Areesha left the room disturbed mind. What was Fawad saying? He said he saw it with his own eyes but she knew her brother. He would never do anything like that. 

She decided to go Maya's room and ask her. She knocked on it but she didn't respond. She twisted the door knob to find the door locked. She knocked a few times again but to no avail.

She needed a peaceful place to think this out and decided what to do next. Her phone was in her room and she wasn't going to go and get it to call Zayan, so that had to wait.

She decided to go to the roof as she always found solace there. She climbed the stairs and when she was about to turn, her ankle twisted badly and she tripped and went rolling down the stairs and fell flat on her stomach. 

She whimpered as she felt a searing pain shoot through her abdomen.

"F-Fawad." She tried to call out but he probably didn't hear her as she howled in agony.

She called out again.

"Areesha!" Someone yelled her name in shock. It was her mother-in-law. Black dots were forming around her vision and her brain was going numb with pain. She was going to lose her baby. Her child. She was going to lose him.

With the thought of losing her baby and her mother-in-law yelling for Fawad, she fainted. Her child was going to die because of her carelessness.  

"Fawad, beta hurry up." Her mother-in-law yelled for her son as she held Areesha's head in her lap and tried to get her to regain consciousness.

Fawad heard his name in his room and rushed out worriedly. What was going on?

"Areesha!" He gasped when he saw her lying there unconscious. He froze there and his mother's voice shook him out of his trance.

"Get the car ready. We need to take her to the hospital." She said with a tone of urgency.

And then it hit him. His child and his wife was in danger. 

He was spurred into movement and he quickly picked Areesha in his arms and carried her outside to the garage. He unlocked the car with trembling hands and laid her inside. 

His mother sat in the car with him as she mumbled prayers frantically under her breath.

With quivering hands and sweat trickling from his forehead, he put the key in the ignition and started the car, reversing it out of their garage. 

With his trembling hands on the steering wheel, he raced the car down the busy road. 

He couldn't process what was happening. He honked at the traffic like a madman. He wiped the sweat beads forming on his head. His heart was thundering in his chest out of fear. The thought of losing his wife or child brought made his eyes fill up and his throat tighten.

He glanced at her while changing the gears and tears formed in his eyes again and he furiously wiped them away. He honked again in frustration when the cars in front of his slowed down. 

Everything happened in a blur. He was amazed that he had even managed to get to the hospital with his absent minded brain. All he had been able to focus on was Areesha. 

He supported her weight between his mother and him as they rushed inside the hospital. The nurses came forward and got her on the stretcher and wheeled her inside. His mother talked to the doctor about her condition while he was still trying process that Areesha was going to leave him.

He watched them take her inside the ICU and the team of doctors disappeared behind the sliding doors.

His wobbly legs couldn't support his weight anymore as he staggered back until his back touched the wall.

He slithered down on the floor against wall, with his head between his knees. He felt too numb to cry. His throat had constricted with all the bottled up emotions. He felt as if someone was strangling him. 

Someone touched his arm making him look up. It was his mother. She helped him get up and made him sit on the metal chairs lined against the walls.

She hugged him, trying to silently reassure him that it was all going to be fine. But he knew it wasn't. It was his fault that he had yelled at her when it wasn't even her fault.

He found solace in his mother's arms. He wanted to break down like a child and cry but he couldn't. He had to stay strong otherwise it would mean that he had given up. 

"Fawad have faith beta. They're going to be fine." His mother said with a quivering voice, rubbing his back to calm him down.

After a while, Areesha's mother came along with Zayan but he paid no heed to them while his mother went towards them. He couldn't help but blame himself for yelling at her that way. That's why she had gotten so worried and fell down the stairs.

He was getting restless by thr minute. He didn't knkw how much time had elasped and no one was coming out of the ICU doors. He glared at them, willing them to open. He stood up and paced up and down the hall. 

He glanced at his mother-in-law who was sobbing loudly in his mother's arms. Her crying was heart breaking. Not being able to take it anymore, he left the waiting area and strode outside to take in fresh air.

He kicked the wall with his foot in anger. He ignored the pain that seared through it; Areesha was probably feeling worst. If she wasn't okay he would never be able to forgive himself. He punched the wall again trying let out his suppressed emotions.

Someone put a hand on his shoulder from behind making him turn around. It was Zayan.

"The doctors needs to talk to you." Zayan said to him, his features reflecting the anxiety and fear lurking in his heart.

Fawad went inside with a thudding heart. What did the doctor need to talk about? Was she okay? He quickly made his way towards the waiting area pushing though people blindly.

His mother approached him with a nurse.

"Can I please see your ID sir?" The nurse asked him and without any further questions he rummaged for his wallet in his pockets. With quivering hands, he opened it and took out his ID card and flashed it in front if her.

"Ok." She nodded. "Sir, the doctor needs to talk to you about something so if you follow me please."

The nurse took him to the doctor's office.

"You must be Mr. Fawad. Please have a seat sir."

He took the seat in front of the doctor, jiggling his leg in anticipation.

"Your wife's condition is still the same and it is not progressing. So you have to choose between your baby and wife."

"W-what?" He gasped. He could not choose between them. They were both his life.

"With the baby inside her, her condition is deteriorating. So you need to choose one of them." The doctor said with a grim expression finding no other way to break it to the hysterical husband.

"N-no..." He said with his lips pursed and his hand clenched and his nails dug inside his palms. Then his resolve broke. He couldn't live without her.

"M-my wife. Save her." He said firmly ignoring his shattering heart. But he couldn't let her go. "P-please don't let anything happen to her."

"We are tring our best, please pray for her. We will monitor the situation for some time and inform you of any progress. Thank you." She said with a professional smile,

"Thank you doctor." He said and went out.

"What was she saying?" his mother asked him as soon as he came out.

"They can only save one of them." He said with a lone tear escaping his eye.

"What did you say?" His mother asked him, her heart breaking into a thousand pieces seeing him like that.

"Areesha." He replied with a quaver in his throat and his eyes burning with unshed tears as everything from the past few months flashed before his eyes. They had been so excited about the newest edition to their family and now everything would be gone. 

Another tear escaped his eye and then another, till his cheeks were wet with the flowing tears.

"She will be fine beta. Have faith in Allah." His mother said softly, gently wiping away his wet tears.

"Ma, its m-my fault if anything happens to her." He said in anguish, shaking his head, as he tried to keep his emotions in check. His eyes bled with briny tears, leaving wet trails on his cheeks but he didn't care. She was in this state becuase of him. He would never forgive himself.

"This wasn't anyone's fault beta. Allah wanted it to happen this way. Stop saying that and pray for her health. Don't lose hope." His mother said as she blinked back tears seeing her son losing himself.

"Ma I'm trying." He said as his father came towards him and his mother left not being able to keep herself together anymore.

"Beta calm down." His father told him and engulfed him in a hug.

"Baba I- I can't lose her." He said burying his head in his shoulder. He had never felt more helpless in his life.

"You won't. She is strong, she will fight." His father said firmly. In all the time Fawad had married her their house had become so much more better. His son was happy and he couldn't have it any other way.

 ***

Salam everyone!

Hope you liked the chapter! Sorry for not updating earlier. I had no internet. Life sucks without internet!