"If you don't feel like going Emaan then we can go back .No need to force yourself for something your heart is not adamant to do."

Emaan sighed unbuckling the seat belt before she said ,

"I have to do it for Safa's sake ."

Saying it ,Emaan glanced at Sana with tired eyes before passing a smile at her, she looked out at the house that dazzled as a bride as the fairy lights shimmered as if all the stars of galaxy had abandoned their celestial abode and were weaved like wreath over the house to celebrate the occasion of wedding of eldest daughter of the house . Gulping ,Emaan slid out of the car followed by Sana .

They walked inside the house when Atif along with other cousins walked out and seeing Emaan ,he leered at her lecherously making Emaan shiver and cower behind Sana holding her arms tightly. Sana glared at Atif who whistling at her walked out before cackling as he whispered something among his cousins.

Sana looked reassuringly at Emaan before asking ,

"Emaan, you alright ?"

Emaan nodded but fear shrieking in her eyes told otherwise .

"We could..." Sana couldn't complete as Emaan interjected imploring ,

"I am fine Sana..!"

Sana sighed before holding Emaan's hand on her arm tightly and nodding at her moved inside the house .

The house was as lively from inside as from outside .The hall was filled with some ladies with their hands outstretched having their hands donned with intricate designs while some relished exquisite delicacies along with gossiping and teasing the bride-to-be who sat at the centre with her both hands covered in henna .But as the eyes started noticing the two new members ,especially one ,the hustle and bustle of the house converted into whispers and suggestive gazes .Emaan shifted on her feet when Safa shouted ,

"Emaan ! Finally you are here .Come here sit with me .You too Sana !" Emaan and Sana smiling both went and whispering greetings sat next to Safa when Emaan noticed how the cousins sitting next to her moved away as she was some plague .She looked at them and following their gazes ,she looked towards ladies signalling their daughters to move away from her .

Emaan felt a deep sadness course through her actualising in the form of hot tears which she immediately blinked back when she heard Safa ,

"Thank you so much Sana for bringing Emaan here .I thought I will get married without the presence of this Your highness".Emaan smiled at her .

Soon ,Sana got busied with getting mehendi done on her backside of her hand while Emaan was waiting for her turn when a girl passing by them stumbled and fell on Emaan, staining her Abaya with her henna .Excusing herself ,Emaan walked towards washroom ,when passing by kitchen she heard her Rabia Phupho ( paternal aunt ),

"Sumbul Aapi! Why have you got this Emaan here ? We don't want our girls to become shameless like her !"

(Aapi - Big sister)

Emaan's feet froze on their spot while shards pierced through her heart perforating magma of agony charring everything even her soul with an unbearable pain.

"Who would be stupid enough to invite her other than my foolish daughter Safa! ".

"But looking at her no one could tell she would turn out to be such a characterless girl !. Wearing Abaya in gatherings and hijab always wrapped around her in such a way as if she is very pure as if we don't know her ugly reality .Girls like these externally they are something else and inside they are worse than snakes .You only tell she must have given some hints to Atif that Atif went astray and did something like that ". Rabia commented bitterly.

"Exactly ! Boys are like that only .Allah made them with desires .But if girls will invite them then what will poor boys will do ,they obviously will fall .And obviously Emaan must have seduced him or lured him otherwise there are other girls in the family much better looking than Emaan then why they never experienced such things ".

"You just stole my words Sumbul ! My Atif is a very good kid .He never looks at girls .Then going to such extent means that cheap Emaan must have showed him way and when he did fall for her trap she created a ruckus .And my poor boy had to go to jail because of this fox and her idiot uncle Imad .It is after much request that he took away the complaint ." Nikhat rasped.

"Well I think it's good that Feroz and Nabilah are dead otherwise they would have died alive only having such disgusting daughter".

"Don't say Rabia ,it's because of their pampering and faulty upbringing she is what she is ."

"Allah khair kre ( Allah does good) but nothing can be more ironical than for a girl as cheap and characterless as that whore to have a name like Emaan ! " Nikhat snorted .

"Astaghfirullah ! Don't say such words Nikhat Bhabhi !It doens't sounds good". Sumbul corrected .

(Bhabhi - Sister in law)

"If she will behave like a whore then she will be called also Sumbul ..though I don't want to waste my time on such ridiculous people .Just get her out soon. Allah save us from having such wretched daughters.....and I am warning you Sumbul keep Safa and Marwa away from her .See my Faryal has always maintained a distance and Rabia you too keep your both sons away as if that characterless girl can seduce my innocent Atif then Zafar and Azfar are though naughty by nature ..."

The ladies sauntered out of the kitchen only to jerk stop at the entrance as they saw Emaan standing with tears ambling down her eyes profusely .But she didn't said anything to them but her accusing eyes were enough to draw a temporary curtain of shame over their eyes as they look down embarassed while Nikhat gave a bored look to her as Emaan turned around and marched out of the house rubbing off her unceasing tears .She heard shoutings of Sana and Safa but the shrieks of her pain and echoes of those gut wrenching words was so loud and deafening that Emaan didnt stopped as she ran .....

but suddenly she was again in her house with Atif hovering her pinning her hands on both sides and a loud shriek escaped her mouth in disgust ,and suddenly she found herself standing surrounded by prisoner group men as they leered at her before one of them moved and tore off her clothes from her arm while cackling and again a loud shriek escaped her mouth and ...

Emaan jerked up breathless looking around ,to realise it was another nightmare stepped out from a bitter memory . The memories that were more like a swamp, that no matter how much she struggled they always found a way to crawl over her existence more strongly and splitting more shards of pain in her way of her journey called ;life .They had tainted her sleep with nightmares and her existence with unbearable torture leaving no space for dreams and relief .

As the words echoed again ,Emaan closed her ears and bit her lips before she looked at Maryam sleeping soundly next to her making her remove her hands and moved to kiss on her forehead with shivering lips while tears slipped down her eyes and a dua bloomed in her heart .

Ya Allah make me strong for my Mimi ...please !

Sitting back up, Emaan rubbed off her tears,when Sidra entered inside the office with a tired expressions which lightened up seeing Emaan,

"Emaan ! You are here ! But I am so tired to celebrate it !You know this surgery was so cumbersome .I am so exhaus..."Sidra stopped in the middle as she noticed Emaan's face before walking up to her with water bottle in her hand ,

"Emaan what happened ? "

Emaan nodded in negative before Sidra frowned ,

"Did you again had a nightmare ?"

This time Emaan remained still, deliberately avoiding Sidra's eyes  making Sidra sigh before sitting next to her and keeping her hand on Emaan's enjoined hands ,she cooed ,

"Emaan my habibti, please tell me what's disturbing you ? What is the cause of these recurrent nightmares ? I can't see you like this! Don't you trust me ? Am I not your friend? ".

"It's nothing like that Sidra !". Emaan whispered.

"Then wh...?" Sidra couldn't complete as Emaan pleaded with teary eyes ,

"Sidra please...!"

Sidra exhaled hard when her cell phone kept on the table ringed for a bit before going silent . Sidra glanced back at Emaan as she said ,

"Today I am not letting you go until you tell me the reason and no your pouts and puppy eye looks won't work .I am vaccinated against viruses of these looks so it won't affect me .."

Emaan pouted with a frown while Sidra sauntered towards the table while asking,

"By the way how come you are here in the office ,last time I had asked you to come, you had reasoned that Dr Dracula won't like it ..huh so what changed ?" .

"I missed you entire day so I just didn't felt like going to dormitory alone and Dr Khaled said that he is not childish to be perturbed by my presence in the office ".

Sidra cocked an eyebrow as she picked her mobile and turned to look at Emaan ,

"Ohhkayyyy", Sidra stretched the word with a meaningful smile adorning her face before adding ,

"I think something is in the air ".

Emaan frowned and looking around in the air she asked ,

"What ?"

"Something which you can't see but only feel...a very lethal dangerous virus! ".Sidra winked before scrolling her mobile ,seeing a call from her aunt and message from Hamza .

Frowning as Hamza never texted her except when very urgent as he was a man who preferred call, Sidra quickly opened his sent video and message ,only to be left horrified and all colours faded away from her face as she read his message .

