I dare you to comment on each and every paragraph for update tomorrow....

KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

Imad left the hospital with soggy legs, he feels down with all the news he just found out from the doctor and that is not even the real story. She is a doctor and there is no way she hasn't seen so many things, how could she say Amirah's is something she's never seen in over five years? What has happened to Amirah when she was giving birth to the girl currently lying her head on his shoulder and sucking her thumb without the care of the world?

Everything feels heavy, blurry and complicated. The mere sight of himself in the windows of his car terrified him and made him nauseous. He is not a man, seriously, he isn't. Who goes forward and beyond to ruin the person he claimed to love? And for what, for revenge? Something she's suffered way before, she is going through another for the sake of his ego. He never wants to be wrong, that is something he despises. He always wants his perspective to be right and that always lead to his doom.

Sighing, he opened the car and settled in, Najla still sitting on his thighs. Maybe they should go shop her baby car seat and other toys a small girl of two and a half would want. There is no update from Akram, his chest is beating at an abnormal race. He is now horrified about what they will find. Is the illness still eating her up or those money covered her back to where she was before? He cannot say it but he doesn't want to find out, not now at least.

Not when he is this overwhelmed and not even comfortable with his own baby. His own child is not talking to him and that is because he is not giving her the vibes that he wants to talk. His mind is preoccupied and that needs to change. This was supposed to be a father and daughter outing the minute they paid off the debt in the hospital. The one their neighbour is owing them will have to be paid through his secretary. He doesn't want to deal with people like that.

He found out that she was planning on sending them to the station because of money less than fifty thousand and she knows they don't have it. What has the world turn into? Money is just blinding people everywhere that they forget what compassion means or even the right of a neighbour upon one another. People are forgetting about death, living the way they want to without any care. They are forgetting that that Angel will be sent to them, to us and to everyone and that ground beneath us shall be dug for everyone! You are going to meet them -your deeds good or bad- answer those questions and live in that terrifying place we always hear about. It is going to happen but people chose to forget about it now. He also did at one point.

"Hey, Najla." The girl raise her head at him to smile, removing the thumb from her mouth but didn't say anything. He now thought, he could ask her to call him daddy right? Will she do it?

After a few seconds while he was mulling, she opened her small mouth and shyly whispered. "Hello." He grinned wider at this, she is getting there.

"I am your daddy. You know what that means hmm? Your father?" He is busy grinning like an idiot and in all honestly, he can't remember the last time he's smiled so wide.

"Daddy?" She inclined her head to the side looking confused but the sound of her asking about the daddy only made him happier. They are getting there, small steps.

It is easy for him to push the fact that he is her father because though Arwa and Aminu spend most of their days with her for some reasons hidden, they never once insinuate that they are her real parents. One way or the other, Amirah would want to have her daughter back and then what? Complicate things further beyond anyone's jurisdiction to solve? They only ask her to call them aunt and uncle which she did. She calls Amirah Mami or Mamita.

Amirah didn't want to tell Nadir about her because had she gotten married, she would've asked her older sister to adopt her till the time Imad gets sense then they can solve the problem when the time comes. She didn't want to deal with more things then, it is not good for her health at all.

"Yes, you should call me Daddy." And she smiled, it was so beautiful that it makes his heart ache. Ya Allah, she looks like his mother and sister a lot. No wonder Amirah felt the motivation to name her after her, the semblance is too much.

"Daddy." And she clapped her tiny hands together, his throat closed a bit more at this. This feeling is different, far from the one you feel with your partner but the connection between a father and daughter? That is very different, in a beautiful kind of way.

A genuine smile intact and present on his worn out face, he furthered. "How about I call you... Sugar? You like that?" She nodded and whispered sugar three times underneath her breath, her tongue twist but the word said perfectly.

"Shall we go shop for more toys and your baby car seat? Do you want more toys?" He merely took a few from their boy's quarters, they all have suffered but he did that because she might've been used to them and throwing them away will be a heartless thing for a father to do.

"Toys!" She clapped her hands again and this time louder which means she loves toys and they are going to shop too much of them. Will they be too much? He is thinking about more babies albeit this one is unexpected.

