Atifa's pov:
"How are you feeling now?" Sitting beside ammi, I held her hands, tears threatening to obscure my view.
As soon as we returned back to the hospital, I came to meet ammi. I wanted to spend some time alone with her.
She had been lonely all this while, now that we knew what the matter was, shouldn't we at least try to make the best of what we still had? Even though she was taking care of us until now, I should be thinking about her now, shouldn't I? Afterall, I'm her daughter, and I should have known what's wrong with her from the start, but I didn't! Maybe if I would have known, things would have been different?
"I'm fine." Patting my hand lightly, she gave me a small smile, a tired look taking over her features.
"But you look so tired…" Looking away, I wiped the few stray tears escaping my eyes. I hated myself for not even trying to figure out what the matter could be!
"Is- Is he actually your husband? The guy who you told me about yesterday..." My head snapped in her direction as I looked at her wide eyed. She had a faraway look in her eyes as she stared behind me, lost in her own world, trying to remember something.
"Are you still having a headache?" Blinking my eyes, I looked away, not wanting to lie to her. I was scared that she might get triggered again if I mentioned anything about him.
"I'm fine. Now answer me." Coming out of her trance, she looked at me expectantly.
"We went to our house in the afternoon so I thought of bringing you some-"
"Answer me." Her gentle look was replaced with a sharp voice, making me flinch and daring me to change the topic.
"Y- yes. Y- you got us married three years back when he came to Suva." Looking away, I mumbled, my hold tightening on her hands, afraid of her reaction. Going still under my hands, she removed her hands from my hold.
I wondered what was going through her mind. "B- but I- I don't remember." She looked lost, confused, stunned, all at once. I was just glad that she didn't give any harsh or extreme reaction like yesterday.
"Y- yeah. I- I realised that…"
"A- and I- I was shooting at him and y- you got shot by me." Looking at me with wide eyes, she ran a hand through her face, stressed.
"It's okay ammi, I'm fine, see." Attempting to hold her hands once again, I tried to assure her.
"B- but I- I was shooting y- your husband! Y- you should be angry at me, right? W- why are you-"
"No ammi! Why should I be angry at you? You didn't do anything intentionally." Tightening my hold on her hand, I tried to calm her down.
"W- why didn't you stop me yesterday? Y- you should have told me, y- you should have taken that gun from my hands and thrown it away!" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face, her hands shaking. I was getting scared by each moment, afraid that she might get violent or do something.
"I was stunned, I couldn't understand what to do and when I did, it was too late…"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Atifa." She kept her hand on my head, looking tired once again.
"It's okay ammi, I'm fine alhamdulillah. Everyone is fine."
"What- what is his name?" Wiping a finger under her nose, she hesitated while looking away.
Staring at her for a while, I contemplated whether to answer her or not. "Saad Ibrahim."
"W- where has he been all this time? Why haven't I seen him or heard about him before?" Glancing back at me, she inquired, making me sigh.
YOU ARE READING
Unexpected Promises
Spiritual(EDITED) "Ok ma'am, maybe you are right. But what do you want from me? Why have you even kidnapped me?" I glared at her, annoyed. I can't believe I'm agreeing with her right now. "Oh nothing much baby boy, I just want you to get married to my daugh...
