Labiba

Chapter 1

Please note that there'll be a flashback in most of the chapters. The flashbacks will be in italics. Thank you for reading.

Chapter 2
Salim's POV
2 years later.

Everywhere is cold. That's the first thing my skin picks up as I come through the hallway of room 261 in Skycare hospital. Goosebumps spread on my skin and then I hear it. Labiba's cries. You could swear her soul is being ripped away from her body with the kind of heart wrenching sound she's making. Quiet cries filled with sorrow, this isn't what I expected to come back to when I went home to pick up Laila. I didn't expect to come back to this.

"Abba, dan Allah ka kira su, zata tashi." She's on her knees on the floor with her hands on her father's knees, shaking him. He has his palms covering his face though and his body shaking slightly. I don't know if it's from the cries or the force Labiba is using to shake him. "Abba!! Abba." Laila makes a sound in my arms and that's when she notices me. She gets up from her position in front of Abba and moves swiftly to my side, wiping her tears in the process. Almost 3 years since I've known Labiba, she's never let her guard down enough for me to see her this helpless. "Salim." She refers to me with my name for the first time. "Please." She says as another lone tear runs down her face.

"Labiba, take Laila." For the first time again, she obeys my commands. "Now sit down." I tell her calmly. But inside, I'm anything but calm. My heart is threatening to tear out of my ribcage but I have no option but to be strong. Labiba stares at me as if I'm speaking a foreign language but I step away from her making my way towards the bed where Falila's lifeless body lies. Her eyes are still open so I say some silent prayers and use my hands to close her eyelids.

Labiba let's out a sharp breath and starts crying afresh "Innalillahi wa inna ilaihir raji'un" she keeps repeating as she hugs Laila tight to her body while crying. "Na shiga uku, Abba na shiga uku." She cries. Her voice is quiet yet everything she says comes out clearly and it tears a part of anyone who's there with her.

The first time Falila was diagnosed with this illness, I remember calling Labiba to come and stay with her.

"Magatakarda" she said as she answered the call in a bored manner. "This better be good, I have a party to attend."

"What are we celebrating?" I teased because she was in my favourite mood. The mood where I can torment her without her saying anything.

"Babu ruwanka." She cut me off. "Ya akayi?"

"Falila is not feeling well." I decided to go straight to the point. "Ko zaki zo ki zauna da ita, I need to be somewhere."

"Yeah, sure." She answered quickly and I could hear her getting her things ready in the background.

"Party din fa?" I asked her and she took a deep breath before answering me.

"What is so important da bazaka zauna ka kula da matar ka ba tukunna?" She was now pissed. The thing she hates the most is someone being all up in her business. When I didn't answer her, she continued "don't worry, the party is a work thing. 5 years anniversary, they can do without me."

"Yawwa kanwa ta. I owe you one." She hung up the phone before I was able to finish. I only laughed as I turned to Falila who was smiling at our banter. "I need to go and get the results, muyi ta addu'a kin ji? You'll be fine In Shaa Allah." She looked so scared because her eyes welled up instantly and I placed a kiss on her forehead. I looked in Laila's cradle, where she was sleeping soundly and I kissed her hand before leaving.

Laila was just two months old and she needs her mother more than anything at this point of her life.

Abba stands up and hugs her tightly to his body, moving her out of the room. Falila was my wife, we've been married for two years now and we knew each other for a year before our marriage but Lord knows I cannot fathom whatever it is that Labiba is feeling. She was her twin sister, they had a very deep connection that sometimes they don't need to speak to each other. Falila has always been a woman of few words even with me but with Labiba, you'll swear that she's talking to her alter ego. And in a way, she is.