"I don't..don't....know Omar Akhi ..Yawar got them...all I know that he got it from a person who went by name of English alphabets  R.M."

"Wait ..did you said R.M ?" Hamza asked in perplexion .

Seeing Basit's nod ,Hamza looked at Khaled as he said ,

"Khaled isn't R.M was the name Abbas had told Dr Alma who had informed about Al Firdous to the cops ?".

Khaled nodded blankly while pursing his lips as he tried to conjure the mystery of R.M in his mind but he chopped out his way from the loose conglomeration of thoughts when he heard Omar ,

"Do you know these ..R.M?"

"Not exactly ....all we know that recently someone had given an information to Aleppo head branch of police that Al Firdous Hospital are taking in casualties and that person had also stated himself as R.M..." Khaled said and ran his hand in his hairs as he continued ,

"But right now we can't speculate on this topic as we got much more important issue to deal with...Omar I want you to get all the members Yawar lead to be here as soon as possible..."

"Are they going to be fine ?And Yawar he will be ..good again na?...Khaled just tell whatever the truth is ..don't try to give me false hope ..."

Khaled sighed and briefly looking at Hamza he said ,

"These pills are in no way good news for anybody who has been taking it....and I am not going to try to give you any false hopes all I am going to say is have hope in Allah and believe me that's the most truest hope you can have and HE doesn't disappoints".

Saying it ,Khaled tapped Omar's shoulder blade in assurance while moving past him marched inside the ICU room along with Hamza to shift Yawar to MRI and CT scan room for his further treatment .

Omar felt as if his feet had frozen to the ground as his brain flounder its way to grasp the reality that had rocked his life not to make him fall asleep but wake up to a nightmare that thundered his heart with fear of losing his people specifically his only family ,his younger brother : Yawar Khaleel.

But Omar knew he could not allow himself wander in the shadows of his fears and hopelessness ,he had to face the burden, he had to walk through the path sprawled with thorns no matter how much excruciatingly painful the journey might be. But despite accumulating the strength to face the trial of his life ,he felt weak to stay in the hospital as the terror of losing his brother clawed deeper in his heart .Heaving a sigh he looked at Basit and Abdul, who looked worried and paranoid themselves as Omar said,

"You guys stay here ! Get yourself checked ..I will send all the boys here ...okay ..don't worry Allah is Al Malik HE will help us .."

Saying it ,Omar stride out of the hallway . Abdul huffed as he walked up to the hospital bench and plop down on it with a lost look in his eyes . While Basit kept on watching the retreating figure of Omar and despite the wolves of fear howling inside his heart and rope of life seemed to tighten around his neck ,he couldn't help but notice the glimmer of desolation and despondency that had flickered in the eyes of Omar for a moment. Basit had realised though the fears gnawing Omar's heart was masked by his stoic expressions but his eyes  : an outright traitor had vociferated every veiled reality in that flicker.

Basit had known Omar and Yawar since childhood ,the two orphan siblings who was known for their valour ,fearlessness and kindness all around their street .Though it was Omar who was the most rightful bearer of these fame and honour but Yawar had always been determined in following footsteps of his big brother which had never gone easily with Omar, who wanted to protect and shield his little brother from any harm and danger as he was the only family he had after their parents had died in a plane crash while returning from their Hajj. And after their death ,Omar had immediately took upon the role of a mother ,father along with being a big brother to his five year old little brother though Omar himself was just a twelve year old boy. And only he and Allah knew the pain his little heart bore everytime he narrated a new story to little Yawar why their parents had still not come ?. The stories that their parents  were fighting with jinns or they had  gone for a treasure hunt after Hajj or their plane  had stationed on a cloud where they were collecting cottons to make cotton candies .All these stories were a wonderland to little Yawar but for Omar they were briars that he had let to pierce through his heart for his little brother's happiness until little Yawar was not so little to be fooled by stories and to finally realize that his parents were never coming back.

But Omar had continued to play the role of a shield protecting and caring for Yawar in every possible way. And Yawar had always meticulously took advantage of this care and protection but not to hurt anyone rather to be like his big brother : to not to breathe in shade of someone but to be a shade of help and protection to someone else and that's how Basit and Yawar's friendship had bloomed .Basit was a fat ,shy and a timid guy who was unceasingly bullied by other boys around the street though Omar had protected him many times but it was the day when the eight year old little Yawar had stood against a gang of twelve year old kids for a twelve year old Basit had changed everything. Though the gang of kids had retreated back because of the fear of Omar but Basit couldn't help but marvel at the courage of that timid boy .For many it would have been a sheer stupidity but for Basit he had found an ideal : a little  eight year old ideal and not to forget his first friend .And this is how their friendship had blossomed watered by an innocent promise .

I will always protect you but you have to promise me you will always listen to me ...

And Basit like any loyal friend had stayed up to his promise but in this moment only his heart and it's CREATOR knew how much he wished not to have abided by that promise as he saw his best friend been taken on a stretcher by ward attendants followed by Khaled and Hamza for his further tests. Seeing Yawar like that Basit couldn't control the dam of emotions as tears rained down his eyes making him feel the same vulnerability & helplessness reign his heart that he used to feel when he was bullied .The feelings he had dig deep down in his heart but they seemed to crawl out of their graves to haunt his heart as he feared to lose his friend .He rubbed his face roughly with his hands admonishing himself not to feel helpless ,to not to lose hope yet the grating feeling that he had failed to protect Yawar made it hard ,an hefty hard task to keep himself together . Only if he had not listened to Yawar and told Omar about pills this situation wouldn't have prevailed .Only if he had been brave enough ,only if he had defied his promise this one time this wouldn't had happened ,only if...

Ambushed by so many emotions ,Basit felt his sanity was being eroded .He knew he was thinking too far ahead ,there was hope but still his mind seemed to be too numb to feel hope ,too drenched with darkness to see the glimmer of light and too suffocated to breathe .Looking back at Abdul who seemed lost in his own thoughts ,Basit walked out of the hallway ,his every step felt like a boulder and his mind dizzy .He didn't know whether his delirious state was the cause of the culmination of thoughts or again the effect of those pills was conquering his conscious and body .His steps felt tiresome ,his eyes blurring from time to time .Basit squeezeing them tightly opened them back to a clear vision which was just momentarily recovery as his view blackened and his feet stumbled making him collide with a hospital bench and fall down on the floor unconscious not before getting his forehead hit against the edge of steel bench.

Emaan had been walking out of the general ward after giving Dr Kurdi the medicine Hamza had asked her to give when her eyes fell on the figure of Basit but it was his intoxicated steps and his unhinged state that alerted her attention making her march towards him but before she could approach him ,Basit to her utter bewilderment fell down on the floor unconscious.

Horrified and shocked ,Emaan jogged up to him and placed her hand near his nose to find that he was breathing and immediately asking the ward attendants who had come out of the ward hearing the sound to take him to the infirmary while she followed behind them with quick steps and prayers on her lips.

___________________________________________

Emotions in life were like different colours having different shades ,peculiarities and textures filling the sketchbooks of our lives .However there were some emotions that only dealt in shades of greys and blacks yet they were not as simple as their colours they cloaked one with but rather they were complicated and complex as they sucked away colours of life and eventually leading towards the darkness where every colour seemed to fail to taint the supremacy of black . And this is what Khaled ,Hamza and Dr Duraid felt as the emotions of horror , agitation and despondency raked it's way through their hearts as they went through the images of CT scans and MRI of Yawar's to find consumption of pills had caused extreme severe damages to his internal organs specifically his liver ,lungs and kidneys while other organs were also effected and harmed in some way or other  .

But amidst the emotions that painted one's sky with dark shades of black conquering and consuming every colours of life there was still one emotion that was a counterpart of this blackness reigning ones world : the emotion of hope ,that sparkled with pure white light shinning like stars and moon in the dead darkness of the black sky .The emotion of hope was like the colour of white that seemed to collaborated with every other colour of emotion making it more pleasantful ,more serene and it was the only emotion that could stroke effortlessly it's ways in the tenebrous realm of ones sanity. And that's what Khaled was trying to imply towards the darkness of despondency that had prevailed in his conscious by letting the stars of hopes sparkle in his mind and not any kind of hope but the most pristine of its kind : the hope in the mercy of his Almighty.

Dr Duraid heaved a sigh and rubbed his forehead as he looked at Khaled and Hamza as he said ,

"Even after dealing numerous cases my entire life such cases are the ones I hate to deal especially when the patient is so young ....what's his age ...twenty I guess .?." Hamza nodded as Dr Duraid continued ,

"It's sad the damage these pills have done is far too severe and I don't understand how can one sell such medicines with lead and mercury ? How can one so easily play with someone's life ?...And you say there are more like him who have been eating it ?"

" Yes Dr Duraid !" Hamza replied seriously .

