Assalamualaikum guys .I hope you had an amazing Ramadan and a lovely Eid and are in good health .And I also hope you haven't forgotten me and my book .

Those who were waiting for an update after Ramadan I am sorry for being late .It's just that my Ramadan was a bit rocky with my both parents falling sick and losing many of my relatives to Covid -19 amidst the distressing situation in subcontinent was just inexplicable and then the heartbreaking conditions in Palestine ,Yemen ,Syria ,China ,Afghanistan, Myanmar,Ethopia ,Bangladesh basically entire world just impacted me. And writing which though I love became a bit difficult .

And adding to all this, one month break ended up making my bullock cart of writing stuck in the muddy pit called writer's block ...so updates will be slow but I will in sha Allah come back to my natural pace just make duas that I do and also do loads of comments ...as your lovely comments are the secret of my energy to write☺️

Last but not the least before beginning this chapter, please make duas for people in Palestine ,China ,Yemen ,Syria ,Ethopia basically every single soul suffering on this planet and don't forget to ask for your own tiny heart and the guidance it will always need of its Rab.

___________________________________________

"His name is Khaled Al Hassam".

Emaan's all amusement vapourised at the words as she stared blinking at Nabilah ,confused and shocked ,while trying to grasp the new found information .An instant question had sprouted in her mind but scared to spill it out, Emaan gulp it down when Sidra articulated her feelings ,

"You mean Dr Khaled Al Hassam?"

Nabilah nodded casually while her green eyes keenly observed them when her face twisted into a frown as she again heard Sidra,

"You mean our Dr Khaled Al Hassam?"

Emaan noticing the skeptical look of Nabilah ,poked Sidra's side and glaring at her,quickly clarified ,

"Ah what Sidra actually meant to say is that Dr Khaled is our team head so that's why she said our..I think we should leave Sidra now ".Emaan ended with a glare at Sidra who shrugged back nonchalantly in response.

Looking back at Wali ,Emaan smiled and tapping lovingly on his nose added,

"Wali I will send your daddy here soon,okay !".

A weird set of heavy feelings settled at Emaan's stomach at the realisation of meaning of her own words.But shoving it off and giving a parting smile ,Emaan and Sidra stood up and moved to walk out of the room. And as soon they were out Sidra blurted out ,

"Oh my Allah ! I can't believe this! .Our most desired bachelor of our hospital ,our Dr Khaled is a father of not one ,not two but three kids ! Allah !Allah!."

Emaan lost in her jungle of thoughts only nodded blankly .

"So that means Dr Khaled is married but why we never knew about it! Did Hamza knew of it! Of course he must know that his second wife has a first wife or he is unaware of this blasphemous act by his second wife".

Emaan glanced at Sidra with an incredulous look adorning her face as she remarked ,

"Sidra I think you are forgetting Dr Khaled is not exactly the wife of Dr Hamza in reality ,it's just your comical hypothesis"

Sidra whose face shined with varied expressions ,listening to Emaan, brooded,

"Oh yeah you are right! But why we never knew about his wife or seen her......Oh don't me tell he is married to a jinn or it could be like that novel I read where that man married and after having a baby he used to kill his wife and he continued doing this until he had killed hundred wives and finally had hundred kids .And then he went on slaughtering all his hundred kids to resurrect his previous life lover".

"What kind of novels do you read Sidra ?" .Emaan scowled .

"It's gothic".

"Well its horribly horrific !".

Rolling her eyes ,Sidra walked ahead  when another hypothesis struck her as she exclaimed,

"What about that woman patient ? She could be his wife ! Though she looked quite old but Islam doesn't prohibits marrying older women so don't judge Emaan".

"Who said I am judging?" Emaan asked horrified before she added ,

"And I know she is not his wife! ".

"Oh!kay someone sound so sure ! But don't you think Emaan you tend to know a lot about Dr Khaled ! What's going on huh?" Sidra asked wiggling her eyebrows .

"No it's nothing like that " Emaan flustered .

"Then how is it like ?" Sidra smirked enjoying the flustered state of Emaan who shot a glare back at her before quickly clarifying,

"It's just that at Mr Rahman's house, Mr Rahman had asked Dr Khaled was he married and he had said no !".

Seeing Sidra still smirking,Emaan whined,

"What? I am saying the truth !"

"I know "Sidra chuckled ," But are we sure Dr Khaled had said the truth ?".

Emaan gazed at Sidra with thoughtful expressions before she looked away shrugging but remembering something she whispered,

"Atleast now we know what he was doing at toy store in Madina souk".

Sidra nodded her head fervently while holding her chin as if enacting some stance of a detective as she remarked ,

"Well I think Watson we are nearer to this mystery of solving our client Yamama's case 'to whom actually Dr Khaled had said I love you too' ....let's go and tell this to Yamama ,oh Allah she will be..." Sidra abruptly stopped as the realisation of her words seeped in and all her excitement withered away in an instant . She tentatively glanced at Emaan who mirrored her reaction .Their once blooming smiles was slapped off their faces by the brutal reality causing a gush of agony course through their bodies and eventually making appearance in their eyes in the form of tears .Pressing their lips hard to stop them from wobbling ,they looked away .

How much time will it take for them to internalise this brutal reality ? .

Rubbing off the trail of tears ,Emaan looked at Sidra who was wiping off her own set of petulant tears .Clasping her arm ,Emaan whispered ,

"Are you alright Sidra?"

Sidra gulping hard nodded and eventually smiled yet tears still twinkled in her eyes but before she could say any words of reassurance, her stomach grumbled echoing a loud noise making both of them chuckle lightly before Sidra jested ,

"Looks like my stomach is becoming Romeo without its Foodliet ,so lets go and have something before it commits suicide ".

Emaan chuckled before adding,

"Yes let's go but taking our lunches, can we go to Mamma Juri .I had left Maryam with her and also we need to go to Yaseen .I didn't got to meet her since we came here last night .I hope she isn't upset with me".

