My Schizophrenic Husband

Chapter Twenty Two

Arwa wheeled her baby into the park as the cold wind blew into her dress. She hurriedly covered her baby properly and turned her wheeler away from the direction of the wind. And then she sat down on a bench and stared at the  different kinds of families she saw.

Some made her feel insecure about her own family and some made her feel grateful for her own situation but nevertheless, her present condition remained like a stubborn pimple, refusing to leave her alone.

She shut her eyes as she held her baby's hand and the last memory of Farooq flashed into her mind. She remembered the Imam carrying him on his shoulder and rushing out of the house.

Even after almost three weeks, Arwa was too terrified to even speak to him talk less of going to see him. Even the house was getting scary for her to stay alone in, and most of the times, she would wake up scared in the midnight and hug her baby to her chest.

She opened her eyes and her gaze fell on a man who was hugging his wife to himself as they played with their children, Arwa's blood began to boil as she watched them and she felt a sudden urge to separate them.

Her baby's crying voice made her painfully tear her gaze away from the perfect couple, she carried her baby and rocked her slowly as the cries lessened.

She shut her eyes again as they were beginning to burn, she had been suffering from insomnia and was extremely sleep deprived. The food storage was almost empty and she was torn on what to do.

She gulped as she tapped her baby's back lightly, her stomach growled in hunger and she turned to look in the direction of their house. She left home very early in the morning out of fear and she was just roaming around until she found herself at the park.

She stood up with a sigh and placed her baby in her wheeler and then she slowly pushed her out of the park and headed towards her home.

~~~

Imam Nassir passed a loaf of bread to Farooq who took it and forced himself to eat. His condition had improved greatly but not his guilty conscience and his peace of mind.

He couldn't focus on anything nor could he be patient or listen attentively to anything, and it was all because of his thoughts of where she might be.

It was nearing two months that she just disappeared, leaving her phone and all her stuff back at home, and the thought of what might have happened was driving him crazy.

What if she went to commit suicide?
What if she was homeless?
What if she was kidnapped and murdered?
What if she wasn't fine wherever she was?

He wasn't at peace with himself and his preoccupied mind couldn't even spare Arwa a minute, all the was thinking about was Faiza and her whereabouts.

He grew thinner as the days passed by and looked more and more like a walking skeleton.

He kept on blaming himself and cursing himself even when Imam had lashed out on him and angrily given him a neck slap a few days ago, telling him it was Allah's decree on him and she would have gone missing that day whether he was at home or not.

But he wouldn't have any of it, he knew if he had followed her like his instinct had told him, he would have found her and even of he didn't, he would be at peace knowing he tried to find her, but unfortunately for him, he did neither.

He finally swallowed the bread in his mouth and put another one in his mouth while Imam was watching him unknown to him. He chewed slowly as he did previously and Imam clicked his tongue at him.

"Eat young man! You can't be looking like this in my care, what would your family say when you go back to them?" Imam asked angrily and he just stayed quiet and kept his gaze on the bread.