Pacing to and fro in front of the ward, Maryam couldn't stop worrying about her child. It had been almost two hours since the operation started and yet, neither the doctor nor the nurses had emerged from the room. She would never be able to forgive herself if something terrible happened to Manal, for she was the reason why everything happened to her. If she had listen to her husband and had not hired Nafisa, like he wanted, she would not have had the chance to steal from them and most importantly, maltreat their child in their absence.

Sa'eed on the other hand was sitting on a bench with both his arms wrapped around his bandaged head. Had it not been for Maryam's persistence, he wouldn't have had his would treated. He was in pain, yes, but compare to what his daughter must be going through, he knew his was nothing and endurable. He didn't care what happened to him. If his daughter was alright, then he would be as well.

"Are you alright?" Maryam asked, touching his shoulder.

"Yes." He replied. "Please sit down. You don't need all these stress, especially in your condition."

"I can't sit down, habibi." She shook her head, adamantly. "Why is the doctor taking so long? Why-"

"Just keep praying and in sha Allah, she will be alright." Sa'eed advised.

~~~~~~~~

Few minutes later, the doctor emerged. Maryam as well as Sa'eed rushed towards him.

"How's my daughter? Please tell me she's alright, doctor." Maryam beseeched.

"She's recuperating." He replied. "But it seems she is in shock. Can any of you tell me what exactly happened to her?"

"She was abducted." Sa'eed replied. "And when we found her, she was already unconscious. We really don't know what they did to her."

"That's unfortunate." The doctor remarked pitifully.

"Has she regained consciousness?" Maryam questioned.

"She did, but seeing how stressed out she was, we had to give her sleeping injection for her to rest properly. She will probably be awake within two - three hours." He explained.

"Can we see her now?" Sa'eed and Maryam inquired simultaneously.

"Of course you can, but you will have to promise not to make too much noise inside. She needs rest." He added.

"We will put that in mind." Sa'eed replied.

"If you have more enquires to make, you can meet me at the office."

"Alright. Thank you." He shook the doctor and he left afterwards.

~~~~~~~

Sauntering into the ward, Maryam couldn't control the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. In front of her, was her daughter, lying helplessly in pain and no one was to he blamed, but her. She caused this upon her and indubitably, she knew she was always going to feel guilty for the rest of her life.

Sa'eed sensed what was going on in her mind and placed a soothing hand over her shoulders. "Let's be grateful to Allah for sparing her life."

Maryam nodded. Indeed they ought to be grateful to Him for not taking their daughter from them so soon. She wiped away her tears and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "I love you so much, Manal." She whispered.

Sa'eed also came forward and kissed her on the same spot as Maryam. He could not wait for her to wake up anymore. He missed her cheerful laughter, her smile - in fact, he missed every single thing about her. He missed her naughtiness at times as well. He averted his gaze to Maryam. "It's almost time for magrib prayer. I'm going to the masjid. You should come along as well. I think there is a section for females."

