Updated FanFiction - Part 7 page 7! - Page 3

"So how long should my leave from work be?" Aliyah asked her mother as she twirled in her dress in front of the mirror.

"About fifteen days" Her mother replied as she smiled with satisfaction at Aliyah's anarkali styled dress. It was red in color with delicate golden embroidery on the front. The color and design agreed with Aliyah's slim body.

"Is it just Husna or the whole community getting married?" Aliyah asked with a laugh as she placed her dupatta over her shoulder.

"It's just Husna but there are so many rituals that it will take fifteen days" her mother said with smile.

"Yes, well... we don't have to perform every ritual" she began tentatively knowing her mother would oppose but she couldn't help but at least try.

"Of course, we do. What will people think?" Her mother gave her the standard and convenient reply as she stepped forward and lifted Aliyah's hair, "You should wear it in a bun. It will look better" her mother commented as she mentally went over different hairstyles for Aliyah.

"Whatever you say" Aliyah conceded, she couldn't care less about her hair right now.

"Mom, what if we just do the necessary rituals instead of a whole lot of things we don't actually believe in. I mean, we could make a few rituals grand instead of.." she tried to convince her mother but her mother cut in between.

"Aliyah we're doing every ritual in the book. Now give me a smile"

"Maa but why? I mean if we don't believe in all of them then why perform all of them?" she asked.

"Because that's the way of our forefathers, now where's that smile I asked for?" Aliyah gave her mother an exaggerated megawatt smile and her mother laughed and gently tapped her on the head.

"I'm going down stairs but take off the dress before you ruin it" her mother said as she walked out of the door.

"Arrey Mulla Sahiba" Aliyah rolled her eyes as Walid came into the room.

"Walid how many times do I have to repeat myself for you to finally grasp the meaning of things? Knock before you come in" she admonished as Walid dropped himself on the bed with a pack of chips in his hand.

"Mulla Sahiba, you know that the marriage going to go on for days right?" Walid asked as he watched his sister sit in the couch in front of him. Aliyah and Walid had always been close. The age gap between them was very small, two years to be exact, and he always found her more of a friend than an elder sister. She was the person he'd go to for help and was the closest member to him in the family. He wasn't as religious as his sister but he followed the basics on her insistence. Walid understood Aliyah the most in the family. He didn't necessarily agree with her religion infested lifestyle but he accepted it. If she was comfortable living the way she was, then Walid was happy with it.

"I know", Aliya sighed.

"Doesn't the mulla inside you burn at the thought of senselessly partying for fifteen days?" Walid goaded his sister knowing she was against the custom of grand weddings and over expenditure in the name of cultural obligations.

"What does it matter? I'm pretty sure you can barely hold yourself together in anticipation of the wedding and the family get togethers?" Aliyah smiled sweetly knowing Walid hated socializing. Walid collapsed on his back with a frustrated sigh.

"Is there a way we could avoid the whole episode?"

"I sincerely wish there was" Aliyah replies as she walked to the bed where her anti-social brother was lying. She felt bad for him. He didn't open up to people easily and usually got nervous whenever he had to meet new people. There were few people who he connected with and most of the time he remained with his band of friends or in recluse. He wasn't shy once he got to know people and was quite funny, but he took his own sweet time to warm up to someone and this disappointed her parents.

"Now the whole routine will start; Walid meet him, Walid meet her, Walid why don't you talk? Walid it's rude. Walid this Walid that"

"Walid you know Maa and dad they mean it for your own good right? They're just worried about you" she tried to soothe him.

"Come on Mulla I'm not a defected piece of furniture they're trying to fix. I feel like a mouse being experimented on all the time"

"Oh good. You feel like something you look like" she joked but then regretted it when her brother got up and made the mistake of stepping on her dupatta and tearing it slightly along the side.

"Damn it" he said as he looked at her designer wear.

"You ripped it" she laughed, "I'll get khala to stitch it back. It won't show, it just the side"

"Yeah but.. " Walid stopped knowing his sister wouldn't replace the dress with another one. It would be a waste of money and the only reason she was probably wearing it was to win her mother's approval.

"But, nothing. It doesn't even matter. It's just material" Aliyah replied.

"Material like my phone" he said with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Oh God, Walid get over it. I mean will you take the incident to your grave?" she asked as picked her dupatta up and inspected it.

***

"Mustafa" Zain said to the receptionist as she looked up her appointment list.

"Ahh, yes Mr. Mustafa. You're scheduled next with Dr. Rastogi" Zain responds with a charming smile as he takes his seat the waiting area.

After a total of fifteen minutes Zain gets to meet Dr. Rastogi. The doctor looks up and it takes him a moment to realize it was Zain Abdullah and not Mustafa as the file in front of him stated.

