Once Haseena decides on something, there is no going back. So when she sees herself taking the elevator to the hospital room where she will find the person who sent her the invitation, she does not hesitate. She dives in headfirst.
"Hi." Haseena greets as she takes her slow and steady steps into the room. The picture she sees in front of her is Brian on the hospital bed. He is lying there with a broken leg that seems severe enough to stop him from mobilization. And if her memory doesn't trick her, it is the same leg Karishma shot him.
"Miss Malik." Brian moves his eyes from the television to his visitor. He smiles politely and looks behind Haseena also. He expects someone else that should be playing her shadow but when that shadow doesn't cast, he looks back at the girl. "You come alone?"
Haseena nods slowly and takes her stand quite far away from the bed. She starts to feel uneasy and it gets worse by seconds. She sighs and closes her eyes a bit to gather herself.
"I didn't expect you to come alone. Your girlfriend must still be on her shift? Your girlfriend, right? Did I address her correctly?" Brian appears differently from the last she remembers of him. His cockiness is not present. What is there with him is some sort of defeat that has been covering every inch of him.
"What do you want?" Haseena asks quietly. Her throat suddenly feels so dry and the sweat that starts to form in her palms doesn't help.
"I..." Brian takes his deep breath before admitting to something he hadn't thought through "...want to see my kids grow up."
"Okay..." Haseena is being pushed into a mysterious maze of darkness. She doesn't understand why Brian feels the need to ask her to come over to just tell her that.
"And I won't be able to if I don't do something..." Brian glances down to his broken leg to at least get her some unspoken clue. He knows better than to just let the truth out in the open. He will make things worse for himself and his family. "I'll turn myself in and plead guilty for your kidnapping."
"Who did this to you?" Haseena decides to ask although she is so afraid that she might not like the answer she will hear.
Brian shakes his head slowly. "I'll have my lawyer meet with yours in order to discuss things including my sentence. I hope they will come to terms that both of us see suitable."
Haseena covers her face with both hands; not from delight that everything will eventually end but purely from a headache that everything has just tangled even more on her end. She whispers so low as if she is talking to herself but also makes sure it is loud enough for Brian to hear. "They threated you."
"I didn't get a chance to stop the news from going out." Brian continues to ignore whatever Haseena has to say. He has his mind on all the things he wants to let her know and nothing will stop him from it. "It was just something I had predetermined and scheduled. Well, let's just say something came up and... I should have stopped it. I apologize for that."
"They knew it was you? That's why they did this to you?" Haseena whispers. "I want to say sorry but I... really can't bring myself to."
"I didn't anticipate that Singh would be all into you. That's probably the biggest hole in my plan. I mean sure, I anticipated that she would be drawn into you with you being such a beauty and everything. I guess I don't know her enough." Brian sighs. "Well, thank you for coming. I just wanted to let you in on my pleading plan personally."
"Who did this to you, detective? Is it them?"
…..
"Haseena?"
Karishma walks into Haseena's house and unleashes Jabba as soon as she closes the front door behind her. Haseena didn't answer her calls and didn't meet her at the station as they originally planned. She checked with the nurse she knows and as expected, Haseena went to the hospital without her. Haseena held a conversation with Brian alone and now she hasn't picked up her calls. Karishma is worried but with all the cards she is holding, she knows Brian would not attempt anything anymore. She would like to believe that Haseena is safe and sound in the house she comes to hate to be alone in.
Karishma watches Jabba zoomie towards the backyard and leave through the patio door. She follows him knowing that his sensing ability is way beyond her. She leaves her bag and her set of keys on the kitchen counter and approaches the patio door. From there, she can see someone lounging on the sun lounger by the pool in the light of the moon. Jabba has his two front legs on the lounger and that someone is petting him so lovingly. On the ground next to the lounger, there are a bottle of wine, a glass that is half-full of wine and a couple of bottles of beer. Her heart gets so heavy when she sees them. She has seen this before from no one else but herself. It is a way to escape things that are already inside of her.
"Hey." Karishma reaches the lounger and finally gets her eyes on the girl who seems too collected for all the alcohol next to her.
"Hey, you're home." Haseena smiles but doesn't bother to get up from the comfortable lounging posture she is in. She moves her legs a bit to make space for Karishma to sit down next to her.
"You didn't pick up my calls." Karishma says as she sits down on the lounger. Now that she is closer to the scene, she can see clearer that those bottles of beer and that glass of wine are not touched. The caps are still on and the glass is cleaned from the lip marks. On another side of the lounger, there is a glass of water that is obviously touched and drained. "Are you alright?"
Haseena places her hand on Karishma's arm and takes a notice how Karishma's sleeve is not properly rolled up like it used to. It seems like Karishma just pulled it up in a hurry and she can take her wildest guess that she was in a hurry to find her. "I'm sorry. My phone died from heavily researching how to pay for a jaywalking ticket in Los Angeles."
Karishma laughs and leans in for a kiss on Haseena's cheek.
