Assalamu alaikum.

Hello readers,

I hope to garner a million comments which are next to impossible. But one can always fantasize. 💕

Dedicated to Mumtaz70

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Such beautiful roses, It cannot be from Aahil, "Who sent it to you?" Lissa questioned as she eyed the roses suspiciously.

I handed her the card and sank to the nearby sofa, trying my best to calm myself.

Her mouth formed an O, as she stared at the card, "Aleena you'd better call the police."

"Yes. I should do that."

I recalled the card Mr Hamilton had given me. I walked over to my handbag and fiddled with the unnecessary items in my bag until my hand traced the hard paper.

A minute later I was on the phone, "Detective hamilton."

There was a brief delay, "Yes. Green Hamilton here."

"This is Aleena here. Someone has left a huge bouquet of red roses in my hospital room by the side table and there is a card tucked in between the roses, which has a threatening note. I wonder if you could come by ........."

There was silence.

"Give me a couple of minutes."

I took a deep breath and turned to Lissa, "Don't worry. He's coming."

"I will worry. Stop acting brave, Aleena. It is ok to be scared, someone is trying to kill us."

Naked fear crept through my spine and I remembered the last time I received such threatening note, Aahil assuring me that he would protect me and I needn't be scared.

But now the role had to be reversed and I couldn't break down so easily.

I would protect him. I wouldn't allow the threats to freak me out and back out from solving the mystery. I would ask the police to increase hospital security.

Yaa Allah protects us.

Lissa placed a call to Dilshad and he promised to be there within a couple of minutes.

I and Lisa hurriedly snatched our abayas which we had discarded a moment ago and slipped it over our pyjamas.

There was a slight knock on the door and Lissa opened it to reveal a tensed looking Dilshad.

He had witnessed as much stress as any of us in the past days and had lost a huge amount of sleep too. I felt very guilty to have disturbed him when he could have had slept peacefully for a few hours before the surgery.

Liss passed him the card and bouquet, and he just sat there staring at the note without replying.

He looked too drained to speak and I couldn't blame him as I myself was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

The silence stretched for a good amount of time until Dilshad noticed the untouched food on the table.

As he urged us to have dinner, without any argument with him, I and Lissa began piling the food on our plates and sat on the sofa and began eating.

It tasted like sawdust as I had no mood nor appetite.

After about half an hour, Detective hamilton knocked on the door.

He was accompanied by a handwriting expert who had come to the villa previously when we had got the first threatening note.

He sat in one of the chairs in the corner, retrieved the old note from a small bag he had brought and sat there comparing both the cards for a long time, "There is no similarity between the handwritings, both the notes are written by different people."

Yaa Allah how much more complicated was this going to be.

Detective hamilton pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a low whistle, "Mrs Hussain can you help the sketch artist draw the face of the person you saw nearby the elevator."

I shook my head.

"May I know the reason for your refusal?"

"His face wasn't clearly visible as he was standing in the darker end of the corridor."

"Do you suspect anyone?"

"Of course not. I guess it could be someone who thinks that I have knowledge about the missing papers."

"Do you truly have no idea about the file?" He raised his eyebrows, a mocking smile on his lips.

"I'm tired of repeating my claim that I know nothing," I shrieked frustrated.

"Mr Hamilton, you are making us lose our trust in the law. It's very disheartening to inform you any details of the case when you keep putting all of us in the spot of the criminal."

Hamilton gave a stern look, his hand deep in his trouser pocket and mouth twisted, "I need to go. I will try to tighten the security around the place."

___________

I kept tossing and turning in bed unable to sleep. They would begin the surgery at five in the morning.

I wanted to go to the intensive care before sleeping to check on Aahil, as I hadn't got time to visit him during visiting hours. But now It was already midnight and visitors wasn't allowed.

I tossed still more but just couldn't get myself to sleep. I got up and walked towards Lisa's bed which was on the other end of the room.

"Lissa."

No reply.

"Please wake up," I gently nudged her shoulders.

No response.

I switched on my mobile's flashlight and turned it onto the opposite direction so that the light wouldn't start Lissa.

A small pool of light fell on her sleeping form, she was deep in sleep with a pillow tightly hugged to her chest.

She looked so adorable that it somehow reminded me of ayath and I began missing her.

I and ayath had fought often as we grew up, the bigger half of the memories contained arguments and tears, but still, we loved each other more than we would care to say.

How I wished that she would be beside me now. I went to the closet and shoved by mobile into my abaya's pocket and tiptoed out of the room, gently closing the door behind me.

I made my way to the nurse's station and begged their permission to allow me in. I began spinning excuses.

After requesting for what seemed like the hundredth time, a nurse showed me the green light. Aahil was still unconscious, the wires and oxygen supply still attached to his body.

He looked thinner than the previous day, his dark circles more prominent and breathing worse than it already was.

I sat near him reading duas and supplicating to the Almighty for the surgery to go well and hoping that Aahil wouldn't need lung transplantation.

On my way back to the hospital room, I was surprised to find Ayath, mom and Ali sitting in the corridor chairs.
It felt so good to see them, in other circumstances I would have squealed with joy.

