FF: The Secret Desires (Tere Bin, Meerasim)

Part 24: Redemption

"I am sorry" was all, the man could utter through the oxygen mask while making attempts to breathe.... It had been almost three weeks since Anwar had been laying on the bed in ICU, fighting with his life and memory.... After a lot of battle with her heart and mind, she learnt that it was best that she put an end to the bitter side of her life and move on.... however, if truth be told, she did not know how to forgive him and how it actually worked....

'it's okay, I forgive you' would these terms actually justify what they were intended for? She did not know.... how relatable was it to say a simple 'I forgive you' and act all normal as if nothing happened? those constant childhood heartbreaks, yearning for parental love and care, moments that would never come back for consolidation ....

But she wanted to try at least, when his voice echoed in the air around her, "You do not have to forgive him Meerab... Do what your heart permits you.... what you feel you could endure... don't force yourself to believe something that you are not sure of... it is okay to be selfish sometimes... You can scream at the world, you can hate them as much as you want... when you get tired, I will hold you back right into my arms and recharge you so that you can start afresh and hate them again...." and a smile took place on her lips when eyes glittered with tears .... the man had been successful in whatever trick he tried to play on his wife ...

So what if Anwar was not her biological father, or a father by relation of heart, he was still her father by law since he was married to her mother, Nadia.... Meerab hesitantly slipped her left palm under his left palm.... for the first time she held his hand, one of the many wishes she had in regards to her father since childhood....

"You know, you are still my Baba" she softly revealed with a pause... "..by Law.." she whispered and noticed his half smile ... the first time, she could see herself being the reason for his smile.... He curled his fingers and for the first time Anwar held onto her hand.... he regretted... every single moment of his life that involved abandoning her, ignoring her, and hating her...he regretted every ounce of those moments.... in the process of taking revenge for his struggle and pain, he forgot to become a human to an innocent soul...

Meerab closed her eyes allowing the fresh tears streamed down her face as she remembered how she was restricted from touching his hands so she had clutched onto the cuff of his expensive blazer while walking down the hallway of the school on her first day.... She rested her forehead on their clasped hands and cried her heart out, letting the overwhelmed emotions of pain run out of her system ... she never imagined that the abandoned dam that was overfilled for many years would take only a few minutes to be emptied out....

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Meerab walked towards the man who looked engrossed in his phone ....leaning against one of the pillars by the main entrance, Murtasim waited for his wife who came to meet her family...holding both hands behind her in a clasp, she tippy toed and placed a soft kiss on his left cheek, enough to grab his full attention....

She simply admired his grinning face....those eyes were full of love and affection for her...Meerab started to look at things from a different perspective, a lenses of hope and assertiveness. The credit was undoubtedly given to her husband, who captivated her heart in his golden garden of paradise...

"Baba will be discharged by next week, he was shifted out of ICU....Fupi and Chachu are making arrangements for his health care ....and" she paused... "Thank You" she was losing her count on the enormous number of times she conveyed those two words to her husband in the past couple of weeks.... "Glad to hear that" Murtasim responded with a genuine smile.... "and I'm gonna need more than that" he remarked with a smirk, pointing at his cheek which was still relishing the warmth of her lips.... and Meerab chuckled with her gaze lowered and cheeks turning crimson as she flushed, making his heart skip a beat, wiping off that smirk from his lips ....