Rubab's POV:

The hospital room felt suffocating, a sterile cocoon of white walls and beeping machines, as I sat on the edge of the bed. As a doctor, I was used to this environment but at this point, it made me nauseous. A nurse was patching up my shoulder and injecting a painkiller into my I.V. We had arrived at a local city hospital in the emergency ward since Fahad fainted at the shore. I should have paid more attention to him.

An elderly doctor stood beside me, his expression a mix of concern and professionalism. He was the first to rush towards us when he saw our state in the ward. I was grateful to him and the kind man who I had come across my pathetic state when I finally hiked to the road and collapsed there a few hours ago. He was driving home with his wife who was wearing a hijab. He had given me his waist coat to cover my chest because Zohaib had ripped my shirt into pieces.

Everything was a haze. I could remember his wife telling me that they will take me to the hospital to get my wounds treated as she tried to give me something to drink to calm my trembling hands. All I remember is nodding my head like a robot as my eyes stared into the distance. I was lost until my eyes fell on the back of a man who made my heart drop.

The road here was evenly meeting the shore so I could see clearly. I could recognise that back and messy jet black hair anywhere. I thought I was imagining it since I missed him so much right now but it really was him. Since we were wearing the matching tracksuits that we had bought from Lahore, I recognised his outfit immediately. It was tattered but it was the same black and navy blue stripped tracksuit that I was wearing. I was still in a state of shock but then I heard his piercing scream. I quickly urged the couple to stop so I could run to him before he did something stupid. It definitely looked like he was about to.

I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him at the edge of the shore screaming my name out loud. He was crawling towards the river as if he was going to jump in and try to find me. I thought he would have stayed on the cliff but when I saw him, bruised, drenched and looking like a disaster struck him, I had figured he had jumped after me.

At that moment, my heart had melted. I couldn't believe that fact that he was crazy enough to do something like this but he was. I wanted to hug him, bawl my eyes out about what had happened a while ago but I just couldn't feel anything. My fear had numbed all my emotions. I was scared of meeting his eyes. He had the ability to read my expressions. Fahad always did. I just couldn't face him anymore. What would Fahad think of me?

I shook my head to snap out of my destructive thoughts to focus on the doctor's words.

"Rubab, I need to tell you about Fahad's condition," he began, his voice measured yet gentle. My heart clenched at the mention of Fahad's name.

"How is he?" I pleaded, my voice barely above a whisper.

"He suffered a head injury, a broken ankle, and a rock punctured his back. We've stitched the wound, bandaged his head, fortunately there is no long term issue with his head," the doctor explained, his words landing like heavy blows. My breath hitched, a rush of panic gripping my chest. 

"And you, Rubab, you have a fractured kneecap that we have added a splint to, four broken teeth needing implants, and a muscle tear in your shoulder," he continued, his voice compassionate. The amount of injuries felt like unbelievable, as though I was detached from my own body. How did I not feel any of this before?

"Will Fahad be okay?" My voice quivered, trying to make sense of everything.

"Yes, but can you tell me what happened to the two of you?" The doctor pressed in a soft tone.

The memories surged back, fragmented and hazy—a fall, rushing waters, and then darkness before I reached the shore. "I fell," I murmured, my voice strained with emotion. "I fell from the cliff into the river. And then I believe my husband jumped after me."

"You believe?"

"I was the first one to fall. It was an accident. I didn't see him jump after me." I lied. It wasn't an accident but I wasn't going to disclose that.

The doctor nodded, understanding colouring his eyes. "Do you need anything? Can I contact someone for you?"

A pang of helplessness gripped me. Zoya's phone was off, Misha was out of the country, and I didn't know Ibraheem or Kamran's number by heart. I dialled my brother's number from the hospital landline, my hands trembling as I waited for him to pick up.

"Sohail, it's Rubab," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Hi sis, how is the trip going?" Sohail's carefree tone eased me but I knew it wasn't going to last.

"There was an accident. Can you bring Ammi and abbu to this hospital? Don't panic. We are alive." I said this more to myself than Sohail. We were alive. We had survived this traumatic event.

Sohail's panicked gasp echoed through the line, and my heart twisted with guilt for worrying him. He promised to come immediately with Fahad's and our parents.

As I hung up, the weight of the situation pressed down on me. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the haunting memories. Zohaib's shadow lingered, threatening to consume me in its darkness. His voice echoed in my head. I clenched my jaw tightly to wash it away.  

A soft rustle made me open my eyes, and there Fahad lay on the hospital bed, stirring from his unconscious state. Relief flooded through me as I watched him slowly regain consciousness, his eyes fluttering open.

