RUWAIDA ✔️

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

Ruwaida sat huddled in the private ward hospital bed, shawled from her thighs downwards with a heavy blanket, having a bowl of frozen fruits perched round her hands. Beside her on the long couch, Dr Zainab sat too, with Leila sitting comfortably on her lap.

Zainab's face was filled with aplomb brightness, unlike those months when she'd so much on her plate...it looked like she'd gotten rid of most of her worries. She smiled at Ruwaida as she looked up and caught her eyes.   "I'll not be off the hook if I don't talk, will I?," They'd been sitting for long minutes, Ruwaida waiting impatiently to hear Zainabu's blue biography, which she'd not been able to put her heads together with anyone.

"No you won't, a promise should always remain one," Ruwaida replied her, chunking herself with a slab of pineapple. "I'm listening,"

"Okay," Zainab sighed loudly, placing Leila close to her. "I don't know where to even start from," She stopped talking to look at Ruwaida, hoping to get off the clasp which she screwed herself. "Can we do this after your transplant?,"

Ruwaida shook her head in a restless eager, placing the bowl on the bench. "No! Please you promised me, I always wondered how it happened, and seeing you and Maher together, I felt intrigued to know why you left Ankara, your marriage...,"

Zainab moved in her sit, fumbling with her hands as she stared into nothingness. Then she spoke without strings, nor did she even wait to think. "It was my father,"

Ruwaida creased her brows in lack of certainty, could it be that she heard wrong?. "You Father?,"

"Yes! Baba was selfish...he did not think of me, he only thought about him, his position and people's judgements," Zainab looked almost brutal with bitterness, keeping her eyes kin on the door as she spoke like a scalded cat. "We all make mistakes, but why was mine the only one Baba chose to not ignore?," She yawed her gaze to Ruwaida, as if wanting her to answer out of the blue.

"The last time I and Maher travelled to my home town to see my parents, Baba was not home...so Maher persisted on staying, thinking my father will treat him with such kindness like my mum had done always when we visited, I leaving my studies, catching a flight and traveling down here with Maher," Zainab smiled, but even from an endless distance, one could sight the pain behind it. "How wrong were his thoughts! I regretted my decision of taking him there up until this day...Ya Allah! He was pained beyond thoughts, you should've seen his mortified look after Baba had cursed his occupation!,"

When Zainab stopped talking, Ruwaida reached out for the glass of water and passed it to her. Ruwaida wouldn't have cajoled her to open up if she knew just the memories were that painful to Dr Zainab. And now, she wished she did not even speak at all!

"Baba said he'll die before he allow me marry an uneducated man! Yes, Maher had grown up all alone and had no one to put him through school, but at least, he did great with his deen, he learnt one or two skills and he'd always been a hardworking one, so why does him being wealthy with a green kola job make him better? I loved him the way he was...but Baba did not want to understand,"

Zainab took a few sips. "I acted like everything was fine and that I've even forgotten about Maher, but when I left for Ankara, we got married in the second week, hid it from everyone except Tasha, my friend whom was smart enough to put two and two together, she called me all sorts of names and that she was against my decision, but I was afraid of more mountainous iniquity we could have effectuated Ruwaida, I wasn't thinking nor was he,"  Ruwaida gave a small understanding nod.

"Months passed, I was able to caper going home during holidays giving one excuse or the other, but when Baba got tired of them, one specific end of semester, he insisted that I be home that very week, or he would show up at the gate of our hostel to come take me himself," Zainab released a dry laugh. "I was seriously petrified, because one, he'll be informed that I don't stay in the hostel anymore, and two, one way or the other, his birds would surely find me. The result of it all wouldn't be good. So I packed a few things and flew back to Nigeria. Do you know why I did not want to return?,"

There was a tap at the door which brought an end to the dyads' conversation. Muhammad put his head round the it, peeping in with a jesting smile. "Time's up Dr Zainab, her surgery will be in 4 hours, and Inaam here won't just stop crying," He proceeded into the room, giving them a full view of the tiny thing he had nuzzled between his arms with a grey blanket. "I'm telling you, even the nurse today couldn't deal with her yowls," He laughed as he gave Zainab a brief look, walking past her to place the baby on Ruwaida's laps, and she hastily held her.

