Her teeth rattled as she stood up, supporting herself by her palm on the floor. She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there, numb with shock and cold. One glance at the clock told her that it was three in the morning.

She went into her room and saw Sanem lying on the bed, her eyes red and brimming with tears. She sat up straight on seeing Layeba and called with a clogged voice,

"Layeba-"

But she couldn't listen to any words of consolation right now. Was it grief she felt? Rage? Sense of betrayal? Broken trust? What was it? She didn't know it herself. Whatever it was, she just wanted relief from it. And none of the words anyone could offer her could do that.

Ignoring Sanem's clogged voice, she went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Changing into a fresh pair of clothes, she took her bag and once again, ignoring Sanem, went downstairs. But this time, Sanem followed her and asked from the bottom of the stairs,

"Where are you going at this hour? Layeba!"

"To the hospital." And the door was banged shut.

As she entered the emergency ward, her cousin Hassaan asked her, "Layeba, what are you doing here?"

"What? My coming here is banned?", She snapped, making Hassaan's eyebrow furrow in confusion. Layeba only ever snapped when she was emotionally wrecked. Hassaan knew that.

" Whatever happened to you? Are you alright?" She hummed in response. "You don't look alright, Layeba."

"I'm going for rounds. You don't have work to do?", she said exasperatedly.

"Rounds? Seriously? At this hour of the night? What is going on, Layeba?" She turned into an empty corridor, with Hassaan still at her back. "Is everything okay? Layeba!"

"Everything's fine, bhai", she increased her pace.

"Then why are you acting this way? Is Sanem okay?" She rolled her eyes. "Don't behave like this with me! Tell me, what happened. Layeba-"

"WHAT!? Layeba, Layeba, Layeba - What? Leave me alone! Can't i have some peace? I don't need your concern right now. I don't need anybody's concern right now. Everyone's coming at me as if i've stole something from them. Just leave me alone for ONCE!"

Hassaan stood there, shocked out if his mind. Layeba, never, never spoke to him like that. Ever. And she realized it as well.

She exhaled and placed her hand on her forehead, closing her eyes. "I'm. . .sorry, bhai. I just. I need to be alone right now, bhai. Please. I'm sorry."

She left him baffled and entered a sleeping patient's room. Something was definitely seriously wrong. And if there was one person he was sure would know about his sister like cousin's situation, it was his fiance.

•~•

A phone's ringtone echoed in the quiet room. Sanem picked it up hurriedly, seeing Hassaan's name.

"Assalam o alaikum?"

"WaAlaikumAssalam. Sanem, where's Layeba?" Hassaan went straight to the point. He already knew that she was staying at Layeba's.

"Layeba hasn't reached the hospital yet?", she asked worriedly.

"So you guys do know that she's in the hospital. Are you'll crazy? Why did you allow her to go out all alone at this hour of the night in a state that she was in?"

"You know her better than i do, Hassan. Is there any stopping her?"

"I know there's no stopping her. But i want to know what happened that she needed stopping? She left hospital not two hours ago. And - are you crying?" He questioned, hearing her sniff in the phone.

"No", she sniffed again.

"Okay, what the hell is happening? Tell me right now." There was commotion on the other end, and then a muffled, "i'll be there in just a minute."

"Hassaan, you have work waiting for you. We'll talk later. I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Okay, but the moment i get free, i'm calling you and you're telling me everything."

" By the time you're done, i'll be there. I'm starting my shift early."

" Yeah, okay. Take care. And do not cry anymore."

She smiled hearing the care and worry in his voice. But she couldn't give him confirmation for that.

"Allah hafiz", she said softly.

"Allah hafiz."

Since sleep was not gonna comply to her wishes, she took a shower and got ready. When she got to the t.v. lounge, she saw Abeerah and Ozhan sitting opposite to each other on couches.

She increased her pace, wanting to avoid a conversation with Ozhan. She wasn't as impulsive as Layeba, and she certainly didn't want to use harsh words she knew she would regret later. But Arsalan was like a baby brother to her as well, and she was almost as grieved and furious as Layeba with knowing who killed him. So she knew she definitely wouldn't be able to hold his tongue if provoked.

"Sanem-"

"Sanem Api!"

Ozhan and Abeerah noticed her at the same time and called her name.

"Not now, Abeerah."

