Halal Heartbeat

Chapter 9

Manal

"Mum, I want to focus on my studies, not men!" I complain. "Please, just meet him. He's a nice and handsome boy." I grunt and agree on one condition:

No more proposal meetings.

"Alsalamulaikum, how are you all doing today?" Dad greets our guests. The guy's name is Achraf. He's tall, tanned, and has such thick curly hair. And I must say, he is pretty charming."Alhamdullallah, we couldn't be more happy to see you," Auntie greets. " Manal, please, tell us more about you." Her smile is warm and welcoming. "I'm studying to be a doctor and am almost finished school." I say confidently. Uncle chuckles. "Wow, Mashallah, you must be very dedicated." I blush at his compliment. The evening goes on splendid, but Achraf and I just didn't click. I felt like he was forced to go through this too. Like his mum made him go too. That day, I definitely understood his pain and we didn't end up getting married, not even engaged.

"One iced matcha, please." Mazin looks at me in disgust and disbelief. "You're into that?" I sit up straighter with confidence. "Yes, so what? Matcha's the best thing in the world!" I defend my case. "It's just grass, what's delicious about that?" He laughs. I shrug, smiling. After taking a few sips of our drinks, I pull out my journal and a pen. "Woah, that's your whole schedule? How do you read it with that messy hand writing?" I glare at him. "Mazin, all doctors have sloppy printing, it's not just me. I'm sure you do too." He snatches the pen and writes "Mazin was here" in the neatest writing I've ever seen. I smirk and take my pen back. "As I was saying. The operation is now moved and two weeks from now, we won't be working on a dummy, but a real, living human being," I jot down more notes. "Which means you'll need to be ready. I've prepared a mini test for you to see if you're ready and know everything you'll need. Anything less than a ninety isn't acceptable. You must be ready." After completing the test, he gets a 92/102, which is 90%. "You'll need to do a bit better than that, but good so far. Let's take a break." I put my journal back in my bag and we take a walk around the city. "I never want to leave the UK." Mazin finally says. I stop in my tracks and turn to him. "What in the bloody hell, Mazin? You don't want to ever go out and explore a new county?" I ask, taken aback. "Pft, no. Everything I have is here. My family, work, everything I love." I take that into consideration. We continue walking and eventually, it's time for me to head home. In my room, I think long and hard.

Over the past five months, I've gotten to know Mazin all over again. He makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Hate and love. Want and resist.

That night, I pray Salah (prayer) and then sleep, hoping that Allah can solve my dilemma and dissolve my uncertain feelings of love for Mazin Abdelrahman.

Mazin

Today's the day of the opperation. Prior it by a few hours, we got to know our patient better. "Hi Harris, I'm Dr. Mahmoudi and this is Nurse Abdelrahman. We're going to help heal your heart with surgery." I smile and he smiles back. He doesn't even show the amount of sadness or pain he's experiencing due to his illness. He's a strong person. Harris is in his mid twenties, studying Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at Cambridge. He tells us more about himself and it seems he's got a bright future ahead of him. I wish I could've been like Harris and had his dedication and desire to learn when I was his age. After he says his goodbyes to his family, we're ready to begin surgury.