To The End And Beyond ***ON HOLD***

~ Chapter #5 ~

RECAP
Zain had called up Amir, who was at work, and was talking to him in a low tone, explaining what had happened. He took a totally fazed Aqsa by the elbow and rushed into the house with her. He ran to inform his mother and try to contact his friends in Dubai to reach the Mall as soon as they could, while he booked the first flight to Dubai for him, Amir and Aqsa.

Aqsa was still holding the phone, hearing her brother's rapid breath and his voice deteriorating, all the while shaking with sobs herself. She heard him recite the Shahada in gasping bits. Then he said:

"Aqsa..I...love...you...I...always..."

And the line went dead.

Time seemed to be at a standstill as Aqsa, Amir and Zain landed at the Dubai Airport. They had just dumped everything haphazardly into the bags, totally oblivious of what they were packing. Aisha, Maarya and Maryam had assisted as much as they could.

Zain had been in touch with his friend, Twaahir, who had rushed to the hospital in time to see the ambulance arrive. With the way Zain was conversing in low tones and a grim expression on his face, things didn't seem to look too good.

Amir, on the other hand, was totally quiet. He hadn't uttered a single word since the time they had picked him from work. He just stared straight ahead, only his lips moving silently in prayer. The only time Aqsa had seen him like this was when her mother had passed away. She couldn't think about that now. Ahaan was a fighter, he had always held them all up with his strong spirit and determination. They wouldn't lose him. She knew that everyone had to return to their Creator one day, but her heart still held hope for him.

Twaahir's brother had come to receive them at the airport. He drove quickly to the hospital and dropped them at the entrance.

They rushed in to find Twaahir waiting at the reception area, his eyes tired and hair rumpled, as if he had been running his hand through it continuously. They followed him to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

As the doors opened, they were greeted with the sounds of beeping monitors, oxygen machines and low murmurs of the medical staff checking up on patients.

Twaahir whispered to Zain as they approached a bed which had the curtains drawn around it.

"Aqsa, why don't you wait here for a bit?" Zain asked her in a pleading voice.

Aqsa stared at him bewildered.

"Of course not! I've been desperate to see my brother, come all this way from home, and you're telling me to wait? You cannot be serious Zain!"

"Shhhhh," the nurse next to the reception desk said, putting her finger on her lips.

"Sorry," Aqsa mouthed. Then turned back to Zain with a fierce look, which softened when she saw the worried look in his eyes. "Please Zain, I really need to see him."

Zain sighed in defeat. He gave a nod to Twaahir, who proceeded to open the curtains slightly so they could walk through.

There were multiple gasps drawn in as the bed occupant came into view. Aqsa couldn't believe she was looking at the person who just around 2 weeks ago, they had seen as young, healthy, active, joyful and without a scratch on his body. At first she thought there might have been a mistake. This could not be Ahaan. Then she saw his favorite watch, wallet, mobile phone all laid out on the table next to his bed. She covered her mouth to muffle her sobs. He had apparently been shot on the head, which was now wrapped in bandages. The bandages already had blood splotches on them. His leg was in a cast, his face bruised. Tubes ran from his body to the machines.

The Doctor attending to him straightened and looked at them gravely. He came to them and said in a whisper, "Mr Amir? Aqsa?" They nodded. "I'm Doctor Ahmed. He's been waiting for you. He has been mentioning you both over and over again since they brought him in."

Zain, who had been wringing his hands in tension, voiced the question which was on all their minds. "He'll make it, won't he?"

Doctor Ahmed looked at all of them and sighed. "I won't lie and give you false hope. It doesn't look too good. The bullet went through, and even if he survives, he might go through amnesia, anxiety, depression and to an extent, even paralysis. He has a knee injury. And he was beaten up pretty badly too. We reached him on time to patch him up as much as we could, and also to avoid it becoming a Police case. We can only pray now. For him to get through and not have any lifelong conditions. In Shaa Allah (God-willing)."

Zain thanked him and walked to escort him out through the curtains.

Suddenly, Doctor Ahmed turned.

"There was one more name he kept repeating. But it wasn't in a good way," he frowned thoughtfully. "As soon as he would mention the name, he would flail his arms and thrush around. We had to hold him down tightly whenever he did so."

Zain and Aqsa looked at each other in confusion.

"What do you mean Doctor? Whose name could have caused him such terrible stress?" Queried Zain.

Doctor Ahmed furrowed his brow, rubbed his chin and after what seemed like ages, finally said,

"Salman."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Ok I'm no medical professional, so please bear with me if any medical terms look or sound weird to you. I'm only going by what I've either read or watched to connect to the medical dilemma we have here.

I owe everyone a huge apology for not updating for so long. The story was just not connecting in my head the way I wanted it to. Lame excuse I know, but hey it's the truth!

Quite a short chapter, but something is better than nothing I guess.

Please shout out to your friends to read the story if you like it, haha it's good to self-promote at times! 😉

Hope I have the next chapter in writing soon because the story gets really juicy now!