FF :Love that both 'Kills and Heals'(C 21-23/pg47) - Page 21

Very soon 😃

PART 18 :

At the Dargah :

Dilshaad prayed with her entire family, seeking Allah's blessings for her kids and the guidance and strength to do the right thing. Asad prayed for forgiveness; forgiveness for hurting zoya and forgiveness for abandoning his friend before marriage. Zoya thanked her Allah miya for giving her Mr. Khan and her family - her most prized possession. She also asked for the strength to do the right thing by Farhaan.

* With everyone immersed in their prayers, Tanveer managed to escape from there and went to meet the killer behind the Dargah. She gave him the money and zoya's picture and instructed him to attack zoya when she's alone, amidst the crowd. This way after stabbing zoya, he'll be able to disappear into the crowd and won't be caught. She finally warned him that zoya shouldn't survive the attack at any cost and left from there. She got back to the Dargah in time and faked her prayers in front of the family.*

Outside the Dargah :

After finishing their prayers, they all proceeded to the market near the dargah. Najma found a bangle store and did some shopping with Dilshaad, and zoya cornered Farhaan and attempted to tell him the truth but got interrupted by Farhaan's phone call. Tanveer looked around and spotted the killer a few meters away from them. She noticed that the killer had spotted zoya in the crowd and was slowly moving towards her. She also noticed Dilshaad and Najma engrossed in their shopping and Farhaan busy talking to someone on his phone, few steps behind zoya. Tanveer knew the only person she had to handle was asad whose eyes were following zoya everywhere in the dense crowd. In order to distract asad away from zoya so that the killer could complete the job, she thought of using asad's only weakness against him.

She spotted Dilshaad coming out of the store alone and went ahead and pushed her from behind. Dilshaad landed on the ground unceremoniously and she moved away instantly before Najma could see her. A few seconds later, Najma came out and saw Dilshaad trying to get up from the ground. She ran to her and screamed aloud to alert Asad about the incident, "Bhaijaaan". Both Asad and zoya heard najma's scream and wrestled through the crowd to reach her. Asad being closer to the store reached them in a jiffy and helped Dilshaad up. Zoya continued to move through the thick crowd, away from Farhaan and towards the store.

The killer saw zoya, struggling through the crowd and figured that it was the perfect time to attack. Zoya was still closer to Farhaan, than she was to Asad and Dilshaad in the crowd. The killer reached zoya in the blink of an eye and took out the knife from his side pocket. He remembered Tanveer's warning that there shouldn't be any mistake and the girl shouldn't survive the attack. He made sure he was not being watched by the people nearby and took the final step. He grabbed zoya by her arm, turned her around, and stabbed her hard with his knife, aligning himself with her body so nobody sees the stabbing.

"Zoya is horrified, looking into the eyes of her killer, few inches away from her. She could feel her stomach tear apart, the unbearable pain of life flowing out of her body, her erratic breathing and her diminishing heart beats. Tears flow out of her eyes and her lips begin to tremble due to the extreme pain and the shock of it all. Suddenly the killer's image fades in front of her eyes and she begins to fall to the ground."

The killer satisfied with his job tries to make an escape through the crowd. Just then a little kid who was holding his ammi's hand in the crowd a few steps away from zoya, screams loudly as he sees zoya almost in mid air with blood oozing out of her stomach, "Ammiii", alerting his ammi and the people around him. The sudden panic among the nearby crowd makes it difficult for the killer to escape and in turn he is pushed closer to zoya's unconscious body on the ground. The killer tries really hard to move backwards but the aggressive crowd hinders all his attempts. It was purely divine intervention at work, obstructing the killer's attempt to escape from there. The baffled crowd gathered around zoya, forming a massive wall behind the killer, making it impossible for him to escape without creating a scene. Tanveer saw the sudden panic and understood that her work was done.

The sudden panic in the crowd alerted Asad, Dilshaad, Najma and Farhaan too. None of them could spot zoya lying on the ground till some movement in the crowd made way for asad to have a glimpse of zoya at a distance.