How is he sure they are going to work out with Amirah? Well, he is hopeful that after she tells him everything, both of them will be at fault and they'd forgive each other and move on. Right?

He swerved the car into drive and made it to the most expensive toy store he googled, humming together with Najla to an unknown song. He is trying to keep her awake and maybe after they shop for more toys, he'd take her back to the chamber for an afternoon nap. He can't exactly go to clothing shopping with her, she won't know what to chose and end up carrying all the racks along. That is something he needs to email his secretary to do. He wants designers for his princess!

They shopped for thirty good minutes and they have filled two carts of toys. What else can he say? His daughter is a fan of them and there is no way he will permit her to lack anything, impossible. He paid for them with his credit card that is now blinking at him to fill it up. His savings are with his mother, she won't give him till he starts family and he has already started one three years ago without his knowledge. They will have to give it to him now, huh? He's got some father duty to do, new daddy in the building.

He needs to go back to his brothers and learn a thing or two about fatherhood, he cannot do it all alone. He's never thought about it all those years as they planned to enjoy the first two years of their married life without any baby but she got pregnant. And now, they will have to work on becoming better parents for Najla before she starts confusing both of them and her uncle and aunt. They don't need to confuse the little child because of their adolescent nature.

He is not being censorious, but hiding this from him is something Amirah should never have done. They wouldn't have come to this had she just phoned him once and told him about his daughter there with her. She made a mistake too, enormous one at that. She took all the prerogative in her hand and act on it the wrong way.

He asked one of the salesman to adjust the baby car seat for him in the car, so he placed Najla on the berry seat. She is giggling the whole time after she picked the said colour and he found out that her favorite colour is red. Half the toys she chose are all shades of red, from scarlet to crimson and back to berry. She is choosy when it comes to what she wants which sums up that she loves all the toys she's chose and he is a willing father.

A: We are done with the tests and scans. Come back for the result anytime. She is back in the chamber now and I will be waiting for you there.

Imad put the car into drive, making sure Najla is comfortable and the gargantuan doll she named Mira is clutched in her hold. She is about to fall asleep but enjoying being alone on her baby car seat is shunning away all the sleepiness, he didn't mind. He'd check up on her after few minutes and she fell asleep at long last while mumbling about her Mamita. Her Mamita is Amirah, he's heard her called her that in the chamber to wake her up.

"Thanks, man." Imad hugged Akram again the minute he made it back to the living room after placing Najla close to her mother to continue sleeping.

Akram only smiled, a small one that seems forced. "Don't mention. Just check the results. I asked the nurses to bring her back here for security and privacy. I should be on my way." And they bid adieu to one another then he turned and left.

After Akram left, he went back to the bedchamber and sat at the farther end of the bed where he won't disrupt his two beauties sleeping. He doesn't want to open the result, it will change so many things about them and he could feel that the blame is going to take over him again. He's already blamed himself for her state, what if he finds something more outrageous and heart shattering? Could he take more when his heart is also not really good?

Akram made sure to use sphygmomanometer device so that he won't miss nothing. And what he's seen is not enough but he didn't want to pry into her family history. They don't have anything except for her mother's cancer, their family is clear of anything. He's called her sister Afaf to send him a copy of their family history -he got that information from Jabir- and it is zilch. Which means Amirah has been stressed throughout those years and this hypertension has been with her ever since.

Imad got the courage to open it after staring at them for awhile. It says her blood pressure is above 140mmHg by 90mmHg and almost I50mmHg by 90mmHg. And because it is not mainly caused by her lifestyle, she is under pharmacological therapy. It is also a secondary hypertension which he no doubt is the cause of it all, no need of denying what he could see in front of him. And he further explained that the woman drugged Amirah yesterday night because she has sleep apnea.

He dropped the paper with shaky hand, using his palm to swallow down a torturous scream wanting to get ripped away from his throat. His head hurts from this and he only has one solution, alcohol. But... he stood up and made his way to the bathroom to perform ablution, he shouldn't abandon Allah at this time. This is where he turns back to him and make sure he is forgiven because more shocks like this, he will be back on a cot in no time like Amirah.

Imad prayed two raka'ats and sat down on the praying mat praying endlessly with his Lord. Rabbi inni zalamtu nafsi faghfir li; My Lord, I have wronged myself. Forgive me.