Seeing her changing expressions ,Emaan securing the cushion around Maryam and covering her securely walked upto Sidra while asking ,

"What happened Sidra ?"

Sidra looked at her with pain and anxiousness with tears assembled in her eyes cascaded down as she whispered ,

"It's Hamza !" .

Confusion etched on Emaan's face at Sidra's words while Sidra with shivering hands put her cell on her ears but call failing to connect ,Sidra kept her hand on her forehead as she whined helplessly ,

"Why isn't it connecting ?" Saying it ,Sidra again tried dialling but meeting with same conclusion,she thumped down on the chair bursting out crying .Emaan all panicked and with her anxiety soaring to another level ,she quickly squatted before Sidra as she cooed,

"Sidra ,my jaan (my life) you are scaring me ! Tell me what happened ?"

Sidra tried to speak but the pain was intense and more profound was the fear ,the fear of actualisation of those words she had read in that cursed message .She simply offered her mobile to Emaan and as Emaan went through the video and message ,she was left aghast .

She looked at Sidra but before she could say anything ,door clicked open and Albert walked inside but seeing the scene before him he was left shocked and dumbfounded .

While seeing him ,Sidra pranced towards his direction making Albert step back as she asked urgently ,

"Yo..u came ... Hamza came with you? ...he is fine right ?"

"No..I only came back ...?".

"Why Hamza is not here ? What has happened to him ? Why has he gone back to hospital ?"

Albert looked puzzled at Sidra .Omar's urgent leaving back to hospital had left him confused and now Sidra's condition and words had left him in the maze of apphrensive thoughts, but not wanting to aggravate the condition's graveness ,he just said ,

"I don't know !"

"WOULD YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH OR SHOULD I PULL OUT YOUR HAIRS AlBERT WEHBE ?" Sidra shouted

"I don't know I promise .I only know that Dr Khaled and Hamza had gone back to hospital to get the clips for the day Zarar had came while I came back with Omar and his troop but as we reached here ,Omar got some call and left urgently ...I know only this Dr Sidra ..believe me !".

Sidra covered her mouth as a whimper escaped her lips while Emaan quickly came by her side and side hugging her tightly she made her sit on the sofa and sat near her while hugging her all the while .

"I can..t lose him .I won't be...able to live ...Emaan ! I won't !Let him be safe ...Allah " Sidra embraced Emaan whispering incoherent while Emaan tried to calm her yet her own tears seemed uncontrollable .

Albert marching from one corner to other ,tried dialling Hamza and Khaled but not able to connect ,he stopped before them as he said ,

"Both Dr Khaled and Hamza are not picking up calls and I don't have Basit or Omar's contact to call them ..." Albert looked at Sidra and Emaan and seeing their deplorable conditions ,he added ,

"I am going to go and wait for them on entrance and as soon as I see their car I will page you Dr Emaan".

Emaan nodded when Albert took out his hankerchief and offered it to Emaan signalling at her tears who shaking her head rubbed off her tears with her hand .Albert sighing offered it to Sidra who looked at the item before glaring at him with red rimmed eyes making Albert keep his hankerchief back in his pocket before whispering ,

"No place for good ",before saying out loudly,

"I am going ".

Saying it ,he brisked out while Emaan embraced Sidra as she tried to console her with her words and her own heart with duas for safety of Hamza and Khaled .

___________________________________________

"Daeni 'asaeiduk fi alaindimam 'iilaa sadiqik".

(Let me help you join your friend).

Smirking the masked man pulled the trigger but to his confusion no bullet came out and trying again he looked up to find Khaled smirking at him and within a second a gunshot was heard .

The masked man looked shocked as the rifle flew out of his hold and before he could realise what had happen a jab on his jaw was enough to drop him down on the floor unconscious.

"Check your arsenal before you wage war!".Khaled whispered before glancing at Basit who walked up to him ,looking at bodies while asking ,

"Are you alright ?" Seeing Khaled nod, Basit looked around and frowned as he asked,

"Where is Hamza ?"

Khaled gulped hard before saying ,

"Thats what I also want to see !".Saying it ,Khaled jump over the wall landing with a thud on the gable roof ,his feet slipped a bit before he steadied .

Basit anxious ran over the balustrade and seeing Khaled alright sighed in relief before asking with confusion lurking in his voice ,

"What are you doing Khaled ?"

"I will explain later! Are you gonna come with me?" .

Basit's frown deepened yet he nodded  and backing a bit ,he tugged his gun in his jean's and taking one of the rifles he hung around his shoulder before jumping over the wall. Khaled had already reached near the rim of roof and hanging on its edges ,he swinged himself inside the balcony only to be left horrified by the scene unfolded before him .

Hamza was lying with his half body leaning against the wall with blood surrounding him all around and over him .Khaled run up to him and crouching down he tapped his face while looking over his body trying to find for the bullet .

"Hamza ! Hamza ! Don't burden me with more guilt buddy ! Stupid don't you dare die on me !HAMZA !"

"Save your speech I am not dead yet " Hamza said opening his eyes with a small smile forming on his face which widen as he saw the concern on Khaled's face which melted to take the shape of annoyance as Khaled punched him on his arm causing Hamza wince as he said ,

"What is wrong with you ? A few moments ago you were fearful of my death and now I am alive you have a problem with that also ?".

Khaled sighed whispering Alhamdulillah before asking ,

"If you are fine then from where is the bloo..."Khaled stopped as he finally noticed the cat lying near Hamza with blood surrounding her .Horrified ,Khaled looked back at Hamza who nodded grimly before explaining,

"The bullet hit the cat .The man was aiming for me but when you hit him his aim got lower and hit her . And with shock of bullet I slipped and fell down .You saved her and she saved me !".Hamza looked at Khaled glumly when his eyes fell on Basit who had just walked up to them. Hamza tried to smile at him but ended up with a wince when he tried to lift up his left leg .

Seeing him ,Khaled tore his gaze off the cat and looked at Hamza and quickly checked his leg .

"It seems like a fracture ". Khaled exclaimed .

"I was guessing something like that to happen after that fall ". Hamza commented when he asked looking at Basit,

"How come you are here Basit ?"

"I couldn't just let myself sit with you two being vanished on terrace and then prisoner group men also going there .And when I heard the gunshots I knew I had to come here and luckily listening to gunshots those men standing outside also ran inside and I followed them while they dispersed in search of their men I ran directly towards the terrace."

But before anyone could say anything ,they heard echo of gunshots fired at few intervals making them still in their actions and glance at eachother with apprehension.

"It seem to came from terrace ,isn't it ?What should we do now?" Basit asked looking no one in particular.

"Basit see if that door is open ?" Khaled asked as he took off his jacket and slowly wrapped around Hamza's leg to keep it elevated .

As the balcony door clicked open ,Basit ran back and helped Khaled to support Hamza as they walked inside the room .Making Hamza sit on the ground with keeping the only furniture left in the room ,a ladder back chair upside down, Khaled gently kept Hamza's left foot on chair to keep them elevated and to avoid anymore swelling .

"I think you guys should leave !Those gunshots came from the terrace and no doubt they will soon find us here .So before that happens you guys should escape !"Hamza said thoughtfully .

"What do you mean by 'you' guys ?"Khaled asked cocking his eyebrow.

"I can't walk and totally not run with my broken foot .I will be only slowing you two down so it's better you leave me here !".

"Hamza did you hit your head also or don't tell me you had your brain in your foot that after it got fractured your brain has also fractured and stopped working!"Khaled taunted making Hamza huff ,

"Listen Khaled .."

"No you listen to me Hamza how do you expect me to face Dr Sidra leaving you here to die .I promised that I got you trapped here so I am going to get you out of here safe and alive and I don't go back on my promises ."

"I can't seem to get network here to ask where Omar akhi is but I told him about here and he can be reaching here anytime". Basit assured .

"But the problem is we don't have much time !Those men could be on our tail very soon seeing the condition on terrace and roof .So Basit take Hamza and go from here .Hamza knows the way to back entrance of this building. He will tell you...."

"Wait wait ,what do you mean by all this ? Are you not coming ?"Basit asked confused while Hamza also frowned both with confusion and pain.