"And we don't know how many more are there like these young men who must be consuming these pills ...." Dr Duraid sighed and took out his spectacles and rubbed his eyes as he added,

"Well we can look into the other cases but sadly I don't think we can do anything for this boy .."

"Dr Duraid you can't be serious about this ?How can we easily give up especially when it's a matter of someone's life and death .." Khaled said quickly .

"Khaled I understand from where  you are coming I know you want to try your best effort to save his life ...but you need to understand the situation we are in .If this was normal situation I would have allowed you but in a scenario where we are dealing with incessant casualties we can't afford to take a case which is outrightly hopeless.. this is where we need to act logically and pragmatically and I think I don't need to remind atleast you Khaled about logic and pragmatism.".

" Dr Duraid I know the situation we are in demands us to act logically and pragmatically but no logic or reason of mine can make me convince that in any situation priority of any life decreases.. but rather in a chaos we are dealing with where life of people is being narrowed to the value of zero in favour of power and wealth we need to stand up more vigorously giving our every bits to save lives ...to give value to every life ,cause to me every life is worth fighting for ..." Khaled said earnestly .

Hamza looked at Khaled in respect while Dr Duraid sighed and looking directly at Khaled said ,

"Khaled I don't need to remind you that every doctor and staff of Al Firdous has been working overtime giving their best and fighting for every life not even caring about their own health ....but you can't make me agree to make them go out of their way and deal with a case that's literally hopeless....I can't let my staff suffer because of your stubbornness ".

"I can't deem the case as hopeless until I have given my best ...and I am not asking any staff to work beyond overtime but I have got my team I am sure they won't back out .."

" Khaled what do you think your team is some kind of superheroes gang that don't get tired ,exhausted ?How can you be sure that they will agree with you and..." Before Dr Duraid could complete ,Hamza interrupted,

"Sorry to interrupt Dr Duraid but I am with Dr Khaled ...I am ready to work on this case .."

Khaled smiled gratefully at Hamza while Dr Duraid huffed in annoyance ,

"Well what can I say you are his friend you will obviously wanna take part in his stupidity ....but there are still four members of your team which I expect won't be stupid like you two .....so call them here I will discuss this matter right now, if they agree then you can deal with the case with this team otherwise you two will be sole carrier of this case and mind you Khaled you won't open your mouth because that mouth always voice out words that seemed to influence one immensely and end up agreeing with you which I do not want ...if they agree it should be by their own will and whims ....okay?"

Khaled gave a tight lipped smile while nodding his head in affirmative making Dr Duraid lightly chuckle as he said ,

"Okay Hamza you go call every member of your team ...if they are in OT we will deal with them later while Khaled you get those two boys who are with Yawar.. we need to examine them as what damage they have suffered..."

Khaled and Hamza nodding their head moved outside the room while Dr Duraid turned towards Dr Rasheed the radiologist of Al Firdous discussing the reports while gesturing the ward attendants to shift Yawar back to the ICU room.

___________________________________________

Blurred vision swiped to a clearer view as the eyes of Basit held on to the strings of light as he plunge out from the world of darkness and tentatively stepped into the realm of consciousness as his mind tried to conjure the mystery of what happened while looking at the white ceiling above him . Licking his chapped lips ,Basit rubbed his face with his hand making him wince as he touched his forehead and quickly sat up while pressing the wound on his head when he heard a feminine voice making him look at his right,

"Wait !You are not in a good condition to move ,you might again fall unconscious & not to forget that cut that needs to be bandaged" .Emaan said as she moved towards him with a cotton pad along with an disinfectant .

Basit looked at Emaan confusingly as he asked ,

"What happened ? "

"Well I should be asking this to you .I came out of the ward when I saw you pale and not in a good condition walking in the corridor and before I could reach.. you fell down unconscious .You do have a temperature but it's not so high to make you fall unconscious ....Have you eaten anything ..?." Emaan said as she dabbed the disinfectant into cotton.

Seeing tentative nod of Basit ,Emaan sighed before holding the cotton and disinfectant in her one hand and sliding her hand into her coat's pocket she took out a chocolate that she always kept for her little patients and handed out to him as she said while Basit looked at her confusingly .

"Eat it ..it will help you feel better and don't be reckless with your health you can't save people with an empty stomach .......and this is going to sting a bit .." Emaan said the last part looking at the cotton pad.

As she dabbed the cotton on the cut, Basit winced a bit before munching on chocolate while Emaan went on with the bandaging process when Basit said amusingly,

"What a twist of fate it is Dr Emaan!Once you had banged my head with a bat and now you are bandaging it ...just like life where sometimes people who have hurted you become your relief and people who gave you relief become the source of pain" Basit ended with a brooding look gracing his face.

Emaan blinked her eyes at the depth of the Basit's words yet still concentrating on bandaging she asked ,

"Are you alright ? "

Basit sighing nodded his head in affirmative when Emaan added as she moved back after completing bandaging ,

"You don't need to worry about Yawar ..Dr Khaled is seeing his case and he is the best doctor we have and  believe me he will give his very best to get Yawar alright...."

Basit smiled slightly as he rubbed his hands together when Emaan glanced at his hands before she said ,

" Since when your fingers have being so blueish in colours .?Do they cause any pain .?."

"No they don't pain...they are just because of cold I guess...I often forget to wear gloves and I am outside most of the times so that's why .."

Emaan nodded but still not satisfied and tentative she turned around not before giving a glance to blueish fingers of Basit .As she was preparing the syringe for giving a tetanus shot to Basit ,she heard him asking,

"Dr Emaan can I ask you something ?And please answer this question as a human not as a doctor .."

Emaan scrunched her eyebrows as she thought ,

What does he think doctors are inhuman or what ?

Look who's talking who calls Dr Khaled Dr Dracula

I will choke you one day ,you traitor heart

I am your heart ...if I die you also die

Just shut it ..

" I didn't mean to say doctors are not human I mean don't answer like a doctor would do ...okay .."

Emaan nodded her head while plunging the vial inside the syringe as Basit asked with sadness dominant in his voice ,

"How are we supposed to deal with the fear of losing our closed ones ?...How...how are we suppose to stay strong when we can't imagine our life without them....how to deal with so many emotions....especially pain..?"

Emaan stilled at her spot as she felt all her energy being evaporated away as her heart  eclipsed with gloom and pain .A gutwrenching agony slithered its way through her veins as she stumbled onto the words of Basit .How was she supposed to tell him when she couldn't fathom herself how to deal with that harrowing fear of living a life without loved ones ,how to deal with pain when she faltered at every step  .There was so many hows she had found herself tangled with then how was she suppose to calm someone else tremors when she couldn't clear away the wreckage of pain that the earthquake of her life had cause to splutter around.

"I am sorry Dr Emaan ...if you don't want to answer then it's fine I don't know why I asked you that ..."

Listening to Basit ,Emaan's bubble of reverie burst open making her stagger into the world of reality and heaving a sigh she turned around as she said ,

"To be honest it won't be easy ,it will be gut wrenchingly heartbreaking ...you might falter in your steps by the pain that will shoot through your heart ....but despite all this you must remember that every war that you will experience in your life Allah has already given you the weapons to fight them ...the weapons of trust & tawakkul ,patience and hope in HIS infinite mercy ...." Emaan stood before Basit and rubbing his arms with a cotton injected the syringe as she continued ,

"..and just like any weapons you won't become acquainted with them easily you will stumble and falter but as you continue practising them in your heart you will become good with handling these weapons . But despite these weapons you will still might get wounded ,stabbed ...have casualties but remember this despite any excruciating gashes and wounds you experience & receive in the wars of your life ..as long as you have trust in AR RAHMAN ..you will stand as victorious with a victory that will be beyond anyone's comprehension ".

Saying it ,Emaan withdrew the needle and pressed a cotton on the injected sight and moved to discard the needle into a puncture resistant sharp container .But as she was removing her gloves ,she heard Basit's voice ,

" Ma sha Allah Dr Emaan that was beautiful....you just drove away my every negative thoughts with just a click of your words..."

Khaled had walked back towards the ICU room only to find Abdul sitting on the bench while Basit was no where to be seen .And with Abdul also being oblivious to Basit's whereabouts ,Khaled directing Abdul towards the MRI and CT scan room had marched towards the corridor in search of Basit and as he was passing by the infirmary ,he heard the voice of Basit making him turn towards it but his moving steps towards infirmary had stilled at its door as he had came across another voice : the voice his heart could seem to recognise even amidst clamour and hubbub of noises : the voice of Emaan. And it wasn't just her voice ,the real magic was her words and thoughts that she weaved effortlessly in the threads of her sweet voice and making its refuge into the hearts and unknowingly becoming the panacea of wounded souls. Khaled couldn't fathom the dichotomy that Emaan caused to reign in his heart : she was the one that created storms inside him and she was one that calmed them ,she was the one that plundered the walls around his heart and she was the one that let the light glimmer on those cracked walls bringing a dawn to that enclosed world that was accustomed to the dark night  . But his spulttering thoughts came to a conclusion as he again heard Basit ,

"...you know what if my mother was here and she would have met and heard  you she would have definitely had said this ' 'Ant madat zawjat mthalia' "

( You are a perfect wife material )

Hearing Basit's words, anger soared through Khaled's entire being as he clenched his jaws and fisted his hands hard turning his knuckles into sheer white and entered inside the infirmary while a thought boomed in his mind,

And you are a perfect punching bag material ...

