With hearts, Destined.

Chapter 24

Zaira felt a hand brush lightly against her skin.

She wanted to open her eyes but she hadn't slept so comfortably in a long time. The bed was so comfortable and soft that she felt she'd drown in it. It smelled good as well.

It smelled like Karim.

She felt a hand rub the back of her palms reluctantly.

"God! I don't know what I'm becoming anymore." Karim groaned.

Zaira wanted to speak but whatever they were pumping into her system was making her groggy.
She hadn't eaten a full meal in a while which could have been the reason she fainted.

She could afford food but her savings had been running low for a few weeks now and she had had to reduce her spending so as to not go broke.

Most of her money she had made in the past was for her tuition at the university and for Maher's tuition and other necessities he'd need.
Her feeding wasn't a major necessity to her.

After a few minutes of silence, Zaira felt unconsciousness kick in again.

She deserved to sleep for a few hours at least.

~

Zaira's eyes fluttered open again and she felt a bit more human now.

She could feel someone's head lying on her hand.

It was Karim. He was still sitting by the bed but he had clearly fallen asleep without realizing.

She looked at him sleeping with a calm expression, his hair splayed over his face.

Zaira smiled.

This was the Karim she knew. Calm. Kind. Peaceful. Caring and Loving.

But the Karim she had met again wasn't him.
He was a broken recreation of himself. She being the main cause of it.
That was why she'd fix what she had broke. She had to. She owed it to him.

Zaira sat up straighter.
Her shifting woke Karim up instantly.

He squinted at her and yawned.

"You're awake." He noted.

Everything seemed normal for a minute until it seemed Karim realized who she was. He pulled his hands away from her and moved back.

Zaira pursed her lips.

"What happened?" She looked at the drip stand by her.

"I'm supposed to ask you that." Karim mumbled. "What were you thinking? Are you suicidal?" Karim furrowed his brows.

Zaira frowned in confusion. "I didn't make myself faint, you know. If anything it's..."

"The doctor said you're malnourished. She thinks you haven't been eating well."

"That's what she thinks. Not my issue. Why does it even matter to you? As you said, we're not even friends."

Karim's eye twitched.
"What if something happened to you? What then? You lived your life in Aracruz isolated to yourself. Who would have known if something happened to you? What then? You'd just die? Like that? Without any help because you decided to be a hermit rather than give me the slightest possibility to find you? Is that what this is? You hate me that much?"
His voice was much calmer than he had expected it to be.

"This has nothing to do with you. Nothing." Zaira gritted out.

"What was it then? Money? You didn't have enough? Clearly, you still got emails of your account being active with thousands of dollars in savings from your allowance."