"I know Lala didn't do anything wrong."

She stopped mid-stride. Was she really defending her murderer brother? In all the time Sanem had spent with Abeerah, she had found her to be righteous. She knew Abeerah didn't like the ways of her brother. But was she seriously claiming him to be innocent right now?

"Your brother killed his own wife's brother and you're saying he didn't do anything wrong?"

"So you would have preferred Bhabhi dead and her brother in jail?" Ozhan questioned.

"What? What kind of game is this now?" She didn't know him much, but she did know one thing. Ozhan was a manipulative man.

"Not a game, Api. Listen to Ozhan lala. I swear you'd give Lala right."

" I doubt it", she said, even as she removed her bag from her shoulder and placed it on the floor. She sat down and waited for Ozhan to tell her whatever he wanted to say.

And he didn't hold back. He told her everything he knew, which, for the first time in forever, wasn't much.

"You're lying, right? This is just a futile attempt to make me justify your brother's actions." She couldn't believe it. She would not. How could Arsal try to-

" With all due respect, Dr. Sanem, whatever you think of us is of no use to anyone", Ozhan said with a coldness in his voice. "I  just told you the truth."

"You- what you're trying to tell me is that Arsalan tried to kill his own sister?"

" Tried to? Oh no! He almost did, remember? You saw her lifeless body. You cried for her life."

She remembered the time her best friend almost became a memory.

"What I don't underestand is, why is it so hard to believe? You know he was taken by the dark once. Why couldn't it happen again? And especially with the manipulative skills as Shah Zaman and his kin."

"Because the person you claim he wanted dead was his own bloody sister! The sister who was like a second mother to him! The sister who'd sacrifice everything for him!"

"And the person who believes her son to be murderer and a horrible person is the one who gave her birth!" Ozhan gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to punch something.

She was stunned by this new piece of information. Shiza Aunty knew about this?

"Do you really think if my brother was in the wrong, Shiza Aunty would've have let him roam free and even given him the blessing to pursue her daughter?"

She didn't say anything. She didn't have the answers to any of this. He wouldn't lie about this because he knew it won't be long before this blew up.

"He was the reason Shiza Aunty and Bhabhi were in Shah's trap in the first place. He kidnapped both of them and did even more horrors only Shiza Aunty know about. She knew all of this and chose not to tell bhabhi about it, because she valued her daughter's sanity over anything. That's the only reason we didn't tell her. But lala had to be honest after so long." It was clear Ozhan didn't agree with his brother. What. A. Surprise.

Once again, she didn't say anything. Only this time, she assessed Ozhan's face. There was no lie in his voice. No trickery in his eyes. The expression he wore wasn't some facade to plead forgiveness. It was all true.

"Sanem api. My brother may have done many things that prove him to be a monster.  Inflicted horrors on many people. Is a reason for nightmares of many. But he's not a bloodthirsty beast. He never wrongs anyone just for the sake of it. He may be a monster but i like to believe that he's a monster with a heart. It may have darkened over the years but it's capable of all the goodness and love today as it was before. And he lost that heart to Layeba bhabhi. He loves her with everything that he has. And he never ever ever does anything to hurt the ones he loves intentionally." Abeerah said all this with admiration and pride along with grief for the pain his brother went through all these years.

Sanem couldn't decide. She knew they both weren't lying. But she couldn't bring herself to admit that the little boy they loved turned out to be this horrible man. And she didn't even know half the disgusting things he was guilty of.

"I have to talk to Shiza Aunty." Ozhan shrugged. He didn't have any problem with it. Even if it meant that Sanem completely didn't trust him. "And we have to tell Layeba all about this. I don't want my friend doing something as vile as hating someone who didn't even deserve it."

They both nodded and said "Agreed", at the same time.

"And i have to get to the hospital to check up on Layeba."

Just then, Ozhan's phone rang and he answered without waiting a single second.

"Lala, where are you?"

The conversation that followed was in a language she didn't understand, so she assumed it was Pashto. But by Abeerah's panicked, questioning tone, she knew it was something serious.

"Just stay undercover and resist. I'm coming as fast as i can."

With that, Ozhan put his phone in the pocket. "Actually Dr. Sanem, you're coming with me", he said, already taking steps towards the door.

"What? Why? Where?"

"I'm coming too", Abeerah said.

