PART 1
It's been three years, three years since he last saw his mother, or her. Even though he cut off all his connections, he spoke to his other life, Ayaan, almost every week. The brothers kept each other alive and informed. This week when he called Ayaan, he got a big news. "Bhaijaan, I'm going back home.." "After all these years? Kyun? Koi buri khabar?" "Nahin, bas meine itne time se Humeira ko apne aapse door rakha, ab aur nahin, mujhe unke paas jaana hoga, bhaijaan." "theek hai, mein samaj sakta hoon, mein bhi Miss..." And he couldn't complete the sentence because he knew that he couldn't go back to see his Zoya living under the same roof as Mr. Rashid Ahmed Khan, and his mother.
A week later, his phone rings, "Hello?" "Mr. Asad Ahmed Khan?" "Speaking" "I'm calling from the City Hospital Bhopal, your mother has been in a very serious accident, due to whi..." And he couldn't hear anything more. Everything was quiet, his vision blurred, he couldn't comprehend what happened. He somehow collected himself and picked up the phone and heard that his mother wanted to see him, she was alive, but hurting. Without a second thought, Asad took the next flight out from New York to Bhopal.
He walked into the hospital with heavy steps, he couldn't understand why he felt this heavy. He had left because of his mother, she abandoned him. She left him for Mr. Rashid Ahmed Khan. He shouldn't feel bad that he left, but somehow, somewhere deep inside, he did. He felt guilty for leaving his mother like this, even when she had called and begged him to stay. He walked to the reception, got the directions and walked towards her room. He saw everyone in the waiting room, Ayaan, Nikhat, Nuzhat, Farhaan, Imran, Badi bi, the Siddiques, and a new man standing in the corner with Humeira. He then saw Tamatar down on her knees crying, being pacified by Imraan who was explaining how this could be bad for their child. He slowly made his way towards the room, kind of wondering where Zoya and Rashid were. He partially got the answer when he saw Rashid on a wheelchair next to Dilshad's bed. He walked upto his mother, with tears in his eyes and said, "Ammi." That one word, that one call worked better than all the medicines on Dilshad, she finally was conscious. After 36 hours of observation, she woke up with a smile. She knew he would come, she knew her son wouldn't let her die without seeing him.
The next few hours, he spent catching up with Ayaan and Najma, he learnt that Najma would be due in a few months time and he was going to be an uncle to not one, but two babies. His heart swelled when he heard that Najma and Nikhat unitedly fought against Haseenabi's torture and now lived happily. He also learnt that Nuzhat was now in line to get married off soon. He also learnt that the new man was Haider, Humeira's fiance. He felt his heart break for his brother, he didn't think that Humeira would ever marry someone other than Ayaan, but he was wrong, she had moved on.
That's when it struck him, where was Zoya? He slowly walked away from Ayaan and Tamatar wondering, had she moved on too? Why hadn't anyone spoken about her? Is she here? Is she in the prayer room? Is she still mad at him for leaving her? Why would she be, when it was her decision. Nevertheless, he felt restless, where was she?!
Hi, I'm new here, from Canada. Started writing this new story after reading quite a few of them. Do tell me if I should continue. Thanks.
Part 1: Above
Part 2: Page 7
Part 3: Page 11
Part 4: Page 13
Part 5: Page 17
Part 6: Page 19
Part 7: Page 23
Part 8: Page 27
Part 9: Page 30
Part 10: Page 34
Part 11: Page 38
Part 12: Page 43
Part 13: Page 47
Part 14: Page 50
Part 15: Page 53
Epilogue: Page 56
Continued as OS: The Complete Khan Family
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author. (c) Narmeen aka neemasya
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