Chapter 43 27: Sickness

He carried her into his arms and laid her properly on the bed, took her hijab off and reduced the temperature of the AC when his hands brushed her neck and he felt her temperature had risen. He took off her glass before covering her with a duvet, turned the lights off and walked back to the living room. Sleep had deserted him, he couldn t believe Fareeda was back but he couldn't suppress his hatred for her as well. He wanted to hurt her so bad that she would have to beg for his mercy. He knew that when he said he wanted to stay with her as a wife, it was solely because he wanted to punish her. He hadn t cried when she left because he knew where she was and who she was together with, but at some point he wished he had cried because of how his heart ached. Whenever he remembered that she was there, together with Adam doing only god knew what, he felt a painful squirm in his heart. 'I'll tell you one secret, don t use protection on her, she s tasteless even when it raw- Mujaheed knew he had heard words that crumbled his whole life at the moment but this right here, nothing could be said to him that will crumble him the way it did. It crushed and broke his heart to the greatest intensity and whenever he looked at Fareeda, the only thing he could remember amongst all the things that Adam said was this. How could she have trusted that bunch of idiocy? How could she have given him such power, such access to her body and soul to the point that he could disrespect her to this order? He wished he had killed him that day if not for those that saved him, he might be taken to the jail afterward but that would be the only way to take off his anger. Or castrate the fool, Mujaheed mused and palmed his face, roaming his fingers through his hair to massage his scalp. She must ve been in pain now, but he knew it was only because of the betrayal she had had to come through. He wanted her to feel so much pain that she would have nothing to do in the 24 hours of everyday but cry and beg Allah to heal her. It might also be hard on him to hurt her to that extent, he knew which was so hard for him to believe. But he would have to hurt her even if that meant hurting himself on the process. ? He knew he had knocked the door on his way to the mosque and had tapped on her shoulder twice. How much he had thought yesterday had made him realized talking to her might something push him into telling her the words he would regret later in life. When he came back and noticed that the lights were still off, he walked into the room and found her still sleeping while she cuddled herself warmly to the duvet. He hissed and walked to the bed and tapped her shoulder. "You need to wake up and pray, Fareeda!" He roughly shook her head and when she turned without knowing she did, Mujaheed s hand fell on her neck and he noticed her temperature had risen and she had a fever. Whatever the cause of the fever, he knew it was the pain in her heart and also the wound on her foot. She lazily took her glass from the bedside drawer and put it on before she opened her eyes a bit. Seeing the way he was deadly staring at her, Fareeda immediately sat upright but groaned outwardly when her head thudded and she palmed her forehead. "You re sick, pray, take your bathe and we ll go to the hospital." He said briskly and stood up. She wanted to argue with him and tell him that she was alright, but Fareeda knew for a fact that she couldn t do that. She had to do what he wanted at the end and there was no point in arguing. She pulled her feet down and grunted when she stood on her wounded foot, Mujaheed watched her as she meticulously limped to the bathroom and he left the room. When he waited for too long in the living room, he walked to the room to check what she was up to and he realized she was already asleep on the praying mat while slightly shivering. He turned the air conditioner first before he carried her back on the bed, covered her and left the chamber. He wanted to free his head from her thoughts and all that was happening around him lately. He walked out of the house to take a walk before she woke up and while he did that, all he thought of was the conversation they had with Fareeda. He sat on a bench and just stared at cars as they drove fast him and he thought for a moment about his life. He would have doubted if someone would tell him that this will would be the life he was going to live. He hadn t thought about how he will survive if that happened, that was why he didn't know what he was supposed to do now that it was all messy for him. Looking back at how he grew up, more hatred filled his life. He knew he might ve hated on Fareeda since from the start. Well, maybe not actually hated her, but they fought a lot. But he didn t want her to be among the list of people he was going to hate for the rest of his life. He sat there, seeing his life moving as a slideshow through his heart as though a movie and he wanted all this to end. What he had run