Emaan stood confused at the words of Basit and before she could ask him it's meaning ,Khaled entered inside the infirmary in a not so good mood making Emaan gulp hard and forget about all her questions and thoughts in mere seconds .

While all the amusement of Basit whiffed away as he saw Khaled and asked him instantly ,

"Is Yawar alright Khaled ?"

Khaled gulping down his anger nodded his head as he said ,

"In sha Allah ...but what happened to your forehead ?Are you fine ?"

"Yeah I am fine ...just fell somehow but Dr Emaan did the drill so I am fine ..."

Controlling the rage that had spurt again remembering his words ,Khaled nodded as he said ,

"Okay good but right now I need you to come with me for your CT scan and MRI....would you be able to walk by yourself "

Basit nodded and stood up holding the cotton on his injected area of arm and moved out of the infirmary while Emaan's eyes widen as she saw the crumbled reports kept on the console table near Khaled and prayed in her heart that Khaled doesn't see it and as soon as Khaled followed Basit out ,she moved to grab it when Khaled suddenly turned around as he said  ,

"Dr Emaan you also need to come with us .." Emaan nodded her head fervently while trying to hide the crumbled test reports while praying ,

Ya Allah don't let Dr Khaled see it ...

But eventually Khaled's eyes fell on the crumbled papers that Emaan discreetly tried to hide behind her making him reminiscence his actions and resurgence of burning feelings and embarassment altogether but clearing his throat he said ,

"So are you coming ?"

Emaan nodded and followed him while whispering gratitude to Almighty for letting not Khaled see the reports and saving her from his wrath.

__________________________________________

Khaled and Emaan entered the monitor room to see all team members already present there and as soon as Hamza saw Emaan entering behind Khaled ,he quirked his eyebrows at Khaled while smirking ,earning an annoyed look from Khaled who eventually shifted his gaze  making it fall on Albert who seemed to be grinning widely looking at Emaan causing Khaled to glare at him, making Albert look down sheepishly .

Khaled came out of his glaring stupor when he heard Dr Duraid ,

"Rasheed you monitor Abdul's scaning ... I will join you in a bit ....." Saying it ,Dr Duraid turned on his office chair and looked at Khaled as he said ,

"Khaled you have told Basit everything about CT scan and MRI process ...he isn't scared right ?...."

Khaled nodded as he said ,

"Yeah he is fine ...he is already in the room just having his blood pressure checked ..."

"Okay good....so let me get to the straight point" Dr Duraid looked at all the team members as he continued,

"....early in the morning a young man named Yawar was admitted on the pretext he was vomiting blood and from the reports we got to know he has been consuming hunger reducing pills containing harmful chemicals which has caused extreme severe damages to his vital organs ......and it's sad to say his chances of survival are very low but your head Dr Khaled still want to take those negligible chances of saving the life of Yawar ....but seeing doctors and staffs already being overworked I can't let them suffer more....but he says his team will be enough so the point of me calling you all here is to answer me would you want to work on this case or not? And answer this without any fear or hesitation and no one will judge as we all know how earnestly you all have been working ...okay! ..."

Yamama and Sidra looked at eachother while Emaan pursing her lips for a moment instantly said ,

"I will like to work on this case " .

Dr Duraid quirked his eyebrows as he said,

"Dr Emaan don't tell me Dr Khaled pressurised you while bringing you here .. " Khaled frowned and was about to interrupt when Dr Duraid raised his palm at him as he continued ,

" You don't need to take this decision because of someone else because it involves your well being...which is the last thing I want you to compromise .."

"Dr Duraid I am not saying this because of any pressure or fear ....it just that when Allah has chosen us to be blessed with a knowledge where we can be a medium in saving lives I cannot back out just because chances of survival is low  cause AR Rahman can turn impossible to possible but for that we need to make an effort...and to me every life is worth fighting to our last breath no matter what are the chances ..cause it's not just about one life it also about every lives associated with him/her ..it's not about saving one life it's about preventing breaking of many other who will die several death in loss of one person ....and I know Allah is the one who gives & takes life but as a doctor we should atleast play our part and I just wanna do that..."

Enarmoured and enchanted were the words that decribed the condition of Khaled as he tried to control the smile that seemed too impertinent to be controlled and soothe his staggering heart that thudded rapidly like the swift river as the beauty of Emaan's words left him in pure awe .

Dr Duraid heaved a sigh and smiled slightly as he said ,

"Well Khaled I think you just found your soulmate-in views..it's amazing how much similar yours and Dr Emaan's views are about saving lives and not to forget magic of words ..."

Khaled coughed slightly while Emaan wide eyed looked at Dr Duraid before looking down in embarassment with her cheeks tinging slightly while Hamza grinned as he said ,

"You are SO right Dr Duraid !I think so too..." Hamza ended looking at Khaled who smiled yet held a deathly glare in his eyes making Hamza purse his erupting grin.

" I and Sidra would also like  to join in this case " .Yamama said quickly while Sidra nodded her head in affirmative .

"Same here Dr Duraid I would also work on this case .." Albert added.

Dr Duraid sighed as he said ,

" Well if you are agreeing on your own will then I can't do anything but let you deal with the case ...Khaled your team is just like you crazy but inspirational .And also let me remind you the case shouldn't come in between with your assigned duties ...I don't want no compromise there if you want to save one life do it but not on the cost of other lives ...is that clear? ..."

Seeing everyone's nod ,Dr Duraid nodded back as he continued ,

"Okay now you can leave for your duties ....Khaled I will send these boys reports to you later ...okay..?."

Nodding their heads ,Khaled and his team walked out of the room. And as soon they were outside ,Khaled quickly addressed them ,

"Okay apart from Dr Albert none of you are assigned night duty so I want you all in my office sharp at eleven of night as by that time you all will be free and we will have all the reports needed to guide us and help us in dealing with this case .Dr Albert you will remain on duty as like Dr Duraid said no compromises on our assigned duties...okay!"

Albert nodded with sadness gracing his face but before he could say anything ,a ward attendant came out of the monitor room and handed out some reports to Khaled.Seeing this as an opportunity, Yamama looked at Hamza as she said in annoyance ,

"Dr Hamza what were you thinking when you crushed the test reports .." Yamama said while gesturing Emaan to give her the reports and taking it from Emaan ,she flaunted it before Hamza as she continued ,

"How do you think Emaan will show this to patient's parents?".

Hamza looked at the reports with confusion before the realisation crawled upon his mind making him glance at Khaled for a moment who though was looking at the reports but his concentration flickered between the reports he was seeing and the reports Hamza held .Curbing his smile ,Hamza said ,

" Sorry to say I am not responsible for this condition of these reports ..someone else was... but I don't know who ?" . Hamza looked at Khaled smirking making Khaled roll his eyes at him and gave back the reports to ward attendant who went back to the room taking it.

"Who could be so stupid to do something like this  to test reports ?" Emaan said whiningly.

Khaled coughed lightly at the words of Emaan making everyone turn to look at him while Hamza smirked looking at Khaled whereas Emaan's mind blinked with a numerous thoughts ,

Isn't he coughing too much today ?Is his cold getting worse ....as he taken medicines....why do I care ? I don't care about him ?I don't need to care about him?

Influenced by her thoughts ,Emaan took the reports from Hamza as she said ,

" I think we should leave ..got patients to see.."

Saying it ,Emaan walked away followed by Yamama & Albert while Hamza wiggled his eyebrows at Khaled making Khaled whisper incoherent words under his breath before marching out . Hamza chuckled lightly while looking at Khaled's retreating back but remembering something he looked around only to be left disappointed as he found Sidra had also gone .He huffed in annoyance as he deeply regretted for letting his anger dominate him .He wanted to apologise to Sidra ,to mend their unhinged relationship ,to build a bridge between their hearts ,a bridge that was made of love ,care and trust  ...but the gulf between their hearts seemed to him so wide that the bridge seemed to falter everytime he tried to reach its end point : her heart. Sighing he turned around and walked through the hallway when he felt he saw a figure in the adjacent passage he had passed by, making him look back to find Sidra standing against the wall with her bowed head and hands behind her back  .As he moved towards her ,Sidra looked up and before he could voice out his apprehension ,Sidra began ,

"I am sorry Hamza I didn't meant any of those things !You know me I say things but the probability of them being coming from my heart is very low and in your case probability was zero ...see I call you chimpanzee but I don't mean it I mean you act like one sometimes but that doesn't mean you are a one though science says our ancestors were monkeys but we know that's hardly true only Allah knows whats real or imaginary ...okay I know I am digressing but you also shouldn't have called me an Orangutan ...like they are so hairy and though they also creation of Allah and I shouldn't make fun of them but still...."

