Kahi Ankahi

Chapter 24

I sneezed for the millionth time since morning. Shehry stuffed the thermometer in my mouth.

"Aaraam shey (se)." I said, sounding extremely weird with the device under my tongue.

"Bola tha tujhe ke kal raat baarish mein na bheeg... lekin tu ne aaj tak kabhi meri suni hai? Nahi!" He spoke like a typical desi mom.

He sat by my side, waiting for the thermometer to beep. A few minutes later, the thermometer beeped. He took it out at creased his eyebrows reading the figures.

"101 degree." He almost whispered, but it was loud enough for me to hear. I quietly looked at him.

"Ammi abba aajate hain toh I'll tell them ke we'll go some other day." He said, getting up. He picked his phone up. "I'll call Lubn-" I cut him short.

"Nahi bhai. Tu ja ammi abba ke saath. I'll be okay at home." I told him.

"Uth ke paani toh tu peene se raha... 'I'll be okay at home'." He said, mimicking me. I chuckled.

"Arey, I'll be okay." I assured him. He still did not look satisfied.

He was about to say something when we heard the doorbell ring. Must be ammi abba.

"Ammi abba aaye honge. I'll go and tell them about your condition." Shehry said. I nodded. Actually ammi abba didnt know about my condition because they'd gone for some shopping and I was sleeping then.

I used a tissue to blow my nose. I hate being being sick. Soon ammi abba and Shehry entered my room.

"Kya hua beta?" Ammi asked, concern all over her face. She sat next to me and kept her hand on my forehead.

"Bas bukhaar aur nazla." I told her.

"Kya zaroorat thi kal bheegne ki?" She asked.

"Achi baarish horahi thi na..." I innocently smiled. She shook her head. "Anyway aap log late hojaenge. You should leave now." I added.

"But beta tum.." Ammi spoke.

"Ammi I'll be okay." I assured her.

"Ek minute." She said and took her phone out. She dialled someone's number.

"Assalam Alaikum bhai." She spoke through the phone. I shook my head as i realised who she had called. She'd dialled bade maamu and was asking him to send Iqra here. She explained him the situation and smiled and she hung up. She then called maamu jaan and asked him to send Qirat. She kept her phone back in her bag with a satisfied look on her face.

"Your cousins are coming over." She smiled. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hain hain hain? Itni khushi?" Shehry questioned.

"Main toh yeh dekh ke muskura raha hoon ke ammi ko meri kitni fikar hai." I told him. Well, this was one reason why I smiled, the other was unknown to everyone. He smiled at me.

Ammi kissed my forehead.

They sat with me for a few more minutes and about 20 mimutes later the doorbell rang. Shehry went down and soon came back with Iqra and Qirat.

"Alle alle bacche ko babysitter ki zaroorat parh gayi?" Iqra said in an annoying child tone before laughing hysterically. Qirat stood by her, laughing lightly.

"Very funny." I made a face. "Ammi ko toh tum log jaante ho." I added. She just kept laughing.

"Phuppo aap fikar mat karen, hum iss ka achhe se khayaal rakhenge." Iqra spoke when she was finally done with laughing.

We all talked for a few moments before Ammi, Abba and Shehry began to leave.

The three of us said Allah Hafiz and they responded while leaving.

I sat up, crossing my legs and Iqra plopped herself on the bed. Qirat sat down on the sofa that was placed in front of my bed.

"I'm going to have something for breakfast." Qirat said while getting up.

"Tumne breakfast nahi kiya?" I asked her.

"Nahi. I'd just gotten up when Phuppo called toh I told abbu ke main yahan aake kuch khaaloongi." She explained. "Tum dono kuch khaaoge?" She added.

Iqra and I, both, shook our head.

She walked out of the room and I started talking to Iqra about random stuff. Qirat retuned after a while with a glass of juice and a sandwich which was most probably her favorite chicken spread sandwich. She sat on the sofa and ate the sandwich occasionally joining Iqra and my conversation. When she was done, she suggested we play Scrabble to pass the time. Iqra quickly agreed and ran to Shehry's room where all the board games were kept. She returned with the board and letters and placed it in the middle of the bed. We sat around it and the game began.

"Love." I quietly said as I placed the letters on the board. I smiled doing so because now I'd finally felt how this feels like. I'd finally felt how love feels like.

Iqra cleared her throat. I looked at her. She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Tum usse sach mein itni mohabbat karte ho?" She asked. I frowned at her question. What is she talking about?

"Kis se?" I asked.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Qirat said and walked out of the bedroom.

"Your... wife?" She made it sound like a question.

"What?" I almost yelled.

"Cheekh kyun rahe ho?" Iqra hit my arm. "Shehry had told Qirat that you'd return home after your marriage." She added.

"I'm not married." I told Iqra. "I mean haan, that was my plan but..." I told her everything minus the part that I'm in love with Qirat and that she was one of the major reasons behind my return. I was not sure if I should tell it to her because Iqra is like Qirat's newspaper.

"Hmmmm." She said after hearing me. "But pata nahi Hussain, mujhe aisa laga jaise tumne mujhe sab kuch nahi bataya... like kuch chhupa rahe ho." she stated. She definitely knows me too much for me to hide stuff from her.

Qirat's p.o.v.

I walked out of the room and stood outside leaning against the wall. As much as I did not wanted to hear him talk about her, I did want to know what he had to say so.. I heard their conversation. It was clear that he came back because of his breakup; because he felt alone, not because he regretted anything he did. I brushed the thoughts away and walked away. I didnt want to go inside the room because I just didn't trust my emotions now.

Hussain's p.o.v.

"Kasam khao ke tum yeh baat kisi se nahi kahogi... Qirat se toh bilkul nahi.." I decided to talk to her about this. She looked at me. "Khao kasam." I told her. She swore that she'd not tell this to anyone and so I continued.

"I love Qirat."