away from to change so everything will be back to normal and what surprised him more was how he was certain that even if he would be given the chance to change his past, he would still like to meet Fareeda and get married to her. His phone s ringtone pulled him out of his trance and he stared at the caller ID before he immediately stood up. He had totally forgotten that he had this appointment. Looking back at the path that would lead him back to the mansion, his mind thought about the situation Fareeda was in, but he knew Nana would be there to take care of her before he went back. He immediately picked the call before it ended and spoke, "Hello. I'll be there in a few minutes, might be late a bit." ? He came back into the mansion with his heart shrunken from being overloaded with nothing but agony. He saw the family doctor walking out of his chamber and after they had exchanged a few pleasantries, he left. Mujaheed rushed there thinking of what might have happened. He met Nana in the kitchen arranging the warmers. "Nana, what happened? I just saw Dr Haris coming out of this chamber. What happened? Is everything alright?" He asked, feeling a little bit foolish for not outwardly asking her if Fareeda was alright, because they both know that he was referring to her. Nana smiled at him, "You wouldn t die if you ask if she s alright, Ya Mujaheed. I found her unconscious when I came here to bring her breakfast, so I went to Abba and he called..." Mujaheed didn't wait for her to finish when he rushed into the room and Nana followed his gaze with an amused smile. He might ve not noticed it himself, but he cared so much about Fareeda. He entered the room and found her sleeping peacefully with an IV attached to her left hand. She had her glass on and he wondered why she couldn t take it off and not even the doctor would ask her to take it off. Was he the only one that hated it whenever she slept with her glass on? And it wasn t because she might break it, it was because her sleep will be inconvenienced. He took it off and sat down beside her on the bed. She was sleeping and he noticed the rise and fall of her chest from the way she squirmed and scrunched up her face even while asleep, Mujaheed knew she was having a bad dream. Sweats began to form on her forehead while her movements became more prominent as she shook her head vigorously. He didn t intend to, but he felt his hand as it took hers and he covered it with his other palm. "Take it easy on yourself, Fareeda, I'm right here beside you." He spoke softly even though he knew she wouldn't hear him. For a moment after that, with his gaze intently fixed on her face, he watched as her heavy breathing subsided and he cleared the bead of sweat on her forehead. He slowly let go of her hand and walked out to the living room where he met Nana eating while she watched the tv that was turned to the lowest volume. He sat down and Nana turned to him with a smile on her lips, "Ya Mujaheed, should I bring your breakfast for you or you re going to wait for her until she wakes up?" Mujaheed flashed her a hard glare, "Fareeda, I've noticed you ve been wanting to get into my bad records lately. Do you want me to smack your head off until you forget about your whole existence." She threw her head back and laughed, "Ya Mujaheed, I only asked you a question." She stood up and placed down her plate on the side table, "I'll go and serve you now, I'm sure she won't even like to eat this when she wakes up." "What will she like to eat?" He asked when she handed him the plate and placed the mug beside him on the table. She sat down on the sofa opposite him and began to munch on her food. "I don t know, but she usually takes gruel whenever she s sick, groundnut gruel. No one knows how to make it here, sometimes she has to go days without eating until she starts to feel better and makes it herself." He wanted to smack himself for thinking about the possibility of making it for her, "She has never taught you how to do it?" Nana sadly shook her head. "I think it s the only thing she knows how to make, she learnt it from her mother. No, Ummah doesn t allow me to go to the kitchen whenever she makes it because she knows if she fell sick again I'll make it for her." "I know how to make it, where do we find the grounded groundnut?" "We have it, she makes sure she has it in stock incase she falls sick. I'll go and get it for you after you re done eating your breakfast. But how do you learn how to do it?" "Nana, what does curiosity does to the cat?" He asked coldly and she threw her head back and laughed. "It kills the cat, but you aren't going to kill me, are you?" He glared at her and she laughed. She loved how stubborn and hard headed the two of them were, and despite being so soft toward each other, they wanted to act as though they were the greatest enemies to ever live on earth. She was the only one able to see their soft sides and she took a promise to herself to reveal that softness to each of them.