"Duck and chicken are fighting.." Hamza spoke in between while hiding his smirk.

"..yes that also duck and chicken are fighting and.....what ?Where did they come from ?" Sidra asked scrunching her eyebrows.

Hamza grinned as he said shrugging ,

"Well they came to stop your train of rants.."

Sidra made an annoyed face at Hamza making him add quickly,

"Okay I am sorry too ,I also didn't meant anything I said earlier ..."

Listening to Hamza ,Sidra grinned widely as she asked ,

"Really ?" Seeing Hamza nod while smiling ,Sidra stretched out her hand for handshake as she said ,

"So friends ?" .

Can we be more than friends!

Hamza nodded while shaking her hand making Sidra mentally sigh in relief as she felt a heavy burden lifted off her as the wind of happiness blew in her entire being at the success  of her apology and finally seeing a glimmer of hope of getting her drowning love story at its shore .

But she was unaware that it was not the sorry but the smile : the upward curve on her lips that carved the way through Hamza's heart ,that had always carved it's way through his heart making him fall in love with her over and over again ...the smile that made him plunge into sea of chaos and trouble she was and daring him to just stay in it or drown in it but never come out of it.

Being entranced in the magic of her smile ,Hamza pulled Sidra closer to him by her hand he was holding making Sidra look at him with confusion but seeing the playful smile gracing his lips ,she grinned back at him with happiness and mirth dancing in her entire being when Hamza tentatively started to lean towards her but before waves of love could reach its shore ,the dimly lit corridor was enlightened with all the lights of corridor making Sidra lightly squeal in happiness before she said ,

"Alhamdulillah !alhamdulillah! Electricity came Hamza now finally I can charge my cell phone !I will see you later ..."

Saying it ,Sidra ran away with happiness and joy circulating in her heart especially excitement to narrate her successful apology mission to her best chums.While Hamza sighed looking at the retreating figure of Sidra and then looking around the enlightened corridor in annoyance as he whispered ,

"Curse you light man !Couldn't you just wait for five minutes ..someone should surely give you the Worst Timing Award & not to forget Best Fly in the Soup Award". Saying it ,Hamza sauntered away with a sour look gracing his face .

__________________________________________

After uttering salam, Emaan and Yamama awkwardly smiled at Sami and at his mother before Emaan heaving a sigh opened the file and looked at the crushed reports she had kept in them along with other reports of Sami while coming to the ward and wetting her lips she took out the reports as Yamama said ,

"Hadhih takarir aikhtibar Sami! Alhamdulillah natayijih jayidatan wakulu shay' ealaa ma yaram.." 

(These are Sami's test reports !Alhamdulillah his results are fine and everything is normal ...)

Sami's mother nodded with tearful eyes and quickly kissed Sami's face lovingly but his father who had just came skeptically looked at the reports before he said ,

"Those papers are my son's reports?".

" Ah...yes...actually...." Before Emaan could complete ,she heard Khaled's voice as he came and stood next to her as he said  ,

"Dr Emaan these are the reports for you .." Emaan looked at the crushed reports Khaled was handing out making her internally fret over getting another crumbled reports yet tentatively she took it but was left confused finding it blank .Emaan looked back at Khaled to find him looking at Sami's father as he said ,

"Our printer is acting a little weird ...some technical default because of which reports papers get stuck and in the process of getting them out they end up like this !Sorry for the inconvenience Sir but as soon as it gets alright and electricity comes again ...we will get you new reports  .."

Sami's father nodded and took the file from Emaan who coming out of her shock and controlling her grin by pursing her lips handed out the reports .As they moved away from them,Yamama gleefully whispered ,

"That was amazing Dr Khaled !Jazakallah khair you saved us specifically Emaan...isn't it Emaan?"

Emaan nodded her head as she said ,

"Jazakallah khair Doctor .."

"You see I am not stupid  .... wa antum fa jazakillahu khairan.."

Saying it ,Khaled sauntered out while Emaan scrunched her nose as she whispered to Yamama ,

"Why is he so confusing .?He reminds me of chemical equations that no matter how much I tried I always failed to balance them...he is same like them as no matter how much I try to understand his personality ,something new pops up and I end up imbalancing every thing that I learnt about him and somehow making him more annoyed with me "

Yamama frowned at Emaan as he said  ,

"Seriously Emaan in this world filled with beautiful things you had to compare Dr Khaled with boring chemical equations ....well for you he must be chemical equations to me he seems like gravity that makes me fall for him over and over again...."

Emaan quirked her eyebrows before smirking as she said,

"Okay so I have seen human version of gravity ,I am seeing human version of apple now only Newton is left to complete this love story trapped in physics ..." Yamama's grin turned into a scowl as she looked at the teasing grin of Emaan but before she could say anything electricity came causing all the lights of ward to light up making everyone whisper words of gratitude to Lord along with sighs of relief .

Helping Emaan dealing with language probelm with some of the patients and their relatives ,Yamama was about to leave the ward when Sidra sprinted inside the ward grabbing everyone's attention but ignorant of various eyes on her as intoxicated in her own happiness ,Sidra quickly held the hands of Emaan and Yamama & taking them at the corner of ward said excitedly ,

"You won't believe what happened !My mission of making apology was successful and you know what even Hamza was regretful of his words and he said he didn't meant any of those words and he smiled at me ...Allah! his cute smile.. "

Yamama and Emaan smiled looking at her and then glanced at each other with happiness shining in their eyes and prayers for their friend in their hearts .

"You know we are friends now so that means he doesn't think of me as an enemy and that means he doesn't hates me and you know we shook hands and then he pulled me while smiling cutely and started to lean wh.......OH MY ALLAH I MISSED MY FIRST KISS....HOW CAN I...." Emaan wide eyed clamped the mouth of Sidra while looking around along with Yamama over the ward where some people looked at them with curiosity while some with annoyance .

Smiling appeasingly at them ,Emaan and Yamama looked back at Sidra who tried to remove Emaan's hand but seeing the glares of Emaan ,she let her hands rest at her either side. Still clamping her mouth ,Emaan and Yamama made Sidra move out of the ward while smiling awkwardly at the people in the ward. And as soon as they were out of the ward ,Yamama whispered yelled ,

"Are you stupid Sidra ? Shouting like that what they will think ?"

Sidra removed Emaan's hand as she said whinningly,

"Yes.. I am stupid and my stupidity made me miss my first kiss .I was so dumb and so overexcited to tell you two that we reconciled that I didn't paid attention ...."

Saying it ,Sidra whined again and embraced Emaan while sniffing .Emaan rubbed her back calmly and wanting to make Sidra feel better she said,

"Maybe you didn't missed your first kiss maybe Dr Hamza was leaning to hug you or to remove something that was on your hijab.."

Yamama gave an incredulous look to Emaan while Sidra moved back and sniffed as she said ,

"You mean to say Emaan I missed both hug and a kiss or that I am not kiss worthy.." Saying it ,Sidra made a crying face and again embraced Emaan who looked at Yamama for help .

Yamama head slapped herself in annoyance as she said,

"Allah ! Allah! What variety of friends I have ....one is too naive to know about romance and one is too overexcited about romance ..."

Sidra quirked her eyebrows and breaking away from the embrace of Emaan said ,

"Don't you dare say anything you sister of rudeness ...as you were responsible for disturbing my morning romance .Today Allah gave me two opportunities one I missed because of myself but other one was because of you....so don't say anything ....you know I will take my revenge just like pimples that spurts out at important occasions I will also spurt out at the important occasions of your romance ..you just wait"

Emaan clamped her mouth to stop herself from chuckling as Yamama glared at her but seeing the matter was becoming out of control ,Emaan said ,

"Well let's try to see the positive side of the situation if Dr Hamza was about ...about to do what you say ...then it means he has feelings for you as I don't think he is a person who goes on doing something like that without having affection for the other party and he surely feels for you ...so you see your love is not an unrequited one actually .." Sidra looked at Emaan as her words dawned a realisation making Sidra's eyes glisten with happiness but as she was about to squeal both Yamama and Emaan clamped her mouth nodding in negative making Sidra nod back at them and removing their hands she grinned at them as she whispered in a cheering tone ,

"Hamza has feelings for me..Hamza has feelings for me ..Hamza has feelings for me.."

Emaan and Yamama chuckled before taking Sidra in a group hug but their embrace of celebration came to an end when they heard clearing of throats and as they broke the hug & looked back ,they saw some nurses of pediatric ward standing at the door while staring at them with curiosity making all the trio gulp hard before looking at eachother as they knew it was going to be an onerous task to cover up for the mess Sidra had spluttered in her excitement .

