Zaynub Khalid

Zakir and I were standing outside his mother's hospital room. Zakir was nervous the whole way. I mean, who wouldn't when their mother has amnesia? Hand in hand, we walked in. 

Laila, Deeliyah, Khadijah, and my father-in-law were all in the room. Laila and Khadijah were quietly crying. My father-in-law and Deeliyah tried to keep a straight face on, but their eyes reflected sadness. My mother-in-law was just looking at everyone's expression. Zakir decided to make our presence known and cleared his throat. All eyes snapped to us.

"Assalaamualaikum," he greeted.

"Waalaikumusalaam," everyone responded.

Zakir dragged me in, roughly. He looked at his mother before looking back at his father. 

"Is it true?" Zakir asked.

His father could only nod. Zakir then let go of my hand and walked to his mother. He gently grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"Uh... should I?" she said.

Zakir's face turned blank. "You don't remember me?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't think so," she replied, visibly confused.

Zakir dropped her hand and looked down at his feet. He turned pale. "I'm your son," he whispered, faintly.

I felt my heart drop at the way he said it. His voice was full of pain. I wanted to cry at the sight of this. His own mother didn't remember her one and only son. I couldn't imagine how much that must hurt him.

I walked towards Zakir. His head was hung down. He was clenching his fists tightly. He was having his own moment. I slowly and carefully grabbed his hand and unclenched the fist. When my skin made contact with his, Zakir's eyes snapped up to meet mine. I just stared at him. His beautiful dark brown eyes were filled with such despair. It hurt.

Suddenly, he pulled me towards him and my face crashed into his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled his face into the soft fabric of my hijab (headscarf). I was shocked at first, but then I welcomed his touch. I rested my hands on his hard chest. I felt Zakir's breath near my ear through my hijab.

"I'm scared," he whispered so only I could hear.

"I know," I whispered back. I pushed him away slightly so I could see his face. "It's going to be okay In Shaa Allah (if Allah wills it)."

He looked torn. Zakir was about to say something else, but a person clearing their throat interrupted us. Zakir and I turned around and saw my father-in-law.

"We just found out that your mother only lost certain parts of her memory. She still remembers about Islam and how to pray. Basically she only knows the basics, but not her family," he whispered the last part.

This seemed to make Zakir angry. I could tell because his hold on my waist tightened. He kept his head down as he spoke.

"How could she not remember her family? Her family, Dad! How can she not remember us?" his voice raised as he lifted his head to meet his father's eyes.

"Zakir, I know how you feel right now. Just calm down. We don't want to scare your mother," my father-in-law said calmly.

"We have to do something! She forgot us, dad! You expect me to calm down when she forgot us?!" Zakir glared at his father. His hold on me tightened even more.

"Zakir, he's right. You need to calm down before you scare her away. You need a cool head to deal with this, and let go of Zaynub. You're hurting her," Laila pointed out.

Zakir turned his head to his hold on me and let me go. His once angered expression turned to one of concern.

"I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" he asked while looking to see if he hurt me.

"I'm fine but Laila is right. You need to cool down. Go take a walk outside and come back when you have calmed down," I advised.

"I'm fine," he huffed.

"No you're not. Take a break for a while and then come back. Now," I ordered with my stern face.

"No."

"Yes."

"You can't make me."

"I will."

"Zaynub, I'm fine."

"Go cool your head off. I'll come with you if you'd like," I said softly this time.

Zakir thought about it for a few minutes before he sighed. "Fine."

Zakir grabbed my hand and pulled me with him out the door. We walked in silence until we reached the exit. Neither of us broke the thin ice. It was awkward. Once we were outside we walked into the hospital's garden and sat down on the bench. It was beautiful today. 

It was the middle of April and the trees started growing leaves. The soft wind blew my hijab a little. I was wearing a pink hijab with black dots all over it. I had on my black abaya (long dress) with a few white swirls near the bottom. I looked at Zakir to see his head in his hands. He was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt with jeans.