Asad : " Zoya?", he almost whispered to himself. Too shocked to see zoya lying on the ground with people hovering over her. He left Dilshaad in Najma's arms and ran towards zoya like a maniac.

Farhaan, Dilshaad, and Najma spotted Zoya on the ground few seconds later and rushed to her. Asad reached zoya and got the shock of his life. Zoya - lying unconscious on the ground, stab wounds with blood oozing out of her stomach. Horrified, asad slumped to the ground in a pool of blood and hurriedly took zoya in his arms, onto his lap. " Zoyah.. Zoyah….", he whispered again, scared beyond words, his voice betraying and choking him completely. He tried to shout but no words came out. A storm of tears came through his eyes and he kept mumbling something to zoya's unconscious form in his arms, still not able to form any words. His tears fell on zoya's cheeks and caressed her painful face. He shrugged zoya multiple times in the hope she'll open her eyes but zoya simply lied there, cold and lifeless. With zoya not responding, asad once again tried to shout and finally his voice did not betray him, "ZOYAAAH", he cried his heart and soul out. "GET UP, GET UP ZOYAH, I SAID GET UP ZOYAHH", his tears were unstoppable at this point and he was frantically shrugging zoya by her shoulders to see some sign of life in her. Dilshaad and Najma dropped on their knees too and cried inconsolably.

oOo

Farhaan stopped dead in his tracks when he saw an unconscious zoya with stab wounds lying on the ground. But before he could rush to zoya, he saw asad dropping on his knees into the pool of blood and gathering zoya in his arms. He was too damn shocked to react to anything, immeasurable tears flowing through his eyes too. He saw asad shrug an unconscious zoya multiple times and how zoya didn't respond to anything. He quickly wiped his tears and ran to them, dropped on his knees and finally observed zoya. Terrified to see blood oozing out of zoya's stomach, he grabbed her hand to check her pulse. Thanks to the almighty, it was still there, albeit a weak one. He sighed heavily and kissed zoya's hand. He then shrugged asad by his shoulders to get him out of his state of shock.

Farhaan : " Asad… Hospital…. Zoya.. Hospital Asad….. NOW!!!!!!", he managed with his voice betraying him too.

Asad who was hugging zoya tightly close to his heart, fearing that a strong wind will come and take zoya away with it, finally reacted to Farhaan when he heard the word hospital. He instantly leaned into zoya's chest to hear her heartbeat and a tiny smile of relief formed on his face when he realized that zoya was still with him. He kissed her forehead and covered her wound with his palm to stop the blood from flowing out.

On the other hand, after seeing zoya surrounded by her loved ones, the aggressive crowd started to calm down and many people called the police to inform them about the "murder" at the Dargah. The killer again tried to make a silent escape since he knew that no one saw him stabbing zoya. He started to take a few steps backwards and that's when the little kid, who had been crying hopelessly after seeing the blood, started screaming again, alerting everyone around including the family. Wiping his tears, he raised his hand in the killer's direction, " Ammi, Wo…. Wo…. Ammi", before he could complete his sentence, everyone looked in the killer's direction. Asad was so lost in zoya that he didn't listen to or care about anything that was happening around him. Whereas Farhaan heard the kid screaming and looked in the killer's direction. He got up at once and looked through the crowd to see what was the kid pointing at. Seeing Farhaan suddenly up on his feet, the killer tried to hurry through the crowd, pushing few people behind him. Farhaan finally spotted someone, *a scared man, sweating profusely, and hurriedly moving backwards*. Farhaan made a mad dash towards the killer who had started to run in the crowd now. The crowd too spotted the killer who was trying to escape and pushed him forwards, blocked him, and kicked him to stop him from escaping. Farhaan reached the killer in no time and grabbed him by his collar and punched the life out of him. He kicked and punched him, till he was almost unconscious. Dilshaad and Najma were shocked to see Farhaan hitting some guy repeatedly and Tanveer was dead-scared as the killer was caught by none other than Farhaan. Just then the police arrived at the dargah and Farhaan handed over the killer to them.