Nodding ,Sidra clasped Emaan's hand and walked ahead yet their hearts and minds struck at the tragedy of past, crooned elegies of pain in bereavement of their friend but their eachother's presence and the presence of their Lord was their source of strength as their lips whispered in hope ,that though Yamama's memories had their hearts as abode but they prayed for the Highest level of Jannah as Yamama's final and actual abode .

__________________________________________

"You forget me ..Emaan ! You said you will not but you did ". Yaseen sniffed hiding her face in the cradle of her tiny hands.

Emaan sitting next to her pulled her closed as she cooed at her ,

"My Yaseen my habibti ,why will you think like that ? I can never forget you ! I love you my Yaseen and people we love we remember and cherish them ,we dont forget about them . And I can never forget this cute bundle of joy Allah made me come across... I am sorry nah!Please don't cry . I came late at night so I didn't came ..I am sorry please forgive me ...should I hold my ears!"

Yaseen leaning at Emaan's touch ,removed her hands from her face and hiccuped ,

"No no you lie ,you don't love me ...you got another baby ...to love .You love her .I am not your baby now ".

Emaan sighed .She and Sidra after getting their lunches and taking Maryam from Nurse Juri , had sauntered into the room where Yaseen was .Intiallly Yaseen was estatic to hear Emaan and she immediately embraced her . But as Emaan told her about Maryam and made her touch Maryam ,Yaseen to Emaan and Sidra's utter bewilderment jerked her hand back and went on wailing and crying hard , driving attentions from other patients in the room.

Not knowing what to do ,Emaan looked at Sidra who was carrying Maryam while chugging down the last pieces of her sandwich ,making her face puffed up causing an uncanny amusement glittered in Emaan's entire being before she shook it off as she heard Yaseen's sniffing while saying ,

"Everybody leave me ?..why leave me? ..am I bad girl?".

Emaan cupped Yaseen's face as she implored lovingly ,

"My habibti ,you are not at all a bad girl .Rather you are an amazing girl .And I am not leaving you I promise .You and Maryam both are very special to my heart .You both have equal importance .Just as Quran is incomplete without surah Yaseen and Maryam ,my life is incomplete without this beautiful mercies Allah gifted me in the form of you and Maryam .My love for you is not going to reduce with Maryam coming in our lives ,but rather you see our love is going to increase as we got another member to love ,protect and take care of .Won't you wanna be an elder sister to this tiny Maryam .Won't she be lucky to be loved by you .You always say you are not a baby so I got us a baby which we can pamper and love along with loving each other ".

Yaseen moved to embrace Emaan as she said innocently ,

"Okay I will be her elder sister. But you love me more ..wait don't say ..where is baby Maryam ?".

"Sidra is carrying her ? Why ? " Emaan frowned .

"Oh ,Sidra close the baby ears please ."

Sidra wiggled her eyebrows at Emaan who shrugged in reply when Yaseen asked ,

"Done?"

"Yeah ?" Sidra confusingly wrapped the blanket closer to ears of sleeping Maryam .

"Now Emaan you can say you love me more ,baby ears are close so she won't feel bad .." Emaan and Sidra chuckled at Yaseen's cuteness.Smiling and gently stroking cheeks of Yaseen ,Emaan assured,

"I will love you Yaseen the way you deserve and I will love Maryam the way she deserves and that is to the full extent of my heart ..so no need to worry about more or less equation..okay".

"And don't worry Yaseen ,I have unlimited stocks of love store in my heart for free so if Emaan's stock finishes ,I am always there for you and Maryam....& you know what? My love comes in different flavours ,it's has jokes ,sarcasm ,punching people if they hurt you and so much more ,not like Emaan's bland boring love ."Sidra said while sitting beside Yaseen.

Yaseen giggled while Emaan gave a bored look to Sidra who chuckled back in reply .When amidst this ,Yaseen's hands came across Emaan's fingers and finding bandage wrapped around her index finger she asked frowning ,

"What happened Emaan to your finger ? Khaled didn't protected you ?"

Sidra quirked her eyebrows while Emaan mortified quickly replied ,

"No its nothing like that .It was a little cut I got while opening a window but Sidra rolled too much bandage over it ".Emaan gave an annoyed look to Sidra as it had became very difficult for her to work with her balloon sized bandaged finger .

"Well it is to teach you a lesson to be careful as sometime you get hurt on your forehead ,sometimes on your palms and not to forget the fresh bruises on your arms ,waist and knees .Seriously if you continue like this you will have bandage wrapped all over your body and then people will take you away to some museum thinking you are of some Egyptian mummy".

Emaan pressed her lips in a straight line while focussing on looking at Maryam when to her annoyance she heard Sidra asking a question she had wished she wouldn't ,

"By the way Yaseen what did you meant by Dr Khaled didn't protected Emaan?" Sidra glanced at Emaan and smirked before looking back at Yaseen as she replied ,

"Oh that! Khaled had promise he protect Emaan and bring her safe .."

Sidra coughed playfully soaring Emaan's irritation as she gritted ,

"Aren't you coughing a lot Sidra ?"

"Well so much is going on between soulmate in coughing so I thought what can be better than 'cough' to celebrate this new changes ".

"You are seeing no changes ,there is no change".Emaan huffed .

"Oh really so what about what I am seeing and noticing ".

"You are seeing nothing and about noticing I think it will be better if you notice the person who deserves your attention ". Sidra following Emaan's gesturing gazes ,looked to see Hamza checking up on a patient .

As the rooms were yet to be alloted and demarcated into specific wards ,the patients were temporarily assigned beds with no specification ailments or wards category .Hamza was checking up on his patient when he heard Sidra ,

"Dr Hamza can I have a minute with you please?"

Hamza quirked his eyebrows at the overbearing sugary tone of Sidra.

Am I dreaming ?

Did she hit her head somewhere ?

Did I do something wrong ?

