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"So you met my sister in the rehab center?"

Hayra nodded.

Zayn blinked. He couldn't wrap his head around what she just said. She did say she and Kulsum were just acquaintances, but she knows what happened between Kulsum and Aasim, right? How could she still marry the man? "You still married her ex-husband?" He didn't mean to sound rude or cold, but he couldn't help it.

He had no control over his emotions. The little he feels that is. He wasn't supposed to have them to begin with.

Hayra looked down for a brief second, her warm smile morphing into a sad one. "Zayn..." She exhaled lowly, "Whatever problem you have between you and Aasim, that is something that concerns you, not me. And same goes for his relationship with Kulsum"

Zayn wanted to scoff at her words. Couldn't she see how wrong the situation was? "People don't just change, Hayra" If he guessed correctly, she had to be around his age. So, he had no problem addressing her with her first name.

"They don't, overnight" She nodded in agreement. "But people do change eventually. If they want to, that is"

Zayn had so many questions he wanted to ask. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to voice them out. Does she really know what exactly happened between Aasim and Kulsum for her to say this? If she does, how could she stand Aasim and even married him? What's wrong with her?

Noticing the turmoil behind his demeanor, she spoke. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions..." Her eyebrows drew in, as an empathetic frown took over her features. "...but I can't answer them now. I'm sure we'll meet again the future, let's talk then"

He nodded and stepped away the door, giving her the space to go in. Without another glance at her direction or that of the house, he headed over to his car and got in; massaging his temples the minute he closed the door.

The dinner wasn't as disastrous as he expected. But, it certainly wasn't the peace he hoped either. Shaking his head off those thought, he turned the car on and drove out of the house without another look back.

~*~

"Zayn, I've been trying to call you but I couldn't get a hold of you"

Zayn sighed, resisting the urge to massage his temples again. It wasn't like she couldn't get a hold of him unintentionally, he had been avoiding her. Hence, why he left America without seeing her or letting her know.

But he couldn't avoid her for long—for his sake. So, he called her now. And as expected, she wouldn't let him off the hook without a string of questions.

"Sorry" He breathed out. "I had to return back home"

"Home?" Dr. Asma, his therapist; a nice African-American old woman in her mid-fifties, asked. She had known him for over five years now. And aside from being his therapist, she did consider him like a child to her.

She and her husband do not have a child together, much to her displeasure. But, she considered Zayn a child of hers since she started being his therapist. Amongst all the people she had met before, he was amongst the most complex of them all. The fact that he considers his family as people he simply shares blood with rather than a family, made her pity him more. So, she had been treating him not just a patient, but as her son too.

She needed a son, and Zayn looked like he needed a parent; or a relative at least. She could see past his façade. He needed someone to be there for him.

And although Zayn doesn't admit it, she could tell that he's grateful to her and her husband for being there.

Zayn nodded, not answering the question in a sentence. He didn't see the need to, since it's a video call and she can see him.

"So...you visited your family?" She asked, her voice turning soft. She always needs to thread carefully around him, especially now that his family is in the equation.

Zayn blew out a low breath, then nodded; lips set into a tight line.

A smile made its way on her face. Her face softening due to his answer. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

Zayn's index finger ran across his knuckles. Sighing lowly, he contemplated on whether to answer her verbally or simply shrug. Then again, when it comes to Dr. Asma, he always has this urge to speak to her and tell her whatever it is he's thinking. Perhaps, it has something to do with the fact that she's a therapist, or maybe because the way she treats him reminds him of how Kulsum treated him back then. "It was..." he trailed off, gulping as he casted his gaze down. He thought of the right words to use at the moment. "...okay, I guess. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be"

Dr. Asma grinned as she took in a deep breath. Her shoulders sagged as s eh felt a wave of peace crash down on her. "You've changed" Her voice came out low, but he heard her.

Zayn snapped his head up, brows furrowed. "What?"

Blinking, her unwavering grin remain plastered on her face. "You're getting better. You're slowly opening up"

Zayn gulped as he set his lips into a tight line. He understood what she meant. If he's being honest with himself, he can see the change in him too. If it were five years ago, he wouldn't agree to meet up his family under any circumstance.

