His Runaway Bride

|2|- two

Nakil

"For how long?"

I asked, my heart thumping erratically as I shrugged my shirt back on. Our family doctor, Mr Abdullahi gave me a pity filled look before replying that made my chest beat harder. He was a stocky man of relatively medium height but when he moved to stand in front of me, he seemed like a small child.

"It's not going to heal for months," The doctor replied as he held my hand. He wrinkled his eyebrows, squeezing the olive brown skin that was his forehead. "You need to move on, at least for a while."

The news whirled in my mind like a Tsunami, briefly carrying the contents of my brain with it. "No," I muttered, collapsing into the nearest chair while cradling my head between my hands.

Subhanallah, they had said it was only a mild broken arm that wouldn't take so long to heal! The pain throbbed harder through my left shoulder, reminding me of my misery as frustration ran through me.

The cast on my arm had just recently been taken off and then, I had fully expected to be healthy again. It was therefore a huge surprise to hear that a bone in my shoulder had been shattered completely and needed to be treated. It might never work perfectly again.

"It's okay, Nakil." Dr Abdullahi consoled, patting my hair slowly. I had known him right from birth, since he had been the very person to deliver me. "Allah knows best and he's the best of all planners."

It was true, Allah knew the reason for everything but I couldn't help but ignore the screaming voice in my head that kept saying: Why me?!

By Allah, if I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have agreed to go mountain jumping with some of my friends in Cape Town. It was immediately after a win and I had been filled with so much adrenaline that I had agreed. Now it proved to be my own undoing.

I raised my head slowly, fixing my gaze on the doctor. "Does this mean I won't get to swim?"

He nodded back slowly, pain clouding his brown eyes. He knew how much swimming meant to me. It was like a glass of cool lemonade on a sunny day in the desert. When I was in the water, I felt calm and safe.

"I'm so sorry, Nakil but swimming will not only jeopardize the healing of your shoulder but render it useless forever," He answered. "When's your next competition coming up?"

It was in a few months. And I had been so pumped at the thought of winning it like I'd always done. But this misfortune of my shoulder was going to prevent me from swimming. The thought was truly unbelievable.

"Soon," I replied dully, rising back on my feet. It was really early in the morning and I had promised my mother to be back in time for breakfast. "Jazakumllahu Khayran, Dr Abdullahi. Say hello to Umm Tarykh and Nafisa." I hugged him as I made my way out of the small clinic, avoiding his gaze. The pity in his eyes was not what I needed and it was annoying.

A few weeks of not swimming usually made me cranky and now, I had gone two months without stepping my feet into the pool. At first, it had been to allow my broken arm to heal fully. But now, after the discovery of my shattered shoulder bone, the odds of it happening soon was less.

The cold wind blew into my face as I walked out the clinic door. London was cold and there was slight drizzle in the air. It was the usual weather but this time I felt like it brought with it a kind of undoing that reminded me of my problems.

The weather was dreary like my life currently was.

I broke into a slight jog as I made my way home. The clinic wasn't really far from home so I didn't make an effort to take my car. But now, I was regretting it because the drizzle was seeping into my clothes and it was cold.