ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴏɴɢ ᴅᴇᴅɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ:
ʜᴀᴍᴀʀɪ ᴀᴅʜᴜʀɪ ᴋᴀʜᴀɴɪ

»»--❖--««

    The first sunrise of spring started a bright new day. The sun shined brightly amongst the clouds as the birds chirped throughout the cerulean blue sky.

His luscious mid-length hair danced with the wind, as he pulled out various gift bags and balloons from his car.

Paving his way towards the hospital entrance, he pulled the steel blue double doors of Seattle General Hospital and stepped inside.

Zahaan could not wait to see his best friend after so many days; he had truly missed her and had impatiently waited to return home from his out-of-state basketball game.

It had been three days since Zahaan had seen Sienna, but to him, it felt like an eternity.

That very night three months ago, Zahaan had came to see Sienna. He could not contain himself after reading her letter; because for him, that mere letter had changed his life forever.

He had only wanted to meet her once and get a sense of closure, but suddenly, he never knew when and how she slowly started to become a part of him, and so from that day forward, Zahaan became inseparable from Sienna.

Zahaan wasn't in love with Sienna yet, but he knew somewhere in his heart that she was slowly paving her way into his soul.

But somewhere in his heart, he was frightened to the core because what if one day she's gone? He probably wouldn't know how to live in a world without her.

Shaking off his negative thoughts, Zahaan had finally reached Sienna's room; upon slightly knocking on the door, he pushed the doorway open and was expecting to see Sienna in bed. However, he frowned upon not witnessing anyone in the room.

And just as he stepped further in, he heard a very distressful noise coming from the bathroom. Stepping closer to the source of the noise, Zahaan saw Sienna lunched over the toilet, vomiting out all of the contents from her stomach and almost on the verge of passing out.

Immediately rushing to her aid, Zahaan bent down and gently rubbed her back, trying to soothe the discomfort she was feeling.

Once Sienna felt a sense of relief, she, with the help of Zahaan, cleaned up and moved towards the bed. But as soon as Sienna settled into bed, Zahaan bombarded her with questions.

"Ana, Why were you throwing up? Do you want me to call the doctor? Where are Aunty and Sahar? And Why did you go to the bathroom alone?

You should have called the nurse for assistance. I knew I shouldn't have left you alone for three days, you never list-"

Zahaan would've continued with his questions further but had paused as soon as he heard Sienna's gentle voice.

"Z, I'm fine, I promise; it's just a side effect from the chemotherapy, and Mama and Sahar just went down to the hospital cafeteria to grab something to eat.

But relax, I'm okay now, and I'm sorry for not calling the nurse for assistance. Okay, but enough about me, how was your game this weekend? I bet our team won just like always, right?"

Zahaan had the biggest smile on his face throughout Sienna's banter, but his smile slightly faltered upon hearing her question. He did not know how to answer her question honestly because he knew it would make her feel guilty.

Because their school had lost a game for the first time since Zahaan had became team captain, and the only reason was Zahaan's lack of focus and practice towards the game.

As for several months, his focus was solely on Sienna. But Zahaan refused to let her feel guilty, and so putting on a happy facade, he effortlessly lied to her.

"Y-yea, we won; but forget about the game; I bought some presents for you from L.A, and I want you to open this one first."

Handing her the gift bag, Sienna eagerly pulled out the contents inside the bag, and upon opening the present, her eyes instantly filled up with tears.

Zahaan had bought Sienna various bandanna headwraps. Since she started chemotherapy, she had started experiencing one of its worse side effects: hair loss.

It took a lot for Sienna to come to terms with all the new changes in her body. Some days, she took all the negative changes positively, but other days, her emotional turmoil was too much for her to bear.

And so, to fully accept the new change, she had decided to shave off the rest of her hair. And since that day, she has been wearing headwraps.

Even though Zahaan's present wasn't extraordinary, in Sienna's eyes, it was the most precious gift she could ever receive because that mere cloth was a symbol of her bravery and strength.

So with a gracious smile, she thanked Zahaan.

"Z, thank you; I love them so much. I will tell mama to change my headwrap once she's back."

The duo then caught up on everything they had missed in the past three days and ended another day with each other's company.

And just like the essence of time, it flew by with a blink of an eye. However, many things had changed; Sienna's tumor had progressed and was rapidly spreading in various areas of her brain and spine.

But along with her worsening health, Sienna's guilt grew each day; she had discovered all the sacrifices Zahaan had made for her.

That man had flipped his whole world around, he had started to neglect his dreams, aspirations, and goals in life and solely focused on Sienna.

It seemed as if he stopped living for himself and started living for her. Sienna saw Zahaan transform from being the most popular boy from school to the man who was desperate to save the love of his life.

She never thought that a letter of her confession would destroy the man she loved more than the very breath she took.

Sienna knew Zahaan had started to love her, but that only broke her further because she never wanted her love to be selfish.

But now, she was about to do something that would wreck their souls forever.

Just like every other day, Zahaan had entered Sienna's room with a bouquet of flowers. He had the brightest smile on his face as today he was going to confess his love to the women who loved him irrevocably.

However, his smile faded away as he witnessed a devastated Sienna, but before he could even utter a word, Sienna broke the silence.

"Zahaan, you had told me once that whatever I ask, you will give it to me; it's now time to fulfill your promise.

I-I want you to leave my life; I want you to forget the mere existence of Sienna Arya. I want you to forget about that stupid letter. Please, I beg you, just leave me alone. Get out of my life forever."

Zahaan stood rooted at his spot; he felt paralyzed at that moment because what Sienna just asked him took his breath away.

He couldn't fulfill her promise; he refused to do that because now she was his everything, and he wouldn't let her go no matter what. And so he spoke.

"Ana, you can't ask me to do that. I will fulfill whatever promise you want but this. Please, don't tell me to go.

I-I can't live without you anymore; you are the reason for my being, and if I go away from you, I don't know how I will survive.

I love you, please don't do this; we are meant to be, and until death separates us, I will never leave your side."

His confession pierced Sienna's heart; she did not know how long she could remain strong, but Sienna knew she had to let go of her love and set him free.

"We are not meant to be Zahaan; we were never meant to be, and you say you love me right then let me go, leave and never return.

And even after I die, you can't visit my grave; please fulfill your dying best friend's wish."

Heavy tears trickled down their faces. Zahaan's with betrayal and Sienna's with anguish, but now the damage was done, and there was no turning back.

"Fine, Sienna, I will fulfill my best friend's dying wish; I will accept every promise you threw my way but remember, after today, I won't be living. I will just be breathing without you."

Sienna's and Zahaan's life had changed forever, fate had brought them together, but it also tore them apart. But now everything had changed forever, for the worst.

»»--❖--««