Faurah

Chapter 19

I woke up with a throbbing headache and instantly, voices abruptly pushed through my ears.

I moved around in the rough bed restlessly before opening my lids and being welcomed by a bright light. I hissed and cover my eyes with my hands.

"Put the light off!" A voice echoed and spread warmth around my insides. Arfan.

The natural light coming through the windows was muted enough for me to be able to comfortably open my eyes.

"Iman, meri beti, how do you feel?" My mum cooed as she pulled my hands slowly away from my eyes.

I opened them and was swiftly embraced in a tight hug by my mother. She pulled me back and kissed my cheek before giving me another hug. Someone held my hand and I looked up to see my dad looking down at me with a guilty smile.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

My dad laughed ever so slightly while a tear rolled down his cheek.  He stuttered, not managing to get any words out but stopped once Arfan put a hand on his shoulder quietly telling him to call the nurse.

My dad obliged and left the room just leaving the thee of us. My mother stepped back and Arfan came to sit by my bedside.

I looked around the room, the hospital room. Nothing made sense, I didn't remember anything. How I got there, how long I had been asleep for, etc.

"Don't stress over anything, I'm here now. I won't go anywhere." He whispered.

Arfan glanced back at my mother and she gave him a coy smile. "I'll give you two a little privacy," and left the room.

"What happened?" I groaned, taking mu hand to my head to press it.

He looked down, defeated. "I let you down. You were pushed and I wasn't there to catch you."

"Like you said, you're here now." I smiled up at him but winced when pain nipped at my chest.

He shot up from the seat, worry etched across his face, "where's that nurse," he mumbled to himself.

As if on cue, the nurse comes in with my parents trailing behind her. She had a brown clipboard in one hand and a dark blue pen in the other.

"How are you feeling, honey?" She asked as she neared.

"My head is really sore," I winced when another stabbing pain zapped through my chest, "and I'm feeling some pain here, in my chest."

She scribbled something down. "It's natural to have a sore head at this stage but we I'll get you some painkillers. You had a nasty bump on your head but a few days ago but it looks like the swelling is going down." She examined my head as she spoke.

"A few days ago?" I whispered to myself.

A phone started to ring and Arfan patted his pockets before pulling his phone out and excusing himself from the room. I didn't want him to go. He probably knew better than anyone what's going on but I still wanted him to stay with me.

"Your fall caused you to have a concussion and one of your ribs is cracked which is why you feel some pain in your chest. Both are healing very quickly but don't be alarmed if you see some bruising on your side. That should clear up in a week or so. Your body needs rest to be able to help recover which is why you've been sleeping the past few days. Think of it as a coma but of course, not as severe." I tried to take in all she was saying. It was too much to take in all at once. "Poor you," her eyes saddened, "that must've been a very nasty fall indeed but all you need is rest now for the next few days while we monitor you and then we'll have you discharged."

"Thank you, nurse," my dad spoke up, "I just wanted to ask, I have this lump on my arm and I don't know how to get rid of it."

I laughed quietly to myself as the nurse told him it was just a particularly large ingrown hair. He was always worried about himself and imagined having every disease under the son. A constant worrier so it didn't surprise me to see tears in his eyes when I woke up from the hospital bed.

The nurse left and Arfan came back in. There was a long moment of silence before Arfan spoke up,"I'll be taking care of your daughter from now on. That was the Imam I was on the phone with just now. We're doing are nikkah here, right now."

My mother helped me sit up. I didn't even process what happened let alone get married in a hospital bed but a part of me was excited about the idea.

"Arfan, Iman is in the hospital. You're not blind, how can you think about doing this right now?" My dad's voice was stern.

Arfan looked at my dad and paused before he spoke. "Because I can take care of her. I am concerned for her. All I want done is the nikkah, you can discuss whatever marriage events you want at another time but I just want that marriage contract sign. She will be my responsibility." He rose to his full height, towering over my dad. "A responsibility you're not able to handle."

My father looked embarrassed. He cowered away but why? I wouldn't let Arfan speak like that with my dad. How dare he. "Don't talk like that with my parents." I furrowed my brows.

"No, no beta. He's right. He can protect you better than what I can."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear another word," and with that my dad left the room.