ishq lost & found

54; Premonition

The sting that accompanied her comment had him delaying his response, staring at the ceiling in disbelief. Unable to muster anything other than a thanks, he turned to his side before trying to sleep.

Her words hung in the air even as the night had passed and the morning arrived. Saad couldn't sleep, laying with his back facing her the entire night as he tried to get his mind to stop talking.

Is that what she thought of him? Is that how she viewed him? That his worry and concern was fake, merely an act he put on because he wanted to impress her family? His hurt feelings, mixed with his suddenly dry throat and ache in his chest certainly didn't help.

Somehow though, likely from exhaustion, Saad dozed off only for a moment. Before he knew it though, Ranya was calling out his name, accompanied with her lightly shaking him awake.

"Saad?" She called out for what felt like the thousandth time, surprised by his lack of punctuality. His alarm clock had gone off numerous times already but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Ranya had been up for some time, visiting her nani earlier and spending some time with her in her room before realising her and Saad needed to see the venue she really wanted. It had been her dream wedding place, something she wanted before Salman shot her wedding idea down.

"Hm?" Saad hummed, his features contorting into a scowl as he fluttered his eyes open.

Feeling an unfortunate familiar sensation in his throat, a tightness in his chest, and the inability to breathe through his nose, Saad groaned as Ranya stood before him confused.

"We have an appointment to see the venue, and we're going to be late if you don't wake up." Ranya nearly whined, unable to swallow the idea of missing this opportunity.

Mustering up all his strength, Saad pushed himself up with his arms to sit up against the headrest. Rubbing his eye, he nodded, surprised how he couldn't handle something college him wouldn't even consider an all nighter.

"You okay?" Ranya asked, noticing the hollowness around his eyes and the redness of his nose. Either he had cried, or he was sick. And the latter seemed much more likely to her.

Lying, Saad nodded, leaning his head against the headrest and tilting his chin up slightly as if that would help him breathe. Watching his seemingly fight to take in any oxygen, Ranya connected the dots. He was sick because of the rain from the other night.

Walking over to him, Ranya instinctively reached out her hand, intending to determine whether he had a fever or not. They may not have been the closest married couple, but she thought they were close enough to where the back of her hand could touch his forehead. Apparently not. To her shock, Saad reacted what could only be described as viciously fast, and almost cruel, the way he pushed her hand away.

"I'm fine."

Backing up, growing tired of his hot and cold act, Ranya bit her tongue. On the one hand, she was supposed to see the venue with Saad- and she really wanted his input. It was her dream venue but something could easily be wrong with it, and having another set of eyes would be helpful. But seeing as how exhausted he looked, she figured maybe it would be better if they rescheduled.

"You're not, but it's okay. We can reschedule and you can rest." She offered, a little disheartened at the idea of losing her venue, but happy she could spend more time with her nani.

"Why? Just go yourself." Saad told her, eyes closed once again as he tried to keep himself awake. As hard as it had been the last night to fall asleep, now it was that much harder to keep himself from dozing off.

Again, shocked by his sudden cruel coldness, Ranya tried to hold back her reaction. She was taken aback, the contrast between his actions last night and his current treatment. Sighing, she grabbed her purse, nodding as she headed to the door.