"NO! you're not! And i don't want protests." The way Ozhan said that, Abeerah really didn't protest and sat on the couch again, mumbling prayers.

Ozhan sat in his car and roared it to life. Sanem opened her car's boot, grabbed first aid box from it, assuming that the only reason Ozhan would want her somewhere is if there's a medical emergency, and sat in Ozhan's car. Before Sanem had even closed the door to the passenger seat, he started driving.

"Can you atleast tell me where we're going in such a hurry?" Sanem asked, putting on her seatbelt.

" To our farmhouse. Lala's in trouble."

•~•

Another bullet flew right past his ear,  barely missing him. He quickly hid behind the wall again, while the enemy shot bullets after bullets. He knew it was impossible to get out of here alive. Especially with his left leg being injured. It was not something serious, just a graze, but it hurt like hell.

He kept fighting, not wanting to go down without taking a few of theirs. That was not something which would ever sit well with him. But the fight was not going to go for long because he was running out of bullets. If he could just get to the window across the hall, he could jump out easily and strike back with his own men to give these cowards a real fight.

He couldn't even hope that someone could complain about the gunshots because the farm house was in remote area of Lahore and even if it weren't, his land outstretched far. He really shouldn't have dismissed all his men the second he came here. That was a grave mistake on his part since he knew Shah Zaman's brother was on his tail.

Hurry Ozhan!

He fired again, this time running towards the window as he did so. Just a few feet left. He took cover behind a couch again. While he was busy dealing with the men in front, he had turned a blind eye towards one man who had clear shot at him. And that man didn't leave the chance.

The bullet went through his abdomen and hit the table behind him. His legs stumbled and he fell down, his hand immediately going on the wound, which got drenched in blood.  No amout of pain could describe what he felt. It was like. . . well, like he got shot.

He crawled painfully behind a couch and shot a few bullets. His breath was coming out in pants. This was it. He was going to die.

The enemy didn't stop firing. Wanting to take atleast one more man down, he fired again but a frustrated yell left his mouth when his gun just clicked and didn't recoil.

"Ughhh!"

"He's out of bullets!", someone shouted.

" Don't approach him like greeting your old friend. Even without weapons, he's capable of ripping you apart," someone who was obviously smart or had been in fight with him before, said.

A smile came on his bloody mouth. Atleast my enemy is afraid of me even when i'm half dead.

His body was going numb, fog clouding his mind. But he kept resisting. He didn't want to die. Yet he wanted it all to end. How could he want both things at the same time?

One final shot rang in the house which had him screaming for death. The bullet was obviously from a rifle, because it tore through the couch and lodged itself into his spine.

He screamed in agony. He knew it was sign of weakness. But it was impossible to stop the cry of pain. His whole body was hypersensitive to pain right now. Life was slowly leaving him. It had no purpose staying in such a wounded vessel now.

Ab Chahe tumhare sab gunah tumhara gala ghont dein ya tumhein le doobein. Mjhe fark nai parta. Bus ainda mjhe apni shakal mat dikhana.

Layeba's words came to him. He chuckled and then wheezed from the lack of breath, a mixture of blood and spit coming out of his mouth and onto his chin.

He heard tires screeching outside followed by a never ending rain of gunshots. His brother was here. He should be happy. But the unbearable pain made it impossible.

After what seemed like eternity, everything went silent except for his ragged breaths. The hand on his wound was beginning was shake, and he could no longer put pressure on it.

"Lala!" Ozhan's shout reached his ears as a whisper. "LALA!"

I'm here, he wanted to say. But words didn't comply him. The footsteps came nearer.

The trail of blood must have led Ozhan to him. He didn't hear what Ozhan said. Only one thing was on his mind right now.

Mar jao jaa kar Yazaan Ibrahim Khan.

His lip tipped upwards a bit and his eyes shut down, as he thought,

Your wish, my command, love.

•~•

"Lala!" Ozhan shouted as he went on his knees and put his ear on Yazaan's still chest. Besides his own rushing blood, he couldn't hear a thing. Sanem, who had also sat on her knees beside Yazaan, pushed Ozhan out of the way and immediately started searching for a pulse. There it was. A slight vibration under her fingertips through his Juglar vein.

"He's lost too much blood. The ambulance is on its way. We need to stop the bleeding", she instructed, as she tried to find out where actually the blood was coming out of.

