Last night,
I told the sky about how you broke my heart.
It has been raining ever since.

-Stefii Sharma

               ______________________________________________________________

MAAZ;

She is standing in the balcony the rain lashing against her, her hair and clothes already soaking wet from the downpour.

'Zara.' I shout over the noise of the thunder. She doesn't seem to hear me. She simply stands there her head tilted up towards the sky, raindrops streaking down her face in rivulets, making it seem like she is crying.

'Zara!' I shout again as I move towards her the rain attacking me 'Have you gone crazy? You are drenched, come inside.'

Still, she doesn't move. Her eyes remain closed as rain washes her face. Her lush lashes sparkle with drops of rain. Her pale, soft skin glistens.

'The sky. It is crying, isn't it ?' She says suddenly, though her eyes remain shut. 'Even the clouds are mourning!'

'Crying? Mourning? You are not making any sense to me.' I say, perplexed. I stand in awe of her as she remains rooted to the spot. Thunder cracks, lightning whips across, the skies pour their heart out and yet she stands motionless, impervious to the forces of nature.

She wraps her arms around herself completely ignoring me. The rain continues increasing in tempo without mercy. I am soaking wet and cold standing beside her. Maybe she doesn't mind being wet but I certainly do.

'Dina! Let's go inside and talk, please.' I say forcing myself to stay calm.

No movement.

I see her lips murmur something and a flicker of a smile graces her lips.

Honestly, now she is freaking me out behaving like this. She isn't moving. She isn't talking except to say cryptic things. She is a statue except for the slight tremors passing through her.

Tremors? And what had she said? Crying?

Oh damn, those are not raindrops. They are tears, she is crying.

Stupid, stupid me! Why am I so blind?

I hesitantly wrap my arm around her and when she doesn't protest I pull her to me, she lifelessly crashes into my chest. We both are dripping wet but it's like she doesn't notice. Or doesn't care. I tighten my hold on her wrapping both my arms around her. There is no response from her only an increase in her sobs, as her tears mix with the raindrops falling against her pale face.

'Let's go inside.' I say gently pulling her to the door.

'No, please....' I hear her whisper now that she is encased in my arms, I tune out the rain.

'... please please don't take him away.' she begs.

Though I have no clue who or what she is talking about I placate her, 'Alright, he is not going anywhere, come inside'

Instead of calming down she tries to push me away her eyes staring at me without really seeing me she curls her fragile hands into fists clenching my shirt in them, 'No!! Please, I need him. Don't take him away.'

'Dina, look at me.' I shake her hoping she would come to her senses. Dull brown eyes stare vacantly at me.

'I love him......he can't go, I love him...I love him...' The raw agony in her voice breaks my heart. I would do anything to make her pain go away but I have no clue, what has happened to her.

She keeps on saying 'I love him.' or 'Don't leave me.' or simply keeps saying 'Please.' in an achingly soft voice.

I deduce there is only one him for her, Numair. I do not feel hurt only a gnawing guilt.

Realizing I'm not going to get a proper answer from her, anytime soon, I scoop her up in my arms and carry her inside, my mind working. There is only one person she has loved. Numair. But it's been two years since that has happened.

She has been depressed ever since the incident but she hasn't behaved this way before so what happened today? Why after two whole years is she breaking down? Two whole years... today's date flashes to my mind and finally, my brain catches up, his death anniversary.

I put her down on the bed and place her pajamas beside her. 'Dina, please wear this. I'll change too and be right back'.

I quickly change and keep a coffee pot on the stove. Something warm would be nice for both of us. I return to find her seated in the same position I had left her, her wet clothes clinging to her body accentuating her figure. I kneel down in front of her so that we are at eye level.

Goosebumps have risen on her arms. I meet her eyes to seek permission but they are blank, dead. Gently, I tug at the straps of the dress she is wearing pulling them down revealing even more goosebumps across her pale body. The raindrops look like sparkling crystals, adorning her.

Realizing what I'm doing, she stands up pulling the shirt I had kept for her over her body. I'm glad to finally get a response from her.

'I'll get the coffee, change before I come back or else I'll do it.' She remains impassive but in me there is a tiny part hoping for things it shouldn't hope.

When I return she's changed yet impassive as before, I place the steaming mug of coffee in her hand and she sips it mechanically.

It's like she isn't sensing things around her anymore. It's like she has shut down and some backup programming is making her carry out functions. Great, now I'm comparing her to a computer.

She is scaring me. I closely watch her over the rim of my cup. It was better when she was crying. At least she was doing something. If it weren't for the slow rise and fall of her chest she could be a statue.

I switch off the lights and climb onto the bed pulling her off from the side. I pull the blanket over us wrapping it tightly around her. I place her tiny frame against mine rubbing her arms to warm them.

Neither of us say anything.

She lies with her back touching my chest, I tuck her head in the crook of my neck and fold my hands over her smaller, fragile ones. Each part of her in touch with me, warming her up, only physically.

I wish I could warm her heart, heal her, make her laugh like I once used to. I wish I could reach within those dark, cold depths of her which she has barred me from.

