Once Upon A Lifetime

Chapter Forty ~ Expecting

AN: WOOOOO CHAPTER 40?! YAAAAS!!

Aasim's POV~

The operation was a success Alhamdulillah. They were easily able to remove majority of the tumor that had luckily not spread down her brain towards her spinal cord yet. Dr. Isaac said she'd most likely be awake within a few days, though she would not be able to talk, see, or hear properly for a while.

But, Alhamdulillah, everything else was okay.

Taalia was put in the ICU for now and no one was allowed to visit her yet, except for medical professionals. Her family, Misha's family, and Saqib's family all kept asking when they would be able to see her and if she was okay or not. I could tell they were all worried. I was too.

As I entered the room after the two nurses in front of me, my thoughts wandered to what Dr. Isaac had said right before her surgery.

"Because of how she treated her body about a month ago, there may be a slight chance she won't fully recover from this operation." He said and Taalia's parents' eyes widened. "But, this is better than nothing. She will have a few problems that will most likely last a lifetime. For now, let's hope for the best."

I prayed she wouldn't have too many problems, if not, then none at all. I was also curious as to what happened a month ago.

A month ago, I was in London, beginning my training there.

There were a lot of things that happened while I was away, or 'dead', and I wanted - no needed- to find out.

And I knew just where to go.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

"Come on, Misha, I know you know!" I said.

"But I... I can't!" She protested.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because!"

"Because why?!"

"Aasim, go away, will you?! It's too sad to talk about!" Misha cried and my eyes widened.

"Misha..." Saqib trailed off as he looked at me.

"Why is it so sad? Come on, guys, please tell me!" I begged and I watched them share a look before Saqib turned to me.

"Aasim," he started. "Taalia... when she found out about your... 'death', she reacted how you reacted with Almira."

I felt a pain in my chest upon hearing her name.

My sister.

"She didn't eat, she didn't leave her room, she barely slept, she barely did anything! It was like you all over again except... Taali was affected in more ways than one." Misha said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Her brain tumor got worse, and I mean way worse. That's why she had to end up giving in to doing the surgery." She said and my eyes widened.

All that happened because of me?!

"Even after everyone talked to her about staying healthy and taking care of herself, she was still struggling. She just couldn't get over your death." Saqib said.

"It was absolutely terrible seeing her like that. Taali was never like that before and it scared me! It scared all of us, it was that terrible!" Misha cried. I shook my head in disbelief and held my head in my hands.

"But how does Daiyan fit into all of this?" I asked, looking up at them.

"Aleena had told me everything. Since... since she couldn't marry you, she decided to accept Daiyan's proposal. She really did it to serve as a distraction over you but it didn't work out so well. And now she's just confused about it all and I hate seeing her like this." Misha said and buries her face in her hands.