Her Bestfriend's Brother [Editing]

Part 38: Iqra, Who Is He?

Heyy readers!! It's been so long, I know! Sorry for not updating regularly, I've been going through a loootttt recently. So here's an update on Layla's condition!!
Enjoy reading!<3

Layla's 𝐏.𝐎.𝐕.

I couldn't believe my ears. "No, no, you're lying. Tell me this is a prank, it's not funny. How- it's- it's not true," I and Zahra said, "See? This is why we didn't wanna tell you yet."
"None of this makes sense! If- if I lost my memory, how would I recognise you all? You're lying to me. Zayn, please don't lie to me" I said and looked at my brother.

"Layla, we are not lying to you, you know I would never lie to you. Okay, can you tell me about your studies?" He asked and I said, "We're in our last year of school. Next year, we start college, right?"
He sighed as he shook his head and took his phone in his hands and showed me a photo. "Do you remember this?"
It was a photo of us 4 standing outside the college we were gonna get admissions in- Crestwood Heights.

"That's the college we wanted to go in, Crestwood
Heights" I said and Zayn nodded.
"You wanna know what happened?" Iqra asked and I nodded as she continued, "It was 23rd September, Zahra's birthday. Rayna had kept a party for her and we all were invited. We were enjoying the party and having fun- dancing, singing, playing, eating. But then you said you wanted to go home out of nowhere, turns out you weren't feeling well. You went home, alone, even after we insisted on coming home with you."

We were invited to Zahra's birthday? That's... weird, considering how she treats me, she wouldn't even talk to me at home, let alone invite me to her birthday party.

"What happened next?" I asked curiously and my mom said, "You came home looking tired and dull. After I forced you to drink some soup you went to sleep. Soon your friends Iqra, Shifa, Zayn, Max, Lexi and-"
"Who's Lexi?" I asked, not remembering her. "You don't remember her?" Iqra asked and I shook my head in utter confusion.
"She's Max's girlfriend. Max Spencer from our school, remember him?" Shifa asked and I nodded.
Of course I remember him, he was such a great guy and a good friend to me.

"When we came home, you were fast asleep. We were about to go, letting you sleep but then found out that you had fever. So we woke you up, gave you the medicines and stayed for a while to ease you up," Zayn said and I nodded, taking in the details.

"And after they left, you came down and knocked at our door. As soon as I opened the door, you fainted right in front of my eyes. We waited for a while thinking you would gain your consciousness, but you didn't. It was eating us up so we rushed you to the hospital and the doctors said you're in a coma," my dad said and took a sip of water.

"Since that day onwards, we would sit in the hospital, in the hope that you come out of coma, but you didn't. Your friends would stay here with us for you. And you know Zayn, Max and Saarim would stay here all night with you, in case you woke up.
We prayed to Allah day and night for your speedy recovery, and Subhan Allah (Glory to Allah) ! He listened to our prayers, he answered our dua (prayers) Layla," he continued and smiled as a tiny drop of tear fell from his eyes.

"So, what is it? Memory loss?" I asked as Zayn replied, "Um, the doctor said you're suffering from Selective Memory Loss. It's a type of memory loss where your brain suppresses some of your memories. It may be caused due to stress, anxiety, or high fever and stuff. But they said it's caused because of some trauma or stress. You'll be fine Layla." He hugged me while I sat there listening to his words.

What must have happened that caused this memory loss? "How are you feeling, like, after knowing about it?" Zahra asked and I said, "It's - it's a lot to take in, but I'll be fine, no need to worry about it." Not everyday you find out that you're suffering from Selective Memory Loss.
The door opened and the Doctor came in with Zayn's mom and some guy. He was tall, athletic and good- looking.

"Layla!" She said and hugged me. "Oh my God Layla! You don't know what we've been through for the past 2 months! I am so glad you're okay."
"Um, sorry but, do I know you?" I asked her as she gave me a look of disbelief.
She looked at Zayn and asked, "What- what is she saying Zayn?" Zayn sighed and said, "Ma, she has lost her memory, she's suffering from Selective Memory Loss."

"Mom, of course I know you, how can I ever forget you and the love you've given me these past few years?" I said, breaking into a smile as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and hit me lightly on my arm, saying, "Layla never do that again, you're my daughter. You almost gave me a heart attack when you said that!"

I hugged her and the doctor asked, "Good evening Miss Layla, how are you feeling now? How is the headache?" "Good evening doc. About that, the headache's still there, much stronger than before. And, I don't know, I get these flashes of images randomly," I replied as he nodded and the nurse scribbled something on a file.
"Do you remember the images, anything?" He asked as I shook my head and reply, "They're not clear, just black and white blurred images."

"Well, that's nothing to worry about, they could be your past memories trying to get inside your head through your subconscious mind. If your head still hurts or the headache increases even after this medicine, just let me know, we'll need to perform some tests to analyse the issue, alright?" He said as the nurse handed me a tablet and a glass of water.

As soon as he left, I turned back to my family and friends and looked at the guy. "Iqra, who is he?" I whispered and she smiled saying, "Na uh, not gonna fall for it again. He's-" "No Iqra, I genuinely don't know who he is, pinky swear," I intervened as she looked at me with a serious look on her face. Now that I pinky sweared, she knows I'm not lying.

"Looks like you've forgotten everybody you met after Shifa's birthday party since that is your last memory," Zahra chimed in and they nodded.

"Never mind, I'll introduce you to him then, this is Theo, and we met in our new college. I'm sure you're gonna like his company," she said and smiled, introducing him to me.
I looked at Theo who approached me and said, "Hey Layla, it's nice to finally talk to you after all these months of waiting for you to get out of coma. Um, I brought you flowers, your favourite lilac roses," and handed me the flowers. He knows my favourite flowers? "Oh, thank you, it means a lot," I said and smiled, keeping them on the side table beside the bed. In a span of few minutes, my parents and Zayn's mom went home to rest, or shall I say that Zahra and Iqra forced them to go home and rest for a while since they've been here for the past couple hours.

We started talking and to be honest, Theo looks like a nice guy. We got along really well and they talked to me about college and stuff. A while later the door opened and Saarim, Rayna, Daniel and Diana came in as Saarim rushed to me and said, "I can't believe you're finally awake! Give me a hug," he said and I hugged him, smiling in the hug as I replied, "How are you? I know, it's been so long!"
"Leave me, it's not me who was in a coma for two months. Are you okay now?" He asked, his mood switching to a much more serious one. "Yeah," I nodded and looked towards the others. "Rayna, Diana, Daniel, hey."

"Oh my God you remember us!" Diana said and kept a hand on her face, controlling her smile as they both came and hugged me. They're all my sister's best friends. "Yes of course I do," I said and chuckled in the hug while Daniel too gave me a bouquet of flowers. "These are for you, I hope you liked them," he said and scratched the back of his head and I smiled taking the flowers. "I like them a lot Dan, thanks for getting me these."

'Everybody's here but him. Where must he be? He sure is aware of my condition, so why didn't he come here? Did Zayn or Iqra or anyone not inform him about me being out of coma?' I thought to myself as we continued talking and they kept telling me things I've done in the past year that I no longer remember.

*    *    *    *    *

Hey everyone! Thank you for reading! Wishing you a nice and lovely day ahead!<3
Make sure to vote if you liked the chapter!<33