Gulping he nodded and smiling at his patient ,he followed Sidra to find himself standing before a bed with Emaan and Yaseen sitting on it while Sidra ushered all the curtain round them ,giving them privacy while aggravating Hamza's confusion to new degrees .

Okay ! The matter just became more fishy .

"I wanted to ask you something Hamza ?Do you know Dr Khaled is married ?"

"What ? No ? " Hamza looked at Emaan before glancing back at Sidra as he asked ,"When did that happen ?"

"You are saying Dr Khaled didnt even told you ! Allah !Allah! Then you also wont know that he also has three kids !".

"That ! That I know !But when did this marriage thing happened as far as I knew until yesterday he was very much single ".

"Astagfirullah don't tell me those are Dr Khaled's illegitimate children?" Sidra gasped while Emaan looked shocked as she quickly closed the ears of Yaseen.

"What is wrong with you Sidra ?"Hamza frowned.

"You are asking what is wrong with me ? When you should be asking what is wrong with Dr Khaled and I had started to think so highly of him ,what a shame!".Sidra shook her head while crossing her arms over her chest .

"Wait !wait !you think Khaled is married because he has children?"

"Of course Einstein" Sidra said in a duh tone .

"There is a thing called adoption Newton!"

Emaan and Sidra looked shocked at eachother at the new found information before Sidra broke the chain of speculating silence as she asked,

"But how did adoption authorities became so lenient to let him adopt as Dr Khaled isn't thirty and not even married ..it's not like he adopted them in this present situation..".

"Well he adopted putting Laiba Amtu as their guardian ."

"Who is she?"Hamza felt annoyed at his wife keen interest in Khaled but seeing Emaan's building interest he went on explaining .

"She is her foster mother and the one who got admitted here last night .She had went out for buying necessary things but the combat between prisoner group men began and a bullet shot through her shoulder .That's why Khaled drove off quickly when he had came here yesterday .He had got a call from Nabilah !"

"Oh I thought ...." Sidra looked at Emaan .

"You thought ?"

"I thought she was Dr Khaled's wife I mean Islam allows us to marry anyone irrespective of age ..I wasn't judging at all not sure about Emaan though".

"Thats not true !I wasn't judging!".Emaan glared at Sidra who gave her cheeky smile.

"Don't worry Dr Emaan Khaled is not married ..yet"

"Why would I worry about that ?" Emaan frowned .

Hamza shrugged in reply when Sidra asked ,

"When did you came to know about this ?I mean Dr Khaled's adoption?"

"I knew about it before only but when I visited his house then I came to know about the reason from Amtu the cause behind his adoption."

"And what was the cause ?" Emaan felt grateful to Sidra for articulating out every query of her heart .

"It began with Nabilah where she had recently came to the orphanage Khaled used to regularly visit .He had met her several times but when he came to know that orphanage was going to send her to mental asylum because of her pessimistic nature and weird talks which was affecting kids around her .Amtu told me Khaled knew about the reason behind Nabilah's pessimism and aloof nature ,some trauma from her past .But Khaled never told anyone not even Amtu and went on adopting Nabilah ....what provoked him only he and Nabilah knows but his decision let to changing the life of her .She is much different from before .And then Muslim also came in his life like that .Khaled was working through medicals camp around the country where he came across Muslim and his grandmother .Their he came to know that Muslim's entire family was killed in a family rivalry and he was the only witness of that .And the day of hearing ,the murderers of his family choked down burning coals in his throat snatching away his ability to speak ."Emaan and Sidra gasped in horror .

"His grandmother was threatened that if they will not leave then next time they will kill Muslim ,so she escaped from there and survived through working odd jobs until her health started deterioting and by luck she stumbled on medical camp and Khaled .Though Khaled couldn't save her but he made sure he adopted Muslim before the camp ended."

"What about Wali?" Emaan whisper asked .

"Khaled came across him in an orphanage in America where his parents had left him because of his medical condition. He was suffering from supravavular aortic stenosis (SVAS- narrowing of large blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body,if not treated can lead to shortness of breath ,chest pain and heart failure) which is common among people with William syndrome and so no one was ready to adopt .But after knowing about Wali through a doctor who was dealing with his case,Khaled stayed in America for six months for Wali's treatment, the longest he had stayed in America after he had came back to live in Syria. And when Wali was healthy enough to travel ,Khaled adopted him and brought him to Syria. He told me he knew he needed to adopt him as he had gotten attached to him and he couldn't leave him as Wali needed consistent check ups and medication due to his poor heart health which if ignorant parent ended up adopting they won't be able take care of and Wali wouldn't be able to survive.And orphanage couldn't afford the medical bills so Khaled took the decision and Wali got a home and family to call his own while his talkative ,cheerful and vibrant personality had an optimistic impact on Muslim and Nabilah's personalities.But since Wali was small when he got adopted so he thinks of Khaled as his dad while Nabilah calls him Akhi well Muslim ..he can't ".

Emaan was left speechless .Her heart was roaring with admiration and this time she didn't tried to suffocate these feelings or abandon them ,but rather she felt the man deserved to be admired in every sense .Emaan came out of her thoughts as she felt a weight on her arm only to find Yaseen had fallen asleep .

"Masha'Allah !Now I don't regret thinking highly of Dr Khaled !".Sidra announced all impressed.

"Don't need to think so highly of him now " Hamza retorted.

"Are you getting jealous Hamza?" Sidra smirked .

"No just reminding you so that next time Khaled reprimands you ,the fall from your so called 'highly thinking' is bearable ".

Sidra grimaced but before she could retort back ,Emaan not wanting another war to unleash between the couple ,quickly called Sidra to help Yaseen lay down on bed when Hamza mused,

"It's quite striking how much similarity Dr Emaan ,you and Khaled have ,from being good in words to being good souls who go on adopting children without any second thought".

