Bound By Heart #1intheheartseries

FiFtEeN

Aqsa's POV

I closed the door with a loud thud to announce my presence to Tish who was engrossed in whatever stuff she was working on with her laptop.

Sometimes I regret my decision in accepting her pleas to work.

"What part of sit at the dining whenever you work with a laptop do you not understand?", I stomped over and tugged it out of her hands.

"Come ooonnnn. I'm almost done I promise. You know I hate sitting at a table."

I glared at her,"You must like this one oo. Your position on the chair ain't good for your condition Tish. When will you hear word??!"

She returned the glare,"When you stop acting like a doctor."

"Until you bring this baby forth to the world, I'll keep acting like a doctor, nurse, matron, surgeon, gynecologist, paediatrician, pharmacist... what else sef?"

She snorted,"Why didn't you study medicine instead?"

I always cringed at the thought and she knew it.

"For where??? And faint multiple times during the first five minutes of my Student Practice?? May we not be stressed abeg."

She burst out laughing, "It's not even your type they're looking for in Medicine school. You'll just end up breaking arms and legs instead of fixing them."

I threw a pillow at her.
"Shut up. I can do anything I put my mind to."

She nodded still laughing,"Sure. Put your mind to staying calm and not passing out every time you see blood."

I stood up from the couch.
"It's like you're bent on frustrating me this evening. I don't have your time."

I walked towards the door that led to the inner rooms.

She called after me,"No,come back oo. Come and finish what you started. Doctor Nurse Matron Surgeon Gynecologist Pharmacist Paediatrician Aqsa."

I heard her burst into another fit of laughter as I banged my bedroom door.

I smiled as I took in the sound of her laughter.

To heavens with my frustration.
Seeing a smile on her face, talkless of laughter was a treasured moment.

I dropped my bag on my bed as I headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

My reflection from the mirror in the middle of my room made me stop.
I stopped in front of it and slowly raised my hands towards my face.

How could I not have noticed the resemblance?

The way our chins had the same stubborn sharpness.
How our eyes had the same structure.
We both had a similar smile and a way of walking.
The mole we had on our collar bone.
The birthmark situated in the same place on our arms.

Tears welled up in my eyes as my mind took me back to the day I made a huge discovery.

My parents were in Nigeria for a visit and practically dragged me to a family function.

I didn't want to leave her alone at home but she assured me she would come screaming into the party at the first sign of danger.

I didn't grow up in Nigeria so I didn't really know much about my extended family which was why my parents badly wanted me to attend the function.

I almost passed out when I was introduced to a "cousin" from my mother's side.

It took every ounce of strength in me to stay calm and not just jump on the lady to examine her well.

Her voice.
The way she gestured with her hands.
Her smile and laughter.
The way she handled the fork like a weapon.
Her lazy grin whenever she thought of something mischievous.

Every single feature of hers screamed Tisha.

Nuriyyah.
Nuriyyah Isa.

I remembered how Tish had been accused of infidelity when she was still married to Mus'ab.

The picture her mother had sent to him.
It had been Nuriyyah hugging her Pilot brother goodbye.

Her elder brother.
Tisha's elder brother.
Abdul-Malik.
My cousin.

I connected the dots together as soon as I recollected a time when my mum cried for days because one of her sister's twin daughters had gone missing without trace.

I remembered the way my parents called every contact they knew, pulled every string they could pull to ensure the girl was found.
I was sad for my aunt but soon forgot about it since I didn't know the girl in question.

The case was closed after two years of fruitless search.

I was introduced to Abdul-Malik that night too as Nuriyyah's Pilot brother.

Nuriyyah told me how she seized any chance to be the one to drive him to the Airport whenever he was on duty.
She wasn't married yet so he was definitely the one she was hugging in that picture.

I was numb with too much discoveries and all I wanted to do was leave the event as soon as possible.

However, that wasn't possible as Nuriyyah practically dragged me to the rest room saying she couldn't go there alone and she had to adjust her scarf ASAP.

A pendant necklace dropped from her neck the moment she took off the pin holding her scarf in place.

She caught me staring at it and asked if I liked it.
I nodded in the affirmative, too shocked to talk.
It was the same copy of the one Tish had.

Nuriyyah took it off and asked if I wanted to touch it.
I took it from her stretched palm and examined it.
It had sisters written on it just like Tish's own.

The name Nuriyyah Isa was boldly written on it in Arabic. I opened the pendant to reveal a picture of them in their early teens, holding a cake that had 14 boldly written on it.

I looked up to find her staring at the necklace with a sad smile,"She gifted me with this a year before she disappeared. I've kept it intact over the years, polishing it everyday."

She wiped her eyes as soon as a lone tear fell.
"It's the only physical memory I have of her. I gave her something like this too."

She chuckled, "Apparently we had the same gift in mind. Mine was just a bit different. It had a pendant with a half heart. I told her the other half of the heart was in me. Funny how I inscribed sisters on it with her name also written while she gave me a pendant that actually had a space to keep a "sisters" picture."

.....
Old wounds are being opened 😭😭😭