Misha's POV:

The tears of joy just won't stop as I lunged myself on top of Ibraheem. I enveloped him in a tight embrace as I took in his scent and felt his warmth. I felt alive again. He was really back. My stomach was doing backflips from the happiness.

"You are back. You are back. You are really back!" I kept repeating as I hugged him tighter. He groaned in response.

"Jaan, it hurts but yes I am back." He patted my head while his other hand that had an I.V attached to it, moved to my waist. I let go immediately as I continued to stare at him in silent happiness. It was still hard to believe that he had come back to me. "How long have I been out, anyway?"

"It is the 38th day." Ibraheem's eyes widened while I flinched at Farrukh's statement. I had completely forgotten that he was sitting here as well. He had told me had wanted to 'talk' to Ibraheem ever since he found out he was admitted here. I don't know when Ibraheem was getting up but Farrukh would visit once a week to check up on us. It just so happened to be one of those days.

When I frowned at Farrukh's tone and message, he had promised me that it would be a harmless discussion so I decided to trust his shady self. I was relieved to find out that the bullet Ibraheem had shot only grazed Farrukh and he was able to recover quickly. Things would have been so much more complicated if the wound had been fatal.

I slowly peeked in Farrukh's direction as he sat casually on the sofa. I really couldn't tell what was going on his head. He had an unreadable expression on his face as he continued to focus on Ibraheem, barely sparing me a glance.

"Ah, fucke-Fakhir, you are still alive?" Ibraheem had wanted to get up but I guess the pain didn't let him. He groaned as he laid back down.

"It's Farrukh. Unfortunately for you, yeah. I can see you are alive too." Farrukh slowly got up while keeping his eyes trained on Ibraheem. The air felt so hostile. "I wanted to return the favour," he took out a pistol from nowhere and pressed the barrel of the gun in Ibraheem's chest before giving Ibraheem a satanically sweet smile, "but you already look pretty miserable so I decided not to. Plus," Farrukh glanced at me with a gentle look in his eyes.

"Plus?" Ibraheem raised his eyebrow as he stared between the two of us. He didn't look fazed at all by the gun. I had wanted to say something but the air was so heavy in the room, it felt so overpowering that I couldn't utter a word. It felt like two powerhouses were clashing with each other. As if a tiger was about to bite the neck of a jaguar or something.

"Plus, Kishmish loves you so I can't really do anything. I still can't believe she married you. Had I known she would marry this young, I would have tried something of my own a long time ago." Farrukh recoiled the gun, tucking it into the waistband of his pants before pinching the bridge of his nose. I gaped at him. Was he throwing salt on his wounds on purpose? Ibraheem was going to snap any minute now.

I looked at Ibraheem and oddly enough, he gave Farrukh a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"As if I would have let you. She was mine from the start." Ibraheem's mouth twitched for a second. He gave Farrukh a cold stare. "All mine." Ibraheem stated proudly as he dared Farrukh with his eyes to retaliate which he did.

"It sucks but that is the truth, you piece of shit. Take good care of her. She is the only cousin I genuinely care about." Farrukh returned the smile. I could tell that their eyes were saying a hundred more things than what was actually being said but I decided not to think too much on it.

"Oh I will. With my life." Ibraheem retorted and for a second, for a brief second, I felt like the two of them had a genuine smile on their face,  as if they had acknowledged each other, but the familiar expression disappeared as quickly as it came.

With that, Farrukh gave me a nod. "I have said all I wanted too. I am heading out now." And he was gone.

"I still can't believe that shit is your cousin. He makes my blood boil." Ibraheem was glaring at the door where Farrukh had exited from. Ibraheem tried to get up again but groaned as he laid down.

"Rest, my love. Please. The external wounds have healed but internal bleeding and healing will take a while." I gently placed my hand on his face and felt his skin against mine. "I am going to inform everyone that you are awake."

I was avoiding his eyes. Whenever I looked into those deep brown eyes, I was reminded of how I had put his life in danger. He had covered for me. Allah's miracle saved Ibraheem but what if I had lost him? How would I-

"What are you thinking about?" Ibraheem's question snapped me out of the vicious cycle of negative thoughts I was whirling deeper into. "I know that look, Misha. You are assuming things on your own again. Tell me. What is it?"

His eyes bore into mine and I felt my heart waver. I could lie and tell him it was nothing. I needed him to recover happily without any stress. And yet, the lies never left my mouth. Only the naked truth came out.

"I could have lost you," I felt my voice shake, "I don't want to imagine it but what if I had? I can't imagine a life without you anymore, Ibraheem. I know you did it to save me but at what cost? What if you had left me with an endless agony?" The tears broke out again as Ibraheem gently placed his hand on my cheek. "I should have saved you. It should have been the other way around."

