Chapter 4

As soon as Zoya stepped into the house she could feel that something was wrong. First there was absolutely no one in the house but the door was open and secondly she could smell smoke. These two things were not common within the household, not at all.

"Tamatar? Phuppi?" She called just to make sure. No reply.

"That's odd, they are always here," Zoya wondered. She stopped as a thought struck her. Seriously?

"Mr. Khan?" She called out half-heartedly. If those two weren't here, then he definitely was.

"Mr. Khan? Are you home?" She called again as she moved towards his room. It was only then did the putrid smell of fire rushed up her nose did she cover her nose and look around for the source.

"What is that smell?" Zoya said, coughing as the carbon dioxide made its way into her lungs. "Phuppi must be burning old papers. I should go check in the storeroom."

As she made her way to the storeroom, the stench only got worse and worse to the point of where Zoya was covering her eyes. Zoya snuck a peek as she got close and her eyes went wide as she saw the reflection of flames in the storeroom. Zoya rushed forward and threw the door open, jumping back just in time as a large piece of wood fell across from her

"Allah Miyaan! Phuppi! Anyone! FIRE! Someone he-," Zoya's voice caught in the back of her throat as her eyes fell on the figure on the floor.

"No. No! NO!" She screamed running straight into the room.

"Mr. Khan! Oh no! Mr. Khan! MR. KHAN!!" She screamed. He coughed a few times as his eyes opened a fraction.

"Fi-,"

"Shh. I'll take you away from here, Mr. Khan. Don't worry; I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you," she told him hurriedly as she hauled him to his feet, her knees buckling from his weight. Thankfully enough he was able to take a few steps. Zoya took most of his weight on her as she tried to find a way out.

"Don't worry, Mr. Khan. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you," she assured him again, her heart hammering away in her chest. She kicked the piece of burning wood aside and pulled him out of the storeroom.

"Mr. Khan!" She cried as he fell to his knees. She leaned him against the opposite wall and rushed to find a fire extinguisher. Zoya had seen it somewhere; she knew she had. Her heart pounding and her gaze flickering from Mr. Khan to around the house, it struck her then.

"Kitchen!" She sprinted to the kitchen and saw the red cylinder tucked away in the corner. Grabbing it she dashed back to the storeroom.

With the fire extinguished Zoya returned her attention to Mr. Khan. She kneeled in front of him and touched his cheek, her hands shaking furiously with hot tears prickling her eyes.

"Mr. Khan! Please Mr. Khan, open your eyes. You're safe. I didn't let anything happen to you!" She begged his limp body. Sitting down she pulled him against her chest.

"No. Please no! I won't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you! Please wake up!" She whispered cradling his head against herself.

"Please," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"M-Ms. Far-rooqui." Zoya froze as she heard him croak her name. She looked down to see him open his eyes just a little bit.

"Oh!" A smile spread across her face as more tears spilled over her lashes.

"Mr. Khan! Thank god! Oh thank god!" She murmured as she held him close to her, unknowingly pressing her lips against his temple.

"Mr. Khan, I have to get you to your room. You need rest and a doctor," she said shakily. Once again, she took his body weight on herself and slowly made her way to his bedroom. Once there she lay him down and grabbed her phone, dialling the doctor's number.

"Mr. Khan, the Doctor will be here soon," she said to him softly. He looked at her again, his eyes still half closed.

"Ms. Fa-,"

"Shh, don't. Do you know how scared I was?" She whispered hushing him. "If I lost you"

She fell silent, not wanting to finish that thought. She felt something warm touch her cheek. Her gaze lifted to see his fingers brushing her cheeks, wiping the tears that just refused to stop. A sob wracked her body as his face contorted in a spasm of pain and his hand fell limp by his side. So Zoya did the only thing that she was able to do. Her head fell softly against his chest and sobs wracked her body and this time; this time Zoya didn't stop the tears. Holding onto his shirt, she cried her eyes out until she was sure that there were no tears left. She had been so close to losing him.

So close.