She looked up apologetically. "Turaad? Well, erm can she stay for 15 more minutes? I promise we're just talking, that's it!," He did not mind replying her, after checking the values of her vitals on the monitor, he turned to nod at Zainab while she took her bag from the bench. She was also contented to leave anyways.

Zainab peeked at the baby with a wide grin putting out a hand to nudge at Inaam's tiny legs. "She's sleeping already...I'll be at the canteen downstairs, but I'll wait till after the surgery InshaAllah," Ruwaida gave her a smile too, she was saddled with fear which she did not want to show, yet her eyes refused to cooperate as they tinged with concealed tears.

'You're not going to cry' she assured herself, watching Zainab exit the ward. 'You won't cry, it's going to be fine, Inaam will be fine,'

Muhammad stared like a hawk at Ruwaida, having the now normal panic attacks she gets when reminded of her transplant. He stood with glazed eyes, as though he was watching a tragic movie. And then suddenly moved to pacify her. He took in a profound shaky breath, taking a sit beside her. "Look at me, Waida? You'll be fine, InshaAllah nothing will happen, come on, now breath," He placed a hand behind her back "slowly, again...it's alright okay?, I'm here,"

Finally stabilized, she gave Inaam a rueful glance, taken in the entrancing features of her child. And without knowing, she started crying. This very phase of always breaking down on seeing Inaam pained her. But not as much as it did to Turaad. Dr Alex had to give him a 2 months grant leave to codify himself, seeing how disheveled he'd arrive at work and leave without any change.

She caught the faint hue in Turaad's eyes as he stared at her. "I'm so scared Turaad," The conviction in her voice was vigorous, listening to herself, Ruwaida couldn't believe it was hers. She put Inaam between them, bringing his forehead to hers. "Is this transplant really happening today? Can't I secure more time? To be with Inaam," And then she raised her head a little to his view. "You...?,"

Muhammad seemed to think for a while, before he spoke with a wary sort of strain in his voice. "We'll have all the time after the transplant,"

Ruwaida sniffed, closing her eyes to swallow the heavy burden of the words she was about to utter. "That's not certain,"

"Don't talk like that Ruwaida...," They stayed silent for a while before Ruwaida smiled, then whispered his name.

"Turaad,"

"Hmph,"

"You would take good care of Inaam...,"

"Ruwaida please...," Muhammad exhaled loudly. "Nothing will happen, the complications of the bone marrow transplant are not...,"

Ruwaida succinctly cut him. "Turaad? Dr Tasha said I could be paralyzed! Is not that fact alone stern?," She whisper yelled.

"It's only a possibility, I want you to think positively from now on, can you? For Inaam,"

Ruwaida shrugged. "I'm just being realistic, but I'll try," Muhammad was about to speak when again, Ruwaida used a conviction that negated his attempt. "You know? We were talking about so many things with Zainab before you came, and I had learnt something too,"

Muhammad smiled lightly, happy that she'd finally gotten rid of the earlier talk. "What have you learnt Ruwaida?,"

"That some stories are meant to be incomplete...," She took her hand away from Inaam to hold his. "Incomplete...just like ours,"

Muhammad looked up with a grim expression. "We just talked about negative talks Waida! Come, you should lie down for a bit, I'll wake you up before time," He adjusted her pillow, slowly nudging her head to it.  

He pecked Inaam's hands from inside the blanket, but Ruwaida was fast to hold unto his hands, compelling him to look at her and then she mumbled. "I love you Turaad... I love you," She looked too innocent to be speaking like it was their last time together, he hated the fact that it was, in fact, a big possibility. "That's not negative was it?," He gave her hands a tight grip.

"No inamorata, it was all I could ever ask,"

Love_
SilentWriter 🦋