Emaan felt weird at the drawn similarity as she felt so low infront of the sheer goodness of Khaled .He was too good to be compared with likes of her .

He was like the sun that was ready to burn just to lighten the world while she was just a mere firefly .She could never match the luminosity of a star like him..

"Excuse me ! For your kind information I am also Maryam's second mother ".

"Woah really !You never told me I have a daughter now ".Hamza smiled.

And if the phrase 'I love you' had a smile then Sidra's smile would have been it's outright ambassador as she looked at Hamza with love she never had the words or guts to say and describe .

___________________________________________

"Seriously Khaled what is wrong with you ? Like why are you shifting Dr Emaan in Dr Isa's team ? Don't you know how Sidra will react to this ? Man she will literally kill me ." Hamza ranted.

"Why would she kill you when I am the one taking this decision? ".Khaled asked looking up from the stack of papers he was holding while sitting in his new office at Al Shams.

"Because obviously she can't kill you .So I am only left a scapegoat in this mess !".

"Well it's for their good only .If they will be together in one team they are more likely to remember Dr Yamama and it will be difficult for them to move on ."

"Khaled they need eachother to face this phase not to be separated from each other !And I won't accept this lousy reason ,so save us some time and tell me the real reason !". Hamza crossed his arms while looking straight in the eyes of Khaled .

Khaled blew out a breath while rubbing his face as he said ,

"Its just that I want to avoid Dr Emaan for a while ".

"And why is that may I ask ?"Hamza quirked his eyebrows.

Khaled glanced at Hamza for a moment before looking down and sighing as he voiced out loud the feelings of his heart for the first time ,

"I have realised my feelings for Dr Emaan ".

"What ?..You did ? ! Subhan Allah! I can't believe this". Hamza chuckled and excitedly sat across Khaled with amusement glimmering in his eyes unabashedly.

Khaled groaned while rubbing his eyebrow trying to hide his embarassment making Hamza quickly add ,

"Okay okay go on ! I won't say anything"

"Will you please remove that hideous grin from your face it's irritating".

"What ?I am just happy." Hamza grinned wider .

"So go somewhere else to celebrate your happiness I am busy ".Khaled grumbled while looking through papers .

"Okay I am serious now! Tell me why are you doing this ?"

Khaled looked up to find a serious looking Hamza making Khaled sigh before he narrated ,

"It just that until I shove down this feelings away I want to avoid Dr Emaan as much as I can which will be impossible if she is in my team .It's not her fault so why she should be in anyway bear any slightest burden of sins when entire fault is mine because I have fell into this so called fitna or test whatever you wanna name it".

"Khaled falling in love is not a fitna, carrying it out in a haram way is .Approach her in a halal way ,ask her to marry or send a proposal to her Wali ..."

"I just can't do that . She is too good for someone like me .She deserves best which I am surely not .". Khaled stated while his eyes trained on the alphabets written on reports but his mind and heart was wayfaring some other roads of thoughts and feelings .

"Yeah are saying this as if you are some murderer? ". Hamza retorted.

"What if I say I am !" Khaled argued back.

"Then I am going to say congratulations you have not only lost your heart but your mind too".

Khaled took a exasperated sigh when Hamza added ,

"Khaled you tell me have you ever felt this towards anybody else apart from Dr Emaan ? No right ! That means it is special ! A kind of sign and even if it's not atleast try to make a step towards to understand the purpose of this . Try to understand why you have develop these feelings ,that is it based on superficial things or on aspects that really matters .Running from them is not an option Khaled but rather dealing with them is the solution ."Hamza looked hopefully at Khaled .

But before Khaled could reply ,they heard a knock at the door .Quickly allowing the permission to enter ,Khaled kept away the reports to find Omar and Abdul enter inside in a worried state increasing the tension of the room. Exchanging the greetings,Omar directly addressed the topic of concern,

"Khaled remember you had asked me to ensure about whether it was just one missing case or there are more .The bad news is ,there are more ,much more than we expected ,approximately hundred cases . And what's more concerning is most of their families accepted they were eating something suspicious and their behaviour and health had drastically changed before they went missing .And also one of the families gave this pill packet to me ". Omar put the pills on Hamza and Khaled 's hands respectively as he continued ,

"And whats striking and I know you both would have noticed that these pills look different than those Yawar was eating ".

"Yeah the shape is same but the colour is different ...let me get them checked in sha Allah then probably we might get some clearance on this never ending mystery ". Khaled said while looking inquisitively at the pill in his hand .

__________________________________________

"Coming my Mimi habibti , mommy is coming with food ..just sabr a bit meri jaan (my life )". Emaan implored from across the room while making the formula milk for Maryam.

Shaking the bottle and testing the milk wasn't too hot ,Emaan jogged towards wailing Maryam ,who instantly stopped crying and pouted while making grumbling noises ,

"Oh so much anger .Mommy is sorry .Let's fill this little tummy then you can scold your mommy okay .."

Maryam innocently looked at Emaan with her tearful doe eyes while Emaan smiling at her ,picking her up and moved to sit on the sofa .Settling Maryam on her lap properly ,Emaan put the milk bottle's nipple inside Maryam's mouth. And as Maryam hungrily sucked on her food ,Emaan sighing rubbed off the lone tear escaping from Maryam's left eye before she leaned in to kiss her head top . After her shifting to Dr Isa's team ,it had become difficult for her to manage and taking care of Maryam as with most of the time the caring of Maryam shifting between her and Sidra ,lead to shifting of Maryam's things to two different offices, often caused a ruckus as it did now. Failing to find the milk bottle and formula in her new office ,she had to jogged towards Sidra's office with all time carrying a wailing Maryam in her arms.

And after all this exhausting conundrums ,she was also apprehensive about the lack of responses of Maryam to sounds. She knew she was still too young to recognise her voice but yet Maryam only came to sense her presence when she saw her ,not through sounds Emaan tried to make to check and test on Maryam's hearing ability.Whispering prayers for her Maryam's health ,Emaan again leaned to drop a kiss before she looked around in the room when her eyes fell on a figure standing and peeking from the crooked door . Catching her eyes ,the figure hid behind the door but what made Emaan chuckle was instead of hiding his body ,Wali had hid only his face while Emaan could see his entire body .

