3.1 • A Stormy Night

It was a stormy night. Hooriya was returning from a friend's birthday party. She was driving alone on a deserted highway with scary trees on both sides. Her phone began ringing for the fourth time in the last one hour. She sighed before receiving Hoorain's call.

“Yes Aapi.”  She tried her best to not sound irritated.

“Hooriya, where are you? It's past midnight and Ammi is eating out my head.” Hoorain whisper yelled at her.

“Aapi, I went to drop a friend so got late.”

“Come home as soon as possible. It's raining heavily outside and Ammi is worried for you.”

“What about Baba?”

“He had his favourite Haleem for dinner so couldn't stay awake for long after eating such a heavy meal.”

“It will take me another hour to reach home. But don't worry. It's not the first time I'm driving alone at night. You should sleep.”

“Ammi won't let me sleep. Come soon.” Hoorain sighed.

“Alright.” And they ended the call.

Hooriya kept driving. She was on the outskirts of the city. A jungle away from the noise of ever busy city. She could already see the lights of buildings on the horizon. However, something horrible caught her attention. A car crashed into a tree.

She quickly stopped the car and got down. However, she didn't forget to pull out her licenced gun for it could be a trap too. Hooriya took slow steps towards the black car. It was raining. She got drenched in the rainwater completely. When she was only a few steps away from the car, she saw a person lying on the driver's seat. Without any second thought she hit the window of the car door with the back of her gun. Hooriya managed to unlock the door and checked the guy's heartbeat.

“He is alive.” She sighed in relief.

His head was injured and his face was completely drenched in his own blood. Calling an ambulance seemed risky. What if he died until the ambulance arrived? It seemed safer to drive him hospital herself. So Hooriya quickly drove her car closer to the crashed black car and put that unconscious guy in the back seat. And she sped to the nearest city hospital.

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“It was wise of you to not wait for an ambulance. He had lost a lot of blood and could have died.” The doctor spoke.

Hooriya nodded. She was drenched in rain and was feeling cold.

“We have called his family. They will be here anytime soon. You should return home or you may fall sick yourself.” He suggested looking at her paled face.

“Sure, doctor.” She smiled and turned around to leave.

However, a middle-aged man and a guy in his thirties came running towards them.

“Doctor, is Zayan Shabbir alright? I'm his father.” The middle-aged man asked with fear and worry.

“Don't worry, he is out of danger. This young lady brought him to hospital on time or things could have gone worse with him.”

And they turned to her. Now she felt a little awkward at the way they looked at her with gratitude.

“Thank you so much for saving my son's life, beta. God bless you.” The man smiled and blessed her.

“It's alright, uncle. You should thank God. It was a mere coincidence that I chose to drive from that highway.” She smiled.

“Indeed.”

“I am taking my leave now. My family must be worried.” Saying so she left the hospital.

Hooriya sighed as soon as she exited that depressing building. The rain had stopped by then. But the air still carried coldness and made her shiver. She quickly sat inside the car and finally drove back home.

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“Hooriya, why there's blood on the backseat of your car?”

That was the first thing she heard when she woke up next morning, umm, afternoon.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them only to witness her parents and elder sister staring at her face with shock and curiousity.

“What?” She asked, totally clueless why they decided to gather around her that morning, umm, afternoon.

“There are blood stains on your car's backseat.” Her father repeated his words.

“Oh, when I was returning, I saw a car crashed into a tree. A guy was lying unconscious inside so I drove him to the hospital.” She shrugged with a smile.

“And you are telling us now?” Her mother asked dramatically.

“Well, Ammi, I just woke up.” Hooriya wasn't really surprised at her mother's drama. She always does that.

“Alright, Ammi, Hooriya must be tired. Let her rest. Last night was tiring for her.” Hoorain told her mother.

“But it's afternoon now. She won't be able to sleep at night if she slept now.” Hareem Begum argued.

“Arrey, Begum, our daughter has saved a life. Be happy and let her sleep.” Nawaz Shah pulled his wife out of the room with himself.

“So do you want breakfast, I mean, lunch, Hooriya?” Hoorain asked.

“A cup of tea will do.” Hooriya yawned and laid back.

“Okay.” Hoorain nodded and left to make tea for her sister.

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His eyes flickered open after long hours of sleep. His head was pounding. Oh, he had hit his head into steering wheel when he accidentally crashed into a tree. Damn, his panic attacks. He sighed in pain. It was unbearable.

“Here, have it.” He heard his elder brother's voice.

That was when he took in his surroundings. He was in a hospital. Ayan was standing before him with a painkiller in his palm. He put the pill in Zayan's mouth and made him sip water to gulp it down. Zayan mumbled a thanks and laid down comfortably.

“I had told you to not drive during storm.” Ayan started.

“I am sorry. I thought I would be able to handle it this time.” Zayan mumbled with his eyes lowered in embarrassment.

“Traumas don't vanish out of blue, Zayan.” Ayan caressed his brother's palm.

“I am tired of it, Bhai. I am tired of seeing Baba and you always worried about me.” He said in his apologetic tone.

“That doesn't mean you challenge yourself. We want you safe and you are doing the very opposite.”

“Then how will I overcome it if I don't face it?” He asked in helplessness.

Ayan replied to him calmly,“We will figure it out together. But from now on you can't leave home in bad weather. Understood?”

“Alright.” He nodded unwillingly. He saw the consequence of heading out during a stormy night.

“Good.”

“Where is Baba?”

“He went to talk to the doctor. He will be back in a while.”

Zayan nodded and closed his eyes. That tragic stormy night from twenty years back replayed before his closed eyes. He saw his younger self crying alone in the car. His mother was lying dead on the driver's seat. And he kept crying until police rescued him the next morning. That one tragedy ruined his childhood and most likely it will ruin his entire life. He will never be able to live a normal carefree life. Doesn't matter how hard he tried.

And then he saw her face. The girl who saved him. He wasn't exactly unconscious, just on the verge of it. He saw it all through his blurry vision. How she broke the window with her gun and took him to the hospital. She was so opposite of him. Brave and confident.

With her blurred image on his mind, he slipped into slumber.

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Question: Do you enjoy stormy nights?

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