When you know

25. Doctor

Ariana's opened her eyes. Everything was blurry and unclear. She had no idea what was happening or where she was but all she could feel was pain and aches all over her body. She turned her head to the side to see a blurry pair of black Timbaland boots heading out the door and another pair of nurses shoes walk in. She was in a hospital. Her head pounded but it was water that was dying for.

'You're finally awake.'

'Water.' She managed to croak out. The blonde nurse smiled brightly as she bought a cup of water over. With the help of the nurse, she managed to sit up.

The last thing Ariana remembered was falling into Aidan's arms or had that all been a dream? Was Uncle Kamal and Juned dead? The castle? The helicopter? Aisha? Her trail of thoughts stopped. Aisha was dead. Dead because of her. It was her fault. She suddenly felt herself back at the fateful scene. The door had burst open and Aisha had jumped in front of her as bullets begun to fly. Aisha had died shielding her. The guilt and pain tore Ariana apart. So many people had died that day and she was almost just another body count. Would it have been better than living with the grief and guilt? It then dawned on her that she had no family left. No one at all. Everyone was dead.

Ariana returned to the present and realised that the Nurse was speaking. 'You're so lucking to have a man like that. He didn't leave you for a second, a single second! Slept here, ate here. Well, except for the little breaks of course.'

'Who?'

'Why, you're husband of course. Gorgeous and loyal. What I'd do to have a man like that? '

'Oh.' Ariana leant back. She didn't know what to think or feel about him. Well, his job was done now that she was alive and fully functioning. It was just his job, she wanted to say but didn't. She had no idea what to think of him. Hell, she didn't even know who the hell he really was. 'When can I leave?'

'Not yet. Not until they say anyway. You must be one special woman. There's fully armed security outside.' The Nurse looked excited by all the drama as she tottered around, opening the curtains and checking whether Ariana was comfortable or not. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and it opened, revealing Agent 21. The Nurse excused herself and immediately left.

Ariana felt on edge as Agent 21 came entered and looked outside the large window on the far side of the room. He stood confidently in his expensive three piece suit, with one of his hands in his pocket and another resting on a cane. His face was stony, unreadable.

After a few long moments, Ariana decided to break the silence. She knew what he was here for and what he wanted.

'I'll give you what you want, only if you promise me three things.' Finally, the man turned around to face her.

'Name them.' He said, understanding their relationship. They didn't like each other and they weren't going to pretend that they did. She was sick of all the bullshit and the beating around the bush the British liked to call polite.

Ariana coughed and sat up. 'You leave all of this, myself, my family and religion out of the media and public.'

Ariana had thought carefully and repeated her demand for the second time. She didn't want them to forget. The media loved a good story and with the Islamaphobia prominent in media outlets, she didn't want religion dragged in, labelling them terrorists or something. Islam was perfect, Muslims weren't. Furthermore, She didn't want people to know who she was nor destroy her family name. She just wanted the past to be exactly that- the past. 

'Done. Next.'

'I want a proper funeral for my family.'

'Done.'

'Let me disappear. Leave me and everyone I know or may get to know alone. You never bother me or spy on me or anyone I... ever again. ' '

' Done. Now, what's the code?'

'I can't tell you that yet.'

'Why not?'

'I don't know it. I need to go back home. '

' Home?'

' My childhood home.' The man looked annoyed as he clenched his jaw, calculatingly. Just then, there was another interruption as a Doctor walked in.

'When can she leave?' Agent 21 demanded as if reading Ariana's mind.

'Not yet. Please, can you wait outside.' The doctor's face was serious as she begun running some checks. Agent 21 looked irritated at having to take orders but he listened and left.

'How are you feeling?'

'Like I've been hit by a hundred hammers.'

'Close enough because it certainly looks like it. I'll get you some pain relief.' She smiled but after a while, her face suddenly became serious as she checked over the details. 'Hmmm. I'll be right back.'

'When was your last period?'

Ariana felt taken back by the question. Why was she being asked that?Immediately, her eyes widened in recognition. It could only mean one thing, right? But she couldn't, could she? Just stress was enough to make a woman miss her period and she had been under mountains of emotional stress lately but the look on the doctors face told her it wasn't stressed.

'From your blood test, Congratulations are in order.' The doctor smiled brightly. But Ariana was simply stunned by the news. Nausea, her tender body parts and unstable emotions suddenly all made sense. She had always wanted a family, children to rebuild everything and everyone she had lost. But the news felt too soon and at the wrong time, and now with the wrong person. Her eyes suddenly welled up.

'I was... beaten quite badly, is..is it ok?' Ariana struggled to find the words as memories begun flashing of the castle, the pain and the dull, shadowy dimness.

'The baby will be fine. You are lucky that you are in your first trimester and therefore, the foetus is small and protected by the amniotic fluid. You have nothing to be worrying about, except for focusing on getting yourself back to good health not only for your sake but for the baby's also.' Ariana took a moment to absorb the information. She was having a baby! She didn't feel the joy she wanted to feel. It was his baby. But she was its mother and father. She had to think about the future, their future. It made her more determine to disappear from the volcano of a mess that she was in.

'Have you told anyone, Doctor?'

'No-.'

'Well, I trust that you won't be telling anyone. Only two people should have that information: me and you. No one else. Doctor-patient confidentiality, right?'

'Right.' The Doctor slowly nodded, seeing the tense and serious expression on Ariana's face. 'But I advise you to tell someone, especially the father of the baby. In your...certain situation, you need all the support that you can get. We will do the ultrasound test just to make sure that the baby is responding and fine. I'll arrange it privately, although it's hard with all those people hovering about.'

'Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.' She said gratefully. The doctor said a few more things and did a few more checks and then left. She felt herself relax slightly and put a hand on her abdomen.

Although Ariana felt numb and lost inside, she vowed to find a way to shield and protect her baby with her life. In that moment, she decided to leave Aidan out. She wanted to start fresh and new. He was part of her old life, a chapter of her life that she was going to close and shut as soon as she found the damn formula and managed to get away.

It was her body, her beautiful burden and blessing, her decision.