Fate

Chapter 4

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound from the heart rate monitor echoed throughout the empty room as Murtasim sat in the chair beside the bed again. This time his eyes fixated upon the little bundle of comfort he cradled in his arms. She was asleep, her pink lips puckering with each tiny breath she took while her tiny arms and legs were wrapped up in a pink floral swaddle blanket.

He gently traced her features with the tips of his fingers, his touch featherlight as if she was the most fragile thing in the world. She looks just like Meerab, he thought. The curve of her tiny nose, the pout of her full lips, the slant of her eyes, her skin soft, pink and glowy. She had only been born a few hours ago and she already looked so much like her mother.

The thought brought tears to his eyes as he glanced up from the chair to Meerab's unconscious figure.

*Flashback*

Bakhtu stared with a worrisome expression as Murtasim paced back and forth in the waiting room furiously, running his hands through his hair and over his face as he looked up at the ceiling not focusing on anything in particular. The stress, the tension and the worry seemed to be permanently etched on his face from the moment he had received that call from Farukh who was now standing silently in the corner, also observing the tensed man.

His aunt also sat on a seat beside him passing worried glances at Meerab's husband. Meerab was the daughter she never had. The daughter she longed for. God had sent her to them as a blessing and she had planned to cherish this blessing for as long as she lived. But fate had other plans. Cruel plans.

The doctor walked out of the room a couple minutes later with a mainly neutral expression but a slight sadness was unavoidably visible on her features.

Murtasim hurriedly looked up as she approached him, "Meerab kesi hai? Kya hua hai usse?" He asked, his own heart beating rapidly with worry. Farukh and his mother had joined him and all three of them awaited the doctor's response.

"I'm sorry to inform you Mr Khan but Meerab's condition has gotten worse after the delivery." She spoke softly, her tone laced with sadness.

"Condition? What condition? Kya hua hai usse?" He was confused. What had happened to his wife that he didn't know?  The doctor mirrored his confused expression, glancing between him and Farukh's aunt. The old woman spoke up in a sad voice,  "yeh nahi jaanta" she sighed as she told the doctor and her confused expression was replaced with one of realisation as the woman turned to face Murtasim who stood confused, "beta, doctor ki baat hausle se sunna" she gently touched his shoulder with a motherly affection, but it only made him shudder.

Murtasim's heart raced as the doctor revealed information that shook his world in the worst possible way,  "Meerab boht depressed rahi hai throughout her pregnancy. She refused to reveal the reason for her depression but usko warn kiya gaya tha ke if she doesn't seek proper treatment and it continues tou usko further complications face karni parjayeingi" she began to inform. Little droplets of sweat had begun to form on his forehead now as his brain processed the words.

"Her depression led her to develop a condition we call gestational hypertension and since that wasn't treated properly it further developed into eclampsia. Iss mei uska blood pressure often high rehta tha and she suffered a few seizures during her pregnancy too jis ki wajah se uss ki aur baby ki jaan ko khatra tha. Isiliye inki delivery bhi normal nahi thi and we had to perform an urgent c-section," she paused to let Murtasim absorb the the information before continuing,

"Fortunately even though she's premature, the baby is healthy Mashallah but Meerab ki condition abhi tak unstable hai and unfortunately shows no signs of getting better. What you saw just now was also a seizure and judging by her condition it will happen again." After a long pause, she spoke again "I'm afraid she might not even survive the next 24 hours" she finished. Her last words were like a hard blow to his chest that knocked the breath out of him.