Pressing her lips together to hide her amusement ,Emaan called out ,

"Wali ! Don't need to hide baby .You can come inside !"

Wali peeked and looking at Emaan for a bit walked inside quickly and sat very closely to her making Emaan smile when Wali asked peeking at Maryam ,

"Baby ?"

"Yes she is a baby ".

"Assalamualaikum baby ,I am Wali ? How are you ?"

Emaan giggled a little as she cooed ,

"She is too little now to reply you Wali ." But seeing a sullen face of Wali Emaan quickly added ,

"But let me reply for her now okay !..Walekumassalam ,she is Maryam and Alhmadulillah she is fine ,aren't you Maryam?" .Emaan imitated in a childish voice making Wali grin before he said ,

"Yam! Yam !"

"No Maryam "

"Yam Yam".

"Okay you can call her that ". Saying it ,Emaan fished out a candy from her coat and offered it to Wali but seeing him having difficulty to open the wrapper ,she opened it for him .Wali smiling popped it in his mouth and savouring its taste leaned on to Emaan's arm talking gibberish to her.

Emaan smiled at him as she went on to answer his unusual questions and queries but she couldn't help from  diverting her thoughts towards Wali's so called daddy who seemed to have caused a ruckus in her internal world with his ever changing moods and behaviours. On one side his actions enarmoured her with such profound admiration that she couldn't stop herself but be in awe of Khaled and other side ,he went on taking decisions and doing things that burn down the spring of admiration with fire of anger he caused to inflame inside her .

Just like her entire admiration on his actions of adoption was drenched in the water of annoyance for his sudden decision of shifting her to new team.

Like why ?

What could be the reason ?

Maybe he realised I am not good enough to be in his team ?

Or maybe he had feelings for Yamama and he thinks I am responsible for her death ? And now he hates that it is me who is alive not her ?

But what was that I felt when he saw me after I came out of rubble ?

Maybe I was hallucinating because of being in low oxygen environment for so long .

Emaan's chain of thought came to an end when she heard grumbling noise of Maryam.Seeing and ensuring that Maryam was full and satiated ,Emaan held Maryam on her shoulder and pat her back lightly before Maryam finally burp out loud making Wali stare and then giggle out as he said excitedly,

"Baby do it again ! Do it again !"

"Now it will happen when she will have her next meal ". Emaan chuckled.

"When meal ?"

"When her little tummy gets empty ,isn't it Maryam?" Emaan cooed at Maryam as she laid her again on her lap ,earning a smile and a louder burp making Wali chuckle out loudly making Emaan giggle along with him.

Khaled had been enduring a packed schedule from aiding out with settling process to dealing with surgeries which he had postponed due to shifting process. But as he entered his office after performing a critical surgery,to.finally relax a bit only to find a worried Nabilah, who informed him about Wali going missing .And knowing Wali's outgoing engaging personality and Nabilah's over protective nature and her being on the edge of crying,Khaled immediately set off to find Wali . After searching him on the entire ground floor and playground ,Khaled climbed on the second floor when he heard the sound of Wali's chuckle coming from the new shared office of his team .He quickly marched towards the room but abruptly came to stop on the door step as he saw the alluring sight : Emaan with Maryam on her lap smiling along with Wali who was laughing out loud .

An automatic smile played on his lips and a desire in the form of sigh was to escape out of his mouth before he realised the reality of situation and quickly looked away muttering Astaghfirullah. Clearing his thoughts and throat ,he knocked on the door .

Seeing Khaled at the door, Wali's smile broadened as he lunged towards him while Emaan felt a whole volcanic eruption of anger burst inside her . But she couldn't help but chuckle hearing Wali's words,

"Daddy baby Yam Yam farted from his mouth ".

A low chuckle escaped Khaled's mouth as he looked at Wali with amusement while his eyes unconsciously landed on Emaan,hearing her beautiful laugh. But immediately forcing himself to look back at Wali ,Khaled clearing his throat explained with amusement dripping from his tone,

"That's called burp Wali".

"Bu..rrp! Burp!"

Khaled nodded smilingly as Wali tried to enact Maryam's burp while seeing Khaled's bond with Wali ,Emaan's heart melted but she immediately shook her self as she repeatedly memorised in her mind ,

Don't need to melt down at this .He is Karela ,a pure Karela ..so ignore ,ignore !

After a quick peroration to herself ,Emaan stood up while saying ,

"I just came here to take Maryam's things.She was crying out of hunger so I sat down here to feed her the milk .I didn't meant to stay here .I was about to go .." Saying it ,Emaan picked up her stethoscope and moved to walk out when Khaled said ,

"I never asked or demanded any explanation from you Dr Emaan for being here .I am not childish to do such things".

Yeah cause you are rudish .

Rudish is not a word.

Nobody ask your opinion !

"...And sorry if Wali troubled you ,it just that he has William's syndrome so because of which he tends to be more outgoing and friendly compare to other kids of his age ".

"I realised that ! And he didn't troubled me at all".

Can't say the same about you though!

Emaan curbing her musing smiled at Wali who grinned back her before hugging back Khaled.

Way to go making a fool of yourself  Khaled .Ofcourse she is a pediatrician she will know about it !

"Is Maryam doing fine?"Khaled asked confidently but internally he lambasted himself for prolonging the conversation .And just hearing the faint affirmative reply ,Khaled holding Wali's hand turned around to leave ,not wanting mortify himself more when Emaan's eyes fell on the Khaled's folded jacket kept on the chair that he had made her wear after she had came out of the rubble .

She had asked Sidra to return it to him but seemed like she had forgotten in her rage against the man.