"Zain Abdullah?" the doctor asks with tension evident in his voice.

"Yeah. You cannot believe how hard it is to get an appointment with you, doc. Week after week, I would be told you're too busy to attend appointments. I almost thought the profession has taken a toll on you and then imagine my surprise when I realized the fault was not yours but my name's because the minute I changed that over the phone, I immediately got an appointment. Do you have a special dislike to my first name or the last?" Zain asked as he casually took a seat in front of the doctor.

"It's nothing like that. The week has been busy" the doctor reasoned.

"Yeah, it's been busy particularly for all the Zain Abdullahs" the doctor began to fight the lost case but Zain cut in with a laugh. "I'm not mad at you. You did a transplant when it was a case of life and death so no, I still like you enough not to punch the daylights out of you for avoiding me without a reason" Zain said with a smile. He wasn't a violent person at all but at the moment he needed to frighten the doctor to get information about the donor. So far, no matter what channel Zain chose, the answer was either:

a) We don't know about any surgery.

b) The identity of the donor is protected.

"What can I do for you Mr. Abdullah? Chai pani?" the doctor attempted a calmer approach to diffuse the bomb. He knew exactly why Zain was here and if the donor had been someone other than Aliya Ghulam Haider then the doctor would have personally given a handwritten biography of the person {but this was the daughter of business tycoon} Redundant. It was extremely important for the doctor to keep the identity of the donor under wraps because he knew, where Zain Abdullah would leave his collar, Ghulam Haider would grab hold of it.

"No chai. No pani. Just a name. Give me the name of my donor"

"It's against hospital policy to give you any information" the doctor said solemnly.

"But it's in your hospital policy to randomly fit me a liver? It wasn't a truck tire that you exchanged. It was my liver - a vital organ in a prominent individual's life" Zain said in a grave tone when in reality he wanted to laugh at the heavily perspiring doctor.

"We had all the necessary test results before the surgery"

"In one night? You conducted all the necessary tests for a candidate in one night?" Zain asked incredulously.
"We had the results prior to the accident" the doctor's eyes widened at his own answer. He didn't want Zain to find out that the donor was associated with the hospital. He didn't know how he'd explain why the donor's medical records were present in the hospital.

"But you couldn't have conducted all the necessary tests on me in one night. It couldn't have been that simple" Zain argued, fully aware of the doctor's slip up. Zain realized the donor must have been a patient in the hospital otherwise how did the hospital have a medical history of the patient prior to the surgery? But Zain didn't call the doctor on his mistake, thinking the doctor might deny it and send Zain out on his way before he asked all his questions.

"We were short of a few tests but through experience we knew that the only solution was a liver transplant" Dr. Rastogi replied.

"You do know who my father is right?" Zain didn't like throwing in the father card but knew that on his own he wasn't enough to get people's attention.

"Of course." The doctor wanted to add, 'that's the sole reason we conducted the surgery' but wisely opted not to.

"So you would know he wouldn't exactly be pleasantly surprised at your hurried operation procedure"

"We did all that was necessary to save your life" the doctor exclaimed.

"You could have endangered it"

"Mr. Abdullah we really.."

"I don't care much for the operation, provided you give me the name of the donor. Name your price; you know money won't be a problem" Zain cut in with a smile.

"I can't. Sir, please trust me when I say my hands are tied. It's not in my authority to reveal the name. I can't tell you." The doctor said with such dejection, that Zain got up without a word. As he walked out of the hospital, Zain considered reasons why they weren't revealing the name of the donor. He felt a sense of dread as he considered that they may have conducted the transplant on an unwilling patient but then what of the note? If the patient was unwilling then where did the note come from? The doctors could have written a fake note, but Zain dismissed the idea. The note depicted someone's worship and there was no way in hell Dr. Rastogi could pen something like that. It was real and heartfelt, Zain concluded. There must be another explanation. Does God not want him to meet this person?

It was the night of the mehendi and Aliya was applying her makeup. She didn't usually wear makeup, but for certain occasions, she liked putting on light makeup that went well with her skin tone. Aliya smiled when she heard her brother's annoyed voice,

"So I have to stay here the whole night?"

"It's a women's only function" Aliya said as she got up and wore her dupatta. She took her mother's advice and wore her hair in a loose bun.

"I'm off to sleep" her brother promptly rolled over and slept. Aliya shook her head as she went down to greet the guests. She politely spoke to all the guests informing them about her medical practice and engaged in small talk like her mother expected her to. She saw her mother beaming from the other side of the hall and Aliya smiled in return. She didn't want to be a part of the mehendi ceremony but her religion didn't allow her to disappoint her mother without a valid reason. She smiled as she went to sit next to her cousin.