He doesn't care that the sun is still bright or that there are rumbles from outside the chamber as people's lives move on. He prayed, focusing on nothing but the feelings of his heart that feels like he is interacting with no one but Allah. His eyes glistened after a minute because he feels disappointed albeit he is praying. He's been a bad person for years, he should do more than praying two raka'ats.

Rabbi inni lima anzalta ilayyah min khayrin faqir; My Lord! I am indeed in need of any good You may send down to me. A very powerful du'a he never forgot -he learnt it together with Amirah during their highschool days- about and always say during sujud.

He stood up again to pray some more, it is close to Maghrib anyway. Just when his hands are about to go up but he heard shallow breaths from the bed and sound of something like 'water' came from there. He whipped his attention to the bed and found Amirah struggling to get off the bed, he was quick to adjust her back so gently and attentively. Her eyes are closed so she didn't see who pushed her back to the unknown bed. Maybe they took her to the hospital.

"Water, Afi." She whispered again, he checked the room for water and found some on the bedside table. Yeah, he drank some earlier with Najla after she ate some cereal. He didn't know what to feed her!

He sat her up on the bed, placed himself between her and the headboard so she is leaning her head on his chest. "Here, drink up." He whispered back quietly, half not wanting her to recognise his voice and ricochet from there and half not wanting Najla to wake up after lying down for just few minutes.

She pushed his hand away after taking few quaffs, the water lining the side of her mouth to her jaw, he stared in complete amazement. Everything she does suddenly mesmerise him, he cannot help staring at her beautiful flawless face now. He put the water away but didn't permit her to lie back down, she wiggle a little before slowly prying her eyes open to see who is holding her like that. Did Nazir finally agree to marry her after she's collapsed? Why would he do that to her?

He shouldn't marry her if he doesn't love her, maybe her sister deserves him more than she does. She wanted him for rebound, he deserves far more better.

But she blinked complete of six times when Imad's face pop into her line of vision. She scrunched her brows and smiled unknowingly, her cold hand moving to touch his scruffy cheek. She is dreaming again, about Imad but she didn't mind at all. Her smile broadened when his eyes shone with amusement, she wants to say something but she is afraid he'd disappear the minute she opens her mouth. He always did after she talks so she kept quiet.

Imad wanted to chortle, she is featuring this dreamy look that is trapping him. He also started smiling like a fool, his teeth showing the minute hers did. It takes all the wheel power in him not to press his mouth against hers. She looks so cute and child-like, almost like their daughter sleeping right behind her. God, he's missed this wee woman in front of him. His gummy bear.

"Stop smiling, weirdo." He grinned and she only widened her eyes again, her smile broadened if that is possible. Her cute nose even flattened because of how enormous her smile is.

"I don't want you to disappear after I talk." Her words were intentionally quiet, seriously meaning it when she says he always disappear when she talks but he didn't this time around. Or maybe because she whispered?

He raised a brow, knowing where her words lead to. She thought she was dreaming. "I will not disappear this time around. Talk as loud as you want, I'm here." He reassured, tightening his hold a little so she could feel herself on him.

"Are you serious?" She licked her chapped lips innocently but why did that do something to his insides? Why does he feel all mushy and fluttery? His pupils are already dilated, he could feel them.

Instead of answering her, he placed his lips on hers, their faces upsidedown. Her forehead is right underneath his jaw while his is almost touching her neck. It was just a peck, he leaned back just in time to see her eyes widening and believing this is no dream but reality. Still, she stared at him in wonder, maybe she is seeing Nazir as Imad. Were they married and this bed and room that looks a little familiar is his home? Oh no!

"Orea?" She took the risk of calling him his sobriquet just in case he is Nazir and not Imad and if he is Imad, he will know what she means and if this is Nazir, he will ask what she means.

How long had she been out? She feels like she's been out for forever and things had changed while she was in that comatose state.

"Yes, gummy bear? It's your Oreo, I'm here with you." He whispered again, his eyes still locked on hers as if he himself couldn't believe they are together.

And then she sat up abruptly, narrowly missing his forehead.

Amirah and Imad o!
What do you want to happen next? What do you think Amirah will do?