Asad wiped his tears and carefully picked zoya up and kissed her forehead once again. Without looking at anyone, he rushed to his car carrying zoya in his arms with Dilshaad and Najma following him. Farhaan began to leave too but was stopped by one of the cops who asked him to come to the police station to give an official statement about the attack. He and a few other people including the little kid and his mother went to the police station.

As lovers, Both Asad and Farhaan were present there for zoya. But then how to decide who was zoya's soulmate? In such a life and death situation - If Farhaan had the presence of mind to mention hospital, Asad was as unconscious and lifeless as zoya. If blood was oozing out of zoya, life was flowing out of asad. If farhaan had the brains to spot the killer and get him arrested, Asad was reveling in the realization that zoya was still breathing. If farhaan trusted asad to take zoya to the hospital while he went with the cops, Asad didn't bother to notice the police or the killer. He didn't trust anyone but himself to carry zoya to the hospital. Farhaan was a hero! Asad was a lover! Farhaan was alive enough to make decisions! Asad lived and died with zoya in those few harrowing minutes.

Next : Will zoya survive? DUH HUH of course she will! But will tanveer get caught this time?

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE :)

PART 19 :

At the Hospital :

Zoya was immediately rushed into the operation theatre as soon as she was brought in. Her condition was very critical and she was bleeding profusely. Asad sat on a bench outside the OT, with sweat beads on his forehead and tears still lingering on his eyelashes. He unclenched his fist to see the "Z" engraved on his palm. A new set of tears crawled down his face as he recalled all the times spent with zoya. He remembered the first time he saw her at the dargah - a devastated yet beautiful zoya dressed as a bride, their first meeting when he lost control of his car and his temper, the meteor shower night when she fell into his arms, the way he carried her out of Akram's den after fighting the goons, the way he frantically searched for her and found her buried alive in the jungle in Mangalpur, his first apology to her and their first dance together. He lovingly caressed the "Z" on his palm and prayed for zoya's life for the umpteenth time. Dilshaad saw the pain and remorse on asad's face and went and sat beside him. She hugged and consoled him and asad clinged to her like a little boy; the memories of a cold, lifeless zoya still scaring and frightening him.

At the police station :

After filing the official complaint against the killer, the cops started with their questioning. Farhaan told them his side of the story and asked the kid to tell them what he saw and why he was crying. The kid told them how the bad guy stabbed the girl with a knife, how the girl was scared when she got stabbed, how he got scared seeing the blood and clinged to his mother. Farhaan was furious and again proceeded to attack the killer but was stopped by the cops. One of the cops slapped the killer hard across his face and asked him to confess why he attacked the girl, that too at the Dargah. He didn't confess until he was slapped again and again and threatened that he'd be charged with murder resulting in a death sentence for him if the girl in the hospital didn't survive. He finally told them that he was hired to kill the girl at the dargah and was paid a handsome amount to do the job. Farhaan was aghast to hear the killer's confession. He pounced on him but was again stopped by the cops who asked him to have some control over himself.

Cop : "So who was this person who paid you to attack the girl?"

Killer : " I didn't see her properly because she was wearing a burqa."

Farhaan : He jumped in his seat at the killer's statement, " She? you mean the person who paid you to attack zoya was a woman?"

Killer : " Yeah but I didn't see her face. She met me behind the dargah and gave me the girl's picture and the money. She told me to attack the girl outside the dargah when she'll be surrounded by the crowd and away from her family."

Farhaan was fuming. He wanted to kill the guy sitting in front of him right there and then but he somehow controlled himself.

Cop : " Do you remember anything else about that woman who hired you? Anything at all? Your punishment can be reduced if the person who is behind this attack is caught and put behind bars."