Before I could reach them, Ali stood upright and walked towards the elevator. I walked faster to catch up but he entered the elevator before I could reach him.

Mom got up from her seat as she spotted me approaching them. Her eyes were moist and fresh tears were on their way, "Mom please don't. Aahil is going to be fine InshaAllah."

Mom returned my embrace and gently rubbed my back. "Sweetheart, Shouldn't I be the one consoling you?"

"I'm fine mom. Don't worry over me."

"I wish your answer would convince me. But you look sick with worry and you need to get some sleep before you faint."

Ayath embraced me next, she looked like she too had been crying, which was unlike her as she did not like displaying her emotions very often.

My dua was answered alhamdulillah. I just wished to see ayath and she was here.

"How have you been?" I asked trying to sound cheerful.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm ok I guess."

"How is he?"

I embraced ayath once again and allowed the tears to wet her shoulders, "I don't know. It isn't looking good at the moment."

"Ssssshhh everything will be fine InshaAllah."

I cried harder and it felt so good to let out the built-up emotions.

"Hey this is my new abaya, stop staining it," Ayath exclaimed and I laughed for the first time in the past few days.

I hit her lightly on her arm as I sniffed and dabbed my eyes with a Kleenex.

All three of us made our way back to the hospital room. There was only one vacant bed in the room, so I and ayath decided to sleep on the floor, spreading a large blanket and urged mom to take the bed.

I and Ayath spoke for some time until she fell asleep with a suddenness of a small child.

Maybe, she was tired after the travel. Jet lag probably. I covered her with another spare blanket as the weather had turned bitter cold.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep as I was suffering from terrible insomnia.

Therefore, I went to the washroom and performed abolution. Grabbing my abaya and prayer mat from the side table, I engaged myself in the late-night prayers.

After offering my namaz, I sat in the prayer mat and thanked Allah for all the blessings in my life.

I remembered dad saying that a true believer never ever questions Allah's qadar. He is in peace during every hardship and calamity, because his heart knows that it is a test from Allah and the Almighty's plans are always best for his creations.

A true believer always says Alhamdulillah ala kulli haal (he thanks Allah in every kind of situation).

Yaa Allah has mercy on us, strengthen our eman to overcome this hardship and relieve my husband from his pain and grant him good health.

__________

It was fajr time and Lissa lead the prayers for women.

"I and your mom will stay here in the hospital room, you and ayath go ahead," Lissa murmured, rubbing her reddened eyes.

I nodded my head as I and ayath opened the door and made our way to the operation theatre, before leaving I hugged mom and asked her to keep supplicating.

Dilshad was already present when we reached there. They were preparing Aahil for the surgery and I caught a glimpse of his cherry-red chest.

"His chest...?"

"He got some burns during the explosion, but there is nothing to worry about it. It will heal with time," Doctor Watson replied with a gentle tone.

I did not have the courage to look at those burns so I averted my gaze on the wall and blinked back my tears.

They were shifting him onto a stretcher.

"Just a second,"

The nurse nodded and gave me a spare moment with aahil, "Please wake up. We need you. The country needs you," I bent down and kissed his cheeks and I couldn't help but wet his cheeks with the flowing tears, "Your wife loves you with all her heart."

I was thankful when Ali came into the room and held me as they wheeled him out of the room towards the operation theatre.

Exhaustion washed over me. I felt drained of energy as I sat down on a chair outside the surgery room with a heavy heart and kept my slightly shivering hands between my lap and let out a deep breath. It felt like all the burden was too much for me to handle and all the unanswered questions were only making matters worse.

"Aleena."

"Yes," I replied absent-mindedly.

"Hope for the best. Don't lose your faith in the Almighty."

I nodded my head firmly, as I knew that InshaAllah no hardship would ever lessen my faith on Allah's mercy.

Ali patted me on my shoulders and said, "Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart. Love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. The point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps, someday, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

I knew from where he had quoted the lines, Rilke, from Letters To A Young Poet, and knew the deeper meaning the words held, I just closed my eyes and rested my head on the wall, wishing that when I opened my eyes everything would be set right. This nightmare would come to an absolute end and I would live a happily ever.

I felt Ayath sit beside me, she squeezed my hands, "Do you need anything?"

I need my husband.

I shook my head.

We sat there for what seemed like ages, waiting for a positive sign from the surgery room.

After about four hours, a nurse came out of the operation room and shouted, "Is there anyone present here for patient Aahil Hussain?"

I instantly jumped from my seat, my heart beating painfully in my chest, "Yes, I'm his wife."

"The patient is losing an obscene amount of blood and we do not have enough stock in our blood bank as he has a very rare blood group."

"Which is the blood group?" Dilshad questioned with a rush.

"It is O negative and If we do not get a donor within a few precious moments then the patient may lose his life."

"How can the hospital be so very careless. I will surely sue the hospital for such negligence."

Dilshad and Ali began a row with the hospital's authorities.

The patient may lose his life.

Oblivious to their discussion and my surroundings, I sank down to the cold hospital floor outside the surgery room.