"But you did save me, jaan. When I was in a coma, it was your dua that brought me back. I heard it loud and clear. It was your hands that kept me warm in a cold, isolated place. It was your faith in Allah that brought me back to you or I would have wandered that place for a long, long time. Maybe forever even. But I am back. And it's all because of you. You brought Allah's miracle to me. To us." Ibraheem comforted me as his hand pulled me down once again so that my head was resting on his chest. He patted my head, combing my hair with his fingers in a calm symphony. "Don't let the guilt bring you down because you have done far too much for me too. Now wipe those tears and look at me, I am right here, aren't I?"

I looked into Ibraheem's warm eyes and felt the peace returning to my soul. He really was here. He was alright. He was back. That is all that matters now. I kissed his forehead as I smiled down at him lovingly.

"Rest, Ibraheem. I am going to inform everyone now." I repeated the same sentence as before but this time without a heavy heart. I was content. I was at peace. I had to pray shukrana nafl too. I had to tell Allah I was grateful for His Miracle.

The next few hours went by in a blur. The doctors and nurses surrounded Ibraheem to monitor his behavior and health. I called ammi, abbu, father in law, mother in law, Fahad, Kamran and Rubab. I even texted Zoya. It felt like the time that had stopped completely for me had finally resumed again.

My life had started again.

Ibraheem's father was back in Karachi while Ibraheem's mother was living with my family. She was planning to stay in the farmhouse that Ibraheem and the boys had in Lahore but my family, particularly my parents, insisted that she should stay with us because we were practically family now.

The parents had mutually apologized to each other for their inappropriate behavior before. It was difficult but they came to terms with it. I still remember how abbu and uncle had the discussion.

Flashback:

"Kuch ghaltiyan humne kardi, kuch ghaltiyan apne kardi. Humen humari galtiyon ke liye maaf karden. Aulaad ka mamla hai so jazbaati hogaye thay. (There was some mistakes we had made, and there was some mistakes you had made. Forgive us for the mistakes we made. The matter involved a child so we got too emotional.)" Abbu said to uncle when he had showed up at the hospital. Uncle was already aware of the fact that Humayun bhai had given blood to Ibraheem.

"Gee sahi kaha. Maazi ko maazi rehne dete hen. Ab mustaqbil ko dekhte hen. Humain bhi humari galtiyon ke liye maaf kardena. Jaise apne kaha, aulaad ke mamlay men jazbaat ajate hen andar. (You are right. Let the past be the past. Let us look towards the future. Forgive us for our mistakes too. It's just like you said, emotions take over when a child is involved.)"

With that, the two men shook their hands for the first time ever. Silent gratitude and acknowledgement sparked in their eyes. The women weren't as direct in their confrontation as the men were. Ammi and auntie just sat in a corner as Auntie continued to talk about Ibraheem in a silent pained whisper while Ammi comforted her and listened to her.

Just like that, the wedge that had driven such a huge gap between the two families initially had started to dissipate. It was odd to see the four of them in the same frame at times but gradually, it started to fit.

Auntie would tell stories of Ibraheem's childhood to ammi who would nod her head understandingly and respond by saying something like 'Humayun used to do that too as a child. Boys are so adventurous when young.'

Ammi and auntie got along unexpectedly well. It was almost as if they had been friends for a long time. Ammi knew it wasn't right to leave auntie alone right now because Ibraheem was her only child and she could understand the fears and affection of a fellow mother.

Father and uncle were slightly more awkward in the beginning. I could tell their egos was causing differences among the two but little by little, with every passing day as uncle would call abbu or me for updates on Ibraheem's health, things started to fit into place.

I knew it wasn't easy to forget the past but I was truly grateful that things were working out just fine now. Whenever I looked at them, an 'Alhamdulilah' would slip out from my tongue. Ibraheem would be happy to see this view too. Both of our parents sitting together in harmony around the two of us while discussing all kinds of things.

I was glad that my parents hadn't interrogated me any further on how the two of us had gotten married or when it happened. I didn't really know how to answer them so I was silently grateful for not being subjected to the questions. Maybe when the time is right and I have enough confidence and Ibraheem's strength by my side, I would probably tell them myself then.

All this made me realise that Ibraheem was a strong pillar in my life. Despite everything, I had that constant assurance that if I slip, his hands will be there to hold me to make sure I don't fall, that if I need a shoulder to cry on or a back to rely on, he will be right there by my side with that playful grin on his face. He was truly my strength and I couldn't thank Allah enough for blessing me with Ibraheem.

Flashback ended.

Author's Note:

Hello and Asalam o Alaikum Lovelies!

I hope all of you are well and safe. I tried writing a long chapter to make up for the delayed update. Updates will be really slow from now on because my summer semester is starting this week.

It's going to be crazy hectic but it is what it is. I will try my best to finish this book before the summer break ends InshaAllah.

What did you think of this chapter? I tried making it wholesome. I will also try to bring in some parts from the other couples (Ruhad and Zoran) too.