___________________________________________

Hamza was walking towards Khaled's office for their assigned meeting on Yawar's case when he heard Albert calling him from behind making him turn towards him with annoyance settled on his face unhesitatingly .Seeing his expression ,Albert raised his eyebrows before he said ,

"Woah what happened to you ?Whole hospital is again sparkling with lights but why the bulb of your face seems to fused off ?"

Hamza groaned in annoyance as he said ,

"If you want to go gala over the lights and return of electricity then find someone else"

Saying it ,Hamza turned around and marched ahead while cursing the lights whereas Albert frowned at him before following him as he said ,

"Okay wait !I don't want to talk about lights .I want you to help me in making Dr Khaled agree in letting me attend this meeting and work on this case with you all..."

Hamza stopped in his track and looked at Albert as he said ,

"You are already working with us on this case and about attending the meeting you are already aware of what Dr Duraid had ordered us about no compromises with our assigned duties so there is no chance Khaled will agree with you ...and if you are so enthusiastic about working on this case you can help after your shift hours gets over ..i.e in morning..." Saying it ,Hamza moved ahead when Albert walking beside him said ,

"Man you are not understanding I want to work along with Dr Emaan ..in morning her shift hours will begin so I won't get the chance...are you getting me ?" Albert said rubbing his neck.

Hamza stopped and exhaled a exasperated sigh as he said ,

"Albert have you lost your mind? Why can't you understand she is a practising muslimah .She doesn't like this flirting and all..she doesn't even looks at you and if there was an award for best ignoring she would have hands down won that as thats how flawlessly she ignores you ...so stop this act of flirting with her cause if you don't you will end up getting punched by Sidra or Khaled for sure.." Hamza whispered the last part to himself but Albert didn't seem to hear it as he said ,

"Man trust me it's not flirting this time ..." Hamza rolled his eyes at Albert but still Albert continued ,

"....it's new ...I have never felt such thing and I want to spend some time with her to understand what this feeling is? ....I don't have any wrong intention ,you know even my flirting is never done with a wrong intention then how I can it be this time when I am not flirting...see I believe she could be the one ...the light I need in my life ...."

Hamza groaned as he said ,

" First of all what is this your sudden stupid obesession with lights and more importantly this is not some novel where a girl should become a light of your so called darkness .I mean why should anyone become someone's light ...use your own flashlight and come out of that dark yourself and I said earlier and I am again repeating she is a practising muslimah so buzz off because if Khaled comes to know of this it won't be good for you ".

"What do you mean? Does Dr Khaled has some feelings for Dr Emaan..?"

"Yes..I mean no ..I don't know I didn't mean that ...what I mean is you know how Khaled abhors this way of your behaving with female doctors so just saying for your own very good.. back off..".

Saying it ,Hamza marched with quick steps towards Khaled's office while Albert watched him with a sullen expression.

___________________________________________

Emaan ,Sidra and Yamama were standing outside the office of Khaled waiting for others when seeing Emaan stifling a yawn Yamama smiled weakly before she said with a thoughtful expression,

"Yeah I feel tired too ..but you know what I was thinking from today onwards I will be waiting and praying for that day more than Sidra when Dr Hamza will decide to reveal about their marital relationship.. cause seriously.!. I literally felt drained out in making Leyla and others believe that what you said was not first kiss but first dish ..your so called breakfast ...you missed your first food of the day thats why you shouted in agitation .Allah !making them believe was like bull fighting as any slip and we will be gone.I don't how they believed, either they are too naive or we are too good in explaining...but next time Sidra please keep your excitement in control because you are so excited without being kissed I don't know what will you do when it will really happen.."

Sidra twisted her face in annoyance while her face turned scarlet in embarassment but curbing her bashfulness she said ,

"Don't worry I have already planned out what I will do after my first dream kiss ...." Sidra ended with a dreamy sigh .

Yamama grinned shaking her head while Emaan coughed in a teasing manner as she said ,

"Oh really Sidra ...!"

Sidra quirked her eyebrows at Emaan who looked back at her with a teasing smile before she said ,

"My dear Emaan aren't you coughing a lot ,infact today even Dr Khaled seems to follow you in this regard.Don't tell me you two are also 'soulmate in coughing' apart from 'soulmate of same views' as Dr Duraid said ..."

Sidra ended with a smirk making Emaan's teasing expression instantly somersault into expressions of shock and embarassment but before she could say anything in protest ,Yamama slapped Sidra's arm making her wince and glare at her as Yamama said ,

"Stupid why are you teasing Emaan with Dr Khaled ?Did your mind went on a temporary shut down or what?"

"You deserve it for ruining my morning romance ! This is my way of taking revenge from you ...".Sidra said grinning devilishly making Yamama roll her eyes at her .

"What is this Sidra if you have to make Dr Hamza jealous you use me ,if you have to take revenge with Yamama ..you use me...what exactly am I to you ?" Emaan said while pouting .

" You my habibti are my secret weapon that Allah blessed me...you ...." But Sidra stopped abruptly as she saw Hamza coming along with Khaled making her cheeks tinge as she whispered ,

" Oh my Allah ..Hamza has feelings for me ,Hamza has feelings for me...."

"Stop that or else the chances are that feelings will fly out of the window seeing your crazyness.." Yamama said sarcastically .

A giggle erupted from Emaan but it quickly turn into coughs at Sidra's menancing glares but seeing Hamza and Khaled reaching near them ,Sidra smirked and whispered in a singing tone,

"Soulmate in coughing"

Yamama glared at Sidra while Emaan wide eyed coughed more and her cheeks wrapped themselves in pinkish cloak, silently articulating that their owner was embarassed and shy while Sidra smirked being able to hit two birds with two stone.

Walking towards his office Khaled had met Hamza along the way who hadn't left any moment to irritate the life out of him with his matchmaking attitude and narrating him about the intentions of Albert causing his heart to constrict with rage and annoyance but eventually making Khaled more determined to avoid Emaan .But as he was about to reach his office ,he heard the sound of coughing making him look up and that was it :his entire resolution decimated as his mind breeded with thoughts of concern & surfing over the waves of worry about Emaan's health and then eventually collapsing as the realisation hit him hard making him recoil back to his mission of avoidance .But this momentary flickering of emotions wasn't unnoticed by Hamza who keenly watched his expressions and as Khaled looked at his right only to find him smirking making Khaled sigh in annoyance and quickly moved to open the office door while addressing to the female doctors of his team ,

"Office was open !You all didn't had to wait outside for us...next time just enter ..."

The trio nodding their heads entered inside the office followed by Khaled and Hamza .As they settled on respective chairs ,Khaled spread out all the reports of Yawar they had received and immediately began their meeting to find a way to save Yawar's life .After one hour of discussion they had derived on various conclusions but every way seemed to be precarious and its success rate tentative. As Khaled turned from the board where he had written down various treatment ways to find everyone bit drowsy and Emaan who was rubbing her eyes quickly dropped her hands back on table seeing him turn .Khaled sighing capped the marker he was holding and picking up the telephone's handset and keeping the marker on side was about to dial the number when they heard the office's door open and Albert entering inside with six cups of coffees.

Khaled quirked his eyebrows at Albert who sheepishly smiling at him said ,

"I was taking a mini break and thought of getting coffee for myself but then I decided of bringing coffees for all of my team members .."

Before Khaled could reply ,Sidra stood up and taking a cup from the tray Albert was holding  said ,

"Bless you Dr Albert for the first time you have done something worthwhile for a change .Ma sha Allah now be like this only...actually I think you should have opened the coffee shop that would have been more suitable job for you ..."

Albert gave a bored look to Sidra before moving to offer the coffee to others .After giving it to everyone ,Albert handed out the last cup to Emaan as he said ,

"Coffee for beautiful Mademoiselle"

Khaled looked up from his coffee but before he could say anything ,Emaan replied ,

"No thank you Dr Albert !I don't like coffee ...".

Khaled frowned more as a thought resided on the shore of his conscious ,

So that means she didn't drink the coffee I gave her on that night !! Knew it was a stupid thing to do ..

Khaled came out of his web of thoughts when he heard Férid knock at the door while saying ,

"Dr Khaled these are the new reports Dr Duraid has sent for the patient whose surgery is tomorrow please see it....he wants it back now.."

Khaled seeing the table already being spluttered with reports and not wanting to mix the reports of Yawar with other patient ,he gestured Férid to enter inside  and taking the reports from him he whispered something to Férid who nodding at him marched out of the office while Khaled went and sat on the sofa and concentrated on reading the reports .

Albert diverting his attention back to Emaan said ,

"Dr Emaan you look exhausted I think you should have coffee and sometimes you see we must try things we dislike cause we might end up loving them ...."