"Alright." Maryam replied. Adjusting her hijab around her head, she trailed behind him.

~~~~~~

After the obligatory prayer, Sa'eed and Maryam stayed longer than usual, thanking Allah for protecting their family and for not letting any harm befall Manal.

Ambling back into the room, Maryam took a seat beside Manal and began caressing her head lovingly. She could not stop staring and inspecting her slightly swollen cheeks and the bags under her eyes. Her poor baby! She must have cried a lot.

"The doctor said we s-"

"Don't worry, habibi. She isn't going to wake up like this. I just want to stay by her side and never leave again, besides it was all my fault this ha-"

"Alright." He cut her off, not wanting them to dive into that sensitive topic at the moment. It wasn't the right time or place for that. "But please just don't forget what the doctor said."

"I won't." She replied.

"Good." He gave a small smile, before sauntering towards the couch and lying on it. Both physically and mentally, he was beyond tired - drained and needed to rest a little before Manal would wake up. Not up to a minute later, he dozed off on the couch.

Maryam's gaze trailed from her daughter to her husband. She walked towards him with Manal's duvet and covered him up with it. Swatting down to his level, she planted a lingering kiss on his cheek as well. "I love you so much as well, habibi." She muttered. She could not even imagine her life without the both of them in it. If she had known this was going to be the result of her stubbornness, she would have gladly given up her desire to be a worker. She fought so hard for her to maintain her job and in the process, she did not even realise her daughter was suffering silently - All for what? All for something which was not half as important as her family. Indisputably, she knew it was okay to work as a married woman, but if the situation in the atmosphere was not favorable, if it didn't warrant it, then she ought to have given it up - for the sake of her family. For the sake of her husband, who desperately did not want her to work and for the sake of her fragile little girl, who needed her attention and affection more than anyone else's. Clearly, she now understood why Sa'eed had been so adamant about her allowing a stranger into her home. Her mother in law had also warned her, as well as her friend, Aisha, but like someone blinded by a charm, she ignored them all.

Indeed, experience is the best teacher - she fully agreed now. Even if Sa'eed was to ask her to return back to her job, she wouldn't. Her family was much more important than any career and making that little sacrifice is one of the things that makes up a family.

Smiling, she walked back to Manal's bed and dozed off with her head, resting on the edge of the bed and her hand wrapped around her tiny one. She was also very tired and her pregnancy only added to the weakness she was feeling in her body.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Please stop! ABI!!!" Manal screamed whilst sleeping - obviously, she was having a nightmare about the torture Nafisa and her evil boyfriend made her go through.

Maryam jolted awake due to the cries coming from Manal. Worriedly, she began to shake her in an attempt to wake her up. "Manal, baby. Say bismillah."

Immediately she opened her eyes and saw her mother, she flinched and began to move further away from her.

"Manal?" Maryam called questionably.

Instead of running into her mother's comforting embrace, she began to sob intermittently.

"Abi." She whispered amidst tears.

With that single word of hers, Maryam felt her world falling apart. She felt her heart throbbing aggressively in her chest. She never thought their relationship was this sour, but apparently, it was. Manal did not only love her father more, but she also felt safer with him. With difficulty, she tried to swallow the lump that suddenly got stuck in her throat - at that very moment, she knew she had failed as a mother to Manal and it was a mistake that would be very hard, if not impossible to rectify, for only Allah knew what she was bearing in mind.

"Manal." She attempted to console her by grabbing her hand, but it was futile - she withdrew her hand from her hold and sat up, moving to the farther end of the bed.

Manal continued to sob sporadically as she recalled what Nafisa had told her about her mother.

She told me to keep you, because she hates you and you're always giving her a migraine...

She doesn't love you, she only loves the baby she's gonna give birth to...

If she loves you, why would she bring me to your house to deal with you?

The truth is that your Ummi doesn't care about you!

She doesn't want you close to her, because she finds you irritating and stupid!

She hates you!

She hates you!

She hates you!

The words couldn't stop repeating themselves in her mind, like a mantra. Perhaps she was only trying to lure her into a trap and take her back to Nafisa.

"Don't you want Ummi, Manal?" Maryam asked, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Won't you allow Ummi embrace you after so long?" This time, the tears escaped and ran down her cheeks. Her heart felt heavy and her lips quivered as she spoke. Misunderstanding Manal's silence for acceptance, she went ahead and engulfed her in a hug.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Manal screamed and pushed her away with all of the strength she could muster. "I don't like you anymore." She whispered the five words that completely broke Maryam's heart.

Due to the noise coming from the both of them, Sa'eed was awakened.

Not able to take so much hatred from her own child anymore, she suppressed the urge to burst into tears and ran out of the room.

Puzzled, Sa'eed's gaze trailed behind Maryam, then to Manal who was still whimpering on her bed.

"Abii." Manal called out for him amidst tears.

Swiftly, he moved towards her. "Are you alright? Do you feel any pain in your body?" He asked, but instead of giving him replies to his questions, she stood up on her bed and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck.

"Abii." She cried harder.

"It's alright, baby. I got you." He rubbed her back soothingly. "Do you feel pains?" He questioned again.

She shook her head.

Sa'eed's mind suddenly drifted to his wife. "Why was Ummi crying? Did you say something to her?" she had on, proved she indeed said something to her.

She hid her face in the crook of his neck.

"What did you say to her?" Sa'eed asked, softly.

"Please don't allow Ummi come back here, abii. I don't like her anymore." She muttered and drifted off to sleep, her head on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~

Assalamu'alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh/hi!!!

😭😭😭 Nafisa might be gone, but she not before planting hatred in Manal's heart for her mother.

Who feels bad for Maryam now?

Will she be able to change Manal's feelings about her?

What would Sa'eed's reaction be?

Suggestions on what Maryam should do to make Manal know just how much she loves her? 🤔

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