"See it will take a bit more time to help Hamza out of Al Firdous and for that period of time someone needs to stall the men who will be soon coming here anytime and I have decided I will be doing that ".

"Why do you think we will let you do that ? When you were stopping me to do the same not a moment ago". Hamza scowled.

"Because you got a person waiting for you ,you have a family! ".

"You have also got Dr..." Khaled glared at Hamza making him change his words immediately ,

"You got Amtu and children ?What about them ?"

"I think it will better and more rightful if I stay here then you both ".Basit remarked .

"No ! Omar has already lost Yawar I cannot allow you to endanger your life for us and make him go through another trauma. We need you to survive to protect this country.And just because I am staying here doesn't mean I will die .In sha Allah you won't be getting rid of me so soon ".Khaled smirked before continuing,

"So don't waste time we have already done much ,leave .."Khaled unwrapped his jacket from Hamza 's feet and tied it around Hamza's knees in such manner that his feet remain in air while standing along with ignoring Hamza's constant denying of leaving and glares .Done with the process of tying, he helped Hamza to stand who reluctantly stood up and sighed before saying ,

"You wont listen ?"

Khale nodded in negative when Basit tried to convince ,

"Khaled let me..."But interrupting him in middle Khaled said ,

"Please save it guys .We have less time and more work so move ".

"You stubborness can even beat the ox".

"Thank you for your compliment, now leave !"

"Don't die on me.We have to watch our grandchildren grow old ".Hamza joked yet his expressions were dead serious .

"Okay grandma !" Khaled mocked .

Basit moved to open the entrance door to find it lock from outside. He immediately took out his gun and shot near the lock causing hole in the wooden ply of the door. Catching the keys Khaled threw at him ,he put his hand through the hole and after few attempts he inserted the key in the lock and opened it.Helping Hamza through the door ,Khaled handed over Hamza to Basit .Basit and Hamza had only moved a distance out of the door when Basit turned slightly and called Khaled who was about to go inside the room,

"Take this ", Basit threw his gun ," You might need it .And don't worry about us I have the rifle I picked up from terrace"..

"I don't know how to use it so you better take it".

"Situation teaches many things ,so keep it .But I hope you don't have to use it though ".Saying it ,Basit helped Hamza walk out of the corridor .

Khaled heard a thud on the roof making him quickly closing the door behind him and tugging his gun in his trouser pants, he ran towards the balcony door and quickly closing it stood next to the door leaning against the wall whispering duas while focusing on the sound of shoes created by jump to estimate number of men he was about to deal.

The masked man had woken up to find both the men had vanished and he saw his leader Demon also coming to consciousness.The masked man wincing at the pain shooting out from the cut on his eyes and through his jaws as he found two missing molar teeths ,stood up and walked over to Demon . Blurry vision evaded to give way for the clear sight only to leave Demon shell shocked as he found the masked man pointing his gun at him.

"Madha taetaqid 'anak tafeal 'ayuha alhithalatu?"

(What do think you are doing you scum ?)

"Llifawz fi alhurub la tahtafiz bialkhuyul dhat al 'arjal maksura.. 'ant taqtaluha "
( To win wars you don't keep broken horses you kill them).With that he pulled the trigger .

"Laqad qutlat Demon? Hal taelam madha ..." (You killed Demon ? Do you know what ..). The other man said horrified who had just gained conscious but he couldn't complete as the masked man shot the bullet in his head before whispering,

"Tawqit khati lilaistiqazi!"

( Wrong timing to wake up !)

He walked towards the balustrade when he heard the footsteps leading to terrace and he quickly laid down on the floor when the battalion of eight men sprinted inside only to be left astonished as one of them whispered ,

"Madha hadath ? Man faeal hadha ?"

(What happened ? Who did this ?)

The masked man wincing sat up acting as if he had just gained consciousness while saying ,

"Kal hunak thalathat rijal qutiluu alqayid waljamiea!Laqad 'unqidhat bitariqat ma !"

(There were three men ,they killed the leader and everyone ! I got saved somehow !)

"Ayn dhahabuu".(Where did they go ) One of them barked .

"Min khilal dhalik alsaqf dakhaluu tilk alshurfata"

( Through that roof they went inside that balcony ?)

"Limadha lam tamnaehum 'ayuha al 'ahmaqu"

(Why didn't you stopped them you jerk ?)

"Laqad ta 'ahdyat!" (I was hurt !). The masked man whispered .

"Atrukh fahu jabani! Darna nutariduhum".( Leave him he is a coward !Let's go after them).The one of the men suggested .

As they walked over to balustarde one of them looked back at the masked man as he asked ,

"Laqad qafazuu min khilal hadha?" .(They jumped through this ?)

The masked man nodded but seeing the man gulp hard ,he smirked before saying ,

"Ladaya fikrat 'iidha kunt turid yumkinuni musharakatuha".(I have an idea if you want I can share).Seeing them nod in affirmative the masked man continued,

"Nisfukum yamuru min altaabiq alsuflii wanisfukum yamuru min alsathi. Lodha yumkinuk 'iiqafuhum min kila aljanibayn la 'aelaa wali 'asfal wayumkinuk 'iiqafuhum 'iidha kanuu yuhawilun alhurubu!"

(Half of you go through from downstairs and half of you go by the roof .So you can stop them from both sides up and down and can stop them if they are trying to escape !).

The men thought for a moment before nodding in affirmative .

"Linafeal dhalik! Man yamuru eabr alsaqf?".

( Let's do that! Who will go through the roof ?).

Everyone looked at eachother when eventually three men decided to go through the roof while the rest sprinted out to enter the next building through downstairs .

Seeing the men leave ,the masked man looked at the three men as he advised ,

" 'Ala taetaqid 'anah sayakun min Al 'afdal an yadhhab aithnan faqat minkum wayatahaququ mima 'iidha kan hawla' alrijal mawjudan hunuk 'am la fayumkinuna alandimam 'iilaa alrijal fi altaabiq alsuflii".

( Don't you think it would be better if only two of you go and check if those men are there if not then we can join the men downstairs .)

"Tafkir jid ! Limadha la tadhhab watunafidh hadhih alkhutat alkhasat bika".(Good thinking ! Why don't you go and enact this plan of yours ). One of the men taunted.

"Kayf yumkinuni aldhahab 'awla ? 'Ala taraa 'anani musabi? Antum ya rifaq satakunun 'akthar astedadana li 'iikhdae hawula' alrijal 'iidha kanuu hunak fa 'ana!" .( How can I go first ? Can't you see I am injured ? You guys will be more apt to subdue those men if they are there then !).The masked man placated .

"Daeuna nantahi min ,hadha thuma sanqum bitaswib hadhih al 'ahmaqi".(Let us get done with this ,then we will straighten this jerk !) .One of the men said pushing past the masked man and walked over to balustrade and jumped over the wall followed by another man

Finally jumping inside the balcony they saw blood and the dead cat making them look at eachother with suspicion before moving towards the door .

Hearing the sound of jumps ,Khaled had immediately realised that there were two men and no sooner there was a slight turn of the knob but finding it locked ,he heard the men walking backward to break down the door and as he heard a man lunging to slam the door open ,Khaled turn the lock open making the man stumble inside the room while the other man march inside cackling but not for much longer as next moment he was on the ground yowling ; all credit to Khaled's jaw breaking punch across his face .

Locking the door ,Khaled picked the gun of the guy he had punched and unloading it ,he threw the gun away while taking out the gun from the back of his pant, he pointed at the man who had stumbled inside the room and was trying to stand but the aura of the man walking before him just seem to snatch away that quality from him .

Khaled picking the chair from his other hand and keeping it before the man ,sat on it with a deadly look gracing on his face as he threatened in a bone chilling tone ,

"If I shoot a bullet right at your stomach you know what will happen ? The acid will secrete from your stomach entering your abdominal cavity causing infection spread through every tissue and fibres leading to fever, shallow rapid breaths ,rapid heartbeats ,reducing blood flow to your heart leading to kidney failures and eventual slow failures of other organs and in short you will die a slow but a very painful death.I can promise you that!But if you don't want to leave the world as such then  answer my each question truthfully." The man looked horrified at Khaled before nodding frantically in affirmative .

"Why are you here ?"