"I now know how you felt when your dad died," he mumbled into his hand.

"Zakir look at me," I urged.

He took his face out of his hands to stare at me. I let out a deep breath.

"Zakir, the day my father died I wanted to die as well. I know how your feeling right now, but there is a difference to what happened to my father to what happened to your mother. My father is gone now, but your mother is not. Don't just give up. You need to push her to remember. I know that if you and your family push her to remember you guys then she will remember In Shaa Allah (if Allah wills it)," I said honestly.

"How though? How can we help her?" he asked shakily.

"Tell her about her family. Talk to her. Show her pictures of your childhood. Anything to help her remember. And trust Allah. Everything Allah does is for the best. Don't lose faith," I said with a small smile.

Zakir then brought me to his chest. "How did I get so lucky?" he chuckled.

"I think you just deserved it," I replied.

"Can you believe how far we've come along? I mean we used to hate each other and now we're married," he smiled while watching the birds fly over us.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"I think I calmed down. Let's head back inside," he said.

I nodded and followed him back into my mother-in-law's room. Every seemed to calm down a little. Deeliyah and Khadijah sat on the bed talking to their mother. My father-in-law and Laila were smiling and listening to their conversation. Laila stood up when Zakir and I walked into the room.

"Zaynub, could I... um... talk to you in private?" Laila asked nervously.

"Sure," I shrugged.

Laila and I walked outside the door. Laila slightly closed the door so no one could hear us.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"What?" I asked confused. Why is she thanking me?

She giggled. "My brother seemed to have relaxed when he's around you. He calmed down instantly with you by his side. I've never thought I'd see the day that someone could calm his anger. I can tell that you have a huge affect on him and you will hopefully change him into an even better man In Shaa Allah (if Allah wils it). Thank you."

I was speechless. I had an affect on Zakir. Was he falling for me as well?

"I don't know what to say," I answered truthfully.

Laila and I just talked a little bit more before we went back inside the room. Zakir sat next to his mother. He looked so lost without his mother. A mother's bond with her children was so strong that it reflected upon them. His mother was sleeping peacefully on the bed while everyone else just stood watching. It wasn't an awkward silence, but rather a peaceful one.

* * * *

It's been two months and a half since my mother-in-law got amnesia. We brought her home and things were going pretty well now. I was doing my homework when there came a knock on the door. I walked downstairs to answer it and saw that it was Amir, Noorah, and Hajar.

"Took you long enough," huffed my brother. Noorah and Hajar just laughed at him from behind.

"Oh shut it. You don't knock hard enough."

"Sure that's the reason. We need to buy you hearing aids then."

"What? You're such a bully."

"Can we just come in?"

"Oh yeah. Oops sorry."

Amir rolled his eyes at me. I let them come inside. Instantly, Zakir and Amir were talking while us girls were talking. Amu was visiting the hospital to see my mother-in-law with my aunt. Everything was going great so far. Noorah was about to have the baby in a month and Hajar was doing pretty well at school. But, I had a gut feeling something bad was about to happen. Boy, was I right.

About an hour later, there was another knock on the door. This time Zakir went to answer the door. I followed behind him but hid behind the wall. When he opened it, his body got stiff. 

What's up with him? 

I peeked from behind the wall and saw two women and one man. They were all glaring at Zakir. One of the women looked about my age. She looked beautiful and had a purple hijab on. She reminded me of a model. She looked mad. She was looking right at Zakir with such a fierce expression. 

Why was she so angry at him? 

The man seemed calm, but the woman next to him, who I'm guessing is his wife, looked as if she were ready to blow.

"How could you marry that girl?" yelled the older woman.

Assamualaikum!

What just happened? Some lady and her family all suddenly hate Zaynub! Goodness, that doesn't sound good. So tell me your thoughts in the comments and remember to vote if you liked this chapter. Thanks :)