"Please wait a second!" Saying it ,Emaan quickly moved towards the chair while holding Maryam and picking it up she marched before Khaled whose creases of confusion erased away seeing his jacket but as soon as his eyes fell on Emaan's bandaged finger as she handed out the jacket ,the creases appear not just on his forehead but also in his heart with lines of worry and concern.And he immediately articulated out his worry ,

"What happened to your finger Dr Emaan ?"

Emaan embarassed looked at her finger and bit her lips before she said tentatively ,

"Ah nothing much its just a small cut ".

"It doesn't seems like it " .Khaled quirked his eyebrow while taking his jacket .

"No really it is just a mere scratch I got from the jammed bolt of the window of our room "

Who invented these stupid bolts !

Khaled mentally shook off the thoughts sprouting as he concentrated on Emaan's words.

"...It just that Sidra bandaged like this to teach me a lesson of being careful next time ". Emaan's tone turning into sort of complaining at the end making Khaled's lips twitch up despite his irritation at her carelessness.

"Then I hope this will do the work !" Emaan frowned when Khaled added,

"Did you get the tetanus shot ?".

Hearing her affirmative reply ,Khaled nodded back and moved to walk out when Dr Sarah entered inside the room in a frenzied state making Emaan and Khaled's conscious somersault into profound agitation and apprehension.

Dr Sarah taking deep breaths looked at Khaled and said in a trembling voice ,

"Khaled I need to talk to you about something very important urgently ".But as her eyes landed on Emaan behind Khaled she added,

" And please alone".

Listening to Sarah , Emaan quickly moved to walk out of the room when Khaled said ,

"Dr Alma if you can trust me in sharing this important thing then believe me you can trust Dr Emaan too".

For a moment ,Emaan all apprehension that glided in her heart seeing Dr Sarah ,was flickered off by a sense of warm happiness that had found refuge in her features and her heart . She didn't knew whether she wanted to smile or cry ,but she knew that much atleast that both will be the outcome of shock and more profoundly happiness.

Nodding and closing the door ,Dr Sarah quickly began to narrate,

"The day Zarar raided our hospital one of the cop named Bulút gave me a chit saying Abbas is alive.. and had asked me to call him at a specific time for more details .He had forbade me from telling anyone and it was about my son's life so..I " Dr Sarah hiccuped .Emaan quickly moved to her side and made her sit on the sofa while Khaled poured a glass of water for Dr Sarah and offered it to her.

Gulping down the water with shivering hands ,Dr Sarah spoke again ,

"Since then it had been three days that I have been talking to him and he has just been reporting me about Abbas's condition .I had asked him to let him shift here but he was fearful about Zarar coming to know of it which would destroy everything he had worked for .But today he told me Abbas's condition has been deterioting and asked me to get the people I trust to get to this place where he will meet and handover Abbas."

Khaled took hold of the paper which Dr Sarah handed out as she added,

"I thought I will forget about it so I noted down ...please Khaled I trust you ,please help my Abbas please ..I beg you".

"Dr Alma please don't say that .If Abbas is your son so am I and mother's don't beg they order .So don't worry I will go ".

"But what if it turns out to be some sort of a plan of Zarar". Emaan asserted anxiously .

"It could be" ,Khaled brooded , "But we can't mull over our fear when its a matter of someone's life ".

"But what about your lif.....I mean everyone else's lives". Emaan looked down sheepishly while Dr Sarah felt herself agreeing with Emaan yet fearing for his son safety ,she glanced back at Khaled with apprehension ,confusion and many more emotions convoluting in her eyes and beating in her heart.

While Khaled's lips had almost bloomed into a smile hearing Emaan's words but quickly clearing her throat and focussing on the problem he was garnered with, he said ,

"We have no choice but to take this risk ....but one thing surely can be done to reduce this risk."

__________________________________________

"Are you sure he is going to come even after we have changed two places of meeting ". Albert asked looking around .

Khaled had decided to change the place of meeting which Bulút had set intiallly on which Bulút had agreed but eventually half an hour before the designated time of their meeting ,Khaled had again changed the location ,which had made Bulút frustrated but he had somehow agreed in the end .

Khaled who was standing leaning against the car next to Omar looked at Albert as he replied ,

"We have to wait to be sure of that and we had no choice especially when he is related to Zarar .We just can't simply trust him to be not framing or plotting against us something .These changing locations can atleast reduce down that risk ".

"And I have got this area thoroughly checked and nothing seemed suspicious .But still to be on safer side, I have alloted some men away from us to keep an eye and inform us immediately if they find something suspicious". Omar added.

Albert nodded looking around the area that looked like a car junkyard while Hamza and Basit stood near the ambulance van busy in some conversation.

They didn't had to wait for much longer ,as they heard the sound of engine and slowly a car entered inside the junkyard with its headlight off. Bulút looked fervently around the area when finally his eyes landed on a group of people standing near a car and an ambulance .Stopping near them,he whisked out of the car and hissed,

"You really think this is some sort of a game making me drive through areas with a man near to death ..You guys are not less than Zarar .."

"We can talk about this later but first let us deal with Abbas ".Khaled said calmly .

Exhaling hard, Bulút jogged to the other side of car and with the help of others shifted Abbas inside the ambulance .But what shocked him was the preparation they had came with ,their quick assessment of Abbas's situation and dealing with it meticulously had him in awe for a moment, somewhat haulting his anger towards them .

Khaled had instantly realised Abbas's deterioting condition was an outcome of infection . As he looked up ,he knew Hamza and Albert were already on the same page as he and nodding they immediately began with their emergency first aid when Khaled asked ,

"Did Zarar shot him?"

"Yeah !" Bulút nodded ,"Is he going to be alright ? Don't tell me your stalling has made his condition more severe !"

"Yeah in sha Allah he will be fine,.It's just a case of wound infection ! And we weren't stalling we were just being precautious".