"We ca..me here to ..get pills.. our Boss had aske..d us !"

"Who is this Boss of yours ?"When Khaled noticed the slight shifting of man's orbs to right and he instantly understood what was happening as he moved his hand right and fired just near the feet of the second man who had stood up with knife in his hand to attack Khaled, causing the second man to flinch back and knife to jerk out of his hold .

"Next time the bullet won't be near your feet .." Khaled was saying when he noticed the slight movement from his periphery and before the man before him could attack with knife fallen near his hand ,he stopped the attack with his left palm causing the knife slighty slit the area between his fingers creating a deep gash and blood to spurt out .But ignoring it, Khaled dangerously looked at the terrified man before him as he gritted ,

"I was not done with him you know !".

The man stuttered while cowering when they heard thud noise from the roof and eventually it reached the balcony, Khaled gestured the man cowering on his right to open the balcony door .The man nodding walked and waited for Khaled's signal to open the door .And as soon as he opened the door ,the man on other side of door fired several bullets in shock causing the second man fall down dead .Khaled jerked up standing and as he aimed the gun at the man at the door, the first man behind Khaled yanked his elbow jerking away the gun from Khaled's hand .But before the first man could overpower him ,Khaled picked the chair from his left hand and turning around smashed it on the first man behind him and immediately turning around threw the chair on the man on the door, hitting him straight on his shoulder jerking away his gun .

Khaled walked towards the man who staggering on his feet moved to pick the gun but before he could do so Khaled pulled him up and punched him across his face ripping the area below his eyes and blood stream down his face. The man panting and wincing held his eye crawled back near the boundary of balcony but as he heard Khaled's nearing steps he discreetly took out a knife from one of his pockets of cargo pants and launched at Khaled .

Khaled dogged and the knife hit the first man's neck coming behind Khaled making him fall down on the floor .While the man seeing this ,stood up to climb the boundary to escape back to the terrace but Khaled ran and held him by his shirt when a bullet shot through the man's head leaving him lifeless and Khaled trying to hold him moved forward coming in view of the target of masked man who again shot the bullet  passing near Khaled 's ear .Khaled hastily moved back when the entrance door thrust open ,aggravating Khaled's adrenalin rush but relief pervaded him seeing Omar and his men sprint inside  .

Seeing Khaled in the balcony ,Omar ran towards him but before he could ask anything, Khaled signalled through his thumb towards the terrace when another bullet hit the boundary of balcony wall.Omar and his men moved to retaliate back while Khaled moved to check the man who was hit on neck to find him dead due to sliting of his cartoid artery.

Seeing new members retaliate back and seeing the odds of survival dropping low ,the masked man decided to escape and dugging behind the wall he ran out of the terrace and noticing this Omar immediately ordered his men to chase him and walked back to  Khaled,

"He is dead ?"

Khaled nodded in affirmative before asking,

"Did you met Hamza and Basit ?".

"Yeah they are fine! They only told us about you being here .Though I am telling you Khaled if you keep acting this brave I would have no option but to offer my position."Omar smiled while offering his white shemagh scarf to Khaled to tie around his wound .

"No thank you I am very much fine and satisfied with my job as a doctor Omar and you are more worthy for this position than I ever could be ." Khaled smiled back while tying the shemagh scarf around his wound.

No sooner ,Omar and his men had defeated the prisoner's group men and all of them stood in the porch of hospital while Osama reported ,

"Most of them died in cross fire and who didn't, were killed by their own ..to be specific by a masked man who escaped ".

"So we have no one to extract information and investigate what's going on ?"

Osama nodded in negative making Omar grit his teeth in frustration before looking at Basit he ordered ,

"Basit take Hamza and Khaled to Al Shams ..Hamza needs quick medical help .We will manage from here .One minute where is Khaled ?".

And as if waiting for his name to be taken ,Khaled jogged out from the garden towards the porch making Omar frown as he asked ,

"Where were you Khaled ?"

Khaled gestured as nothing making Omar look back at him with confusion while Basit and Hamza smiled as they knew the purpose behind his Khaled's excursion, burrying the dead cat in the garden.

"What are you going to do about those people in mortuary ?" Khaled asked .

"Most of those people from mortuary are the people whose missing reports we had recieved from many families ,so going to give them back to their families ...atleast they can they say proper farewell to their children and these innocent people can have a proper burial".Omar responded solemnly .

Khaled nodded glumly when Abdul drove inside Khaled's car parked two blocks away .And as soon as car reached porch ,Khaled ,Basit and few other men ran to put Hamza inside the car and laying him down in the middle seat ,Khaled bidding greetings drove out along with Basit .

___________________________________________

Sidra's face was hidden within the vicinity of her palms yet the occasional hiccups and whimpers were enough to explicate what tale those palms were hiding .But Emaan despite feeling deep urges to console Sidra ,she sat there holding Maryam while letting Sidra to converse to the ONE who didn't needed words to understand or heal the pain as,

Tears of pain was enough

Tormented whispers of heart was enough

To make the journey from pain to relief

ALLAH was enough .

And paving the road of strength through this reminder ,Emaan who couldn't pray yet her heart and lips consistently mumble out duas when her pager beeped and she quickly fished it out to see a message from Albert and as she looked up at Sidra to find her already looking at her with keen yet fearful eyes .

"They are here !" Emaan whispered and Sidra roughly folding the prayer mat stood up and rubbing off her tears ran out while Emaan picking up Maryam followed her with haste steps .

Knowing it will be difficult to manage Maryam along with Sidra ,Emaan left Maryam with Mamma Juri and ran back when she realised she didn't knew in which room Hamza was .Groaning she turned around to run towards reception area to ask Hala when she felt she saw Sidra from the adjacent corridor she had passed by. She walked back to find it was really Sidra standing leaning against the wall with her hands behind her back .Jogging up to her , Emaan stood before her as she asked ,

"Why are standing here Sidra ? And where is Dr Hamza ? ".

Sidra gestured towards the door she was standing next to .Emaan frowned before she asked ,

"He is in there ? Did you met him ? How is he ?".

"I don't know !"

"What do you mean Sidra ?".

"I am scared Emaan!", Sidra eyes pooled with tears ," I can't make myself strong enough to see him hurt ".

"Sidra ..!" Emaan held Sidra's hands but before she could say anything further ,Sidra asked ,

"Emaan could you please go in and check on him and tell me how he is? . Then maybe I could strengthen myself to see him ".

"Sidra you are my strong girl!Why are you feeling scared ? I can accompany you if you want !"

"I am scared to see him hurt ! So please Emaan for my sake ..go inside ".

Emaan sighing defeatedly nodded and moved towards the room but as she opened the door slightly she saw Khaled was also present inside, causing suddenly an uncanny nervousness pervade her making her quickly closing the door step back giving Sidra an apologetic look ,but Sidra giving a blank look pushed Emaan making her stumble inside the room.

Emaan glared back at the door that was now closed but her glaring contest came to an end when she heard Khaled ,

"Are you alright Dr Emaan?".

"Yeah ,just the door..." Emaan couldn't complete because of the realisation of embarassing entry she had made infront of him .

"As much as I know about doors Dr Emaan they are proved to be non living things and they can't push people".

"Yeah but a living being standing behind it can definitely push ".Emaan whispered to herself.

"What did you say Dr Emaan?"

"Ah ...I said I came here to see Dr Hamza " Khaled clenching his jaw cocked an eyebrow making Emaan quickly add ,

" ...I mean to see how he is ?".

Hamza who had just gotten his plaster done smiled for the first time after the procedure and what pain killers were failing to do Khaled's reaction did as Hamza smiling to himself assured ,

"Alhamdulillah I am fine Dr Emaan. It's nothing to worry about just a minor fracture .But thank you for your concern ! " Hamza smiled .

Khaled huffed internally seeing Emaan smiling back at Hamza while whispering Alhamdulillah before he said ,

"So Dr Emaan now you have seen and known about Dr Hamza's well being ,you can leave now !".

Emaan nodded and turned to walk out when Hamza smirked at Khaled's agitation and stopped Emaan making Khaled frown before he ask ,

"What now ?"

"Let me thank her properly "

"You already did that Hamza!" Khaled glared at Hamza .