"No hospital. It'll become a police case. There'll be no saving Lala then", Ozhan panicked as removed his hoodie and placed it on Yazaan's abdomen.

"HE'S AS GOOD AS DEAD IF NOT TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL ANYWAY!" She yelled, checking for more wounds. "Shut up and lift him up a bit."

He raised Yazaan's head, aiding Sanem in checking his back. "Shit!", Sanem cursed.

"What happened?"

"There's  a wound in his back. The bullet must still be inside him." She took her shawl from her shoulders, ignoring the cold, and roughly folded it into a strip. "Since it's a one way wound, stopping the bleeding is easy," she was mumbling to herself as she wrapped the shawl tightly around him, tying it into a knot over his chest.

"What else can we do?"

"Here?" She sighed. "Just try to stop the bleeding and pray that the ambulance gets here quick." Even though it seems that that's not going to save him either. Sanem didn't say it out loud. But her expression pretty much told Ozhan what was going on in his mind.

She opened the first aid box and took a scissors. She cut the fabric from his leg and examined the wound on his leg. It was the least of their concern right now, but she wanted to minimize the loss of blood. Cleaning and disinfecting it with pyodine, she wrapped it up with a bandage. One injury down. And that was probably the only one she could do something about here.

"He's going cold", she worried out loud. She stood up and looked around, looking for something to cover him up with. But the place was all wrecked. Ozhan pointed at a door and she ran into what seemed like a guest room, grabbed the blanket off the bed and ran back. She covered him up, hoping to prevent the inevitable loss of body heat.

"There are medical supplies for blood transfusion in this house. A doctor once did it here, so they should be somewhere here. Would that help?" Ozhan asked, putting more pressure on Yazaan's leg and abdomen.

She shook her head. "Where are we going to find blood for the transfusion?" She had wanted to snap at him for such a dumb proposal, but she was too busy checking his pulse once again.

"Mine and Lala's blood group is same. You can take mine."

She glared at him. "Did you really just propose me a medical suggestion you saw in Grey's Anatomy?" She groaned. "This shit doesn't happen. We doctors don't just join two people with same blood group together. I don't want to be charged for malpractice and have my license cancelled, so just shut up, Mr Khan. Don't say anything. It's taking my focus off."

She swallowed, her fingers once again going on his neck. "No! Please no! Yazaan, stay here please."

"WHAT IS IT?"

"His heart stopped. Do you know how to do CPR?" She asked him, placing her interlocked fingers on his chest.

"No!", He said with wide eyes.

She shook her head and started doing chest compressions. But she didn't have to worry for long because two things restored her breath.

His faint heartbeat and the sirens of the ambulance.

"Dr. Sanem, you go with the ambulance. I'll take care of the situation here", Ozhan said as paramedics rushed in and started loading Yazaan carefully into the ambulance. "Please save him."

Sanem nodded as the door of the ambulance shut and it drove off.

•~•

She ran inside, dragging the stretcher inside the emergency ward along with some nurses. The on-duty doctor, Hassaan, immediately took over. He calmly gave instructions to the residents and nurses, "Two bags of O negative blood. Immediately."

The nurses ran to fulfill the orders.

Putting on some clean gloves, he said to the gasping Sanem,

"I'll take care of the patient. You go, clean up and rest. Then, you're telling me everything."

Without waiting to see if Sanem followed orders, he gave his full attention to Yazaan. He didn't know he was Layeba's husband, Yazaan. He had never seen him before.

He examined all his wounds, trying to find the extent of the damage. Their major concern might be the bullet in his spine and internal bleeding. The major part of this surgery was obviously a neurosurgeon's case. He ordered some scans and said to Saim, a medical student whom Hassaan had no idea about what he was doing here at this time, "Call Dr. Layeba. ASAP."

•~•

"Doctor Layeba! You are needed in the emergency. Quick!" A panicked Saim informed Layeba who was busy teaching her class. How she managed to call her class of residents at this hour was a trait only few had. She closed the file she was holding with a snap and handed it to Mohsin. She hurried towards the emergency ward with Mohsin and Saim on her heels.

"Wasn't it Doctor Hassaan's shift?", she asked. Whatever the emergency may be, usually the on-duty surgeons and doctors were able to handle.

