Judging Me | On Hold

{Chapter 16}

"He wanted to help her but he did not know how."

{H U S N A I N}

"Zip up your coat, it's cold," i say to Syeda, who was about to dash her way into the hospital.

I mean, come on guys, her bruise is clearly visible.

Syeda hastily zips up her coat, upto her chin.

She turns 90° around and begins to walk towards the building in the speed of light.

Humayrah runs after, trying to catch up with her bestie but not before throwing me a weird glance.

I shiver as the cold reaches to the core of by bones and a few, wet droplets of water hit my head. Looking up i realise that is about to rain. Not wanting to get wet, i run into the building dashing behind them, just in time to see an army of rain flooding down to the ground. As the droplets hit the ground, they bounce up, making them look like a dozens of frogs everywhere. People running around, hands covering their heads barely protecting themselves from the rain, while others who are holding umbrellas are trying to stop the lightweight, waterproof object from flying away due to the howling wind. Some take shelter under a roof, while others go inside to the warmth of their cars, but not one would go home dry.

I turn around, just in time to see Syeda and Humayrah turn around a corner.

I run after them, not wanting to lose sight of them.

~After getting help from humans to help them get to the ward we need to go to~

We walk down a whitewashed corridor, which is unusually bright and contrasting with the moods of several people.

Syeda notices Osman and takes a jog towards him, whose face suddenly lights up when seeing his abla- older sister.

When she reaches him, she grabs his arm, the two having their own telepathic conversations, which i, Husnain Imran, can not understand or interpretate.

Shortly after their exchange of conversations, they go into the room labelled 303 in bold, shutting the door behind them.

Me and Humayrah, respectfully stay outside, for the sake of their privacy and family.

Humayrah begins to walk around back and forth, causing me to get dizzy (i can literally see a circle), hence why i am leaning against the concrete walls of the hospital.

~After about an hour~

Just as i was about to doze of into to deep slumber - yes whilst standing, a puffy eyed Syeda and her two brothers: Adnaan and Osman come out of the room. The sound of a door shutting and clicking into place is heard.

Syeda looked terrible:

Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was streaked with endless amount of tear and her expression was absolutely heartbroken and in absolute pain.

My heart thumps, while Humayrah is startled by Syeda's disheveled apperance. She stops walking in circles, her mouth slightly hung open.

Her brother's state aren't any better.

"Why are you two still here, you should have went home," says Syeda, in a hoarse and monotone voice.

Trying to ease the tension, i try to crack a joke, which i obviously failed. I end up earning several glares from both Humayrah and Adnaan.

Humayrah being amazingly smart, decides to speak of the one topic nobody wants to talk about,

"Oh Syeda, you look terrible, what happened?"

Totally wasn't making the situation any more emotional.

Syeda opens her mouth to say something, but ends up bursting into tears, in which a few slip out of her brothers.

Adnaan and Osman hold on to her, stopping her fall, looking away clearly trying their utmost best to not end up in the same position as Syeda.

Humayrah panickly tries calming her down with soothing words:

Oh my Allah! I'm so sorry.

I didn't mean to say that.

You don't need to tell me now, take your time.

And a whole load of other words which apparently were supposed to console her

I'm rooted to my spot, stopping the urge to go and comfort her.

~After a few good minutes of consolation and tears~

"We should get going and so should you two," say Adnaan, holding onto both of Syedas shoulders as if she would wither away in his hands.

"Okay then, Assalamualykum," i say, as me and Humayrah start walking away, but not before hearing a 'wa'laykumusalam'.

We reach the entrance, the heavy downpour of blissful rain long gone. Me and Humayrah hurriedly sit in the car, our seat belts firmly strapped over us. Starting the car with a turn of my key, i ease the car out of its parking space and head to the main road. In the rear-view mirror, i notice Adnaan's car closely  behind us.

The moon hangs in the sky, its bright, pure face shining down at us, its companion closely dotted in various places in the sky. The clouds now surrendered to the darkness, the hooting of an owl heard nearby in one of the various naked trees running along the foot paths. We pass many roads, we pass Syedas house, we enter our neighbourhood and finally we reach home.

Exiting the car, i slip out my phone from my pocket, automatically my plain black wallpaper is presented to me, the time reads 6:55.

Well at least we won't be getting a lecture from mum.

Using my own spare house key, i unlock the door of my house to reveal my mother holding a pan as if she is ready to hit someone with it. I step back, causing Humayrah to nearly trip over and raise my hands. My mother's eye relax as if the tension in them weren't even there in the first place.

And if she wasn't holding a pan to bash me in the head.
God, that was close.

She slowly lowers down the pan,

"Oh sorry, i forgot you two went out and thought that there was a burglar about to rob our house," she says giving me a heartwarming smile.

"Go pray your Isha until i set the table," she say walking away.

I go upstairs to my room, complete my ablution, spread my pray mat onto the floor facing the Qiblah and start praying.

Allahuakbr

~After praying my Isha~

Folding the prayer mat and placing it in its allocated space, i go downstairs, the beautiful aroma of dinner wafting up into my nose. I take in a lonh sniff, savouring the smell.

I sit in my chair, beginning to eat my food.

"So what happened?" asked my dad, obviously hinting about Syeda.

Me and Humayrah look at each other, wondering whether we should tell them or not. There's a long silence, stretching far and wide.

Rumaisa being absolutely amazing, decides to break the silence shackled with chains, with her mouth full she asks,

"What do you mean 'what happened' dad?"

"Rumaisa stop eating with your month full, you look gross," says Umaimah, scrunching up her face in disgust.

"Well..." say Humayrah, starting off the conversation "...we don't really have full detail to know what happened but what we do know is that it is serious enough that we found ourself in the hospital," finsishes off Humayrah, shoving a spoonful of rice in her mouth.

Father nods, eating his food.

Then we're back to square one: awkward silence.

We finish eating our food in awkward silence, no further discussion.