"Yeah I know but let me do it 'properly' " Hamza smiled innocently at Khaled seeing him fuming when Emaan all confused mumbled quickly,

"It's alright Dr Hamza ! No need for that !"

"Of course there is a need for that Dr Emaan!I must express how special it means to me that you have come here at such late night to ask about ME and MY well being.I am just speechless by your kindness .". Hamza pressed his lips to curb his chuckle seeing the expressions of Khaled .

"No its nothing like that!" Emaan murmurred mortified , "This is the least I could do .".

"Really Dr Emaan ! This is the least! I can't imagine what more you can do for me !"

Emaan looked dumbfounded when Khaled gritted,

"Okay its enough !Dr Emaan you are goin.."Khaled couldn't complete as Sidra burst inside the door and before anyone could recover from her dramatic entry ,she picked up things she could get from the table kept against the wall next to door and started throwing them at Hamza while Khaled quickly moved and stood before Emaan shielding her from the missed shots aimed at Hamza .Meanwhile Sidra ranted out her simmering anger and burning jealousy ,

"You retarded Chimpanzee ,you bag of dumbness !Here I was worried about you and crying my eyes out but you jerk ..."

Hamza bewildered looked at Sidra pleading her to stop but seeing her unstoppable he looked at Khaled for help only to find him grinning making Hamza give an unbelievable look to him to which Khaled only shrugged nonchalantly while not even trying to hide his amusement and stuffing his hands in his pocket he leisurely enjoyed the scene when he frowned as Emaan coming from behind him tried to stop Sidra ,

"Sidra what you are doing ?"

"Emaan hearing and seeing this lovely husband of mine I realised I cried over this man more than necessary so I am just trying to make compensation ,making him injured to the level I cried .So Emaan just back off ! ".Sidra ended with a glare making Emaan remove her hands back and Sidra resumed her attacks again.

Emaan looked at Khaled for help when he instead said ,

"Dr Emaan I think we should leave .By standing here we are only disturbing their privacy ".

"But ..." Emaan tried to object .

"No buts you are coming with me right now !" Khaled declared and smirking at Hamza who was trying to defend himself with the pillow ,gestured Emaan to walk ahead . Helpless and confused ,Emaan moved to walk out but as she reached the door she turned again, to find Sidra was now hitting Hamza with the pillow he was protecting himself .

She looked at Khaled pleading him with her eyes but Khaled meticulously avoided looking at her and gestured to move out ,making Emaan helplessly amble out of the room while whispering,

"Heartless Karela".

While Khaled looked back at Hamza and winking at him moved out closing the door behind him making Hamza curse him internally alongside desperately trying to coax his wife who was keen on murdering him with her incessant pillow attacks .

Emaan bit her inner cheeks as she looked at the closed door anxiously before whispering ,

"We shouldn't have come out .Sidra is really angry she might end up hurting Dr Hamza in her rage".

Hearing Emaan ,Khaled standing leaning against the wall clenched his jaws and seeing Emaan's worried expressions, the anger along with jealousy spurted out in his heart like lava out of the active volcano whose glimpses reflected unabashedly in the raging golden flecks shining in his dark emerald eyes. Looking side ways at Emaan ,he taunted with sarcasm dripping in his words,

"Dr Emaan !Hamza is not your child whom you have left in school for the first time under some Cruella kind of teacher .Stop fretting over him so much !".

"How can you be so relaxed ? Aren't you worried about Dr Hamza? He is your friend right?".

"Dr Emaan !Dr Sidra is not launching atom bombs or missiles on Hamza that I should worry about him .For Allah's sake! it just pillows and some plastic bottles !" .Khaled sighed exasperated .

"You dont know Sidra .I don't want her end up doing something she will regret later !"

"Well I wish she does something as it might do some good like bringing back some brain in Hamza " .Khaled shrugged .

Emaan looked at him with an incredulous look making Khaled frown before asking ,

"What ?"

"Can't you do something ?". Emaan requested.

Khaled looked away as he knew he would have obliged to do something if he had kept looking at her but reined by his jealousy he controlled his heart and instead replied ,

"Dr Emaan I am standing here, if something goes wrong I will go inside .What more do you want me to do ,establish a Hamza Relief Fund ?"

Emaan pressed her lips in a line before looking back at the door with lines of worry gracing her face again .While Khaled looked away with his face resembling an annoyed school boy as he whispered to himself ,

"Concerning over Hamza as if there are no other people to concern about ...Dr Sidra should break his other leg too ."

Hearing him whispering something ,Emaan looked back at him and seeing him looking away ,she quickly journeyed her eyes over him checking for any injury when her eyes widen as she saw blood spots on his wrinkled white shirt and eventually blood rimmed shemagh tied on his palm making her gasp,

"Doctor !Your hand ...it's bleeding !"

Khaled looked at his hand before saying nonchalantly ,

"It's fine no need to worry about ".

Emaan grit his teeth at his nonchalance as she chided ,

"How can you say it's not to worry about when the whole cloth is smeared with blood .You see you don't always have to act brave and be so careless about your own health .We need doctors who treat patients not doctors who become patients themselves!".

Khaled looked back shocked cum amused at Emaan who was gawking at his hand with profound anxiousness before erasing all his amusement with mask of blankness, Khaled asked crossing his arms ,

"Dr Emaan are you scolding me using my own words?".

Hearing the stern voice of Khaled ,Emaan gulped hard while Khaled was internally enjoying her state as she stuttered ,

"I ..I ..didn't me..ant that I was just stating ..facts ..".

Khaled only nodded before turning away his head to hide his erupting grin when he again heard Emaan ,

"Yo ..you should get yourself bandaged otherwise blood loss can lead to ..critical condition!".

"Dr Emaan I have taken the necessary first aid so bleeding stopped a while ago but I will get it bandaged so don't worry!".

"Promise ?" The words spurt out of Emaan's mouth even before she could realise making her eyes go wide as saucers .She looked down embarassed chastising herself while Khaled stunned looked back at Emaan but before he could say anything, Albert and Basit arrived making Emaan more embarassed than ever as she turned around and walked out while mentally head slapping herself as she mumbled ,

"Go drown yourself in handful of water Emaan !why do you have to be such an idiot?Like promise !who says that? .Only idiots like you Emaan only idiots like you ...what are you some Juliet ?Saying such things ? Now Dr Khaled will for sure think I am top class idiot ?.Ya Allah where should I hide myself ...."

While Khaled watched her retreating back with amused expressions when Albert commented ,

"Dr Emaan is such a kind soul ".

Khaled nodded smiling but when he glanced back at Albert to find him looking at Emaan with dreamy eyes causing resurgence of his rage and gritting his teeth,he turned to glare at Albert before he warned bitterly ,

"But I am not .So if you don't want me to extract your soul from your body then focus only and only on your work ...Also we have got the clips so get ready to be Dawood Malek again."

"Again? No Dr Khaled please no ! Can't we parcel it to police station".

"Parcel ? Dr Albert do you remember the situation we are in ? Or don't tell me you have some courier business that you carry out discreetly and we can use their services."

"But Khaled what if they stop us and check the clip ! They will immediately know that they are security camera recordings not video camera ! Why don't we ask Bulút's help in this ? We can send it to him !".

"No if we send it to him it will spark suspicion and we surely don't want him to go through what Abbas had to .Not everyone can be lucky everytime .We have to be careful more than ever .His survival will ensure knowing many plans of Zarar and saving many lives. And from last time experience we know that with Dr Albert dressing as a woman will distract the attention of Zarar's men from clip to him and that will work on our favour .And it's early morning not many cops will be there at station so you can get done with this work quickly".

"Are you taking revenge on me Dr Khaled ?"Albert whined.

"You can think whatever suits and satisfies your imagination Dr Albert but you are doing it ! So get ready !Basit as you know you will be accompanying him".

Seeing Basit nod ,Khaled moved to walk out when Basit called ,

"Where are you going Khaled ?".

Khaled without looking back raised his injured hand up as he said ,

"Going to fulfill a promise !"

Basit not understanding shrugged but as he turned to look at annoyed face of Albert ,he smacked his arms playfully as he jeered,

"Come on Dawooda let's slaughter your so called handsome face and transform you into an hideous diva again!".

