The Wrong Wedding

Act-31

I sat with my head against the soft mattress, which was now moist with my never ending tears. My hands clutching his cold hand in my grasp, which once used to blaze with the warmth of his loving touch. It had been an hour since he had got out of surgery and despite Haniya's constant pleas to go home and rest, I didn't budge. So, she decided to go back to get me food and necessary items for my night stay; since I was nowhere near willing to leave his side for even a single moment.

The surgery had been successful, Alhumdulillah. The bullet had penetrated without causing damage to any vital organs. Yet, despite knowing the point by point details of the injury and surgery, I still couldn't be reassured. Until I saw him awake and well, I won't be able stop thinking about how close I was to losing him, today.

Just yesterday, I was telling him how I wouldn't be able to live without him—and today, Allah showed me this.

'Ya Allah, forgive me for saying something that I had no right to claim. But please, Ya Allah—don't take him away from me—I have only just found him—Just now, we had begun to heal from our wounds—please—please, have mercy on us. Verily, you are the Most Kind and the Most Merciful—'

The sound of the door opening made me look up through tears.

"Ah—sorry, I just came to check on him—I'll come later—" A man, who looked in his late twenties had turned back towards the door, looking apologetic.

"Wait—You're Ismail—?" I stood up from the stool, carefully letting go of Rayyan's hand. He nodded in response and I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand after asking him if he would like to take seat. He seemed uneasy at my request, as if foreseeing what I wanted; yet, relented.

"He said, he was meeting you—It happened in your office, right?" I began, after pulling my chair closer to his couch. He didn't look up, instead kept his gaze fixated to his hands knotted in front of him.

The only information that I could manage to get out of Ahmed was that he along with Uncle Zubair had brought in an unconscious Rayyan; who was immediately taken into surgery. Uncle Zia who was present during all this had instead gone with Harris bhai who was taken into custody, immediately after someone had called the Police. However, no one knew exactly why Harris bhai suddenly shot him, out of blue. Haniya had told me this much that Rayyan went in for negotiations today and everything was supposed to be wrapped up after he gave up on his shares of the company. Uncle Zia and Zubair had agreed to this deal as well and only the legalities were left to be concluded.

So, if everything was happening how Harris bhai wished, then why? Why did he need to go so far as to—

"You called the police on him, didn't you?" I was shooting an arrow in the dark but it got his attention. His gaze shot up to meet mine, surprised and he finally looked away with a slight nod.

"So, you know everything, right? Also, the real reason why Harris bhai shot Rayyan—" I slowly began my interrogation. At my words he gulped, unintentionally and this was enough to confirm my suspicions that there was a lot more to all this than met the eye. Before he could make up any excuses, I cut him off.

"I will hear the truth and nothing else—it's no use to hide it anymore—" From Rayyan's words this morning it was safe to assume that he trusted Ismail. Still—I was treading on shallow waters here. But, seeing how the people I trusted turned out, I think it would be in everyone's best interests that I don't rely on my judgment for a while, now.

A few moments passed but the man sat tight-lipped. It was starting to piss me off. Really, just how much has Rayyan threatened them—First Haniya, then Ahmed and now him. Everyone is so scared that Rayyan would hurt them if I found out anything from anyone.