"Fahad?" I whispered, reaching for his hand but then I recoiled it. He grabbed it immediately. I was surprised at his vice like grip.

"Begum, something is wrong. What happened? Out with it." His gaze met mine, dazed yet familiar. A wave of gratitude washed over me, thankful for this moment, for his return to consciousness amidst the chaos of our injuries and the haunting memory of what had transpired between me and Zohaib. "Don't you dare turn your face away from me right now after nearly jumping to your death, Rubab."

"Why did you jump after me?" I turned an accusatory glance at him.

"I promised you that if you fall, I would fall with you."

Fahad's POV:

The room swirled into focus as I slowly blinked away the haze of unconsciousness. Rubab sat beside me, her silence was cutting through the still air like a chilling gust. Her usual warmth was absent, replaced by an unsettling coldness that sent shivers down my spine.

"Now tell me what is wrong with you. I know it's not just the injuries" My voice was hoarse, laden with concern as I struggled to sit up, ignoring the throbbing ache in my head. It was bandaged. Good, that meant I won't faint again midway during the conversation.

She didn't meet my gaze, instead focused intently on the nurse tending to her injured shoulder. Her demeanor was distant, detached, a sharp contrast to the tenderness I had seen a few hours ago. I decided to plead. "Rubab, please, talk to me," My heart was racing with unease.

Once the nurse moved away, she finally turned towards me, her eyes missing her usual spark. I could see my pained reflection in them. "Fahad, we need to talk." The words hung heavy in the air, an ominous cloud overshadowing the room. I felt a knot forming in my stomach, an unsettling feeling of what was to come.

"We definitely do. What's going on, Rubab?" My voice wavered, my mind racing through scenarios that I couldn't process just yet.

Her reply was curt, colder than I'd ever heard. "I think it's best for us to get a divorce." The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the breath out of me.

"This better be a joke." Panic and something dark clawed at my chest, desperation creeping into my voice. She remained unnervingly composed, her gaze fixed on a distant point in the room.

"This...us, it can't work anymore. It's better if we part ways. We have only brought each other pain from the time that we have been together till now."

I felt as though the ground beneath me was crumbling. I gripped her hand even more tightly. Afraid she would fade away the moment I let go of her. Rubab's tone remained resolute. "I am very serious. Let's finalise the divorce when we go back to Lahore."

Her words were like shards of ice piercing my heart. I searched for any semblance of emotion in her eyes, but they remained distant, almost vacant. It was as if I didn't recognize the person sitting before me. I thought I had imagined it when I saw her at the shore but she really had changed.

"You are not leaving me, Rubab. I thought I made that pretty clear before." I implored, my voice cracking with emotion. "Whatever happened, we can work it out. Just tell me what it is. I'll do anything. Anything but divorce. I told you before that I love you."

But she shook her head, her resolve was unyielding. "I don't care anymore, Fahad. About anything. You. Us. This. I am done."

My world shattered in that moment. The woman I loved, the one I believed would always be by my side, was slipping away, unreachable behind an impenetrable wall of detachment. I thought I lost her when she jumped from the cliff but that wasn't it. In reality, I was losing her now. At this moment.

I felt a storm of emotions crashing within me—confusion, disbelief, and a searing possessiveness that clawed at my soul. How could I let her go when she was everything to me?

But as she turned to leave, something inside me snapped. It was an inexplicable surge of possessiveness, a darkness clawing at the edges of my thoughts. The very idea of letting her go felt like losing a vital part of myself, an unbearable void that I couldn't allow. Not now. Not ever. I was ready to jump into the river and find her or drown with her. 

A surge of emotions flooded my being—desperation, anger, and an overwhelming need to hold on to her, to never let her slip away. My heart raced, my chest constricted with an intensity I couldn't control.

A primal instinct took over, a voice in my mind warned me that I couldn't lose her, that I wouldn't let her leave. The possessiveness consumed me, blurring the lines between love and obsession, between respecting her decision and needing her presence. A storm of conflicting emotions raged within—love, fear, and a possessive darkness that clouded my thoughts.

I sat there frozen for a moment, grappling with this sudden surge of emotions I was feeling, trying to make sense of the situation. Never had I felt such possessive need. But as Rubab moved further away, a primal instinct, an unspoken vow, stirred within. I was going to hold on, to fight for what I believed was ours, even if she was determined to let us go.

Author's Note:

Hello and Asalam o Alaikum lovelies!

Y'all complain too much over short chapters so I spent the last two hours writing this one. How do we feel about this?