As Long As I Live

Princess

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Enjoy!

*****

The setting sun made everything sparkle red and gold, a bright array of vivid colors in the peaceful distance. It was a beautiful sunset, Mayra thought as she looked out the huge glass window of her luxurious hospital room. She still couldn't believe that Aamir would do this for her. This was the same room in which Aamir had been admitted when he had been paralyzed. And now he had Mayra put in the exact same room.

If that wasn't mind-boggling enough, he had the entire room covered in flowers and cards. Two bunches of white and pink balloons were attached to the poles of the head end of her bed. An entire library of DVDs had been bought for her to watch whatever she wished to on the massive flat screen tv. He had got her so many books to read that she actually wondered if she could ever finish reading them all.

But the thing that was most unnerving was that Aamir never left her alone. He had occupied the extra bed in her room, right by her side and brought his laptop and files with him. He stayed in her room, worked from her room, ate in her room, slept in her room, but never left her alone. She had never seen him smile as much as he did now when he was with her. And the things he said, over and over to her were destroying her peace of mind. He had started calling her Princess. Princess! What was she to say to that?

She was no princess. Hell, she wasn't even considered human enough to deserve respect. She hadn't received any of it, neither care nor understanding, no affection and certainly not an ounce of love. And now, here was Aamir, declaring his love for her over and over again.

It had been a week since she woke up from her coma. Every morning she would open her eyes to find Aamir smiling at her, "Salam and Good Morning, Princess." As the day progressed, he would keep talking to her as if everything was normal and kept saying "I love you, Princess" every chance he got. She was unbearably on the edge with his attitude. What was he trying to achieve? To whom was he trying to prove that he could be a good husband? Since when did she start meaning so much to him that he couldn't leave her alone?

During their marriage Mayra had come to crave the time when she would be alone. Those were the only moments when she wouldn't be hurt or humiliated. Loneliness was a small price to pay for keeping one's self esteem intact. And she was more than happy to be able to do it. At least it gave her peace of mind.

And now there was no peace, whatsoever.

Aamir was behaving so unusually, and her parents were coming to check on her everyday! Like she mattered! What was wrong with everybody.

She sighed as she watched the sun go down. There were times when each sunset would bring confusion to her, because as each day passed she never knew what to feel, relief at the end of another day, or fear of a new night with her abusive husband. With Aamir she never knew what to expect. He would blow up for the smallest of things, or sometimes over nothing at all. Within the first two months of her marriage she had come to accept the painful and unfortunate fact that she would never be able to please him at all. No matter what she did, he would always find reasons to be upset with her. She was incapable of keeping him happy.

And God, the name-calling. That was the worst. It could make one question themselves as a person, she thought, if one is constantly being called "slut", "shameless wench", "bitch".

She squeezed her eyes shut. Even now she could hear Aamir's voice screaming those words at her. Even now, her destroyed self-confidence made her question herself, was she worth anything at all? Was she as useless as Aamir said she was? Was she that bad?

Of course she was, she thought as she opened her eyes. Why else would she be here? In a hospital bed with a divorce petition over her head.

"Okay, I'm done here," the nurse announced as she finished cleaning up Mayra's half-eaten plate of food, making Mayra suddenly realize that the woman was in the room with her.