Chapter 14

"Well, tell me, how did the luck of our house shine today that Mr. Akbar Shah Sahib came to visit us?" Rafiq Sahib teased Akbar jokingly to change the subject and Akbar laughed but Nasreen Bano stared at him.

"I told you that I had called Akbar's son ..."

"Hey Auntie, Uncle is just joking. Don't be serious." Akbar explained with a smile and Rafiq Shah laughed.

"Our wife is old enough that now she has to make fun of me." Nasreen Bano stared at Rafiq Shah's cheerfulness with fake resentment and Akbar laughed.

The time passed while they talked about different things and then the dinner time finally arrived. While they were all sitting at the dinner table, Nasreen Bano sent the maid to inform Hoorain about the dinner.

"Ma'am! She is saying that she’s not hungry." The maid came a few moments later and reported that. Rafiq Shah got up from his chair.

"All right, you can go. Thank you. I'll go and see her by myself."

"No! She has been feeling a little unwell since morning, that's it! You can relax and sit down, I'll check." Nasreen Begum said while looking at Akbar with apologetic eyes and then she got up quickly and left the dining room. Akbar instantly tensed up from inside because he felt that something was not right!

Shortly afterwards, Hoorain entered the dining room with Nasreen Bano, but seeing the stitch on her forehead, Akbar's suspicion turned to belief. Of course something was being hidden from him.

"Assalam O Alaikum!" Akbar had taken the initiative in greeting.

"Walaikum Assalam!" Hoorain replied without looking at Akbar while sitting down next to her mother. Akbar looked at her carefully.

"How did you get this injury on your forehead?" Akbar asked directly after a moment.

Hoorain just shrugged in response carelessly as she did not even want to look at Akbar. She came here just for the sake of her parents. Akbar fell silent and did not insist further.

There was complete silence during the meal and when the coffee was served, Hoorain stood up and walked away to go to her room.

"Where are you going daughter? Let’s have a talk with us for a while. You'll feel better!" Rafiq Shah suggested sofly. She stopped just enough to listen to him, but she did not turn around.

"I'm sleepy, Papa. You guys enjoy it. I already got off a long time ago." And then she left. Akbar knew about her resentment towards him, from her meaningful talk. Rafiq Shah also felt her cold seal but then the matter was averted.

After some time, when Akbar was about to take leave, a loud voice came from the upper floor. Rafiq Shah was shocked and then he stepped towards the stairs, Akbar also followed him. They were both halfway up the stairs when they were stopped for a moment by the loud voice of shouting. Then they hurried up the stairs and entered the room from which the voices were coming. Akbar saw that Hoorain was shouting at Nasreen Begum as she was trying to explain something to her in a low voice but she was not listening to her mother’s words. It was the first time that Akbar had seen Hoorain so angry.

"Does everyone think I'm stupid, ignorant, a 5 year old kid who did not understand all these things. But let me tell you, I understand everything well ... EVERYTHING!" Hoorain shouted loudly and Rafiq Shah rushed forward.

"What happened? Why are you screaming so much, daughter?" And then Hoorain saw Akbar, standing behind his father. That triggered her furthermore.

"I'm crazy ... everyone here is fine, healthy, but it’s just me who is crazy ..." Hoorain laughed bitterly.

"What's the matter? Tell me, my child!" Rafiq Sahib asked calmly.

"Talk?" Hoorain laughed like a maniac. "The thing is, my dear Papa! This man, whom I was madly in love with, has shown me a mirror. He considers me a beggar, in whose cradle he has done a great favor by putting a few coins of his precious sympathy. He has made a spectacle of the intensity of my valiant love, and I don't want to be a part of this spectacle anymore because I am a human being and I am tired of living in this state of helplessness. Maybe, you should have poisoned me because now I can't stand my love’s humiliation every day. Absolutely not!" She pointed at Akbar and before anyone could react, Rafiq Shah slapped her hard on the face. Hoorain caressed her cheek with disbelief.

"You slapped me in support of this man? Yeah yeah ... kill me! Hit me more, in support of this senseless, heartless man who has made my love a spectacle, I've had enough now. And anyway, if I were your real child, you would care more about me than this stranger, you would support me ... because in the end, real children are real..... " Hoorain looked at him with red eyes and his hand raised again but Akbar stepped forward and stopped him this time.

"Please Uncle! She's angry and hurt, not in her right mind so don’t hurt her further." Hoorain laughed at this bitterly.

"Yeah ... I'm the only one here who is consciously alienated, everyone else is conscious ..." She shouted and Rafiq Shah looked at her sadly, then left the room. Nasreen Bano also followed him while crying. Akbar then looked at Hoorain.

“You can also leave too as you can see that I don't need your sympathy or any explanation." She turned away from him.

"Hoorain, please ..." Akbar tried to say something to her but she cut him off.

"Don't take my name again. Take the name of the one you love, who you care more than human beings ... your business!" Hoorain shook her head in disgust, then Akbar stopped where he was and then went back out of the room, he heard a loud sound of the door closing behind him. He came down the steep stairs and then left without looking anywhere.

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Akbar was laying on his back, thinking about the event he witnessed. Suddenly his phone rang. Just two and a half hours later after his arrival, Nasreen Bano called him and informed; "Rafiq Shah suffers a heart attack and she is taking him to the hospital."

Akbar reached the hospital. Aunty saw him and hugged him crying. He comforted her and gave her some water from the water bottle he had brought with him. Then he looked around and saw Hoorain in the distance, who was silently leaning against the wall, staring into the space.

Two hours after Akbar's arrival, the doctor emerged from the ICU and they hurried forward.

"Alhamdulillah, the patient is out of danger now, no worries. It was a minor attack. All you have to do now is take care of him and keep away anything that can cause stress. He’s not conscious yet but you can see him after we shift him.” Upon hearing this, Aunty immediately thanked Allah. Akbar also breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the doctor. The doctor smiled and then turned around. "Who is Hoorain?"

"Why are you asking this?" Nasreen Bano asked.

"He was constantly calling out her name in drowsiness, that's why." And with that, he walked away. Akbar immediately looked in the direction of Hoorain, who was staring at the doctor's back as he left. Nasreen Bano hurried down the hall to perform the prayer of gratefulness, Akbar also stepped behind her but then turned around and saw Hoorain because she had not moved from her place. She was absolutely silent. At that moment, Akbar felt that she had changed from top to bottom. Quite different from the old Hoorain he met ... as if she had imprisoned her being in a shell because of his apathy!

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