Forbidden

Fourteen

Days went by quickly and turned into weeks, the weeks turning into months.

Zubaida interrogated her classmate for the whereabouts of Zanobi and learned that he lied about his father being in partnership with Mr. Wilson. Emma told Zubaida that she found Zanobi on the internet and she don't know much about him except that he was not picking her calls. He had completely vanished, as if he never existed.

Zubaida became more hormonal by the day. She missed her menstruation period for two straight months.

"I think you should get yourself checked," Mary suggested, "you might be pregnant."

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"Ya Allah!° Forgive me. I wandered away from the right path, please guide me back. I was disobedient to my parents. I broke their hearts, please let me have an opportunity to ask their forgiveness. I succumbed to my bodily desires with Kristen and Patricia. I drank and ate non halal food. I went to parties and wore revealing clothes. I did everything You forbade from. I am a very sinful person and deserve punishment for my wrong doings but You are Ghafoor°, please absolve me of my sins, please..."

Zubaida sat on the prayer mat for a long time, asking mercy for her misdeeds, tears of guilt flowing freely from her eyes.

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Mary was still inside, talking to the lady doctor.
Zubaida came out of the gynecologist's room with her pregnancy test report in her hands.

It was positive.

She saw a man who looked exactly like her brother, ascending the stairs and dashed after him.
"Bhaiya°!" Zubaida shouted to get his attention and he turned. It was Rizwan. A glimmer of recognition came across his face but then he resumed walking, his strides became faster.

Zubaida followed him.

The second floor of the hospital consisted of the admission ward. Rizwan stopped in front of a private room. Their mother stood beside the door, praying something on her rosary.

Zubaida moved towards her but Rizwan came in the way.
"Now you come." He said sarcastically, "Do you have any idea what we had to go through after you took your stupid decision to leave us all behind? No you don't! Baba slipped in to a coma the very next day you left. You are responsible for his condition, you..."
Naeema pushed Rizwan aside before he could finish his vociferation and engulfed her daughter in a motherly hug. Her expressive eyes glistening with tears.

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Zubair Ahmed's lifeless body was placed at the center of the room. Countless tubes were injected into his hands, machines of all sorts connected to him. He looked older than he actually was and much weaker.

Zubaida knelt beside the bed and took his right hand in her own, she brought it to her lips and kissed it lightly.

"I am a very bad daughter, baba." She said, chocking on the salty water streaming down her cheeks. "I defied you. I know now why you put restrictions on me, they were for my own good. I have learned my lesson the hard way, baba. Please forgive me..."

Zubaida felt a firm hand being placed on the back of her head and opened her eyes. She saw her father smiling down at her through his oxygen mask, a lone tear escaping the confinement of his eyes.

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°Ya Allah: Arabic for 'Oh God', used especially while praying.
°Ghafoor: One of the ninety nine names of Allah, meaning forgiver or pardoner.
°Bhaiya: An Urdu word for elder brother.