TAWAKKUL

11. How It Happened

The next morning, I got up to pray Fajr salat.

Azlan was sleeping as usual.

I made wudhu and headed to pray.

After performing my prayers, I sat on my prayer mat for a long time, contemplating what went on in my life.

It's been two days since I entered that house.

And I had no moment of peace since then.

It was all so different a week ago.

I was happy. Genuinely happy.

Even though I didn't trust Azlan initially because of what I saw during my college days, eventually I began to think that he probably is the chosen one for me.

Everyone around told me that he was a wonderful person. And all of it contradicted what I thought of him.

He was considered to be a doctor of great compassion and empathy.

And people formed this opinion of him just in a year. He wasn't even here all these years. After he was done with his undergraduation, he moved to the USA for further education. And he was there for almost six years.

Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I'd meet him again.

My story with the Hussain family began almost two years ago when I applied for the position of a neurosurgeon back in a hospital in Dubai, where me and my family resided.

I completed my graduation and post graduation in India, and then moved to Dubai for the postdoctoral course.

I had been with my family until I got married .

I used to be very happy. Having your family around was a bliss. Something I'd missed for years due to my educational priorities.

Everything was perfect until my mom was diagnosed with COPD, a lung disorder.

I felt as though fate just slapped me on my face.

I'd been studying medicine for years and years only to realise that eventually I'll have to see my mother getting treated, not through my help, but someone else.

How I wished I wasn't a neurosurgeon that day.

Everything seemed to fall apart.

I made her get treatment in the hospital I worked in. I afforded all of it. I made sure she got attended in the best way possible.

My mom was proud of me. Very proud. So was my dad.

Even though I kept taking care of my mom, I worked hard as what I was, a neurosurgeon.

And after a year of my excellent performance, I was recognised by the hospital as one of the top surgeons. They organised a little award function to felicitate me.

And that was when I met him the first time, the chairperson, Dr Rishaad Hussain.

He was really impressed with me. He considered me one of the best ever doctors he'd ever met.

Thereby, he made it a point that my mother would get the best treatment there.

Nothing surprised me so much until he came to our house one fine day, around three months ago.

And that is when he asked my hand for his son.

Surprise is a too less word to describe what me and my family felt at that time.

I was baffled.

He wanted me to officially be a part of his family since he said he considered me as one.