A Twist of Fate ✔

Ch. 04

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. The sun was shining at its brightest and the birds were all singing a merry tune. The delicious aroma of freshly baked bread filled the suburban two-story house that belonged to a quaint family of three. Ahmad was helping Sarah set the table when their doorbell rang. He shared a look with his wife who was mirroring his worried expression.

They had finally returned home the previous day and had many guests over, anxious about Laila. She had a lot of friends and they all demanded to sit with her make sure she was okay since they weren't allowed at the hospital. It was havoc. Sarah quickly shooed them away when Laila became weary and pale, and they left with a promise to revisit soon. But Sarah knew it wasn't a concerned friend at the door this time. 

"It's going to be Hamza." Ahmad spoke up gravely.

His wife only nodded in response, her eyes turning sad again. Her and Ahmed made sure to call him every day with updates and to check up on him, but after the first few days, he stopped taking their calls. They were too busy with Laila and the guests to drive by his house. 

Ahmad slowly walked towards the door, his fingers pausing briefly before gripping the doorknob and twisting it open. He had a smile on his face that quickly dropped when he noticed Hamza's state.

His hair was clammy and knotted as if he hadn't washed it in days. Beneath his usually cheerful eyes were dark crescents and, to make it worse, he bore the same clothes he had on at the hospital. 

"Asalamu Alaikum Uncle Ahmad." He said in a monotone, his voice holding no emotion at all.

Ahmad sighed, running a hand over his face. "Hamza, this is wrong. You're not taking care of yourself. Laila can't see you like this, you'll scare her."

A sneer came across Hamza's face. "Does it even matter? She wants nothing to do with me anyway."

"We talked to her Hamza; we have been since the night at the hospital. She's a strong girl and after she prayed, she decided to give it a shot. She wants to get her memory back and if being with you might trigger it, then she's completely willing to. Her reaction at the hospital was only because you surprised her." Ahmad tried to control his voice so he wouldn't yell. "You should have more faith in her. I didn't think you'd give up so quickly."

Frowning, Hamza clenched his fists to restrain himself from punching the door. The urge to hit things had been overpowering him all week long, ever since he destroyed his car. But, out of respect for his father-in-law, he shoved his temper down. Most of it, at least. "You think that I gave up? If I had given up, I wouldn't have bothered coming here. I would've either locked myself up or packed my things and moved away. Far away. You don't know how hard this is, alright?" He gritted his teeth together. "She remembers you. Did you know that just a few seconds before all this happened, we were talking about starting a family? And now we're not even married. We're back at the beginning."

Wincing at his harsh tone, Ahmad reached out and gripped his shoulder. It wasn't fair that he lashed out at Hamza. "I'm sorry, that wasn't right of me to accuse you of anything. You're right, I don't know how truly difficult this is. But please don't give up on her." Ahmad squeezed him lightly. "She really loves you."

"You mean loved."

Ahmad shook his head. "If she didn't have the faintest feeling towards you, even subconsciously, she would have declined trying at all."

After a few silent moments, Hamza nodded, giving Ahmad a tight-lipped smile. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and try to make myself a bit more presentable."