Atonement

17.More tears...

Life has been beautiful for a long while. Qalb had it easy since when he was born until now. He is here, seated on the floor in his room with his hands on his head crying his eyes out. He received a call earlier from Sultan called that Sultana has been admitted to the hospital in Abuja,With his new bride in the room, he stomped out with her following him.
"Ya Qalb, where are you going? it's 2am." She tries to reason but he ignored. He entered his car and drove out, one thing is for sure, he is going to his Sultana, in darkness and in light.

At exactly 8am, Qalb reached the hospital, his eyes red and his clothes squeezed. He followed the direction Sultan gave him and within minutes he is there, standing a few steps from the grieving family. Afraid, he walked towards them, his hands heplessly swinging by this sides.

"Maama..." He started but stopped due to the eyes she looked at him with. A pair of broken eyes staring right back at him.

Unable to say a word, Sultana's mother pointed towards the direction of the room and he rushed to go there.
"And where do you think you are going?" A deep angry voice roared in the hallway causing the attention of everyone to look up. It was Anwar, walking towards him with his hands in his pockets. His body adorned with Black expensive kaftan.

Qalb looked at him with confusion and lots of questions. He pointed at himself, questioning the authority.

"Yes you Mr Ibrahim Qallb-Saleem." Anwar stopped right in front of him, his height slightly hovering that of Qalb's with his arms folded to his chest.

"And what are you doing here Anwar Waziri?" Qalb dared back using the same tone.

A smirk forms on Anwar face. "From what i can remember, MY WIFE IS IN HERE." He said pointing at the room.

"Wife?" Qalb's face frowned harder. He looked at Sultan and he gives him a positive response. His shoulders dropped, unwillingly, a lone tear escaped his eyes.

"SECURITY!" Anwar bursted to the three officers standing close to the room. "This man should never come back to this place."
That infuriated Qalb more causing him to throw his hands unto Anwar's collar.

"SULTANA IS MINE! AND MINE ALONE! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH." He said through gritted teeth. Anwar looked at him with a boring eyes. He gently removed Qalb's hands from his collar and shake his head in disappointment .

"Ibrahim Qalb-Saleem, the only heir to the Swan Fedora business. You might as well want to ask your father who the backbone of your family's business is." Anwar spoke and started walking towards the room Sultana is but stopped.

"Also, Stop claiming my wife, the religion is against it and we both know, so I have every right to take action. Removing my shares from your business means your business crumbling and that could lead to your father's Heart attack. Trade wisely." With that, he calmly walked into the room.

Defeated, broken and hurt, Qalb stood there. He is not sure who to be angry with his mother or his father or even himself for agreeing to their commands. He walked towards Sultana's father who is now standing and whispered a sorry. With one last glance, he walked out of the hospital. Just like how he drove from Kano, He went to the fuel station to fuel his car and drove back.

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It's been two weeks since Qalb got married, two weeks since he went to Abuja to check up on the love off his life only to meet with a more shocking news. Two weeks since he locked himself up in his room, away from the cruelty of the world. He survives on just water and the few cereal boxes he bought before entering the lockdown, and that too, he takes only once in two days. He sleeps with the thoughts of Sultana and wakes up with the same. There is no day he will wake up without blaming himself for not fighting harder, for not bringing the world down just to be with his Nora. He spend every hour of the day blaming and cursing his stupid self for letting her go, for sacrificing what they had.