13. The sukoon in sujood

*****

Marwan kept tapping his feet anxiously on the ground. He was still seated on the metal chair that was a little too cold and stiff for his liking but then again, this was a hospital.

Laiha sat beside him, her face looking that of one in deep thought but he didn't bother asking her anything about it. He was quick to call his mother to inform her about what had happened and was pleasantly surprised when he saw Laiha tagging along with his mother into the hospital.

Aliya was subtly informed about the accident too and the woman had created an uproar to leave her wedding and race to the hospital but after a lot of pacification and reasoning, she finally settled down with Kabir at the venue but had threatened him with his life to inform her of everything that was going around and of Daiyan and Parizad's condition.

"Marwan, beta don't stress so much. Insha'Allah, the two will recover fast. Allah pe bharosa rakho."

The gentle voice of Madiha came from beside him. He looked at his mother, an ever so doubt that shouldn't be there kept nagging his mind. The thoughts of whether the recovery will be in their favour or-

"Marwan, that's enough. There's no need to walk down the negative lane. Trust the All-Mighty and put firm belief in your heart."

It was Laiha who assured him this time. A small smile spread across his lips as he heard her soothing words.

It was always like this. The two were inseparable since their childhood. One was ying and the other was yang. Both trying to keep each other's back at the times of hardship and she surely didn't disappoint him even today.

Marwan took in a few deep breaths. His eyes closed themselves as he leaned back on the chair. The sense of comfort that had surrounded him all the while as he battled with the news of the accident seemed to have vanished in thin air. The warmth that had embraced him a little time back seemed to be missing and that's when he frowned. His muscles became more tense if possible and his eyes were quick to open themselves.

Looking behind Madiha and then behind Laiha, the crease on his forehead deepened when he didn't find her anywhere near. His anxious expression turned that of an alarmed one as he sprang out of the seat.

"Marwan, kya hua?"

Madiha couldn't help but ask as she noticed the sudden conflict in her son's eyes. Marwan ran a hand through his hair, his eyes assessing the whole place in search of her but it was of no avail.

He cursed under his breath for being so ignorant all the while. Why didn't he notice her absence a little earlier?

Well, maybe because he was busy wandering through the lane of sorrow and fury.

"Mama, aapne Ziah ko dekha hai kahi? She was here just a while back, by my side. Kaha gayi yeh ladki?"

He couldn't help but ramble in worry. She was all alone and that too with no idea about the place. What if she walked out of the hospital to get some fresh air but wandered too far?

There his mind went again. Down trying to find the worst outcomes possible and he mentally shuddered as to what could ruin his night even more than possible.

Madiha looked confused for a while before looking concerned. She had not seen Ziah since she had walked in on an immobile looking Marwan trying to calm himself down. Roughly half an hour or more would have passed since then so where was she?

"Marwan , stop panicking and think calmly. Yahi hogi woh. Go look for her rather than just standing in one place pacing around and doing nothing."

Marwan scowled at Laiha's jab but ignoring her rude way of words, he walked up to where he last saw her heading to. The end of the corridor was where he stood, a few feet more than where he initially was seated. Assessing the place, he noted the two other corridors adjoined to it, one on the left and the other to the right.

Hospital banaya hai ya maze?

The thought occurred in his mind before he could stop it but shaking his head to stop the unnecessary thinking, he pointed the right path for Laiha to look into and he himself went to the left.

The sound of his footsteps was all that he could hear over the eerie silence. Marwan gulped as he looked over his shoulder. The idea of being the main lead in a horror movie who was stupid enough to walk down the path people forbid to made him shudder.

"Humesha galat time pe galat khayal aate hai."

He scowled at his creative imaginations that were always powered by critical circumstances. Taking deep breaths to get his mind back on track, he quickened the pace of his steps and was about to walk past what one would call the prayer room but a small sob made him halt in his steps and turn around.

Frowning at no one in particular, he took a step closer to the room. A small window that was untinted was beside the closed door and even though he felt like peeping tom, he couldn't help himself from taking a look into the room that was ever surrounded by an aura so soothing.

His eyes almost did a double take when he saw Ziah in sujood, crying her eyes out, her lips moving in an incoherent mumble as she tried her best to stay strong. He gulped, the sight of her looking so helpless made him curse himself for being so ignorant to her absence for so long.

He kept looking at her, even though most of her back was what faced him. His eyes soft and gentle, the look in them resembled a molten chocolate that was meant to spread nothing but immense sweetness. He knew she needed the time with her Lord.

Telling the All-Knowing what her heart felt even though He was already aware of everything- but isn't that what makes the bond stronger?

Your trust and faith in Him. The belief that with every hardship comes ease, every tear is followed by a smile and every sadness will be overshadowed by the upcoming happiness.

Marwan slid down the wall, his back in contact with the cold surface as he sat on the floor, hearing her small sobs that begged to be comforted by the sukoon in sujood.

He closed his eyes, his own heart making duas of what the future held for all of them-

Maybe with a little more curiosity about him and her.

*****

It felt like ages since Marwan had been seated on the cold marble ground. His eyes were closed but not once did the sense of discomfort seep through. He relished in the silence, so comforting and soothing but the slight creak of the door beside him made his eyes shoot up in alarm.

His bewildered gaze met a surprised looking Ziah. Her eyes were red and puffy, a clear indication of how long she had shed tears in front of her Lord. Her look of surprise was quickly masked by a small smile but the pain and sorrow behind her glistening eyes were not hidden by Marwan's observant ones.