"Yeah precautious ". Bulút snorted , "Let me tell you this if you really want to be precautious then find out the traitor among you who is responsible for Abbas 's condition and many more things ".

"What do you mean ?" Hamza frowned .

"The one who told Zarar about Abbas being son of Dr Sarah Alma was from Al Firdous ,rather the information we had got about casualties through RM ,that RM had in turn got this information from someone among you ".

A deafening silence had engulfed inside the ambulance ,before Khaled inquired ,

"How can you be so sure ? It could be Zarar had taken out intel about Abbas .Its not something difficult for you guys !" Hamza and Albert nodded in agreement .

"Abbas and I were in the same session of training for undercover agents .We were the best of friends but yet I wasn't aware of his family and their names nor did he .No one in the training for undercover knows anything about eachother even including names .We knew eachother by the name the agency assigned us .Abbas and I were Coal and Diamond until we joined police force .The personal informations are locked, sealed and kept confidential because revelation of it can lead to blackmailing and leaking many secrets of institution which has to be kept secret. "

Bulút exhaled hard as he continued ,

"See the day I got to know about this was when I was in Zarar's office and he was talking to RM .And before I could alert Abbas about it ,Abbas came in the office. I tried to signal him but it was too late ...I don't know what to call it except a miracle that Zarar's bullet pass by Abbas just two inches away from his heart which never happens if Zarar's shooting as the man always aims for direct kill. He asked me to dump Abbas's body and there I realised that he was breathing but faintly .I took him to a retired doctor who used to work with us in our early days as undercover agents .Initially he was reluctant to be a part of this but Abbas had helped him a lot so he eventually agreed .With whatever available equipments he had at home, he did what he could but seeing Abbas's continuous falling condition he asked me to take him to hospital or otherwise he told me Abbas won't survive..that's when I approached Dr Sarah".

Khaled ran a hand in his hairs trying to internalize the new information in the already mess of a mystery they were all facing when Hamza asked ,

"But why should we believe you ? It could be your Chief's plan to shatter apart our unity which is our strength?"

"It's your choice to believe me or not" ,Bulút glared, "As for me I am doing this for my friend. Intiallly I didn't thought I needed any help so I just informed his mother but his falling condition forced me to seek help .So here I am explaining everything to you while knowing very well that informer could be among from you but still I am here risking my life for my friend so I think you can atleast risk to believe me ".

Khaled nodded as he asserted ,

"Yeah Jazakallahu khair .Your every help and information is very much appreciated .We are indebted to you".

"No need for that .Just save him and better find this Trojan Horse among you as soon as possible ...I will try to keep in touch and keep you inform about anything important".

Saying it ,Bulút gave a farewell glance to Abbas and nodding and muttering greetings he stepped out of the ambulance and walked towards his car and drove out .

Khaled was engrossed in thinking when bringing him out of his reverie ,Omar commented,

"Until we find who this person is we have to keep Abbas's survival a secret and we have to keep him away from everyone's eyes.No matter how much it seems weird but no one can be trusted and the arrow of suspicion have to be pointed at everyone until the culprit is found out ".

Khaled nodded and taking out his mobile he typed something before ordering Albert,

"Albert I have sent the message to Esber to prepare the personal chamber .It's one of the secret room he told me about Al Shams harbours .But don't let anyone involved in this, keep Abbas's face covered while you take him inside ,alright? ...Rest anything happens I know you will manage ".

"But are you not coming with us Dr Khaled ?" .Albert questioned.

"No! After talking to Bulút I know I have to be more careful about Zarar so I need to get done with the task of sending him the video clip of his men bringing dead bodies inside Al Firdous which I had promised to send him. But since the video that Basit recorded somehow got corrupted so the only option we have now are the recordings of security cameras of Al Firdous ,it might have recorded something. As I just can't allow that our tactics to save our lives ends up becoming a means of endangering other's lives ".

"I am coming with you! ".Omar entreated .

"No Omar ! You manage the patrolling ,that's should be your priority as that way we can atleast ensure the safety of our people from prisoner group men's plunder .And I just have to get the recordings from surveillance room . And I had taken the keys from Zaid before hand only so don't worry it wont take much time .."

"Yeah don't worry Omar ,I am accompanying him so I will save this damsel if she gets in distress". Hamza smirked making Khaled roll his eyes at him while everyone smiled .

Seeing the ambulance and the cars move out ,Khaled and Hamza slid inside the car and drove towards Al Firdous .

"I don't know why but I strongly feel Daniyal is the one who is betraying us ". Hamza said tearing away the brooding silence engulfing inside the car .

Coming out of his strings of thoughts ,Khaled glanced at Hamza and noticing his serious expressions ,he looked back on the road as he asked ,

"What makes you say that ?"

"Come on Khaled ! You can't act so oblivious to the way Daniyal is .He is a person who can go to any extent to save his back like leaving a girl in the horde of hyenas and not even feel an ounce of guilt about it ."

Khaled's grip on the steering wheel tightened as flashes of memories zoomed before his eyes coursing a lava of rage slither inside him .But exhaling hard ,he focussed on driving and listening to Hamza ,

"And the way he acts and reacts to everything ,one can't help but feel suspicious about him.I think he is the one .We should take actions against him ".

But no matter how much Khaled felt an insurmountable anger towards Daniyal and his heart clenched everytime he remembered Emaan's tattered state but still he couldn't make himself agree with Hamza as he articulated out his perspective to him,

"As much as I agree with you Hamza but yet we just can't put the blame on Daniyal without any clear proof or evidence .It will be wrong".

"What do you mean it will be wrong" ,Hamza frowned ,"I am not shooting arrows in the air ,everybody knows about his selfish nature or have you forgotten how he had left Dr Emaan among those filthy men and if you hadn't reached there ,Dr Emaan would.."