Killer : He thought for a few seconds and then responded, " Ummm.. I couldn't see her face properly but behind the burqa, it seemed like something was shining……. May be her eye! It seemed as if it was a glass eye. A white one, may be."

Farhaan : " A woman with a glass eye? Are you crazy? Do you think we're here to listen to all your ghost stories about this one-eyed witch? Listen tell us the truth or I'll make sure you'll never leave this place for the rest of your life.

Killer : " Trust me! There was something wrong with her eye. And it seemed like she knew the girl closely and had even tried to kill the girl herself in the past."

Farhaan couldn't believe anything the killer was telling them. But he was sure that a woman was definitely after zoya's life and he had to protect her. He was worried if zoya was fine in the hospital, so after completing the formalities at the police station and instructing the cops to look for the woman the killer was describing, he left for the hospital.

At the Hospital :

Farhaan reached the hospital to find zoya in the operation theatre and a broken Asad in Dilshaad's arms. For the first time, Farhaan realized that Zoya's Mr. Khan cared deeply for her and was probably even in love with her. His kurta was drenched with zoya's blood and he hadn't stopped crying. His ammi was consoling him like a little boy who had lost his favorite toy. Farhaan had never seen Mr. Khan like that. He had seen Mr. Khan's anger when he had punched him, he had seen Mr. Khan's OTT behavior towards zoya, he had even seen him being impolite and arrogant for no particular reason. But he never knew that Mr. Khan was capable of showing his weakness, his fears, and his pain like that. He could clearly see just how in love Mr. Khan was. With zoya. His zoya. He felt a sudden jolt in his heart as he realized what this meant. Was zoya in love with Mr. Khan too? Just the thought of the possibility scared the bejesus out of him and he dismissed the idea immediately. No! Zoya had accepted my proposal so its clear that she never cared about Mr. Khan like that. She likes and respects Mr. Khan but there is nothing more to their relationship. He convinced himself that zoya belonged to him and Mr. Khan's love was just a one-sided thing. Farhaan wanted to hate Asad for being in love with his zoya, but seeing him all defeated and heartsick, he could just feel sorry for the man. Just then a team of doctors came out of the operation theatre and all of them approached the doctors in a heartbeat.

Asad : " Doctor… zoya… Is she okay? Is she awake?", he asked the doctors nervously, holding his breath.

Doctor : " The surgery went fine and we were able to stop the internal bleeding. She is no longer on life support and she is breathing on her own", the doctor paused for a minute and then continued, " But….. due to the trauma she suffered and the excessive blood loss, she has slipped into a state of comatose. Its difficult to tell how long it'll take before she regains consciousness."

Asad : " What do you mean by that? She is breathing, right? So she'll be awake any minute now", asad was thinking like a little, ignorant boy who needed to get his broken toy fixed at any cost; throwing facts out of the window and incapable of accepting the harsh realities of life.

Doctor : " Look young man, we have done our best in there. But given her state, the unconsciousness could last from 6 hours to 6 months even. We'll be continuing with our treatment and she'll have to be shifted to the Intensive Care Unit. Just have some patience and hope for her early recovery", the doctors soothed asad a little more with appropriate reasoning and facts.

Asad's whole world started falling apart once again. His favorite toy was broken. The doctors were not able to fix it completely. He couldn't breathe without his toy. He couldn't smile without his toy. His whole life circled around his toy. He wanted it back and he wanted to cry to no end till he gets it back. He wanted to cuddle into his mom's lap and dream about his lost toy. Dilshaad saw the play of emotions on asad's face and understood how her little boy needed a promise from her that his toy will be returned to him very soon. Keeping her own fears about zoya aside, she comforted asad to get him out of his misery.

Dilshaad : " Allah pe bharosa rakho asad. Usse pata hai zoya hamare liye kya hai. Vo aise naa-insafi hamare saath kabhi nahi karega. Khud ko sambhalo asad, please sambhalo apne aap ko. Zoya ko jaldi hosh aa jayega. mujhe yakeen hai."

