PARALLEL

CONCLUSION

"And the tombstone said
in its mossy breath he loved a girl. "
-ATTICUS

👣

He laid on the hospital bed rather than his death bed as he stared at the low ceiling of the hospital room. He would take his last breath there, his soul would escape him, there. He had thought he could run, he could be free from the burdens of this world but he should have known better, he would be imprisoned to suffer the aftermath of his earthly actions.

He will be asked, 'How did you spend your youth?'

He had squandered it, misused it to quench his desires.

Inevitably, he had his fair share of punishments waiting for him if Allah, The Oft-forgiving, and The most Merciful didn't bestow His ultimate mercy on him.

His eyes flitted to the door as it slid open.

She paused at the threshold, her hands collapsed into fists by her side as she took in the numerous bruises and lacerations that scarred his pale, handsome face. His chest heaved, heavily. His dry, busted lips moved when he tried to breathe in and out no longer wearing an oxygen mask that might have aided him but he didn't believe it would, for nothing could have helped him survive except her.

Her eyes shifted to the needles stuck in the skin of his arms, he was attached to multiple machines. She heard the continuous beep of the heart monitor diffusing into the somber environment of the white pristine room recording a fluctuating pattern of his beating heart.

Alive- P Q R S T.

Unaware that it will flat line in less than five minutes and the defibrillators will do little to keep the man alive- prevent his imminent death.

He beckoned her closer with his shaking fingers one last time, she stopped a few inches away from him.

He didn't have the strength to lift a finger but with every last ounce of energy that was left in his body, he put his hands together begging for her forgiveness and HIS mercy one last time.

"I beg of you. Please forgive me for the sake of Allah. Please," He rasped, each breathtaking him closer to his fall. Twin tears leaked his bloodshot eyes, they were beautiful and radiant, once.

She shook her head, refusing his last request as she stared right into his glassy eyes with a frozen heart beneath her chest.

'You deserve everything you got.'

He recalled the words he had spoken to her at the hospital after the birth of their son, every word slapped him right across his face.

The burning fire of hatred flared brightly in her brown eyes and she pulled away with distaste, her beautiful eyes had conveyed the same message.

His hands flumped on his chest.

"So this is the end." A rueful smile tugged at his lips as life slowly drained out of him.

Indeed, it had been his tragic end, just what he deserved.

She stayed by his side, still as a statue when his lips moved yet again and he inhaled a lungful of air, one last time. He was afraid of death but he could do nothing about it. She didn't press the emergency button or called the nurses as the line flatlined and he lost himself to death.

Between life and death, the doctors and nurses rushed in and defibrillators came alive,

"200"

"400"

His body jerked with the shock but she didn't quite understand at that time that it was not because he was thrown out of her life by fate for good but rather the electrical impulses that coursed through his already dead body.

"Time of death 5:45 am." 5:35 am.

Munizeh Hassan Omer slumped against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally.

👣

Forever grateful to @jabdulqader @zaynylove @rameenfatima190.
for being the first ones to vote and comment.