CHAPTER 36
AHAD POV:
Oh, I miss my wife so much. Her going out on a long drive is something I wanted to take her to, but with her busy schedule and my work, I couldn't take her out, but it's alright. After getting to Pakistan, I'll fulfill every one of the things I want to do for her… soon, I felt myself drifting to unconsciousness.
Waking up in the middle of the night is somehow my routine now since I have gotten the habit of sleeping next to my wife, who holds my hand, giving me comfort, warmth, and love through her little actions… getting down from my bed, I drank some water and saw my phone had fallen from its original place.
I reached my hand to get it back and placed it in its right place when I heard, "Well, Ashar… Mohabbat ho gayi hain mujhe Ahad se." (Translation: Well, Ashar… I have fallen in love with Ahad.)
I froze right there. My hand stopped right at its place. I heard those words in my mind again and again, like someone was telling me to remember what I heard was real.
My mind hasn't been working since I heard Hayat's confession. I haven't turned my phone back on. It's 5 am, and not knowing what should do, I doze off after going through the first flight in the morning.
Getting up in the morning, I found my mood lightening up; my wife's confession was going through my mind like a favorite song on repeat, so I texted my wife. "Mera intezar krna, meri jaan," I canceled all the meetings, I got my things packed, and booked a flight back to Pakistan. (Translation: Wait for me, my dear.)
Unfortunately, I got no seat on the morning or evening planes; the night flight was only available, so I booked the flight and went to attend the meetings that needed my attention, getting all the work done. I got to my hotel room and freshened up, and took my bag to leave the place.
I was about to check in at the airport when I called Ashar, "Ashar, I'll be back till midnight, so can you come to pick me up?" I said and heard some noise in the background, ignoring it.
I heard him, "Okay bhai," and the call was cut. After checking in and getting inside the plane, I turned off my phone as asked and took a nap.
AUTHOR POV:
Hayat went to her in-laws' home with Ashar after spending time with him and others at Do Darya. Getting inside the house, they went to sleep in their respective rooms, as the next morning held a lot of excitement and emotions for them.
Waking up in the morning, Hayat read the text her husband had sent, "Wait for me, my dear." She smiled to herself, got ready, and had breakfast with everyone. Spending time with her in-laws.
They continued to share all the stories about the 3 siblings with her. Sometimes she laughed, sometimes she cried, and sometimes she made them cry and laugh, yet all of these made those memories more memorable.
Hayat sat in the lounge with her family. She read her book while Ahad's mother oiled Hayat's hair as Ashar worked on his laptop.
Ahad's Baba watched the news, hearing the phone ringing. Ashar looked for his phone and saw it was on the table near Hayat. He said, "Hayat, pass me the phone, please."
Hayat picked up the phone and saw Ahad calling him, so she asked, "Ahad is calling you, can I pick it up?" Ashar nodded his head as Hayat picked up the phone and kept it near her ear and heard, "Ashar, I'll be back till midnight, so can you come to pick me up?"
She was surprised, as Ahad didn't greet or hear his brother's voice, yet started to talk as if Ashar was on the call with him, not someone else.
Hayat was excited when she found out about Ahad coming back and surprising her and everyone, she covered the phone speaker and said to Ashar, "Say okay bhai, Ashar" Ashar looked at Hayat as well as his parents, as she pleaded with him with her doe eyes to do as she said, Ashar let out a sigh and did as she was asked "okay bhai" and the call was cut by Hayat.
"What did bhai say?" Ashar asked as he saw Hayat turning to his mother, "Ammi, I'm sorry, I need to go and wash it off. Ahad is coming by midnight. He called to ask Ashar to pick him up without knowing I was on the call, not this dumb man," Hayat said as she stood up, excitedly.
"So, you made my brother a fool while he tried to surprise you, huh?" Said Ashar as he looked at Hayat with eyes that said, "You surprise-spoiler."
Hayat laughed as she walked off the lounge to get to the room, taking out the red color dress. She went to take a shower and dressed up, glancing at the time, she saw it was already 1 a.m.
She hurried her way out of the room to get downstairs. She found her parents sitting there, "Ammi, Baba, aren't you guys going to sleep?" Seating near her mother-in-law, she asked.
"Yes, we are going to sleep, mera bacha, but you'll be back with Ahad soon, okay? We missed him, too," said Hayat's mother-in-law, teasing her.
She nodded her head and got up to leave. Just then, she stopped and turned around, "Baba, can I take your car? Ahad will know I came to pick him up if he sees my car, so...."
Hayat's father-in-law just smiled and took the keys and car papers out of his pocket and gave them to Hayat, patting her head. He softly said, "You take care of yourself, drive safely, and come back soon."
Nodding her head, she ran out of the house and got inside the Civic RS Turbo, driving towards her destination… airport… to get her husband back home… to her, his parents, and everyone.
She took the Shahrah-e-Faisal route, as it would be easier for her to reach her destination soon. She wants to be there at the airport as early as she can so she can surprise him.
Glancing at her phone, the time was already 2 a.m., and she was getting late since she stopped to get him flowers and some snacks between her little trip. She looked around and found not so much traffic, so she sped up her car, taking it to 200 kilometers per hour.
She drove the car as fast as she could, knowing her limits, she tried her best to be in one lane while not getting into a crash with other speeding cars.
