Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you].(93:3)
Chapter 22:
The taste of truth
So many pairs of eyes landed on Iqbal. He stood there like a mad man with his phone in his hands looking at Suhail with anger and wildness was written all over his face.
"This is a fraudster,"he said holding the frightened man by the collar. There were a lot of gasps and mummers. "I got concrete evidence against this face that facades all this fake innocence on his face." He said showing people his phone.
"Look at this photo. It's the same family which goes looting people in broad daylight." He further continued grabbing his hand and squeezing his small face into a funny indescribable shape. He was furious and fuming with rage. Today this storm left the crowd in a complete state of shock. Rima's dad couldn't withstand the trauma and all the defame. He got an instant heart attack and fell on the floor with a thud.
One man in his hand and the other hand trying to wake the unconscious man,Iqbal became startled. By the grace of Allah,the cops had arrived in time and nabbed the fraudsters. Rima was too shocked to react. Her senses were blown off and she couldn't control the tears sweeping the foundation on her cheeks.
She looked shocked. Was her life a cheap joke that the people around her mocked at? She felt hard to breath and rushed to see her dad. He lay down innocently his eyes sunken and lips so dry. She lifted him and the men helped her lift him to the car.
"I will come with you!Hold on" Iqbal suggested.
Without any further argument he got into the car and drove at a supersonic speed to the city hospital. She held her father close to her trying all the possible ways to wake him up.
"Baba open your eyes,we are almost there please don't give up" she pleaded with the unconscious body that leaned on her.
"We are almost there,don't worry." He assured her. They alighted from the car and a stretcher was brought forward by one of the nurses. They rushed him to the intensive care unit and shut the doors leaving Rima clueless. She stared at the clock. It was seven in the evening. She folded her arms and looked at Iqbal. He was trying his level best to keep his cool and he put his hands in his pockets watching the trips the nurses were making to and from all care units.
He cleared his throat and tried to sympathize with the anxious Rima." Have faith in Allah. He will take care of all these incidents. Hold on to your faith. Verily after every hardship there's relief. Allah is Shafii. He will hear your duas when you sincerely pray to him and In shaa Allah your dad is going to be fit and fine."
His words felt like ice on her burning heart. She walked from divorce,broken engagement and now she was watching her dad fight death. She looked at how calm he was and a smile flashed her face. He moved to the reception area to clear the bill and made a call.
"Your ammi is staying with my family for the night. And about Jamal,he's with Naila and Sajid. Rest be assured." He assured Rima. He didn't expect her reaction to be as such. She was calm just behaving in a normal way. But this wasn't normal. She had to cry out and let her pain out. She had to douse the fire in her with tears.
"Let's have a cup of coffee as we wait for the doctor's report" she suggested. They walked to the canteen which was at the hospital and placed their order at the counter. He helped her with the seat. She needed to talk.
And with him she felt as if it was part and parcel of her family.
After sipping from the coffee she looked at her wallet and placed the payment on the table. After so much insistence,she let him pay. "You know that what happened wasn't caused by you. And am very grateful to you that you saved me from the fraud who was ogling at my dad's estate. Jazakallah Iqbal. Shukran for showing me the light when everything seemed to turn away from me." She spoke with coincidence her eyes rooted to her hands. She played with her fingers to distract herself from the tense moment that haunted her.
"Waantum Rima. Afwan and am really delighted that I was of help when you needed someone to show you the light." He calmed her.
"You know that dad wasn't someone who was used to listen to the other side of the story. He always drew conclusions from what he saw and never wanted someone to point the mistake out. However whatever happened today was just enough for him. The taste of truth had its way on him and his heart couldn't bear it. Plus the people taunting and their dramatic gasps just got him down." She concluded.
"Don't stress about what is gone. Wallahy if there was any good in it,it would stay. You have to let all go and am sure one day you will find the best in your in your way. You might be in despair at the moment but its not late. We need Allah in all steps of life. He is Al-Mu'akhkhir the delayer. He hasn't forgotten about you. Just be patient,much light and betterment will cross your way. Don't lose your faith in Allah. He's the giver. He can turn day to night and he can restore the dead to the living." He said with a soothing voice.
A lot had changed,people,seasons and now Iqbal was the most changed one. She had never seen this side of him. She was amazed by how his character was. He had changed all the way from a stubborn Iqbal to a wise one. Not bad right. After all he had his demons to fight and a struggle that was unknown to the world. Burying his emotions was a hard task and whenever she dropped a tear he felt a tornado in his heart shaking all the emotions he buried once upon a time when he realised that she couldn't belong to him.
"Let's go. The report might be ready by now." She brought him back from the train of thoughts that kept on walking in his head.
They walked to the ICU and she had her fingers crossed. The tension on her face and the repeated calls from her mom increased the tension.
The white coats and the smell of medicine sickened her.
"Mr and Mrs. The patient needs a lot of your prayers. Right now anything can happen. Mr Hassan has suffered from a tragic incident. He has a clot in his heart and without the surgery I think he won't be able yo last the night. So I guess we must hurry with the surgery and help him. Its an acute case of thrombosis. Please clear the formalities in the form that's gonna be issued to you otherwise keep your hopes in your prayers and its time to return to the Lord." The all white dressed up cardiologist said to the two.
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Another Chance✔
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