'Sleep, love.' I whisper, my lips brushing her ear.

'I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere.' I promise, tucking her further into me. So close that I can feel her heart beating against my body through her back.

***

Today morning she had acted as if last night did not happen at all. She was awake before me and gave me a weak smile during breakfast. There were a hundred questions I wanted to ask her but I simply smiled back at her.

As home comes nearer a feeling of anticipation rises within me. The thought of seeing her looking at me with those big doe like eyes, makes me subconsciously increase my speed.

I ring the bell but she doesn't answer. Twice.

Why is she not opening the door? I fumble with my keys, locating the house key and finally unlock the door.

'Dina', I call out hesitantly, silence beckons me forward. My thoughts flash to last week, on the giant wheel, when a similar feeling of dread had come over me.

I quickly scan the kitchen and bedroom but there is no sign of her in either place. I locate her lying on the couch in the drawing room. She probably fell asleep there.

I relax, chiding myself for over thinking. I kneel down beside her and gently take her hand.

She is hot. No, not that hot. I meant she is burning up.

'Zara wake up!'

She murmurs something incomprehensible. I have no idea for how long she has been lying there sick with no one to check on her.

'Wake up, Zara', I say urgently.

But she doesn't respond and only says something else which I don't catch.

I slide my arms below her tiny frame and lift her off the small couch where she had curled up.

'Numair.' she whispers her hands curling around the front of my shirt. I freeze momentarily as my heart does the same.

I carry her to her room, unclasp her fingers from my shirt and lay her down on the bed, she doesn't wake up. She's in a sick slumber. I wet a towel and gently wipe her face and hands with it in order to reduce her temperature. The cold water revives her and there is a flicker of movement.

'Zara' I try again, her eyes flutter open and she looks at me. A flash of disappointment seems to pass through her eyes or maybe it was just my imagination.

'Why didn't you call me?' I question realizing how annoyed I am that she didn't.

'It didn't cross my mind', she replies as she attempts to sit up. I arrange the pillows behind her and she leans back against them.'I thought it would pass if I sleep'.

'What kind of sickness passes if you sleep?' I'm furious at her illogical reasoning.

'Maaz, please', she whispers 'at least not now'.

I get up, hurry to the kitchen and bring her a glass of juice.

'Do you have any idea how worried you got me?' I say handing her the glass.'Please don't do it again, if you need me you call me. You don't think twice, get it?'

'Okay,' she takes a small sip from the glass absorbed in her thoughts. I get her a tablet from the medical kit which she quietly accepts.

'I'm going to make you soup.' I say.

'But you don't know how to cook.' Her eyebrows scrunch together, making her look cuter. Her hair hangs in waves around her delicate face, her nose resembles a tomato and her cheeks are flushed. I laugh at the way she thinks logically in every state.

'I'll figure it out. And there's always YouTube.'

She has fallen asleep by the time I make the soup. I let her sleep and slip into the study.

I close the door behind me. Idly I tap my fingers on the desk wondering where I am supposed to start. Papers are scattered all over my desk, I look at the gibberish I have scrawled, it still does not make sense to me. I feel as if I am missing an essential piece of this puzzle.

I twist my revolving chair to the hardwood wall behind me. This room has rustic tones, the walls covered with layered planks of wood, small trunk shaped chairs with a larger circular trunk as the table are adjacent to the wall. An enormous bookshelf covers the entire wall to my right, my desk sits a little off center near the wall which I now face.

The house renovation was more important for this specific room, but I could not let suspicion be drawn by renovating only one room.

The chrome black clock hanging above the door indicates I have been here for an hour. Zara must be awake and hungry. I put down the pencil I was flipping over my fingers. I turn towards the desk where my laptop lays, my fingers run over the keyboard, a little green sign indicates I have entered the right password.

I turn back to the wall. My eyes rove over the wooden grainy wall searching. This wall has a huge blown up map of the world, names of countries are engraved into the wood with a darker shade, the continents are a rich creamy brown. I move toward the right and a little above, in the midst of the dividing lines of the continents, my fingers locate the dent, a twist in the right direction and China pops out from the wall and slides to the side revealing a tiny space.

I remove the dull black metal from inside, which seems to glare at me. I twist the gun in my hand acclimatizing to the strange weight in my hand, my thoughts way beyond the wooden walls around me. In the midst of it all are those big, innocent, brown eyes which would widen and then narrow at the object in my hand.

I place it back and shuffle the papers together and hurry to heat the soup. I am surprised to see her still asleep. I touch her, her fever has reduced. I shake her awake.

After dinner, I head to the guest room and grab my comforter and the pillows. I throw them onto Zara's bed, she looks up confused.

'I am sleeping here.' I state.

She moves forward as if to stop me then she pauses, her hesitation gives me hope. She slides to the other side of the bed and puts the spare pillows in the middle.

'Do not cross the line.' She flips to the other side, pulls the comforter over her and switches off the light leaving me dazed.

***

A/N : An early update! Shower your love on Maaz by pressing the little star if you enjoyed.
Until next time,
Peace.