"I know Hamza" .Khaled interjected ,his jaws clenched and his knuckles turned white as his grip on steering tightened as he continued ,

"Believe me ! Everytime I see him I want to beat the pulp out of him but this time it's a different matter .It's a matter that is going to attack one of the strength of ours : the profound trust we hold against each other .And I cannot act so impulsively in this matter .It will be wrong to put the blame on Daniyal just because I hold a grudge against him .Islam teaches us to stand by justice and right no matter what .That even if our enemy is the one right and our friend is wrong ,we have to support the enemy not our friend. And Quran forbids us from blaming any information or suspicion about someone until we get the proper evidence proving that fact .Until that happens ,putting a blame on someone like that even on the person we dislike is an outright slander and I don't think I need to remind you what ghastly repercussion slanders holds....so until we don't have a proof we can't blame him"

"So we just going to sit and relax and let the traitor keep on ruining lives? ".Hamza huffed .

"I didn't said that ! We definitely have to chalk out a plan to drive this traitor out without hampering the trust we have on eachother and also to stop the flow of information going out .Zarar still seems to be unknown about our new abode so that means there is a reason the person has not told him .And not to forget the connection between this informer and R.M. There is a lot of mystery we need to solve . And just because Daniyal's certain actions were downright wrong ,we can't ignore his good actions and dedication in his work ,we just can't paint him in the colour of evility yet .We need to widen our horizon to find the person who is responsible without destroying our strengths ."

"I hate this quality of yours where you always get to say words which forces a person to agree with you no matter what ! Allah shouldn't have given you this trait ..seriously". Hamza mumbled annoyingly .

"Well Allah SWT knew that I needed this quality as HE was going to bless me with a dumb friend ". Khaled smirked while focussing on road .

Hamza quirked his eyebrows before he retorted,

"Atleast I am not that dumb to take centuries to realize my feelings for a girl ,seriously what kind of a cardiologist are you ?Who doesn't even knows whats going on in his heart? ".

Khaled groaned in frustration before he growled ,

"Hamza why does each and everytime you have to collapse down to this topic only ".

"Well Laiba Amtu had given me the task of finding a girl for you so I am just following her orders".

"Seriously Hamza do you want me to go to Hell ?"

"No ".

"Then do you have depression?"

"No!"

"Anxiety? ".

"No ! " Hamza frowned .

"Any mental illness or disorder?"

"No but why are you asking this ?"

"Cause I want to know why are you being so suicidal ?Do you really wanna die so early ?" Khaled hissed .

Hamza rolled his eyes before he retorted ,

"No doubt Sidra calls you by that name .And I am not telling you so keep on guessing ".

"Let me guess ...it's Dr Dracula!" Khaled ended with a smug look which intensified seeing bewildered look of Hamza.

"How do you know that ?"

"I heard Dr Emaan calling me that".

"And what did you do ?"

Despite his attempts and efforts ,Khaled's face lightened up with a grin as he reminiscenced Emaan's reaction which eventually ended up in a light chuckle as he said ,

"Nothing specific !."

"Doesn't seems like it !" Hamza jested making Khaled grin wider before he cleared his throat and looked away .

"Now I damn sure that Dr Emaan is the one for you .I can't wait to tell Laiba amtu about her future daughter in law ".

"Hamza you know right I can drive the car with one hand and with other I can easily punch you". Khaled warned .

"What ? I am just doing a good deed ? Making two hearts meet !"

"I would prefer if you will divert all your expertise matchmaking attention on yourself and try to push your so called 'stagnant love story ' as you call it move forward and leave my life for good ".

"Well Allah is Malik of my love story !"

"So HE is mine ! If something has to happen it will happen .So stop your matchmaking agendas ...Seriously you are not any less than ladies in weddings enacting the role of matchmakers whose only aim is to leave no man or woman on this planet single ".

Hamza rolling his eyes looked out of the window. Seeing the darkened and deserted houses , a deep sense of melancholy perforated inside his heart before sighing he looked up at the sky and his eyes resting on the only star visible to him from his view ,reminding him the star of his life : Sidra.

He knew he and Sidra had moved a step closer to each other but still he didn't know what next step he was to make because though Sidra had let him come this much close to her for the first time and he knew the intensity of pain required the comfort of a loved one and he had tried to be one in those gutwrenching moments .And now he just hoped that maybe this moment ,though which was a part of painful memories of their lives could open the way to her heart for him and she can finally see the love he had been carrying for her all this time .

Hamza came out of his reverie when the car came to a halt .Looking at the surrounding ,Hamza frowned before he asked ,

"Why did we stop here ?Al Firdous is still two block ahead ?"

"I know", Khaled unbuckled his seat belt ,"But there are chances Zarar and his men might be looming around Al Firdous ,so it's better we be careful of it ".

"Yeah but we had been shifting left over stuffs and machineries at night and we hadn't found any of the cops so.."

"Yeah but precaution is better than cure !".

Hamza nodded and slid out of the car along with Khaled and walked towards the direction of Al Firdous hospital .But as they finally reached the back entrance door of Al Firdous ,Khaled to his astonishment ,felt a hand on his shoulder .

___________________________________________

Bismillah

This chapter wasn't supposed to end here but seeing the chapter getting too long and me feeling skeptical about both the chapter and my writing I decided to end it here only .But despite the skepticism and doubts I feel about this chapter ,I hope you all liked it and didn't got bored or anything while reading it .Do let me know your views if you felt it lacked something.

And also I forgot to tell you all -I missed you all a lot😘

Dedicating this chapter to three cuties : Fallingwidstyle ,Johard786and AminaAdewoyin

Before you leave please do recite ,

'Allahumma munzilal-kitaabi ,saree'al hisaabil,ihzimil-ahzaaba .Allahumma ihzimhum wa zalzilhum '

(O Allah ,The Revealer of the Book ,swift to accounts ,defeat the groups ( of disbelievers ).O Allah ! Defeat them and shake them .)

Do remember me and entire ummah in your precious duas .

Faqat abd e Rahmana
Sadaf

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu 💜