Forgiving You (Dublin Sisters #2)

Chapter 56

He was panting hard. His heart ferociously beating against his ribcage. Jittery fingers dialled Nawal's number. It was switched off. Salman erratically stormed out of his office like a mad man in search of his antidote. He banged his hand on the lift button but it took ages for the lift to arrive. Instead, he fled down the stairs. Curious gazes of his employees followed him as he sprinted out of the building.

Sweat was trickling down his temple, his hands perspiring, his feet moving on their own accord. He couldn't stop. He couldn't think. He had to reach to her. He could still hear her deathly scream. He unlocked his car and slid inside. Trembling hands on steering wheel, he brought the engine to life. It was race against time.

Where was she? Where would he find her? Who was after her?

As the phone slipped from his moist palm, he remembered the tracking application. In the preceding months, he never bothered to look up the application. In fact, once he was on the verge of deleting the application but today he was glad he didn't.

He clicked on the app, waiting the mere seconds seemed like ages. The clock was ticking and his worries were escalating. Coombe Women and Children Hospital, Dublin 8, the application blinked and the map showed her exact location that was last detected before the phone was switched off. The only problem was it was going to take him around an hour to reach in this heavy afternoon traffic. Right now, he paid no heed to traffic rules. He had to reach her.

The car raced exceeding the speed limit, traffic lights crossed with little attention. They had to meet two hours later. She had to go to the hospital appointment. What happened? Why did she panic so much?

In the midst of changing gears and steering the car through the dense sea of cars, Salman's phone blared non-stop. After the second missed call, when the phone rang again. Salman exasperatedly answered his mother's call when he was stuck in the traffic.

Switching on the speaker of the phone, Seema's worried voice filled the car, "Salman where are you?"

"Ammi I am driving I will talk later," he muttered, his eyes on the windshield.

"Nawal had an accident. I just got a call from the Coombe Hospital. My number was on the emergency contact list on her hospital card." Her voice now hysterical, "They are taking her to St. James General Hospital. She has suffered many injuries."

His heart skipped a beat. Car accident? Injuries? His desperation to reach increased immensely. In frustration, Salman's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I am on my way there."

"I am coming as well." Seema whimpered, "Ya Allah keep my Nawal and the baby safe. Ameen"

Ameen, his heart cried.

He wasn't ready to believe something would happen to her.

His throat squeezed, his foot on the accelerator pushed with force.

He won't let anything happen to her. He would fight the world for her.

Indeed a long battle was ahead...

****

Heedlessly, the car in the no-parking zone outside the hospital main gate, Salman ran to the emergency department.

Breathlessly, he enquired about his wife, "I am looking for my wife, Nawal Ahmed. She is a 9 month pregnant woman who was brought here after a car accident."

The receptionist glanced at him and then turned to the desktop on the reception's desk, "Just give me a minute."

Her eyes scanned the computer screen as she typed on the keyboard. "She is in the CT scan room right now. We were waiting for her family to arrive. Why don't you have a seat and the consultant would like to meet you."