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chapter 3, my love

With Hussain's full weight crashing on one arm and the bags of groceries in the other, I waddle my way home with Hassan following closely behind me. If I was my usual self, I would have tried to comfort him. His guilty conscious must have been killing him from the inside out. When Hassan stops talking I know there's a problem. He isn't capable of silence unless his brain is in complete overload. Steaks must've been high, real high.

I dropped the bags of groceries as soon as I stepped foot inside the house. After putting Hussain down,I walked fast - ran almost- towards my room and shut the door thight.

"Ummi ?" Hassan finally spoke, breaking the silence "are you okay ? "

"I'm okay....just going to get some shut eyes, I'm really tired " I spat out blankly.

Pov : ???

I came home to the sight of a wrecked ship. The house had gone through a metamorphosis in just a couple of hours . The hallway resembled the aftermath of a battle;

Empty supermarket bags were scattered over the shag pile. Among them lay a selection of unmatched socks. Rugs were rumpled and mysteriously askew. Lampshade hung crooked like jaunty headwear. Table and chairs had rearranged themselves at subtly different angles. Photo frames had toppled over and lay scattered on the coffee table. A rubbish bin lay on its side, spewing its contents of apple cores, chewing gum wrappers and more. The windows was wide open, inviting leaves and twigs to come over, birds felt obligated to tag along.

Assuming we had been burgled, I shook my timberland boots off and hurried my way towards the living room. Two unbothered children was found laying comfortably on cushions while watching the TV.

" ya habibti " I called out.
[Habibti means my love in Arabic when you refer to a female ]

Silence.

"Habibti ?" This time there was a tone of worry in my voice. Halimatusadiya or Halima for short, would normally welcome my return with a bear hug accompanied by a kiss on the cheek.

"Hassan, where is your mother ?"

"She's really sick" he shifted his gaze away from the TV " but dont worry, abi ! Ummi said she's okay "
[Abi means father in arabic]

'Okay'

Halima once told me that when a girl said she's okay, she means otherwise.

Cold hands were playing down my spine as I rushed to the bedroom. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Halima with her back against the wall. Her skin was unusually pale as if all the blood in her body was gone and her gazelle-like eyes were thightly closed. Her plump pink lips were now blue.

Without batting and eye, I rushed towards Halima's aid.

"Halima! " I called, shaking her icy cold body. Her eyelids flutter in response. A huge wave of relief flowed over me. However that was only momentarily.

Wrapping her with a blanket, I carried her bridal-style to the nearest hospital. It wasnt the wisest decision ever to leave a ten and a six year old home alone without supervision, but I was not in my correct mind to think things through.

You can feel it, building like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of your stomach. I cannot concentrate on anything else that I'm doing. The next step is my heart starting to beat harder and faster, adrenaline levels rise, my brain starts to fire out negative thoughts like a machine gun. Sweat starts to trickle down all over my body. My vision starts getting blurry. I harshly blinked the tears away but before I knew it, warm liquids starts pouring out from my eyes. " Please be okay halima "
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Heart racing, I watched halima's figure disappear,being dragged away by nurses. My heart clenched hard and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

" oh Allah, the most gracious and the most high, the one who listens to every whispers of the soul, please,please, please accept my prayer. Please cure halima with a speedy recovery. Do not take my other half yet, if you were I would slowly try to accept the reality of breathing without her, for you are the best of planners " I muttered under my breath.
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After the doctor ran check ups on halima, they warded her in a room. I was finally allowed to see her again after what felt like years in constant panic. My mind was creating all sorts of scenarios that did not happend.

I walked fast paced towards halima's bed. Holding her hand, I prayed for her to open her eyes. In movies, as soon as the Male protagonist enters the room and held hands with the female protagonist, her eyes would slowly open after a couple of sobs. However that was not the case. Reality is not like that. Things do not always go your way no matter how hard you prayed.
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I was woken up from my deep slumber with the tiniest bit of movement. Is halima waking up? I couldnt tell how many hours have passed. I was constantly woken up by movements but mostly false alarm. I rested my head on the side of the bed again and just as I was about to fall back asleep, halima finally opened her eyes.

I jumped to my feet immediately, getting slightly abit light headed from getting up too fast.

" what ? " I inched closer towards halima. She seems to be muttering something but I could not make out what she was saying.

"Idiot" she spoke, louder this time. I probably looked like a mixture of taken aback and shocked at the same time since halima chuckled.

" why didn't you just call the ambulance ? "

Edit : hello! I probably should have mention this in the first chapter but nevermind. Anyways I hope I can gain some feedback about what I could improve