Hours passed but asad just stood near the ICU door without uttering a word to anyone. How can the doctors say she won't wake up? 6 MONTHS? As the doctors words started to sink in and the rational side of his brain kicked in, the stubborn, little kid again transformed into an angry, undefeated lion. " This is not it. I won't let this happen. Zoya can't do this to me. She can't walk away from me like that. She needs to wake up." Without thinking twice, he barged into her room, leaving everyone stunned behind.

Asad : " Zoya, come on, get up. You're fine now. There's no bleeding anymore. You have been sleeping for hours. Come on, wake up now. Lets go home", he shrugged her sleeping form softly, wiping the tears off his face from time to time.

Dilshaad too walked in with Najma and Farhaan to control asad and stop him from behaving like that. Asad was not thinking straight and he really needed the support of his family.

Dilshaad : " Asad, what are you doing. Zoya can't listen to you. Please asad, understand. You need to give her some time. She will wake up, asad. Just have some faith. Its going to be fine."

Asad : Not listening to a word his ammi was saying, he continued to shake zoya in the hope that she'll wake up, " Zoya, are you listening to me or not, we're getting late. We should be home by now. You know that tomorrow……", he couldn't speak further when he realized that they were supposed to get married the next day. Dishaad and Najma understood his incomplete sentence whereas Farhaan was just infuriated with asad grabbing zoya and talking as if he owns her or something. He stepped forward to control asad but asad was indifferent to anything or anyone around him except zoya. He leaned closer to zoya one last time and murmured a " Please" in her ear, spilling his tears on her face in the process. Dilshaad pulled him back and hugged him tightly, offering him some solace in such a painful time.

It was almost midnight and Farhaan convinced Dilshaad and Najma to go home and return early next morning. He stayed back with Asad in the hospital. Back at the Khan Mansion, Tanveer was very tensed thinking about the serious repercussions of her failed plan. Even though she had successfully managed to get zoya out of the way, the killer was still a big threat to her original plan. She, however, convinced herself that the police wouldn't be able to link her with the attack on zoya since the killer never saw her face at the dargah. She had used a different sim to call the killer and the money she gave him also belonged to a fake bank account. She was sure that the killer had just heard her voice and there's not much the police can do with that information.

About 30 minutes later, she saw Dilshaad and Najma enter the house and approached them to confirm that the thorn named zoya faaroqui was out of her life for good.

Tanveer : " Khala, how is zoya now? I wanted to see her too but you know about my phobia of doctors naa? Thats why I couldn't come to the hospital."

Dilshaad : " Zoya is still not fine, Tanveer. She has slipped into coma and the doctors are not sure when she'll regain consciousness", she told tanveer with tears in her eyes.

Tanveer : She was enraged by the news. Zoya is still alive? "Bahut sakht jaan hai", she murmured to herself in disgust. " That is really sad, Khala but at least zoya survived the attack and is still alive."

Dilshaad wiped her tears and nodded in agreement. She left for her room with najma, leaving tanveer all by herself in the living room.

Tanveer : " Zoya is still alive? What the hell is happening? First the killer got caught and now this news?……but didn't khala just say that she slipped into coma? I have to thank allah for at least that much. There's no way zoya can make it to the wedding now. And Jammy will have to marry me for his ammi's sake. I know Jammy very well, there's no way he'll break his promise to Khala. So the ball is still in my court", she smiled her evil smile and went to her room to get her beauty sleep before the wedding day.

Next : Will zoya make it to her Nikaah on time? If yes, What about Farhaan and the one-eyed witch?

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE :)

Haha i'll update tomorrow again, pakka waala promise 😆

Have some patience yaar 😆

Yeah! She is evil 😡 😆

Thank you Shruthi 😃 Umm... Shruthi, right?

Will update tomorrow again 😃

U have spoilt us with 7-8 updates at once...ab aadat bigad gayi hai...kya karein😆