___________________________________________

"Ouch !..Sid ....please stop ..." Hamza pleaded amidst her attack when Sidra threw away the pillow in order to find something hard to hit her husband when it landed on his injured foot earning a painful wince from Hamza causing Sidra to stop immediately and quickly asked ,

"Ya Allah ,I am sorry ..did it hurt very much ?"

Hamza's face that was twisted in agony taunted ,

"What do you think why I was asking you to stop because I was enjoying it ? ....Let me enlighten you it was HURTING ME !"

"I am sorry but you know how much I got worried after that message of yours". Sidra sniffed while sitting on the bed.

Hamza's expressiond turned soft as he looked at Sidra and tilting his head slightly he held her hand while asking ,

"You were worried about me ?"

Sidra glared at Hamza before snatching away her hand from Hamza's grip as she mocked,

"No I was worried and crying for Hakim !"

"Hakim ?"

"Yeah he lost his legs in an accident trying to save his wife and you know what his wife did? She ran away with his pumpkin-face friend !".Sidra scowled.

"What the hell! When did this happened ?"Hamza asked shocked.

Sidra frowned at Hamza's reaction before saying ,

"I guess episode 20 !".

"Episode ? Which Hakim are you talking about ?". Hamza frowned .

"Hakim from O my Heartless love ! "

"Allah!" Hamza rubbed his face before he fumed , "Sidra! You got me scared I thought you were talking about our Hakim from pharmacy. Can't you be clear for once Sidra and not talk about these stupid dramas of yours ".

"Don't call them stupid and you are talking about me being unclear then what about you ? What that message was supposed to mean ?"

Hamza shifted uncomfortably as Sidra ranted out his message ,

"That Sid there are more likely chances I won't survive though I wanted to tell you this on face but now I have to tell you this through text that I l........" ...what I l ...tell me ?"

Hamza rubbed his neck in embarassment before he said clearing his throat ,

"That I was writing but those prisoner's group men came so I couldn't ...I just wanted to write ..was I love the brownies you make ..yeah this ".

Sidra hopeful expression fused off to be replaced by irritation as she muttered distastefully ,

"You wanted to say that ?".

"Well yeah you only complained I never praised your brownies so ...I thought to do it".

"Seriously ,people confess important things or plan out their wills and give properties before their moment of death and you wanted to say this! ". Sidra seethed .

"You wanted me to give you my property .I never knew this materialistic side about you Sid ?" Hamza teased .

"Who wants your property ? I wanted your heart?" .Sidra whispered to herself .

"What did you say ? Did you say heart Sid ? Sid... Have you fallen in love with me ?" Hamza wiggled his eyebrows while grinning with hopeful eyes and even more hopeful heart. .

"In your dreams " Sidra rolled her eyes at Hamza .

When will this dream come true!.

Seeing lingering gaze of Hamza ,Sidra quickly added ,

"What I meant was that.. I had read in a novel the girl after his fiance's death ,takes out his heart and chop them into small pieces and then dig them across countries so that he can never come back as a ghost to haunt her ".

Hamza looked at Sidra incredulously before saying,

"I think I need to talk to Amtu and tell her about what awful novels you read and what a psychopath they are turning you into ".

Sidra narrowed her eyes at Hamza before saying ,

"Yeah I will also tell Mamma that how you flirt with girls and that you didn't even leave my innocent Emaan". Sidra crossed her arms .

"What stupidity you are talking about ? Why would I flirt with Dr Emaan .She is like my sister or more accurately in sha Allah sister in law ."

Sidra gasped standing up and looking wide eyed she asked ,

"What do you mean by that ?".

Hamza smiled but before he could reply her ,a small group of female doctors valley inside the room causing a surge of irritation seep inside Sidra which widen as she heard one of them say ,

"Oh Allah ,Dr Hamza what happened to you ? I came immediately here as soon as I got to know about you....how are you feeling?"

Hamza cringed at the sweet tone of the lady doctor but noticing changing expressions of Sidra he gulped hard before replying awkwardly ,

"Alhamdulillah I am fine !".

"Fractures are so painful ? Can I do something for you Dr Hamza ! "Another doctor questioned in an over sugary tone.

"Yeah just die!" Sidra hissed making Hamza cough hard while the all female doctors looked at Sidra horrified before Sidra smiled bitterly while saying,

"I mean just let him lie and rest for a while .Isn't that what you told me Dr Hamza you wanted to do desperately ?" Sidra ended glaring at Hamza who gulping hard nodded fervently and seeing him nod ,Sidra smiled victoriously as she glanced back at the doctors ,

"So what are we waiting for ? Let's leave !".

"But should we clean the room ? There are stuff everywhere ?"

"Don't worry this is done on the special demand of Dr Hamza as he likes to sleep in an unclean surroundings !" Hamza scowled at that while Sidra gestured lady doctors to move out .

Defeated ,the swarm of doctors moved out while Hamza shook his head in amusement. When after existing the room, one of the doctors whisper complained to other lady doctor,

"She again defeated us .She will always  have an upper hand being Dr Hamza's cousin whether you agree or not."

Sidra smiled before turning around and smirked as she said ,

"Babe if you will get to know of things I have defeated you in ,you will get shock of the year !" Sidra patted lady doctor's face lightly before marching out with a victorious grin while leaving the female doctors buzzing with confusion and curiosity .

___________________________________________

"Demon died ! My plan to destroy Al Firdous reputation failed ? This much all happened and you are telling me now ? " The man barked from the other side .

"Boss I escaped from their with much difficulty and I had also got life threatening injuries .But as soon as I got my eye and face bandaged I called you ".

"Who were they ? And did you got the pills?"

"I am not sure but they seemed like from civillian's rebellion army but one of them I had seen in Al Firdous Hospital .He is a doctor ...his name...is ...Khaled yes it's Khaled .He had also given a tough time to Zarar when he visted Al Firdous".

"Khaled you say huh..I will find out who this new bird is ? And you find out where these doctors of Al Firdous are now!".

"I will Boss .".

"And what about the pills ?"

"That ....we couldn't get hold of it ...Boss ..but I made sure to kill the men they had got hold of".

"..Hmmmm.. I think I don't need to remind that Zarar shouldn't come to know of all this !".The man hissed.

"Yes boss .Your order is my command .Just you keep me in your grace and see what I will do for you".

A loud bitter chuckle was heard on the other side before the voice boomed ,

"You will get your bones to lick at your doorstep just make sure to follow my orders and if you remain so loyal then I can think of giving you Demon's place ".

"Thank.." He couldn't complete has the call was disengaged from the other side .He smiled viciously when a man marched inside the room before saying hurriedly ,

"Mo'in sir that man and woman reporter have come with the clip Chief Zarar had asked for!".

Mo'in who was ready to reprimand the officer for entering his office without permission listening the officer smirked as he said while keeping the receiver ,

"Woman you said ! Then what are you waiting for? Bring her to my office ".

Officer nodded while Mo'in looking at the table adjusted his bandage on his eye  and moisten his bushy eyebrows with his saliva on his thumb.

Basit and particularly Albert had hoped to return back after giving the recordings but to their frustration the officer had gone and came with the news that his senior officer wanted to meet them .Exhaling hard ,they walked inside the police station which looked more like a den of hyenas as the officer oogled, whistled and deliberately rubbed their shoulders against Albert ,making him grit his teeth in rage before glaring at them he whispered to Basit ,

"Don't they have brothers and fathers at home !"

"They have but not dressed as a woman I guess !" Basit shrugged causing Albert's glare shift to him but before he could retort back at him ,Basit whispered,

"And what is up with your walk ?It looks like giraffe is trying to walk on two legs .Walk like a woman or they will know what brother this giant woman is hiding inside!"

Albert looked distastefully at Basit before whispering back,

"Try walking with these shitty sandals that Hala made me wear then you will realise my pain. After wearing them I feel like I no longer have feets but hooves."

Basit grinned but seeing glares of Albert he immediately pressed his lips in straight line yet failed to hide his amusement when the officer leading them stopped before a door and turning back at them said ,

"This is the office " ,Pointing at Basit he continued , "But you can't go in only woman are allowed ".