"Ziah, agli baar aise gayab nahi hona. You know how worried I- we all got?"

He cleared his throat at his slip of tongue. Quickly getting up from the ground, he dusted his sherwani that looked crumbled and less bright. Taming his messy hair that now looked as though they had gone through a hurricane, he gave her a glare in return to which he was met with an apologetic smile.

"S-sorry, it all just got a little overwhelming aur phir I went to talk to Dr. Mathur a-about P-Parizad and then-"

"Hey, relax. Don't explain yourself to me. Pata hai mujhe it was a lot to take in lekin aise hawa mein gayab ho gayi? You almost gave the poor guy a heart attack."

The playfulness in his tone made Ziah relax her shoulders but just by a little. Marwan noticed how she subtly had taken a few steps back to create more distance between the two but brushing it off thinking this was all normal, he subconsciously took hold of her wrist like the before times and started walking to where he came from.

Ziah swallowed her nerves down, trying to control her erratic heartbeat. His touch seemed so right yet so wrong. For him it might be completely normal but for Ziah, these small touches were more intimate than one could think of.

She tried to free her hand from his grip as casually as possible, trying not to make her anxious form come to his notice but if it wasn't already crystal clear, her strength was of no match to his.

Ziah followed Marwan silently, the two were busy making their own assumptions of the silence that prevailed over them. Marwan took it as a chance to sort out Daiyan and Parizad's condition, unaware that the woman in his hold was battling with her own thoughts that rebelled her conscience's warnings with full force.

"Aa gaye tum dono. Ziah, beta where did you go? Pata hai sab kitna ghabra gaye the."

Madiha's motherly stern voice made Ziah jerk out of her thoughts. Her wide eyes met Madiha's anxious and worried ones and a small amount of guilt made its way into her heart on seeing the old woman so worked up due to her absence.

"Mama-"

"Aunty-"

The two spoke at once, each trying to give their own verdict about Ziah's absence. One was about to defend while the other just had an apology to say.

Madiha tried to ignore the way Marwan looked down at Ziah. His eyes were gentle and assuring, as if to lull the waves of panic that had risen in Ziah's heart. The latter could only stare at his attempts to bring peace to her roaring worries before she hastily looked away, not having the courage to brew what had already been declared impossible ages ago.

"Khala, rehne de dono ko. Look at her, she looks so tired and worn out. Ziah, aao baitho yaha. I'll order a cup of tea for you. It'll help in refreshing your mind."

Laiha suggested with a comforting smile and Ziah was immediately made aware of her hand in Marwan's in the presence of his fiance.

Her panicked gaze met Laiha's who seemed unfazed by it all. The latter just smiled and patted Ziah's head softly like an elder sister would do and gave a stern look to Marwan who was busy making weird faces at Laiha.

"Dimaag bandar jitna kam hai yeh toh pata hai. Plan on inheriting their looks too?"

Marwan gaped at her words while Laiha just walked past him with a triumphant look. Ziah stared in awe at the bond between the two, the small smile that she tried to suppress made itself visible and Marwan's look of shock changed that to of betrayal as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Ziah could only shrug innocently at his accusing gaze, the sorrow in her heart now overshadowed by the light playfulness in the air.

"S-shouldn't have provoked her in the first place."

Marwan opened his mouth to retort but was met with a small smack behind the back of his head by his mother. Madiha tried to look serious but the mischief in her eyes made Marwan grumble under his breath about being left all alone in the midst of traitors.

"Sahi keh rahi hai woh. Sudhar jao tum. Ziah, come on, sit beside me."

Madiha patted the metal seat next to hers and Ziah was quick to free her wrist from Marwan's grip seeing as he was too lost in his loss of witty remarks and sat beside Madiha who immediately wrapped her left hand around Ziah's shoulders, placing the young maiden's head on her own shoulder.

Ziah didn't know from where the tears that had once stopped started clouding her vision again. The motherly touch and concern of Madiha made her snuggle to her side, unaware that a certain someone was looking at the two with a gaze that could melt the hardest of irons and shape them in the most alluring of ways.

"Don't stress yourself much. While the two of you were gone, the doctors had given a clean chit to their full recovery in a few weeks."

Her words eased the worry in Ziah and Marwan's mind. Marwan stretched his hands in the air, a yawn escaped his lips as he looked at his wrist watch that read 1:27 a.m. He sighed knowing that sleep wouldn't come to him today.

He opened the cuffs of his sherwani and folded them up. Doing the same with the first two buttons of his sherwani, he sighed when the air circulation became more rapid around the area.

His gaze fell back to where Ziah and Madiha were seated. The look of awe in his eyes could blind the brightest of lights as he stared at his mother comforting the dainty girl in her hold, her words low and soothing just like a lullaby that could calm storms.

Marwan watched in silence as Ziah got comfortable in Madiha's hold. Her eyes drooped slowly, the curtains of her eyelashes touching the softness of her cheeks. The endless woods that stood strong in the blazing sunlight were now secured from the rest of the world.

And he couldn't help but smile. A smile that erased every ounce of doubt in his mind about the betterment that their future held.

**********

Mostly a filler chapter of some sorts- maybe to make up for the storm that's about to arrive!!

Lol, kidding or...not...

Ahh, the book is heading towards the main storyline and I'm loving it. A few more chapters before all you'll read about is the bizarre that has arrived in their lives...

Yeah, the book's plot has forced me to be the villain here, not entirely my fault...*shrugs innocently*

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