Hamza mentally sighed but he stopped himself from speaking anything as his eyes fell on Khaled and tried to gauge his reaction who acted nonchalant yet internally fire of rage was fuming inside him which Khaled tried to simmer down with the simmering coffee.

"No thank you Dr Albert ,I don't want to try .."

"..Okay as you say Dr Emaan ...but you can't deny we have a some kind of connection..see you were feeling tired and my heart signalled to bring you coffee though you don't drink coffee but if I had known I would have gotten something else for you" Albert said slowly not wanting Khaled to hear .

Emaan scowled hearing him but pretended to ignore him when Sidra said smiling,

"Yes I too agree with you Dr Albert you and Emaan share a connection .. " Emaan looked at Sidra incredulously while Sidra continued ,

"..just like birthday candles and pickles.."

Albert frowned along with everyone at Sidra's words before he said ,

"What connection candles and pickles have .?."

"Nothing ....just like you and Emaan have..a connection called nothing.."

Everyone chuckled at Sidra's words while Khaled finally checking all the reports and keeping the empty cup on table,stood up and moved towards his table with annoyance galiantly refuging on his face but his annoyance flickered off for a moment as his eyes accidently fell on Emaan as she was stifling a yawn making him blow out a breath and picking up the cup of coffee Albert was offering to Emaan and nonchanlantly taking a sip from it, he said while his eyes being focussed on Yawar's reports on table ,

"Dr Albert if you are done with your social service would you kindly find your way out of the office or do you want me to practically show you..?" Khaled said the last sentence looking straight at Albert making him gulp hard before nodding and smiling awkwardly ,he stood up but before he could leave ,Khaled added,

"..And next time Dr Albert if you again get possess by a grandma kind of a jinn who's too ardent in making people eat and drink things then keep your grandmotherly love limited to canteen and male staff... getting me? ..."

Albert twisted his face as others grinned at him and turned around to leave when Férid entered in the office with Kehvah in his hands and quickly gave it to Khaled who smiling back at him in gratitude took it and kept it on table before Emaan as he said ,

"Drink it Dr Emaan it's Kehvah not coffee ..it will aid you with your exhaustion and help you to concentrate on the case more..."

Listening to Khaled ,Emaan looked at him confusingly and then back at the cup before nodding and picking it up tentatively while her heart bloomed and somersaulted weirdly causing her lips to curve upward but pressing her lips together she looked at Sidra and Yamama who carried happy and thoughtful expressions respectively while Hamza held a meaningful grin plastered on his face as he said ,

"Well that's really thoughtful of you Khaled. Wallah! none of us can deny that we have a very caring team head ...don't we Dr Emaan ?"

Khaled deathly glared at Hamza while Emaan shocked at being addressed all of a sudden seemed to feel like a fish out of water that kept closing and opening her mouth as her eyes shifted from Yamama and Sidra who looked confused as well but ending to all this confusion wreck ,Khaled said gritting his teeth,

"Dr Hamza I will prefer if you focus your  attention on the case rather than on unnecessary things.."

"I was jut appreciating..." Hamza said shrugging .

"Your appreciation is not needed dedication is needed Dr Hamza so you better focus on that .."

Sidra glared at Khaled while muttering incoherent words under her breath while Yamama sitting next to her poked her sides causing Sidra to shift her glare towards Yamama .

While Khaled looking up from the reports addressed to Férid,

"JazakAllah khair Férid I have checked the reports you can take them back ..."

Férid nodding at him, picked up the reports from the table and walked out of the office followed by annoyed Albert who looking at the closed office door muttered under his breath,

"I am possess by a jinn then what he is possess by for getting Kehvah for Dr Emaan..Jerk won't have his own love story and won't let anybody have their own.."

"Where were we ..?" Khaled spoke intiating again their discussion on Yawar's case but Emaan despite her ardent concentration she tried to pay on the discussion yet she couldn't ignore the dawn of varied emotions that had erupted through Khaled's act, painting the entire canvas of her heart with so many colours that she couldn't fathom whether she was to remain in awe or to decipher what each colour meant .

___________________________________________

After their meeting ,the trio had walked back to their office to get some sleep when Emaan remembered about Yaseen and wanting to make sure she had slept and was not waiting up for her , she quickly informing Sidra and Yamama about it, had walked towards the infant's ward . Her feet moved towards her destination but her mind kept journeying back to Khaled and his actions. His actions, his words confused her, they weaved a enigma but despite all the confusion and mystery, he also ended up blooming her heart with poetry of emotions eroding away any ill feelings she forced herself to harbour for him .He manipulated the strings of her heart to beat a rhythm unknown and unprecedented to her . Annoyed and tired ,Emaan closing her eyes and taking deep breaths to clear her thoughts with dhikr on her lips walked inside the ward  to find Yaseen wide awake lying on her bed .

In order to avoid the lame remarks and teasing smiles of Hamza ,Khaled had walked out of the office on the pretext of checking up on Yawar and his men with a hope that his retarded friend would fall asleep until he comes back .He was walking towards  Yawar's room playing with the pager in his hand when his gaze travelled to his right corridor only to find Emaan taking deep breaths while whispering something before entering infant ward .Khaled scrunched his eyebrows and fearing for some emergency ,he marched towards it but to his confusion ,the ward was in complete silence and there was no sign of Emaan except for few nurses  .Khaled lowering his head walked inside the ward with silent steps as not to wake up the infants while the nurses being a bit confused as not used to seeing him in the ward at this time of hour smiled and blushed looking at him .Though oblivious to all this effect ,Khaled was only focussed on finding Emaan and as he entered the third section of ward ,his eyes found its oasis and his lips curved into a smile as he saw the scene unfolding before him.

Yaseen's blindness had caused her other senses  to become more active and swift making her recognise and distinguish between different smell and touches and as soon as she had realised about the presence of Emaan, she instantly hugged her making Emaan grin and embrace her back with love. But before she could say anything ,Yaseen began to complain,

"You late Emaan ,school late I get punishment ...so you punishment tell two stories now.."

"Aye aye my little captain but will you listen to me if I say next time don't stay up for me as I am going to be a bit busy nowadays at night and good babies don't stay up late and my Yaseen is a very good baby ...isn't she ?"

"I am not baby I am big girl..."Yaseen said pouting while moving back from the embrace .

Emaan bit her lips to stop herself from chuckling before she said ,

"Okay I am sorry my big girl !Yaseen is a very good girl she will sleep on time wouldn't she ?"

Yaseen nodded her head as she said ,

"Yes I will baby girl "

Emaan quirked her eyebrows while controlling her grin as she said ,

"Okay you are a big girl but I am your baby girl ...like how ?" Emaan holding Yaseen's hand sat infront of her.

Yaseen clicked her tongue while shaking her head as she said ,

" Ohho madha sa 'afeal mae hadhih alfata!(What I will do with this girl!) ..I say baby in love you say baby me small...I not small..."

Emaan shook her head at the logic when she heard clearing of throat causing a shiver run down her and her heart to race inside her rib cage just like a bird fluttering inside the cage wanting to flew out. Yaseen holding Emaan's wrist scrunched her nose as she noticed the sudden increase in her heartbeat making her ask,

"Emaan what happen? Why your heart beat high ? Who there?".

Emaan wide eyed looked at Yaseen but before she could compile any reply ,Khaled walked closer with his hands casually stuffed in his pocket as he said while smiling,

"Yaseen Its me Khaled ..."

"Khaled Akhi !You also here..you will also tell me stories?" Yaseen asked excitedly.

Emaan scrunched her eyebrows as she whispered to Yaseen,

"You know him?"Seeing her nod ,Emaan added ,

"But you never told me ?"

"You are a good girl and good girl don't talk about big boys.."

Emaan gravely felt vanishing from that place in that instant as Yaseen loudly worded out the words of her utter embarassment .She turned her face sideways as her eyes darted upwards as she thought while pouting ,

Ya Allah why this happens with me only ...and what is he doing here please make him go away from here..please please..

But Emaan came out of her thoughts when she heard Khaled ,

"Dr Emaan you were suppose to go back to your office for taking rest ,what are you doing here?...

Is he being caring

"Don't tell me you want to end up  unconscious again like your first day?"

No he is being rude

"I was going only I just came to check up on Yaseen.."

"And tell me stories "Yaseen added gleefully.

"Well Dr Eman you can go and take rest I will tell Yaseen stories"

Shocked and confused at Khaled's words ,Emaan asked skeptically ,

"You will tell ?"

Khaled frowned and looking up said ,

"Why? Can't I narrate a story ?"

"No I didn't meant that ! I mean I can do it and I won't fall unconscious".

"Well I don't want to take any chances and as much as I can remember this is a hospital and I am your head here so you are obliged to follow my orders and also Yaseen deserves to hear better stories .."Khaled ended with smirk as he sat down on the bench across the other side of bed.

Emaan frowned in annoyance as she said ,

"What does that mean ? I tell awesome stories" .