"Shut up. You're horrible." Although Haseena enjoys the kiss she's got, she still pushes Karishma away and slaps her arm to declare war. Haseena pulls the ticket out of her jeans and shoves it to Karishma. "You'll have to pay for it."
"I wasn't the one who walked in the middle of the street. It is not very safe, ma'am."
"I was walking to you, Karishma." Haseena tries to push Karishma off the lounger but Karishma grabs her leg and tries to fight her. The war is officially commenced amidst laughter. Jabba who is rolling on the grass takes this fight literally and runs towards them. He needs to save his mommy and that's why he takes a jump and gets a good chomp on Karishma's arm. "Get her, Jabbs."
"Dude." Karishma laughs and pats Jabba's butt a few times until he lets go. He doesn't chomp that hard but Karishma definitely feels the pressure he sends into that. "I've raised you."
Haseena sits up and scooches close enough to Karishma to rest her chin on her shoulder. "I give him treats."
"Yeah, and you have to take him to his checkup so his vet can tell you how chonky he is now." Karishma lets Jabba sit on her feet and breathe so heavily as he looks so proud of himself. Karishma turns and presses a kiss on Haseena's forehead. "You want to tell me about what you talked to Brian?"
"Yeah." Haseena mumbles. She still finds her resting place with Karishma and she doesn't want to pull away. She is her home now. "He will turn himself in and he will plead guilty."
Karishma listens quietly. She doesn't respond or make a sound that sounds so judging. This is not beyond her expectation. It is just faster. She thought with his pride, he would be kicking and screaming.
"He said he wanted to see his kids grow up."
"Yeah." Karishma whispers. She is careful not to talk too much about the things that she shouldn't. "So plea deal. He is probably going to ask for 3. What is your lawyer going to offer him?"
"I don't know yet."
"What do you want then?" Karishma asks as she reaches for Haseena's hand and starts rubbing her thumb on it.
"I want to see us grow." Haseena pulls back and waits for Karishma to look into her eyes. She wants Karishma to know that she doesn't take anything about them lightly. "Don't get me wrong. I didn't look at Brian as my example or anything. I just... I mean... I don't want to be driven to the edge to realize that I have... a family... that matters to me. I... will go to the therapist."
Karishma nods with a smile. "I'll go with you. Whatever you need, I'm here for you."
Haseena kisses Karishma and feels the smile that doesn't fade away when her lips touch hers. "Can you tell Aanya and James that we kind of got married?"
Karishma doesn't respond right away as she takes time to think. She narrows her eyes and doubts a thing or two. "Are you sure what we did was legal? The place didn't look very legit if you ask me."
"I still have the customer copy of our marriage license in my bag." Haseena chuckles at how ridiculous this conversation is about to be. It should be serious but somehow, it just isn't. They might just make a very big thing become so small.
"They said to wait for the certified one in 6 weeks... to come in the mail?"
"6 to 8 weeks." Haseena recites what they were told and suddenly remembers a part of her conversation with Brian. "Oh. I feel like Brian knows that we're married. It's like he implied that calling you my girlfriend was not the right word."
"He doesn't know." Karishma pets Jabba while still participates in the conversation. "That's his tactic. He makes things feel obscure so that you either correct him or admit to what he says. Either way, he gains more information. I think he just thought that we broke up. I had never really been with anyone long."
"Ha. I am making a history?" Haseena teases with her narrowed eyes of suspicion.
Karishma chuckles. "We'll see about that."
"Oh my god, I don't like you."
"No." Karishma admits to the statement with her poker face. "You love me."
"That's not what I said, Karishma." Haseena forces Karishma to swallow her own potion; the type that doesn't wear her down but lift her up so high. "You owe me a ring, by the way."
Karishma looks at Haseena's hand that is on her thigh. "You just told me to pay for your ticket and now you want me to buy you a ring? I might have to start selling your pictures to the tabloids."
"I looked into your phone. And you don't have a single photo of me which is rather odd, isn't it?"
"I clouded them."
"You lied."
"You never know." Karishma chuckles before digging through things in her jeans pockets. Among the dimes and the gum wrappers, Karishma manages to get a receipt out and starts using her lap as a workshop table. The receipt is gradually transformed into something more than a piece of paper.
"Here."
Haseena can't help herself but smile to the small paper ring that Karishma proudly holds up.
"Give me your hand." Karishma holds out her hand and it only takes a breath for Haseena to comply. Karishma carefully places the breakable ring on Haseena's finger before starting to laugh when it can't even go pass her top knuckle. "Looks great."
Haseena looks at it closely before reaching over to wrap her arms around Karishma's neck. "I love you."
Karishma presses a kiss on her neck and caresses her back so gently. "I love you too."
"Does it mean you'll tell Aanya and James for me?" Haseena pouts and begs as best as she can her back so gently. "I love you too."
Karishma chuckles as she knows exactly what Haseena is trying to do. "No. No way."
………
