HONEYDEW (A murder mystery)

Chapter 27

Almost eight hours had passed by and I was still waiting outside the surgery room.

Everyone had taken turns sitting alongside me and had only left at regular intervals to buy food or to use the washroom. Nevertheless, I had stayed rooted to my spot and had acted really stubborn, therefore, they had let me be.

As I did not have to offer my obligatory prayers due to my monthly cycle, there was no reason for me to leave the place and however I was clearly in no state to digest any food.

Alhamdulillah, Dilshad had been successful in arranging the required amount of blood and the surgery had resumed with fastening pace.

Aahil's mother kept calling me every half an hour or so, unlike me she was so cool and collected. She had complete faith that her son was going to be fine and kept reassuring me.

She desperately wanted to be here in the hospital but unfortunately, Aahil's father's health was deteriorating and she was reluctant to leave his side.

Nonetheless, she promised to visit the villa once aahil would be discharged from the hospital.

I kept praying silently and fervently. It is ironical that all of us remember our creator only during hardships and we seize to remember him during our happy days.

It was more than a week now and Aahil still hadn't recovered. I did not know what I would do if God forbid something went wrong. I did not even want to think along those lines as the mere thought made me shudder.

A lot of relatives, friends and some of his staff members had sent him bouquets and get-well-soon cards. But none of them was allowed to see him, save for the few family members. After what happened last time with the oxygen supply, the police did not want to take any potential risks. They had increased the security and I was glad.

I begged Allah to grant me a second chance to prove myself as a better wife. I so badly wanted him, both physically and emotionally. He was mine to hold and to love, and I would never ever let him go.

"Aleena, the doctors say that it is going to take exactly another couple of hours," I turned towards Lissa who squeezed my tensed and tightly coiled fingers. "Why don't you go to the room and freshen up until then?"

I shook my head, "Not gonna happen."

"Don't you want to look presentable when Aahil looks at you?" She winked at me making the situation look light.

"No, he would just have to accept me the way I am."

"You are being unreasonable, this isn't how you naturally look. You appear like a zombie."

I was adamant that I wouldn't go and Lissa had no way other than backing out. I had been sitting from the past ten hours and my back was stiff with strain, the pain unbearable, but I wasn't going to admit it to anyone, not even to myself.

Ayath and Lissa had begun playing a silly game where the one had to start with a random name and the other would reply with another name which began with the same alphabet with which the previous name ended.

I closed my eyes and rested my throbbing head on the headboard and began listening to them play so as to distract myself from imaging the doctor's slitting out Aahil's chest and the blood oozing out.

From the past few hours I had been imagining the worst-case scenarios and it was making me giddy.

Sharukh

Harris

Sid

Dilshad

Davis