"Husna!" she greeted as she took a seat.

"Well isn't this a surprising sight? Aliya all dressed up?" her cousin replied playfully.

"There are no men in this ceremony so I saw no reason to hold back" Aliya replied as she put her hand forward for the lady to put henna.

"How's the life of an intern?"

"Pretty harsh! There's so much to do. By the time I'm done, my feet are about to fall off" Aliya complained.

"Who asked you to do your internship in the middle of nowhere?"

Aliya grinned "No one, but it's really good for the locals over there. There wasn't a proper medical set up in that area before this. Honestly those people need all the help they can get. You can't imagine the conditions they live in"

"Oye Alie! It's my mehndi ceremony! Can we please talk about the underprivileged at another time?" her cousin complained and Aliya laughed. They spoke for a while and then Aliya's mother came and asked Aliya to accompany her to welcome guests.

"Who's coming now?"

"The groom's family" her mother replied apprehensively. Aliya's eyebrow's bunched together in confusion; the groom's family was already here. Aliya looked at the entrance in time to see men coming in.

"Mom?" she asked as she looked at her mother with wide eyes.

"I didn't know the men would be here Aliya but they said as per their customs, the men come in for a while and apply henna from the same bowl as the girl and then they leave. It's just for a few minutes, don't create a scene please" her mother held on her hand tightly while Aliya just stared shell shocked. She knew she should leave but that would mean disappointing her mother again. She stood there motionless as her mother welcomed the guests. She plastered a smile on her face as the men introduced themselves. Aliya kept smiling as she the ceremony went on. As soon as the necessary rituals finished, she quickly walked to the sanctity of her room. She slowly sat at the edge of the bed as she considered what she had done.

Tears started gathering in her eyes as she thought of what had happened. The question wasn't of the burqa or her clothes but it was of her covenant to her God. She wanted to be modest for God and tonight she had disobeyed her God for the sake of her mother. The tears started coming more quickly as she began thinking of how she disappointed her Lord. She had a special relationship with her Creator; she accepted His rules because of her faith in Him and not because of a societal sense of wrong and right. She felt like she ruined a bit of her relationship with God. She felt like she displeased him. She worshipped him so why didn't she choose him when the time came.

"I'm sorry. Please do not let go of me" Aliya said in a choked whisper as she raised her hands with tearful eyes, "I wouldn't know where to go"

Walid woke up when he heard the servants vacuuming. He went downstairs for food.

"Finally" he said as he swallowed a mouthful of kebab in a go.

"Why didn't you come down?" Husna complained. Walid looked to his cousin who was decked from head to toe.

"What do you mean why? I don't exactly like parading around with henna on my hands. It was a women's only function"

"Yeah, but later on my husband came along with his family, you could have come then" Husna whined and Walid stopped wolfing down the food.

"Where's Aliya?" he asked with a frustrated sigh.

"In her room I think. She's been there since forever" Husna said as she went on to complain about her boredom, but Walid was already skipping the steps to his sister's room.

"Alie" he spoke gently but there wasn't an answer.

"Alie you in here?" this time he heard her sniff.

"Yeah. I'm alright. Just a little tired" her voice sounded heavy and Walid knew why. He opened the door and his heart broke to see his sister sitting beside the bed with her head in her hands.

"Hey" he said as he took a seat beside her on the ground. She was still wearing her clothes from the mehndi.

"Hi" she spoke gently without looking up.

"You know it wasn't your fault right?" he begins knowing she was beating herself about it.

"Yeah... I just need a minute"

"Alie come on now" he put his hand around her shoulder and shook her a little.

"I just should have come up. I shouldn't have stayed there Walid. I don't know... my mind just went blank" Walid didn't really think it was a big deal that the groom's family saw her like that but he knew it meant something to Aliya. He knew what her religion meant to her.

"I don't know what to say" he said in dejection.

"You don't have to say anything. Mom doesn't understand what she asks me to do at times and that's alright, she doesn't understand what faith means to me" his sister replied as she placed up her head sideways on her bent knees to look at him. Walid felt angry. He really didn't understand why his mom couldn't accept Aliya. Yes, Aliya was extremely odd in their crowd. She didn't converse with guys unless for formality, she prayed for too long and was generally the odd one out, sticking to her beliefs in an unconventional way, but she wasn't harming anyone, was she? Why couldn't the family just mind their business and let Aliya live her life her way? Walid didn't adhere to all of Aliya's beliefs, but he believed that everyone had the right to live their life according to their way and if Aliya was happy then everyone should go find someone else to bother!