"Well that's for Yaseen to decide and she could only do that after she hears from me ..isn't that Yaseen..?" Khaled said looking at Yaseen though he could sense the anger fuming from the other person sitting next to her .

Before Emaan retort back ,Yaseen nodded her head fervently before saying ,

"Yes story competition "

Seeing Yaseen's excitement ,Emaan's shoulder slumped in disappointment  before she smiled and kissing Yaseen's hands ,she walked out of the ward .

Khaled smiled to himself as Emaan walked out fuming and moving his bench closer to Yaseen's bed ,Khaled asked,

"So Princess Yaseen what story would you like to hear....want to hear the story of Prophet Yusuf?

Yaseen smiled nodding her head before she said ,

"Yes...you know Emaan going to narrate story of Prophet Yusuf today ...you same same.."

Khaled smiled looking at the grinning face of Yaseen before beginning to narrate the story of Prophet Yusuf.

Anger and annoyance dominated Emaan's conscious as she walked towards her office. Gritting her teeth she whispered to herself ,

"First Mr & Mrs Rahman then Abida and Adila and now Yaseen ...Why is he keen on hijacking every person I adore ...khadoos stupid self obesessed Karela ".

( Rude stupid self obsessed bittergourd )

Indulged in her rants ,Emaan was walking when she heard howls and cries from the adjacent corridor making her steps to still and move towards its direction to see a woman crying hysterically while her surrounding people tried to calm her . Tears had already formed in Emaan's eyes as she walked up to them, knowing quite well the pain and sorrow that vociferated from the woman's heart was the echo of agony felt due to the hollowness created by the demise of a loved one .She stood next to a nurse standing near them who looked at Emaan before looking back at woman as she whispered ,

"Poor woman !two days before her husband died and today her son ..."

Emaan pursed her lips which had wobbled at the pain of the woman. She felt she was seeing a mirror of herself in that woman..losing everything and being bereft of every happiness of life in mere moments. Like suddenly finding oneself  stranded alone in the vast sea among predators preying around .She felt helpless at the woman's pain just like she had always felt whenever she had seen people going through this trauma called death. It was weird that death was the option she often thought as a remedy of her pain but when she saw others going through that pain she abhorred death ,she abhorred being able to do nothing but be a bystander to a someone's pain because there was nothing she could do to fill that hollow, to lessen that anguish and she knew it well because she couldn't herself fill that hollow residing in her heart  .

Exhaling hard ,Emaan walked out as she saw woman's family consoling her .Though her steps moved towards her office her mind seemed to be lost in the valleys of pain and agony. When she was a kid ,she hated seeing people in pain so she thought becoming a doctor would solve all problems, she could bandage all the pain and bruises .But it was later she had realised the reality of life ,the limitation of every bandage ,the inevitability of an agony called death and it became more real and more excruciating with her parent's death .

Emaan entered inside the office to find Sidra and Yamama already asleep. Closing the door ,she walked towards the empty sofa and slumped down on it to have some rest but her mind kept zooming with images of people she had seen go through this pain of death in these few days .She felt so chaotic and anxious causing her head to throb with an unbearable pain. Pressing her head ,she stood up and marched out of the office and walked towards the mosque because she knew that every pain she was experiencing only her Rab could soothe ,only HE could relieve it .Thats what she had always done and dealt with every suffering of her life ..just turning back to her Rab who had promised not once but twice ' Verily after every hardship comes ease "

And wasn't it was a ease to be chosen to know Ar Rahman ,to whisper out HIS blessed names, to be guided back to HIM when there were millions who sauntered like vagabonds oblivious of HIS majestic presence ,love and care. ...

___________________________________________

Covering Yaseen with the comforter ,Khaled had walked out of the ward and checking up on Yawar and his men ,he was moving towards pharmacy to get medicines for his headache but as he reached the reception area he saw series of ward attendants walking inside the hospital carrying inverters making him march outside of the hospital to find Zaid guiding men carrying generators towards power room. He was about to walk back inside the hospital when his eyes fell on Omar walking inside the hospital from the main gate .Seeing Khaled standing at the porch Omar straight marched up to him as he said ,

"Assalamualaikum Akhi ! Sorry for the delay it took much more time than I expected to get all inverters and generators shift here..though electricity has come but still keep them as you can never trust the government ".

Khaled nodded while smiling slightly but noticing Omar's state ,he asked ,

"Are you all right Omar ?"

Omar who was looking at his men carrying generators glanced back at Khaled smiling yet not being able to hide the tears twinkling in his eyes but smiling wide to mask back his broken state and heaving a deep sigh ,he said while sitting down on the stairs,

"Won't deny that this is the most difficult question anyone had asked me today!.To be honest I am at that point of life that I don't know what could be called as being alright...if being alive is being alright I am alright ,if breathing is being alright then I am ...alright.."Omar ended with a deep sigh while rubbing his face .

Khaled sat down on the stairs as he said ,

"Don't worry about Yawar and your men we are going to give our best to save their life and in sha Allah they all will be back to being alright.."

Omar smiled looking at Khaled before saying ,

"I know you all will.. the way you stood to save that sister had me believed from that moment only ,that I could trust you that's why I got Yawar here ....but ..I have come to realize several things from what I have been noticing and now when I put them all together it makes me feel like a loser who couldn't protect his brother and can't seem to protect my country from the destruction it seemed to be pulled towards to  .You know Khaled I entered into the army to protect this country that I called home and being an orphan the term home held much stronger attachment but when I saw the people destroying this home was not the people of outside but inside I came back to take part in protest ...and until now I thought we knew who was our enemy our own government ..we thought the outside world would support us in this fight of injustice..but I have realised Khaled the world we live in now doesn't run to grab for water when it sees a house in fire but rather some become spectators while some grab this opportunity to profit selling fuel and woods to increase that fire..." Khaled looked at Omar with curiosity and apprehension lashing on his conscious altogether as Omar continued ,

"There has been many groups apart from prisoner's group men who have infiltrated into our country ..don't ask how but they have and they have been slaughtering innocent people in the name of Islam and justice and their special target is just not non-native people like prisoners group but also native people  ..they are destroying areas around borders taking control over them trying to portray the world an image of Islam and us which is anything but true ,anything we stand for or against...Intiallly it all seemed unbelievable to me until in a recent combat on the streets we got hold on one of these group member who told us that they had special weapons supplied by big countries and threaten us to leave him cause these groups got support from big countries and it was no use of us trying to save our country cause they have chosen our country to monetise their technical advancement, to sell their weapons.. he told us for us this battle might me battle for justice but for many others both inside and outside this was just a fishing ground of earning profits, gains, just a monetary opportunity...Khaled they have reduced people's life to a commodity which they are selling away for earning millions ..they are nonchanlantly crushing dreams and families for their greed ,their heartlessness is unfathomable and no matter how much I brave myself but the future of this country horrifies me Khaled..I am ready to fight but now when I think this is what they also want us.. to fight ...I no longer seem to understand that this fight is worth for or not ...I only wish I knew this before so I wouldn't have let anyone of the boys enter in this conspiracy they wouldn't have gone through all this ..my brother and his friends wouldn't be in this condition..."Omar blew out a breath to clear the hoarseness from his voice while looking straight.

Khaled sighed while running his hand in his hairs in frustration :a scathing sorrow and detest had perforated in his entire being listening to Omar but looking upwards he blew out a breath causing a cloud of smoke to erupt out of his mouth before he said ,

" Omar don't be hard on yourself ...remember 'Allah does not burden a soul beyond it can bear ' ...and if this is the war we are destined to fight then we will do it cause every war we experience in our life Allah has already given us the weapons to fight them ...the weapons of patience, trust & tawakkul ,and hope in the infinite mercy of HIS....and And I know despite these weapons we might still get wounded ,stabbed ,have casualties but remember despite any excruciating gashes and wounds we experience & receive in this war of our lives as long as we have trust in AR RAHMAN .We will stand as victorious with a victory that will be beyond anyone's comprehension".

Omar smiled as he looked sideways towards Khaled who was looking up at the sky as he said ,

" Ma sha Allah Khaled those words are a relief to any distressed heart ...no doubt you are an exceptional cardiologist ".

Khaled smiled slightly before he said ,

"These words are not mine but someone else ".

"Oh really! Then make sure you never let go of that person as there are very few people who help you fight the grotesque side of reality by making you remember the beautiful part of reality ..that our Rab is Al Malik whose mercy and love towards us mere slaves is beyond our imagination....cherish that person always Khaled you won't get many.. believe me I am saying it from experience ...."Saying it ,Omar stood up and looked at Khaled as he said ,

"Wanted to check on Yawar...can I ?" Seeing Khaled's nod ,Omar smiled as he added,

"Aren't you going to come inside ?"

"I will just come..you go meet Yawar". Omar nodding at him walked inside the hospital .

