Barely Breathing.

Chapter 4. Baby Tanweer and The Invisible Manager.

"Right, so who's it going to be? Who is going to be my bodyguard today?"

"ME!" "NOT ME" I heard both these replies simultaneously from Myra and Aiden.

" so I'm going with Myrah for the day?" I asked.

"Yes. She's going to be your protector for the day. Cause, I'm not gonna babysit your ass willingly." Without much rejection, I was handed over to Myra.

Oh, you did not just say that! By the time I turned around to give him a piece of my mind, he gave me a smug look and just vanished into thin air.

"Zar, I'm so excited! We don't have much work for the day, first, we'll be visiting the Sunshine hospital nearby for just a few minutes. Then we'll head to this restaurant called Paradise for lunch. Rest of the day we'll decide from there." she explained.

During her explanation, all I could think of was how can someone be so bubbly, animated and simply so happy ALL THE TIME!

I mean, good for her and all. But How is she ready to be showing all 36 of her teeth every time!

" Yeah. sounds good to me." I nodded. What I did not get was, how she was planning to have lunch with us being ghosts and all.

"Well let's go!" with that She automatically just grabbed my hand and led

me out of my room. The room where my body was now eerily still with just the heart monitor beeping and telling all the nurses on the floor that my body was still breathing and pumping blood.

***

We were now in the Neonatal ward of the hospital you know the ward where Alex Karev spends most of his time? Yeah, that one.

All I could hear were women screaming off their lungs and their partners just fidgeting around and moving constantly, with a look of pure dread on their faces.

I hate hospitals. Can you tell?

Myrah was speed walking ahead of me. Concentrating on avoiding people that were in her path.

You know how the movies show the ghosts to be transparent being able to go through walls and shit? Yeah, No that can't happen in real/intermediate life ( In my case). Apparently, even if living people can't see us, they can feel our presence. So I was told to avoid physical contact and also not to walk too close to anyone.

I was planning on asking her the reason/ explanation behind it.

Myra quickly found the room that she was looking for so frantically.

Upon first glance, it looked like just another delivery room with the screaming woman at the center, her partner trying to tough it out while holding her hand. The doctor at the woman's knees and all other nurses trying to help the woman, her partner, and the doctor at the same time.

But on close observation, I could barely hear a second very faint heartbeat of the child, it was like background noise almost inaudible. Then there was the woman who looked too tired, on the brink of losing consciousness. Her partner looked like he was holding her palm in his hands to both give her strength and also take the same from her.

Their bond looked amazingly beautiful amidst all the chaos.

Just as the kid's heart became weak, with Myrah touching the woman's belly, it came back stronger than ever. And with one final push from the mother, the kid came out wailing, announcing its presence to everyone in the room.

Making me wonder how something so tiny can yowl at such high decibel levels!

It was mesmerizing to watch how even after so much pain and risk, the mother wanted nothing else but to hold the baby in her arms. It just went to show the unconditional and everlasting love from both the parents towards their child.

The mother, upon the first touch, decided that the baby was to be named 'Tanweer'. Baby Tanweer was then taken away by the nurses to was I was assuming would be the NICU, with her father following her every movement.

It felt like I was watching a well-written play directed by God himself. I was woken up from my trance with Myrah saying, " Beautiful, isn't it?"

Even me, the most negative and pessimistic person I was, I couldn't help but agree. " Yeah, It was very beautiful to witness. Thanks for bringing me here."

" Hey, don't thank me. This is what I have to do on a daily basis. You'll be able to witness more such beautiful incidents when you tag along with me." Then she turned around, blocking my view of the new mother, " So, Lunch?"

" Yeah, I'm famished." I said absent-mindedly, " Hey, but how does eating work in our condition?"

"Wait and watch my dearie!" With that, she just led the way again. Looks like this was going to be a recurring event.

I just sighed and followed behind, not wanting to get lost in the beauty around me.

***

As we entered the restaurant, she walked in like she owned the place! While I, on the other hand, was trying not to walk too close to people near me.

When I was near her, I could hear her giving out an order, " Hey we'll take Two Chicken Biryanis with one serving of Reshmi kabab."

She looked hysterical talking to herself. " You do realize that you're just confirming my suspicion that you were crazy, right?"

She just laughed at my face, " what? No! I was talking to Raheem, my manager. He's just shy and always maintains his invisibility when around new people."

" Your manager?"

"Yeah, I own this place. Being able to live a longer life, has its perks. I bought this place almost 200 years ago, from an old Irani couple, and developed it into a Restaurant that could seat 80 people. Later on, as it kept growing, I kept adding outlets throughout the city. Today, we're one of the biggest biryani chains in the city."

" That's impressive! But how do you manage the business, when people cannot see you?"

" That's where Raheem comes into the picture, Zarina. He is my spokesperson, of sorts. I tell him what and how to do, and he executes it perfectly." She explained.

Just as she finished I could see a Tray full of food walking towards us. The tray hanging mid-air.

"Raheem, Chillout. She's no harm." she then turned to me, and continued to introduce me. " Zarina, meet Raheem, my manager and also the best chef. Raheem this is Zarina, my new best friend." By the time she finished her sentence, I was slowly able to make out Raheem's silhouette, as he was making himself visible.

And man was he a sight for sore eyes! The floral suit he wore with a basic black shirt underneath matched his personality perfectly. He was rocking the suit like no other! Even with a tray full of food in his hands, he looked like he was ramp ready.

At the mention of me being Myra's new best friend, He scoffed and said " I pity you, love. You need more than just food to be able to tolerate this girl!"

"Hey! That's not fair! " Myra protested, smacking him on the backside of his bald head.

I couldn't help but laugh at their effortless interaction. For once in my entire life time I felt like there was no malice in the people around me.

Taking the food tray from him, Myra led us one of the rooms on the top floor. The rooms looked like they were made only for the owner and special people as the door that led up to the rooms was heavily guarded.

Little did I know about the impending doom that waited for us behind those pretty looking doors.