Hushed Confessions | ✔

{34} The Finale of Crime Drama

Sajdaa Taha

"Sajdaa, please wake up," whispered a voice from beside my bed.

Lifting my heavy eyelids, I came face to face with hazel eyes that warmed my heart every time I gazed into them. Malik's lips curled into a wide smile as I blinked, adjusting to the slight darkness of the room.

He stood beside me, navy blue uniform wrinkled, bags under his eyes, and curly brown hair disheveled against his scalp, locks of hair in a bundled mess on his head. Yet, the moonlight captured his beauty in a few shades.

Lower your gaze, I reminded myself.

Glancing around the room, I sat up, feeling the tension rock through my body like metal rods pushing against my joints. Pain jolted down my veins. A needle pierced into my arm, pumping clear fluids into me as a heart monitor gently beat to the sound of the drumming in my ears.

"Are we in a hospital?" I asked, inhaling the familiar scent of sanitary chambers and soap.

Malik nodded. "We called the ambulance ahead of time. Your family is with Hamza at the moment."

"And they left me alone with you?" I questioned, incredulous about my parents' decision.

"Sajdaa, I'm right here," grumbled a familiar deep voice.

Behind Malik was Ridwan, standing tall against the wall, a scowl firmly placed upon his lips. My lips curled.

His dark brown eyes brightened when he saw me, but he tried his best to keep his composure, trying to make me feel bad for forgetting about my eldest brother. Stress lines coated his forehead, eyes reddened with invisible tears, worried about Hamza and my safety.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he huffed out a deep breath, turning his cheek away from me. "To think, I was the one who put your hijab back on you and this is the respect I get. Unbelievable," he scoffed, a tinge of levity touching his words. "I think you gotta work for my forgiveness now."

I weakly laughed, wincing as pain rose up my spine. Groaning, I leaned back against the headboard of the bed, pain surging through my injuries. My eyes felt drowsy, dripping with the fatigue from the last couple of days, where even my prayers seemed to have been stolen from me.

A dark shadow crossed my face, mirroring Malik's expression as he, too, remembered the horrific details of the case. To think, the killers were so close to us all this time, targeting me out of petty for what they could not achieve. Allah had a special punishment for them, and I hoped it would be severe enough to make up for all the loss that had to be endured in their hands.

"Audrey and William are dead," whispered Malik. "Just like they should be."

Ridwan pushed himself off the wall. "You okay?"

"It was all my fault. If I'd kept better tabs on Audrey, I could have stopped her-"

"Malik," I said in a raspy voice. "You didn't know."

He clenched his fists at his side. "I defended William when we first met remember, Sajdaa? I supported him, a killer, a murderer, a complete psychopath," he hissed, squeezing his eyes as if he were in physical pain from just the mere realization. "I... Oh Allah, I don't even know how to take all this in."

Ridwan placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Hesitantly, Malik turned to Ridwan, confusion painted across his expression as if he didn't know whether Ridwan would insult him or praise him for his efforts. Either way, Malik froze under his touch.

"You did all that you could," said Ridwan with a small smile. "You were able to protect my sister better than I could and honestly, you did the right thing, Malik. Yeah, maybe things would have been different if we suspected William right away, but that's not what happened. Allah destined us to go through these trials the hard way and He is the best of planners."