Khaled heaved a sigh while bowing his head as the words of Omar resonated in his mind ,making him think ,

Cherish? How am I suppose to cherish her when she isn't mine ?

Shaking his head and rubbing his forehead to ease the pain ,Khaled stood up feeling distressed at the condition the future might promise if the words of Omar were to come true but trusting on the words he had spoken a moment ago and trusting more on the One who was the Merciful Caretaker ,Khaled walked towards the Al Firdous mosque to relieve his heart of every stress and sins refuging in his heart .

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Tracing her steps back Emaan walked back to the kitchen only to have her life shattering into millions shards that pierced their way into her heart, determined never to come out but dig deeper with every breath and every heartbeat .Her backpack slipped from her shoulder and fell down on the floor but Emaan remained stood at the doorstep  lifeless as her brain stuttered and stumbled at the sight  while everything seemed to have come to a sudden pause . Nothing made sense ,nothing felt alive like her rapid heartbeats had suddenly gone to a straight line and only the ear piercing silence resonated in her ears .Her eyes tried to grasp the every string of light of the room to realize the reality before her while her throat seemed to clogged up by so many emotions at the sight that neither she could form any word or whimper. In trance she walked towards them as her mind swayed with dizziness while her legs felt like twigs ready to snap in any moment cause of the the heaviness that enveloped her heart and mind .With every shivering steps she took, she had prayed the sight before her to be a facade ,a nightmare anything but a reality . But as her foot touched the blood pooling around the bodies of her parents ,her rugged breaths seemed to come to a standstill while her legs gave away as she slid down with tears incessantly cascading down her eyes . As her lungs forced it's way to breathe again, Emaan whimpering crawl towards her parents staining her hands and Abaya in blood in the process. She shook the body of her father as she whispered out while hiccupping ,

"Ab..bu..Abbu ABBU ..." Sniffing and breathing fervently ,Emaan with much effort turned her father's body upside down only to left shocked and gasp along with series of cries to emerge out from her mouth as she saw her father's chest and stomach stabbed numerous times .Controlling her sobs while her tears uncontrollably fell down from her eyes ,she quickly unwrapped her hijab and gently pressed on her father's chest only to have her white hijab cover in blood . Pressing the area ,she moved her blood stained hands towards her father's face as she said ,

" Abbu! abbu!..you will be alrig..."But Emaan abruptly stopped as she felt the coldness of her father's body shrieking a news in her conscious that left her a sobbing mess. But rubbing off her tears she quickly pressed her hijab on her father's wounds,

"It will be alright ...they will heal Abbu don't worry they will heal .." But blood didn't seemed to stop making Emaan whimper again in agony & frustration as she said ,

"Why wh..y won't it stop ..Rabbi madad...."
(Help)

Turning towards her mother who was lying adjacent to her father's body being shot multiple bullets in her stomach  ,Emaan placed her mother's head on her lap and cupped her face but finding it also cold and lifeless, Emaan burst out crying as she said holding her mother's face lovingly ,

"Ammi ! Ammi ! Don't leave me like this ...please look at me please...you know I will find my own things ,I won't irritate you I promise I will do everything you say ...never complain ..please don't leave me ...please wake up ...please Ammi please" Emaan held her father and mother's hands together and burst into tears before she said in between her cries,

"Abbu your princess is crying please .Ammi your Emmi needs you ..please wake up don't leave me don't leave don't ...don't..Ya Allah please give me back my parents." Saying it ,Emaan kept her forehead on her parents hands she was holding and her tears kept on  raining down her eyes while lips kept on whispering duas for her parents to come alive .

Emaan had woken up with a startle and her breathing seemed forceful as she looked around to find herself in the mosque .She looked at her hands that were pale white but she still seemed to imagine the stains of blood on her hands and her Abaya making her rub her hands and Abaya thoroughly and then eventually she burst out crying with her sobs echoing in the mosque.

Khaled was walking back after praying salah but sudden echoes of sobs kind of noises stilled his feets making his heartbeat rhythm erratically .Despite forcing himself to walk out ,he still couldn't stop his legs moving towards the shelves from where the last night he had heard the same sobs and whimpers to come from .His every step seemed to him like a step of a mad man entering deeper into the sea though knowing he can't swim. But he couldn't seem to stop himself as at the moment he didn't felt scared of drowning himself rather he feared for the other person drowning in sea of sadness.As he reached near the wall ,the sobs didnt seemed to come from there but from quite afar but listening the sobs & cries his heart convulated into such spiral that it felt it will burst out of ribcage in any moment .Sighing he slid down on the floor and sat against the wall. Hearing cries & sobs was a cruel torture making his heart to constrict from time to time yielding an unbearable pain but walking away still seemed an option beyond his imagination .

With so many feelings and emotions orchestrating in his being made Khaled feel like dungeons of his heart that had been buried deep down in the chasm of his beating organ's forbidden corner was one by one opening up making him dive into those oceans of his soul that had till now had remain unexplored and undiscovered .But this process of excavating was essential as before realising & recognising the once own soulmate one had to discover and fathom those schism & dearth existing in one's own soul and to realise that oceans of own soul was not enough to fulfill those craters but it required the oceans of the soul breathing in someone else body. And though the body might be different yet fabric that weaved both souls was same as soulmates were not two souls but one ,that had their refuge in different bodies but their souls had always crooned for their proximity ,to become whole once again .

Khaled clutched his hands harder as the sobs kept on increasing every passing minute making his eyes to glisten up and exhaling hard, he look upwards when his eyes fell on the copies of Quran kept on the shelves next to him, causing his mind to twinkle with an idea that he knew was the quintessential light to demolish the darkness of hopelessness.

Emaan had kept on crying while huddling her knees closer to herself as if wanting the pressure of her knees to ease down the pain soaring in her heart .She felt loneliness and alienation creeping through her entire entity making her look upward knowing of Almighty's closeness ,his help and ease despite the situation she found herself in .But she was unaware of the presence of a servant of Allah who was HIS help & ease in her sea of sadness and helplessness . But this curtain of obliviousness vanished when the pristine words of Allah echoed in the mosque in a voice that had always seemed to find its way through her heart and soothe her simmering pain through rain of hope.

It seemed unbelievable to Emaan that Khaled was there in the mosque at that time making her heart shudder with a fear that he might have heard her sobs causing her instantly to clamp her mouth to stop her incoming hiccups and whimpers from echoing. But as she concentrated on the words she realised the words was from surah Yusuf : the surah that breathed the elixir of hope ,resilience ,faith and a beautiful patience . The surah that bloomed with a lesson that sometimes we lose a precious part of our life, that even the closest people can betray us leaving stranded on the road of grief and sadness but we do not lose anything as long as we have hope and do not despair in the relief from Allah .Because Ar Rahman does not want to punish us rather HE loves  to give and give to an extent that servants might get tired of asking but HE won't of giving .And when HE takes away something from us it's not to create a hollow in the heart but rather to return it like exactly how he returned Prophet Yusuf back to his father or replace it with a mercy thats beyond our imagination. With Allah nothing is lost but it is secured to return back to us in the most beautiful way.

Tears released from Emaan's eyes at the sheer euphoric coincidence of Khaled reciting the surah that was exact potion of ease to her burning pain, that immediately evaporated away her despair replacing it with a glimmering light of hope .Wanting to hear the words of her Rab more closely ,Emaan moved towards the area next to shelves and sat near the wall and leaning her head against it, she closed her eyes while the tears fell down her cheeks removing the dirt of despair from her heart and giving relief in the process.

And such was the marvelous play of Qadr of Allah that weaved a tapestry so exquisite where one soul leaning against the wall recited the words of utter truth & hope in order to provide relief to the soul beyond the barrier yet leaning against that same wall listening to the words of hope while whispering gratitude to her Lord and praying ease for the one reciting HIS words. And in this euphoric tapestry woven ,if wall had its own will it would have gladly annihilated itself to let the souls be known of eachother presence and their entwined destiny .But in the divine plan of Allah everything had a perfect timing ,every delay had a purpose and when that moment was to come no wall or barrier ,no distance or misunderstanding could cease the meeting of souls made for each other.

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Bismillah

I know it was long ,I know I didn't put the disclaimer but it only because I didn't wanted you all to be annoyed with me as every chapter of this book is getting longer and longer ...and I know most of you love long chapters but I still can't help but feel guilty taking too much time of your day ...so sorry ..but I tried my best to make this chapter enjoyable and worthy of your time ..

Dedicating this chapter to three lovelies : Fatma_Farheen ,Gulabisehar and fANAma_C

Before you leave please do recite ,

'Rabbana 'atmim lana noorana waighfir lana in-na-ka 'ala kulli shay- in Qadeer '

[ Our Lord ! Perfect our light for us and grant forgiveness; for THOU hast power over all things]

Do remember me and entire ummah in your precious duas.

Faqat abd e Rahmana
Sadaf

Assalamaualikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu 🍁