Hayat was suddenly momentarily distracted by the glare of a car being decorated with flowers, as it represents the newly married couple in it. Suddenly, she thought about her wedding, how she drove Ahad to their place, and suddenly, everything around her looked too overwhelming.
Changing the lane she looked at her right side, gripping the steering wheel with determination, to cut in and get into another lane, the engine humming the power of its acceleration as she turned her steering wheel to her right side without thinking twice about looking forward as the four-way road came and suddenly her car was hit with another car that stopped right after getting the hit…
Hayat's car was speeding, and as she forgot to wear her seat belt after getting the snacks and the tank full, her car rolled over in the air. The force of the rollover sent the car tumbling over the end, flipping violently before coming together to rest on its roof with a grinding thud.
As the car hit the ground in such slow motion, it felt that way to her that she could see everything flush right in front of her eyes after her car hit the road, upside down… her head hitting the car's upper roof.
The glass shattered everywhere, and people ran towards the car, as fast as they could…
Hayat's eyes were closing, and her beautiful red dress was now coated with her blood. If not for the red wine color dress, one could tell how much blood she lost; it was like her destiny had written this accident in her book, as if it were written how no one would be able to identify the blood from her clothes.
Her white crochet gajray was now red like the new color of rose was introduced in the world, it took almost so much time for everyone to get her out of the car, and take her to the hospital.
The beautiful red roses she brought for her husband were now inside the car in sprinkled with blood. It was as if water was not there to sprinkle on the flowers to make them look fresh, as they used blood instead, it was like everything was planned in her destination…
3 am… Ashar called Hayat to find out where she was. When the call was picked up by an unknown person, the place he never expected her to be was where she was right now.
Hanging up the call up he took his bike and rode as fast as he could to reach the hospital. Shivering, he called his parents, and he told them about the incident and Hayat's family, too. Ashar was restless, he tried… he tried… to call Ahad… but his number was off… Ashar was broken… all alone… sat outside the OT… for his best friend.
He started to regret telling her to pick up his phone; his whole body started to tremble. Doctors were getting inside yet out again and again without telling him anything about her… A nurse came out and asked her, looking at her with hopeful yet teary eyes, "How is she?"
He couldn't speak, whispering to whom? He or he asked her, he doesn't know, he just needs assurance...
"Internal bleeding, sorry," the nurse ran away after saying something he could make out. As his and Hayat's only family came into the hospital, he went out to get some fresh air, yet went to pick up his brother.
"Finally, you came, it took you a lot of time, Ashar," Ahad said, hugging his brother with a smile on his face. He was excited to see someone who was inside the hospital operating theatre, getting treatments… he doesn't know…
"Let's go, Hayat must be waiting for me, I missed her a lot, Ashar, let's go," Ahad said as he loaded his luggage in the car's trunk.
Ashar's eyes were filled with tears as he hugged Ahad and said, "Bhai, we need to go to the hospital… Hayat is there,"
Muffled words came out of his mouth as Ahad stood there frozen, "What do you mean?" Ahad questioned parting Ashar from his embrace.
"She was coming to get you. When she got into an accident, the nurse said… internal bleeding..." Ashar said, sobbing harder, his heart couldn't take the loss of another precious person from his life.
Ahad couldn't move. His body and mind were not working. They stopped functioning; his heart was throbbing in pain, it felt as if someone had taken out his living heart and torn it into pieces, leaving him to die painfully.
Ahad got inside the driving seat, and Ashar soon joined him, driving to the hospital. Ahad looked for Hayat, who was inside the operating theatre. The police were there to investigate the accident, and they took Ahad and Ashar to the site where the accident had happened.
Ahad looked at the car and fell on his knees. The car was battered and broken, and he could guess how serious an accident it was. His mind was not working, and his eyes caught something.
He looked inside and saw flowers lying scattered on the floor with blood on them. He felt chills run down his spine, so he took the card out from underneath the flowers.
He opened the card and read, "Pyar nahi, sachi wali Mohabbat ho gayi hai apse, Ahad." His whole body started to tremble as his eyes, which were blurry till now with tears, started to flow down his face. (Translation: It's not just infatuation, it's true and pure love that I feel for you, Ahad.)
His memories started to hit him hard, that day… this road… Eira's accident… today… this same road… Hayat's accident… he forgot who he was as he started to cry like a broken child, feeling arms around him, he turned and hugged his brother back, soon hiccups were the only sound that could be heard in the car as they got inside the hospital.
They got near the operating theatre, soon, some doctors came out, and as they looked at the family asked for her guardian. Ahad came forward, slowly, gradually, "She went through internal bleeding, which led her to lose consciousness while her body went through all the bones being broken inside her, her body stopped responding, and…" the doctor sadly yet firmly conveyed what shattered the hearts of the entire famiy, as he stopped and looked at each of the family members' faces before continuing, "I'm sorry, she's no more."
His delicate wife was now covered in white sheets, and her beautiful face was covered with a lot of cuts, yet it glowed; she looked the most beautiful to him. That's all it took for Ahad to lose consciousness.
He saw his wife in his dream coming towards him with beautiful roses as she smiled, like pain hidden in eyes yet the smile shines, "I'm sorry for leaving you early, but I love you," the melodic and enchanting voice that he always loved was gone, the wife of his, whom he loved so much more than he could even realize was gone into thin air… leaving him alone… breaking all the promises… leaving… him… all… alone… again… broken… again…