The change is evident in him right from the moment he became captain in the army. That was when he started warming up to being around people and actually talking to them. Back then when he was just another member, he didn't speak until absolutely necessary.

She's right. He is changing. Albeit slowly, but still, he is.

And that's all she could ever ask for.

She could tell from the look on his face that he agrees with her. But she could also tell that he doesn't want to speak about it. So, she shook her head and decided to change the topic. "You should get your new medications because I know you left yours here. I'll send you the name of the doctor and the hospital you'll get it from"

Zayn wanted to ask how she knew that he left the medicine back there before he returned, but decided against it. She knows him better than anyone at the moment. It's not a surprise that she knows about him that much. So, he simply nodded.

There's no point in arguing with her. She wouldn't let him win when it comes to his medications. They could go back and forth about it, but she wouldn't let him win.

"Alright then, I'll let you be now. Bye." She ended the call.

~*~

"Why did you invite Ahmed?"

Sabrina crossed her fingers, turning around to look at her father. "Because he's family, dad. He's been gone for so long already. Isn't it about time we all reunite. We are a family after all"

Alhaji Danbatta shook his head, his eyes flickering close for a brief second. "Sabrina, this should be the last time you will invite him here, for anything" He said through gritted teeth, his voice coming out low to show her how serious he is.

His wife, and Sabrina's mother snapped her gaze to his. "Why?" She asked, her voice oddly calm. "Are you worried because you know the real reason he's back? We all know that Zayn wouldn't be back here unless he's trying to uncover all the secrets we have in this family"

Closing his eyes, Alhaji Danbatta shook his head again. "No! Zayn shouldn't find out anything" When he opened his eyes, he fixated them on his wife who sat unaffected. "He should not find out anything about the past"

"Was that why you sent him away?" Sabrina asked, her voice low. She had always wondered what made their father, who albeit always busy, cares about them fought with Zayn after Kulsum's death and sent him out of the house simply because Zayn wanted to quit medical school and join the army.

It wasn't something he'll do. The man always does something for a reason. So why did he react in such way to Zayn's request. Amongst all of them, aside from Kulsum, he loves Zayn more than anyone—his wife and Sabrina included. He doesn't show it, but he loves the boy immensely.

So why did he make a fuss over the boy joining the military to the extent of sending him away and asking him to never return? What could his reason be.

Alhaji Danbatta heard his daughter's question, but he didn't want to answer it. That's the one question he had been avoiding for ten years.

"Are you scared that he'll suffer the same fate as Kulsum?" Sabrina asked again, seeing as her father has no plan on answering her question. Her gaze moved to her mother, she frowned. "But it can't be possible. Whoever did that to her was clearly targeting her alone. Nothing has happened to me and I'm sure nothing would happen to him too"

It's already a known fact that she didn't like her sister, that she had been envious of the girl. But that was in the past, she had grown and learnt from the past. She wouldn't say that she regrets all her actions but she learnt to not treat the only sibling she has left in such way.

Then again, she has her own children now, and she wouldn't want either of them to treat the other the same way she treated her sister. Truth be told, she's scared they'd turn out like that.

So, she wanted to be a sister to Zayn. She never was before but she wanted to try for a change. She can't change the past, but she can try to fix the present.

Her mother didn't answer. Instead, she moved her gaze to her husband who was staring back at her. After a couple of seconds filled with eerie silence, he turned back to look at Sabrina.

"I still stand by my decision Sabrina. Do not invite Zayn over again or give him any help whatsoever regarding the past" That was all he could say. He didn't want to admit that while digging up Kulsum's case, Zayn might end up digging something much bigger.

He didn't want to admit that everything he did back then was for Zayn's safety. That it was to shield Zayn away from the truth that will only hurt him more.

He has lost so many loved ones already. He didn't want to lose another.

He didn't want Zayn to suffer the same tragic pain.

The less Zayn knows, the safer he is.