"Is it a office or a ladies washroom ?" Albert retorted in frustration.

But having no option ,Albert glanced at Basit before gulping hard entered inside the office while Basit raised his hands in air as he prayed ,

"Ya Allah protect the honour of my Dawooda "

As soon as Albert walked inside ,Mo'in jumped out of his chair while greeting ,

"Welcome ! Welcome !What a blessing to have a treat like you in my office !"

And what a curse to meet a freak like you .

Albert only gave a forced smile when seeing Mo'in gesturing towards the chair ,he squeaked in his female voice ,

"No thank you I rather stand.Please take this recordings as I have to go somewhere urgently ".

"So cruel of you ,you just came and are talking about leaving ,not fair " .Mo'in walked upto Albert and keeping his hand on his back directed towards the chair while adding ,

"I am not letting you go so easily ".Mo'in smiled lecherously while stroking Albert's back flirtatiously making Albert jump and eventually ran to sit on the chair while Mo'in followed him with a cackle.

Sitting before Albert on the table , he leaned before Albert making him shift back on his chair as he said ,

"You never called me!" Mo'in pouted making Albert cringe as he thought ,

Even frogs will look better pouting than him !

"Do you know how much I waited for your call?" Mo'in held Albert's hand and moved it to his lips while Albert kept on pulling his hand back but seeing the relentless stubborness of Mo'in he said cum shrieked in her womanly voice ,

"Don't !I forgot to wash my hands after using washroom".

Mo'in abruptly stopped before eventually landing a kiss making Albert nauseous while Mo'in said ,

"It doesn't matter ! But I must say you have very manly hands ".

"Yeah actually my parents made me take karate classes to protect myself from filthy ,disgusting ,wretched ,scum ,swine ...like men".

" I am impressed .I like wild women!"

Albert cringed at his tone but as he saw him leaning again he again said cum shouted ,

"What happened to your eyes ?"

"Oh your concern makes my heart flutter! Well I fell darling ".

God why didn't you killed him right then !

"Oh you look sad .Don't worry my eyes will be fine ! You like my eyes ?". Mo'in said while moving his feet slowly up and down over Albert's leg making squirm away while saying ,

"Yes it reminds me of Patrick my dead pet frog and now can you take the recordings,I have to go !".

Mo'in's mouth twisted distastefully before he leaned as he said ,

"Let's forget about it and talk about ourselves "Mo'in touched Albert's hijab and slowly started sliding his hands toward his chest making him hyperventilate and he was all ready to kick him when Bulút entered inside making Mo'in stop what he was doing and ask with frustration .

"Don't you know Bulút I don't like hindrance when I am investigating and what are you doing here so early morning ?"

"Yeah I am very much aware of the kind of investigation you do . The meeting is called .We have to report in half an hour !" .

Mo'in groaned before looking at Albert he said ,

"Bad luck dear but next time we will have party give me the recordings and more importantly your number ".

Albert forcing a smile scribbled a forged number on the paper and handed out the recordings .Mo'in stroked Albert's hands seductively before taking the paper and recordings.

Albert quickly stood up and ran out while Bulút looked at Mo'in with disgust as he kept on looking lecherously at the door even after Albert had stormed out  before he asked suspiciously ,

"What happened to your eyes and face ?"

"Two girls attacked me with their heels "

"You deserve it and expected kind of injury from you !" Bulút said while walking out of the office followed by Mo'in exhaling in relief.

Basit jogged behind Albert who ran towards the car and taking out the water bottle washed his hand thoroughly when Basit sprinted upto to him and asked,

"What happened to your hand ?"

"It got touched by a lecherous virus .Seriously if I had amoeba like property to grow my body parts again I would have chopped off this hand".

"What happened ?" Basit asked confusingly.

"First let's go from here I feel disgusted by this place and its people  ".Albert said while looking at the officers who stood at the gate whistling and hooting at him .  

Quickly sitting in the van ,Basit drove out glancing at Albert simultaneously from time to time ,perturbed by the disturbed look his face held .When after a while, Albert said ,

"I can't imagine what level of disgust and torment a woman would feel when she has to face these scum like men when I ...I being a man shuddered at this .That five to ten minutes felt like eternal torture! I don't know what trauma women who get raped or assaulted or just oogled at grow through .... The look in his eyes ...was like he was raping me with his eyes .I feel disgusted that these people who are suppose to protect us are actually demons from whom we need protection  ..."

Basit nodded while saying ,

"May Allah protect all our sisters from such demons...". But trying to lighten Albert's sour mood ,Basit added,

"By the way I prayed for you too my sister cum brother so you should thank me that my dua got Bulút on time " .Basit chuckled lightly .

Albert rolled his eyes before wiping off the lipstick as he announced ,

"I have decided something !"

"What ?"

"I am going to grow a beard !"

_________________________________________

Late at afternoon ,Khaled along with his team including Emaan and Dr Sarah had gathered to discuss about the video and new sets of information they had stumble upon and to conjure the new pieces together in solving the mysteries they had found themselves surrounded  by .But wanting to keep everything under the realm of secrecy ,they had deliberately chose Hamza's room to discuss the matter to camouflage their actual reason over Hamza's health and avoid any kind of suspicions specifically of the informer breeding among them.

"These are three reports ,first one is the about pills I got from Yawar ,second which Omar gave me and third is the one we got from mortuary ." Khaled passed the reports to the people in the room who in turn passed among themselves after seeing it while Khaled continued explaining,

"The second and third report's pills are similar in its composition i.e the lead and mercury content are very low similar to many food products or cosmetics tend to have .Meaning they are harmful but their harm won't be as rampant as we had seen with Yawar cause of the amount of lead and mercury those pills had which he was taking yet the amount of opioids this second and third pills report's have is drastically high making its addiction much more stronger and powerful".

"Now the question that arises is why sudden change in their composition?"Albert ask while standing near the door while keeping a watch on any incoming through the glass panel of door.

"That's what video answers!" Khaled stated .

"You mean organ trafficking?" Dr Sarah asked horrified .

"Can someone tell me about the video as I haven't got the time to see it !" Albert added sheepishly .

Khaled sighed before explaining ,

"Last night in the mortuary we found thirty dead bodies brought by prisoner group men and each body in that mortuary had their vitals organs operated out .And one of the body had these pills .Meaning that this RM guy started this all ruckus of hunger reducing pills with the aim of organ trafficking ,making people addictive to the pills and the use of lead and mercury was to intensify the effects to weaken them physically which would have made their work easy .But the amount of lead and mercury that initial pills had would have not served their purpose as we saw in Yawar's case ,their consumption let to destroying the organs hence the change in composition ..is what I strongly believe is the mystery of this pills ".

Everyone's face contorted in disgust before Dr Sarah articulated everyone's feeling in words ,

"This is beyond disgusting .How can someone stoop so low that they go to this extent of destroying lives just for earning luxuries of this world ? Don't they fear the wrath of ALLAH?".

"They have been blinded by the promises of Shaitaan ,they are worshippers of their desires and something pristine as fear of Allah cant burn in heart thats engulfed in such darkness ". Khaled whispered with his eyes convoluting with rage .

"Why Allah doesn't punish these people ?"Sidra hissed with her eyes tearing up.

Emaan sitting beside Sidra held her hand in assurance as she said ,

"What makes you think Sidra Allah is not punishing them ? Their first punishment begins with HE keeping them in darkness ,HE has snatched away the light of guidance from them .And Ar RAHMAN knows about every single tear and pain each soul has suffered and are suffering because of them .And Sidra when Allah says in Quran about giving glad tidings to  people who fear and are in awe of the Most Compassionate without seeing HIM .On surface level it might just seem about people believing in existence of Allah without relying on the evidence of eyes .But like every word of Quran,the verse bears much deeper meanings and one of them is that in life we come across situations whose hopelessness and helplessness makes us doubt and question on the existence of Allah and this verse is a reminder in such situations...that no matter how tragical circumstances seemed to be and makes us feel like we are fighting our war alone and HIS help seem unseen, if we still hold believe and fear of Allah in our hearts then we have passed our tests ,we have won the greatest war as we become among those people whom Allah gives glad tidings and when we talk about glad tidings from Allah it's beauty will always be beyond our imagination .And despite what situtaions of our lives makes us feel Allah is always holding and caring for us as HE is Ar Rahman how could HE not ?.And we might not see justice happening to many in this world but HIS justice will prevail and when the scales will set ,then every tear will become a river of lava burning and reminding oppressors of their sins .Every speck of pain they have made others go through it will come to an end but not their  punishment, it will be eternal .So don't think Sidra Allah is unaware of wrongdoers and injustice .HE only delays them for a day when eyes will stare [in horror].Just trust HIM".

