Hamza and Amy's Romantic Journey

Chapter 9

Hamza Dawud

Amy was feeling so down that she was considering just giving Kaiser back. I wasn't going to give in so quickly though. That said, Amy was honest about who the person was who might be able to offer us help. Javed's brother-in-law. I told myself it wouldn't be much of an issue, considering that Javed's actual brother was married to my sister and was my best friend. We'd be fine getting his help as long as I wouldn't have to see him.

While on a break at work, I decided I'd call Yusuf to set up a meeting.

"Asalamu'alaykum," Yusuf said as he picked up the phone.

"Wa'alaykumusalaam. I need a favour." I said, taking a seat on a bench outside the building.

"What's up?

"Well, Amy's giving up on fighting for Kaiser so I need to see Brother Harris."

"Hamza, as much as I want you guys to fight for this boy, it seems there's not much use. You don't have a strong enough case. Harris says so too."

"Just let me meet him once, please?" I pleaded. Yusuf sighed on the other end.

"I'll ask."

"Thank you."

"It's okay. And now that you've called me, I wanted to talk to you about something else too but I feel like it isn't my place to say anything."

"What?"

"Well, Amy's been talking to Safia about going to the hospital, getting herself checked out. She's becoming convinced she's barren and to be honest, I think it's getting to her. Might be partially the reason why she's giving up on Kaiser too. She just seems to be giving up in general, according to Safia."

Yusuf's words felt like a punch in my gut. I knew Amy wasn't being herself but I thought that was because of her hopelessness of keeping Kaiser. It's like I pushed back Amy's desperation for having a baby far back in my mind. It killed me that it affected her so badly. And if I was honest with myself, I wanted to fight for Kaiser more for Amy's sanity than for the baby himself.

"Hamza? You okay?"

"What do you suggest I do?"

"I can only draw on my experience of Safia going through postnatal depression. You have to talk. Don't keep things in and don't make her keep things in. You might have to pry things out of her but you're gonna have to be persistent and do it."

"Okay. And how do I stop her from going to the doctors?"

"Why stop her? Go with her. Get yourself checked out too. If everything's okay, and In'sha'Allah it will be, then great! You'll have peace of mind. But if something is wrong then at least you can act upon it or consider other avenues."

I rubbed my forehead with my free hand. I'd considered it but I thought we might have been happier in denial. If something was wrong with Amy, I knew how badly it would affect her.

"Alright, I'll think about it. Jazak'Allah khayr for your help, bro."

"It's okay. I hope things work out, In'sha'Allah."

"In'sha'Allah. Asalamu'alaykum."

"Wa'alaykumusalaam."

I put the phone down and sat for a few minutes with my head in my hands.

I was going to have to talk to Amy about this soon. I could only imagine what she was feeling.

That evening, I got through work, which I seemed to have taken longer to do thanks to being so distracted, and decided to grab a box of Amy's favourite chocolates on the way home.