As Long As I Live

Rekindled Passion

Dedicated to the amazing _Rachel007

Happy Reading!

*****

"Mrs Hassan we will be discharging you from the hospital within a week. Your injuries and the wound on the head are healing quite well. The orthopedic specialist has asked that the starting phase of the physiotherapy be initiated in the hospital. So we're going to start working on that fractured leg from today. As soon as you get the hang of it, you can head back home."

Mayra nodded her head.

A young physiotherapist stepped forward. "Mrs Hassan, I will be guiding you throughout your physiotherapy course. Its important that you complete this course in order to regain complete use of all your muscles. It will be difficult in the beginning because your muscles will be stiff from lack of use. We have to slowly make them supple again. It might be painful but you have to persevere."

Mayra's eyes widened at the mention of pain. Aamir wanted to kick the physiotherapist out for saying things that were causing Mayra to be afraid, but the man was right. They had to persevere. For Mayra's sake he had to be strong. It was going to be hard for them both.

"Shall we start?" The physiotherapist asked.

Mayra and Aamir both nodded in affirmation. Aamir watched as the man made her move and exercise all the joints in Mayra's hands. Her right wrist had been sprained. When Mayra tried to move it, she screamed out in pain. Aamir's heart tore out of his chest at the sound of her anguish. He wanted to take the pain for her. It was only fair that he suffer for all the mistakes of his past. Mayra's tears were impossible for him to watch. With each tear that fell out of her eye, a piece of his heart died, his conscience screamed at him for being an utterly useless man who, despite his presence, was unable to keep his woman from hurting.

With a few more of hand exercises, they proceeded to exercise Mayra's legs. Before the young physiotherapist could touch her knee, Aamir stepped forward to take his place. The red-blooded male in him wouldn't allow a man to touch his wife beyond necessary, not when he could avoid it.

Mayra stared at Aamir. She didn't want to be touched by the physiotherapist, but Aamir's help was unfamiliar too. She had never been touched by any man which made Aamir's hands on her knee and the back of her leg unbearable as he tried to slowly flex her knee as per the physiotherapist's instructions.

Between the pain and discomfort of Aamir's touch, Mayra couldn't quite decide what to feel, and to what she should've reacted. She bit her lip and tried to move her leg, she squeezed her eyes shut as tears escaped when her cry of anguish couldn't. Aamir immediately sensed that she was in pain and tried to stop but the physiotherapist urged him to continue.

"It's okay, baby," he encouraged her. "Just a little more, and it will be over soon."

Mayra tried over and over till the physiotherapist was convinced that they had made a good start. "Finally, Mr Hassan, we need to get her to stand and move a little. You can support her while she walks."

Mayra looked absolutely terrified to be standing on her feet. She knew exactly how bad it was going to hurt. The physiotherapist sensed her fear and said, "not much, Mrs Hassan, just a few steps. Like around the bed itself. And Mr Hassan will be holding you, I'm sure he won't let you fall," the physiotherapist tried to joke.

Aamir noticed how Mayra's expressive face betrayed her fear of being dropped by Aamir a second before she hid it. But that split second was enough for Aamir to catch that raw vulnerability in her eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, he was the one solely responsible for having forced that fear in her in the first place.