"Our family needs to learn how to mind their own bees wax" Walid sneered.
Aliya rewarded him with a slight shove and a laugh.

"Shut up"

"No seriously, I mean if you lift a finger, the family has a say in it" Walid said with a laugh.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to socialize, you antisocial freak"

"Oh I'm the freak? The girl who thinks it's a good idea to boil MY phone calls ME a freak"

"When will you shut up about that?" Aliya exclaims in frustration.

Zain hated how pathetic his life had become. He was now sitting in a circle discussing his alcohol addiction with a bunch of other addicts. The doctor had suggested that he should at least visit the sittings to help him become more open about his disorder when he refused to enter a rehab. He wasn't ready for rehab yet. Yes, he wanted help with his growing problem but rehab was too extreme for now. He was sitting there listening to Ajay Daneja explain his alcohol problem when in reality, all he really wanted to do was bolt out of the room. It wasn't that Zain wasn't grateful, which he was, because he saw the whooping amount of money his father had to pay for the private counsel circle. Privacy came at a high price in Zain's world, but it wasn't anything Usman Abdullah couldn't afford. People knew about Zain having a serious accident, but they didn't know of his alcohol addiction and his father was doing everything in his power to keep it under wraps.

"My first experience with alcohol was in high school. I drank out of my father's cabinet at night", Ankita Rajwardan spoke. Zain was slightly surprised to see her here. She was an industrialist's daughter and Zain had been acquainted with her. He couldn't have guessed then that she was an alcoholic but then again he wasn't exactly able to pinpoint his own problem either.

"I was too ashamed to speak about it to anyone but I kept going back to the cabinet for more. I don't know when the problem became huge and slipped out of hand. I.." Ankita broke down in tears and Zain sent a silent prayer for more patience. Every time a patient broke into tears, they would have to wait for her/him to get a hold of themselves and continue their pitiful story. Zain took in a deep breath to keep irritation out of his system.

"And.. I started slipping alcohol into school with me" Ankita began, but burst into tears again!

This is definitely going to take a while' Zain thought cynically.

"Ankita you don't have to force or pressurize yourself into confession. You can take your time" the counselor gently patted Ankita's hand while Zain silently thanked God.

Why am I here?' Zain silently questioned while looking to the heavens. Just the door opened and shut. Zain looked down to find a hijabi join their circle. Zain's eyebrows rose in both shock and amusement.

A religious alcoholic? Classic' Zain thought as he stared at the hijabi. She wasn't as unhealthy as the rest of them. Zain could make out she had a thin frame, but it wasn't because of alcoholism. Her face didn't show any signs of it either.

"Ahh yes, meet our volunteer, Aliya Ghulam Haider" the counselor spoke as the girl took a seat in the circle. "She was my favorite student in Medical College so I decided to give her a call when I realized I would need an extra hand" the counselor explained.

I'm stuck in a crowd of alcoholics with a whack counselor and a teacher's pet, and this is supposed to help me recover from alcoholism. Perfect' Zain thought sarcastically as he spared a glance through the room.

"Zain why don't you share your experience with us?" the counselor suggested. Zain looked up to find the room looking towards him expectantly. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He cursed his father for sending him here. Was it really his fault he was in such a foul mood? He had to share the sorrows of life with a bunch of strangers; not really an ideal way to spend your weekend if you asked Zain.

Zain uncomfortably shifted in his chair and mumbled, "I began drinking when my girlfriend dumped me..."

*Note

A huge thanks to Rahma11 who edited this part not once but twice! So I guess the 'flow' that you now might experience in my writing is her contribution. Thanks a ton Rahma!

"Oh I'm the freak? The girl who thinks it's a good idea to boil MY phone calls ME a freak"

"When will you shut up about that?" Aliya exclaims in frustration.

Trust you to leave us with a smile after such an intense heart-breaking moment, such smooth transition. 👏

--

I like the way you didn't go for typical Rehab in Zain's case, and took a different approach. Counseling. Now Counseling and Zain sends question's marks forming in the head with a good amount of exclamation marks but the way you wrote Zain is what made it interesting and amazing, those quirky takes at the proceedings and the ambience. 👏

A religious alcoholic? Classic 🤣

I'm stuck in a crowd of alcoholics with a whack counselor and a teacher's pet, and this is supposed to help me recover from alcoholism. Perfect 🤣

I was laughing throughout ! 🤣 You have a knack for writing such quirks, from Walid or Zain. Thoroughly enjoyed the update, and I feel so content with this huge chapter. It shed light to a lot of things and gave moments worth cherishing until the next update :) Looking forward to the next chapter :)

Excellent Update I Loved it !