pinned her against it and held her wrists above her head.

"Dimaag tou set hai tumhara? Main yahan pagalo ki tarah tumhe dhoondh raha tha aur tum wahan gappay maar rahi thi? Time ka hosh hai bhi ya nahi? Tum itni careless kaise hou sakti hou?" He yelled at her, making her flinch and fidget with her wrists that were bound in his tight grip.

"I..I'm sorry, w..wou sarpanchji ki beti ne.." He simply stared at her with his cold eyes and that was enough for her to keep her mouth shut. She understood that she was not to utter a single word because she was in the wrong this time.

She noticed their position and cursed herself for feeling butterflies, before he could tell her anything they heard the sarpanch's voice. Sahar and Zaydaan were confused on seeing the sarpanch along with five other old men.

"Doctor sahab, bura mat manana lekin mujhe meri beti ne bola hai ki aapki aur Sahar beti ki abhi shaadi nahi hui. Aapke yahan aisa sab shaadi ke bagair chalta hoga magar humare kuch rules hai. Aap inke na mehram hai isliye aap inhe haath nahi laga sakte, yeh hamare rules ke against hai. Aapne hamare aane se pehele pata nahi kya kiya hoga isliye behtari issi mein hai ki hum aapka abhi aur issi waqt nikkah parhwa dein. Agar aap log yahan aakar aisi harkate karenge tou hamare baccho ko lagega ki yeh sab karna sahi hai aur hum aisa bilkul bhi nahi chahte. Maafi chahta hoon agar aapko baat karwi lagi hou tou. Aapne humari itni madad ki hai lekin iska zara bhi matlab nahi hai ki aap dono bina shaadi ke yeh saare haram kaam karein. Chalo Hamid, moulvi sahab ko bulwa dou." 

All Sahar and Zaydaan could do was stare at the old men and then stare at each other. This was how they both got married and neither of them could process what just happened.