A Tale of Hearts

Chapter Fifty Five

Trigger Warning: Mention of sexual abuse.

Rubab's POV:

When I had jumped off that cliff, the last thing I had thought was that I would survive and make it to the shore in one piece and so soon. After jumping off, I was conscious the entire process and made it to a shore within half an hour max. The sun was still out and in the same place. 

My clothes were ripped. Three of my teeth were completely broken so my mouth was bleeding. A rock had stabbed me in the shoulder and I was limping meaning I had definitely broken something in my right leg too.

The fight and flight adrenaline rush in my blood stream was numbing all my pain. I need to get back to Fahad on the cliff. He is probably going crazy. But before that, I remember that Zohaib was right on my tail a a few minutes ago. That meant he was still alive too. And he could potentially kill me now after the stunt I just pulled.

Damn it. Why can't he just leave us alone? What a resilient piece of shit.

I had washed up on an isolated area and the nearest road was at least a twenty minute hike up. With my limp, it looked like it would take me a solid 2 hours. That is, if I make it.

The fear that his psychotic self was close by made me shudder. If I don't die from hypothermia, I will definitely die at his hands. I needed to get away fast. I had to push the last of my nerves to get out of here before he finds me.

The moment I took the first step towards the  road, I heard a sound that made me aware of every single aching part of my body.

"You bitch." Zohaib spit out blood as he limped towards me. He was clutching his stomach. Good. He had suffered enough damage. He emerged from behind a huge rock I hadn't noticed before. "Looks like it is just the two of us now. About damn time."

"You are one tough fucker." The words left my mouth as I spit out a fourth tooth that was dangling in my mouth.

"Ah, I didn't know you could swear like that. You really are the best at keeping me entertained." His limp suddenly disappeared and he rushed towards me.

"I am married, you piece of shit." There was no point in running. He was going to catch me anyway. My brain had frozen in place.

"You won't be married for long when you carry my child and I kill that fucker." I couldn't believe my ears. I knew Zohaib was capable of many things but rape wasn't one of them. In that moment, my brain decided to work again and I made a run for it.

I rounded him and ran to the large rock that was obscured from vision. I needed to get away. Hiking was out of question. Just as I made it past the rock, he grabbed me by the neck and pushed me down.

Please no.

Fahad's POV:

"Are you drunk? Why are you crying like that?" I turned around to look at the owner of that voice. I couldn't believe my eyes.

The ice queen was looking down at me with a bloody mouth, two of her front teeth were gone. Her shoulder was tainted with blood. There was a waist coat she was wearing that I know didn't belong to her. The front of her shirt was ripped open but she had buttoned up the coat to hide any skin.

She looked like she went through a massacre. The area around her scalp and neck was red too. She was alive. She was right before my eyes. She wasn't a body floating in the river. She was living.

I got up despite my ankle that was turned in an odd angle. Despite the piercing pain in my back. I hugged her but I couldn't feel the warmth she always provided. She didn't hug me back. Her hands hung beside her waist like a lifeless doll. I looked at her closely. Tears dropped freely from my eyes. All of this felt like a dream. It was so unreal.

She was my definitely my Rubab but her eyes were devoid of any emotion. For the first time since I had met her, I couldn't read her face at all. She looked alive but there was nothing in those eyes. Nothing at all. Like an empty shell.

"Begum?" She looked at me with eyes that made my blood run cold. She was Rubab and yet she wasn't. She looked like the Rubab from when we had first met. She looked at me like I was a stranger.

"Let's go to the hospital. We look like shit." She whispered in the coldest tone possible. I felt my heart turn to ice.

"What's wrong with you?" My emotions were taking over my senses. This wasn't the Rubab that had jumped a few hours ago. I looked at my watch that was cracked but still somehow working. 4 hours ago to be exact.

"Can't you see?" She looked down at herself. I followed her eyes. She was definitely battered way more than me and I should be more considerate right now. Her change in attitude had just left me speechless. I just thought she would be more relieved to see me.

She was bruised in so many places, my heart felt like it was ripping apart. I wish I could take all her pain away. Take it and make it mine.

I silently thanked Allah for saving her. Miracles really existed. My miracle was standing right before me. She was alive.

I nodded and she turned around and started to limp towards a truck parked at the side of the road that I just noticed. I wanted to carry her but if I pressed a little more weight on my ankle, I knew it was going to crack completely. It looked deformed. An elderly man was standing there looking at us in pity.

"Yeh kya horaha hai? (What is going on?)"The kid's father who I had completely forgotten was standing there joined me and watched Rubab's retreating back.

"Mujhe kuch nahi samajh arahi. (I don't understand either.)" I started to walk towards Rubab and that is when I felt something drop into my left eye and turned my vision red. I touched my forehead to notice that it was bleeding.

So I bashed my head against a rock too? Excellent. Rubab's retreating back started to get blurry with each step. The ringing in my ears returned and the distance between the ground underneath closed until I face planted the ground completely.

I couldn't see anything anymore. I couldn't hear anything either.

Author's Note:

I know most of you are losing it right now but stay strong. It is going to get worse lol.