"Yes! Yes, it is. He himself asked me to call you there." He was panicked and was constantly shouting which irked Layeba to no ends. She stopped abruptly and fixed Saim with a glare.

"You are a soon-to-be doctor. Get your nerves under control. Panicking is going to help no one, understood?" Saim took a deep breath and nodded purposely. "Good. Now tell me the details."

They again started to move. "Patient is a man. 32 years old. He was shot thrice. One just grazed him in the leg. Another passed right through him, entering a little above his kidney and exiting through his right abdomen which caused a lot of blood loss. One bullet, i'm afraid is still inside him. It entered beside his forteenth vertebra. Doctor Hassaan asked for a scan. The reports should be coming soon. We don't know how far the bullet penetrated. But it could've broken the vertebral bone and damaged his spinal cord."

The condition was bad, very bad if she said so herself. For the first time in her life, she was less than sure in herself.

"How long ago was he brought here?", she asked. She had to give herself some hope. Because if he was brought here late, he was as good as dead.

"He was brought here approximately twelve minutes ago but it has been at least forty-five minutes since he was shot."

What hope she had left was gone. Praying to Allah to help her save this man, she turned another corridor and entered the emergency ward. She knew that this was the most difficult surgery of her life so far. Removing the most complicated tumors from brain or spinal didn't worry her. But this condition did. And she hadn't even analysed the situation herself.

"Oh! Thank God Layeba, you're here", doctor Hassaan, wearing a blue apron, exclaimed.

"What are his vitals?", she asked as she rushed towards the bed. There were droplets of blood on the floor and the bedsheet was soaked with it. The man was laying on his stomach and his face was away from her. Doctor Hassaan was standing beside his bed along with Farhan. Saba, a nurse, was giving him another blood bag.

"Too much blood loss. Blood pressure 76 by 42. Pulse is pretty much non-existent. Twenty per minute and decreasing as we speak."

"We don't have time. OT ready?"

"Yes, doctor. And here are the scan reports", Farhaan said, a file in his hand. She rounded the bed where Farhaan was standing and hurriedly grabbed it. She looked at the first scan, her eyes moved fast over the CT scan image. The bullet passing right through him had thankfully not damaged any organ but there was bleeding in his renal artery. The one which was still inside the patient's body had, as feared pierced his forteenth vertebra.

It was more bad than she had thought. She didn't think there was any possible way he could get out of that operation fully functional. If, by Allah's will, he was saved, there were ninety-eight percent chances that he would be paralyzed from abdomen down, forever.

She took a deep breath, her eyes closing on their own. Ya Allah! Help me conquer this battle as well. Praying once she opened her eyes and said, "Take him to the OT. Doctor Arsam will operate alongside me."

She studied the image again, trying to recall all the possible ways by which she could save him with as minimum damage as possible. Farhan, Saim and Saba began to take the patient towards the operation theater. She didn't know what urged her to look up from the scan images but when she did, the ground got snatched from under her feet and an unintentional name escaped her lips, her voice no more than a whisper,

"Yazaan!"

•~•

Assalam o alaikum folks!

Am i evil ending it there?🙈 Probably. But really you should blame my mind who added the unnecessary scene of first aid of Yazaan by Sanem. It was not unnecessary, duh! But you know. It prolonged the chapter. Anyway, i love Sanem, so i don't want any bad words about her, cuz Layeba definitely will defend her bestie. 👊🥊

Moving on! Did y'all like the chapter? Please say yes. Because it was probably the most difficult for me to write.

Once again, i don't know sh*t about medical procedures, so if any med professional or student is out there, please don't come at me. Thank you. I didn't mean to offend any of you.

Really, if y'all are going to curse Layeba in the comments for saying all those things with her jinxed tongue (it's just a phrase, I don't actually believe in these superstitions) please go ahead. Cuz for that, i had to shoot my male lead. And i was JUST starting to like my Yazaan.😪

One more thing, please don't match the last scene word for word with the prologue. I changed somethings here because they just sounded stupid (not that the whole story isn't 😂) but you know. Anyways, i'm gonna do major editing after it's completed. So don't come at me in the comments for that just yet.

As always, don't hesitate to point out my mistakes.

Please vote and comment.
Until next time.
Lots of love❤️❤️❤️
Javeria.