My Schizophrenic Husband

Chapter Twenty Five

Faiza sat at the dining table and watched as Farooq struggled to get words out of his mouth. Aliyah was seated before him and she couldn't even raise her head to look him in the eyes.

Faiza's heart broke over and over as she wondered what could have happened and what excuse could be good enough for leaving a mentally unstable child at the hands of cruel caregivers.

Faiza and her husband both decided it would be best if she gave them space to talk by sitting away but staying nearby to give him the little support she could.

But Farooq couldn't handle it alone, and when he raised his face to look at her with tears, she jolted up and rushed towards her husband and pacified him immediately. Aliyah was heartbroken at the sight and she too began to weep.

Faiza hugged him tightly and allowed him to cry, and after a solid minute of crying, he wiped his tears and intertwined their fingers whispering, "Don't leave please, I can't face it alone," she nodded immediately and squeezed his shoulder.

He cleared his throat and faced his mother again who was fiddling with her skirt as her head was bent, "Why did you leave me ma?"

"I -I didn't, I didn't leave you," she cried as her words got stuck in her throat, Farooq controlled himself from lashing out on her again and decided to allow her explain herself.

"I was forcefully married to your dad, my aunt made sure she married me off to him because he was a wealthy man and he offered her huge amount of money. I wasn't even aware he had other wives, and I was the youngest one of them. And the last wife he married before had only been his wife for two months and I wasn't aware." She cried as Faiza listened pitifully but Farooq was still indifferent.

"He used me, he used me for his pleasure and whenever I would end up at the hospital, he'd move on to his other wives, he wouldn't even come to see me at the hospital," she shook her head as tears fell from her eyes.

"I tried to run away many times, but it was always impossible, and everytime he caught me attempting to flee, he'd take me back home and beat the living hell out of me, until I lost my first pregnancy, and I wasn't even aware I was pregnant,"

"I was on pool of blood after the beating and then I was rushed to hospital where I was told I had a miscarriage, I was confused because I wasn't even aware I was pregnant. And I lost three more pregnancies at his hands. Yours was even a miracle, I couldn't believe my eyes when I laid my eyes on you,"

"Because the doctor told me during my visits that I might have a disabled baby, because my husband punished me, starved me, beat me, used me like a rag during my pregnancy with you. And as soon as I saw you, my protective instincts took over and I protected you from him and his wives. Whenever you would wrong I took all your beatings, and we were fine," she said with a sad smile. Faiza looked at Farooq and sighed, Farooq's heart was beginning to soften towards his mother but he still couldn't understand why that would cause her to drop him at an orphanage home, especially after she said she was protective of him.

"Did you know I had schizophrenia?" Farooq questioned and she shook her head.

"I only know you started to act abnormally after your father did something to you,"

"I went to market one day and I left you in my room and your father went to eat his food on the dining, I wasn't even aware he was a drug addict, he put hard substance into his food and went to hide it in his room. You came out of my room and saw the food at the dining and began to eat, and then he met you there and got angry and started to nag, I don't know what happened after that, I entered and I saw he pushed you so hard you hit your head on the wall with a strong force and immediately went unconscious, your head cracked and began to bleed seriously and I don't even know how I got you to the hospital, I almost lost myself because I thought you would die." She said and wiped her tears which continued to fall effortlessly.