Love Means Sacrifice

Ch. 24: An Unexpected Encounter

Zahid's P.O.V.

"Zahid, baba, why didn't you tell me earlier at the picnic?" Abba asked as he iced my back while I laid on my stomach on my bed.

"It's nothing, Abba. You don't need to ice my back. It's not hurting."

"Why do you always keep everything to yourself, beta? Had Ayaara not seen your bruise when you were struggling to work out, I wouldn't have known."

"I didn't want to bother you."

"You are never bothering me. You are my world, Zahid."

"Sorry, Abba." I sighed.

He never ever made me feel like I was bothering him; he was the most loving, caring, and patient father. It was just me who didn't want to add to his plate unnecessarily.

"Don't apologize, beta. Just know that you can come to me for anything."

I nodded.

He stroked my head until I fell asleep after I put my head on my pillow and laid on my side.

Mehwish's P.O.V.

A couple of few weeks later, I got into Zahid's car. My doctor had recommended me to a different specialist in Manhattan. Javed had already made commitments with Sahir, but he made sure that Zahid would give me a ride.

He was so attentive as the specialist spoke, nodding his head and asking questions as if he was the patient himself.

After my appointment, Zahid suggested we eat something because there would be lots of traffic on the way home and we hadn't eaten lunch yet. We ate chicken gyros and shared fries on a bench.

"Momos or sushi?" I asked him.

"Huh?" His eyebrows pulled together.

"If you had to choose to eat one over the other, which would you choose?"

A smile tugged on his lips, "They're both too different to compare."

"Just choose." I urged with a grin.

"Sushi."

"Me too. Hmm, you ask."

"Uh, okay. Um, lasagna or chow mein."

"Urgh! That's a hard one... I'm a sucker for Italian food, so lasagna."

"There's one more fry left, you can have it." He slid the carton towards me.

"I already had so many, you can have it." I pushed it back.

He shook his head and slid it again.

"How about this? We can both have it now." I laughed after I broke the fry in half and ate it.

He smiled and put the other half in his mouth before taking our trash and throwing it away. We started walking to his car.

I tried to engage him in conversation again, "Coffee or milkshakes?"

"Coffee. You would choose chocolate milkshakes."

"Hey, that's not fair! I lost my memory for crying out loud. We were best friends, of course you know more abou-"

Someone patted my shoulder.

"Mehwish!"

My eyes bulged out of my head.

Out of all the people in the world, I had run into him?

He looked so different. He had lost an enormous amount of weight and smelt of cigarette smoke and alcohol. His hair was long and so was his salt and pepper beard.