Emaan smiled at Sidra but realising the appreciative lingering gazes on her ,her smile falter, she shifted awkwardly on the bench and started correcting her hijab and pushing back her imaginary baby hairs into her hijab just to hide her face and surging embarassment while a soft smile tugged at Khaled's lips as the roots of love digged deeper into his soul and his heart surrendered like those autumn leaves to this wind like girl yet the echo of the fear of his heart sharing the same end fate as those tramped over leaves of fall......the upward curve of his lips faded away. As,

Falling was a curse

Falling was a suicide

Falling was a disgrace ...

But not every fall was a curse. Some were blessing .Like the drops of rain falling down from the heavens: a boon that brought life to every soul ,even the shy ones hiding in the cradle of earth ,that with touch of love from heaven couraged up to peek out as the world bloomed with a fragrance both heavenly and earthly .

Every raindrop was a divine grace of Allah's love and so was every throb of feeling beating inside Khaled's heart for Emaan  .

And if Allah willed

A poison could become a elixir of life.

If Allah willed ,

A fall could be a way to rise...

But some lessons were better learnt when experienced and past experiences of Khaled had made him vigilant and apprehensive about these new sets of feelings thus caging them behind the bar of oblivion ,Khaled focussed on the issue prevailing as he commented ,

"And darkness doesn't comes to question Allah and His ways ,rather it comes to question the light in our hearts ,our faith ,whether it will dimmed away at the face of harrowing darkness or it will wage war against it with more fervour and tenacity .And if people consumed in darkness and desires ,with Shaitaan as their ally can think they have the strength to shadow our light of faith then why can't we who fight to secure the light of our hearts with Allah as our Wali ,why can't we try to illuminate the shadowed hearts ? .Why should we back out from fighting till our last breath even it means to save one glimmer of light ..because sometimes only a glimmer is enough to survive any dark reality of life ,to have hope for a better day .And just like Dr Emaan said ,Allah is aware of every pain and scars of each and every soul.And sometimes just like seeds, Allah makes us dwell in dark and makes us go through the process of breaking apart before he blesses us with bounties of blessings .Maybe that's why in Quran every description of Jannah involves gardens filled with green trees to remind us that this temporary world might be about breaking but that permanent world will be about bounties of blessings and mercies only ".

Emaan smiled while a thought automatically bloomed in her mind ,

He is really like a sun and his words like sunrays that no matter how much cloudy a day is or dark a night is ,his glimpse of words are enough to lighten the world .

But to Emaan's much dismay ,these sunrays were also arising feelings in her heart :the feelings that were too shy ,too dormant hiding in the deepest chasm of her beating organ had now couraged up to peak out at the touch of warmthful words of his.And this was scaring Emaan.

This sprouting of new feelings keen on breaking down the barricades of her heart scared her .

This rise scared her more than fall.

Everyone smiled and nodded with reverence at Khaled when Albert questioned ,

"But one thing thats disturbing me the most here is why the hell would they keep those dead bodies in mortuary?"

"It's confusing to me too .But after a lot of thinking I could only drive two aspect from it ,one was either it was something related to defaming Al Firdous or to hide the dead bodies .Another question is Omar had estimated about hundred missing cases and in mortuary there were only thirty .So where are others ? Dead or alive ?". Khaled remonstrated .

"And in all this we can't ignore that there is an informer among us who has a link with both Zarar and this R.M guy making it more likely an obvious case that this person could be involved with both airstrike and  organ trafficking ".Hamza added.

"That's makes it more disgusting that someone among us could be involved in such blasphemy! But it's also a known fact the people of medical are mostly the culprits behinds this inhumane act ". Dr Sarah stated glumly.

"So it could mean this so called informer could be helping RM guy in this procedure  But after the mayhem started non of us have been able to leave hospital so how could ..?" Sidra asked curiosily .

"There are many questions and mysteries hiding behind the veil but our first priority is to find out the informer as soon as possible because the delay will only invite more troubles ." Khaled asserted.

"So how we gonna do this ? Because it going to be an hefty task?" Dr Sarah inquired.

But before Khaled could reply Albert whispered 'incoming' making them quickly change the topic .With a knock ,Dr Rafé peeked inside while asking,

"Is Dr Emaan here ?" When noticing her ,he quickly entered and blewing out a breath while looking around he exclaimed ,

"Thank God ,finally found you Dr Emaan" .Emaan stood up with curiosity which turned into mortification as Rafé continued unaware of the deadly daggers darted in his way.

" It's amusing Dr Emaan how you keep forgetting that you are no longer in Dr Khaled's team but in Dr Isa's team now".

"I'm sor..." Emaan couldn't complete as Khaled interrupted,

"Dr Rafé should I think what you mean to say is now that Dr Emaan is in Dr Isa's team ,you hold a monopoly over her and will decide whether she can sit with us or not ".

Cold stare ,icy tone ,chilling words and daunting aura of Khaled was enough to whip off the smile from Rafé's face and gulping hard he replied meekly ,

"I didn..t meant ..that Dr Khaled ?"

"Then what exactly did you meant Dr Rafé ?"Khaled asked while stuffing his hands calmly in his jean's pocket while looking straight in the eyes of Rafé, making him internally curse himself for coming and saying those words before he whisper out ,

"I just came here to remind Dr Emaan about Dr Isa's meeting".

"Dr Rafé do you have a pager  ?" Khaled asked to which Rafé nodded while taking it out quickly and offered it to Khaled who nodded in negative .

"I don't want it ! But just reminding you that you have a pager and that you can page Dr Emaan instead of acting as her personal messenger pigeon and giving her message personally .This will save you time which could be allocated in doing better works..what say?"

"Yeah ! You are right Dr Khaled .I will be mindful about it ."

"You better be !"

Everyone looked back and forth feeling as if they were watching a conversation between a prey and predator .

Dr Rafé shifted on his legs before saying ,

"Dr Emaan let's go we have a meeting!"

Emaan coming out of her stupor nodded fervently and moved to walk out when Khaled declared ,

"Dr Emaan is not going anywhere!"

Everyone looked shell shocked especially Emaan when Rafé inquired confusingly ,

"But Dr Isa ..."

"She and every single hospital staff are going to attend a very important meeting that will be held at auditorium in ", Khaled looked at his watch before glancing back at Rafé , " in ten minutes  ,so I will inform Dr Isa and other senior doctors ,can you inform others Dr Rafé?"

Bobbing his head fervently Rafé walked out with haste steps while Dr Sarah seeing him leave looked at Khaled while asking confusingly .

"What was that Khaled ?".

Khaled couldn't reply as Hamza chimed in ,

"It's the aftermath of feelings ".But noticing the glares of Khaled ,Hamza quickly added ," feelings of frustration cause of so much mess surrounding us "

"I can understand that ! But Khaled that was way over the top .You scared that poor child .And what this sudden meeting is about?".

"It's about letting everyone know about the informer we have among us ".

Everyone looked wide eyed at Khaled while Hamza mentally head slapped himself as he thought ,

Way to go ! Love has short circuited his mind too !

"But ...wouldn't that create more mess and how are we going to find the informer by doing this?".Dr. Sarah muttered .

"I can explain !"

___________________________________________

Bismillah

If you like this chapter then Alhamdulillah

If you didn't like the chapter then blame it on 😑🥵Summer🥺

Dedicating this chapter to a sweetie Farkhandaehs

Before you leave do remember to recite ,

"Rabbir Hum Huma Kama Rabba Yaani Sagheera"

(My Lord ,Have mercy upon them [my parents] asthey brought me up [when I was] small ).          

Al Quran (17:24)

Do remember me and entire ummah in your precious duas .

Faqat abd e Rahmana
Sadaf

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu 💜🌼