#FewWords
Do you know what happens when you don't appreciate what you have and you always wanna compare? You end up losing what you have already and still not getting what you were eying. It's good to love and want better things, but not at the expense of your gratitude and contentment.

Recap
Wow, so it's true and no wonder" Salma tried to run to her room but she got gripped by her uncle.

"I want to go to my room" her eyes were swelled up, she struggled to get loose from his grip but he didn't let her.

"Mr Ahmad, are you my dad..." When the words left her mouth, the entire room was quiet.

"... I need to know, are you my dad? Life is Life, all my life has been a lie..." She dropped down and silently cried

Chapter Forty Three
Third Person's POV
The Ahmads' house was so quiet that when Umm Kulthum dropped a spoon in the kitchen, it made loud sound that got them startled.

"Hmm, Salma... I'm really sorry for hiding all these from you..."

"Sorry? You are sorry Mr Ahmad?" She interrupted her dad and continued sniffling

"You and everyone here has played with my life, y'all have toyed with my life and feelings...So Rukayyah you are Maryam's mum, not mine...no wonder you always treated me like garbage...no wonder you wanted my feelings and emotions to choke me...no wonder you did things that made me suicidal...no wonder you got your daughter to hate me...no wonder you did all that...no wonder..." She continued crying and talking non stop, telling them every single humiliation she has faced at home and in school.

"Salma...calm down... don't say what you'll regret later on... okay" Zayn talked to her but she totally ignored him and kept on talking

"No wonder mum...no wonder you didn't want me to call you mum"

Ruqayyah didn't say anything at all, it was as if she wasn't even witnessing something as huge as that.

"Listen, I'm your dad and your mom is dead, she died while giving birth to you... I couldn't do anything apart from getting another woman to take care of..."

"So now... I am the other woman, I am another woman" Ruqayyah busted open now

"Hmm, Maryam is not my daughter and you are not Ruqayyah's daughter as well..." Mr Ahmad continued with what he was saying.

Zayn and Zainab looked at Salma trying to read her facial expressions but her face was blank, by this time, Salma looked terrified, her scarf was thrown in one corner of the parlor and her dark long hair was disheveled.

"Salma, listen... I..."

"I'm okay aunt Zee" she blatantly said and stood up to tie her scarf around her head, picked her phone and was about getting out when her dad asked.

"I will... I... I just need some space...can I just..." She looked everywhere but not at her dad

"Hmm, sure"

"You are loved" Her aunt said

"Don't hurt yourself" Zayn said

Salma walked out of the compound and trekked down the street with tears in her eyes. Zayn definitely couldn't allow her go alone so he followed her from afar. When she got to a nearby park that had no beautiful flowers anymore, everything looked empty and  rough, so she quickly looked for a spot and sat down. Immediately a call came in and it was Nasir.

"Nasir... Nasir..." She immediately broke down and the line went silent with only her voice been heard.

"It's okay, where are you?" He asked her and she told him.

In a few minutes, Salma was in Nasir's company, he sat beside her and kept quiet.

"Should we go to my house?" He broke the silence

"No... I just..."

"Okay, I understand" he looked away

"I...hmm...do you want to cry?" He asked her and that instant, tears briskly strolled down her cheeks again, Nasir didn't know what he'd do so he just kept mute and wrapped his hand around her, hugging her by the side and She didn't resist his touch.

After she was calm, she asked him how he got to know and he told her Zainab called and explained everything to him. She was dropped at home by almost past 8pm.

Salma walked straight to her room and climbed into her bed without bathing or changing out of her clothes, her room wasn't dusty because Zainab told Umm Kulthum to clean the entire room earlier on. Zayn, her uncle brought her dinner but she told him she had no appetite and besides she took a meal before coming in.

That night was darker night itself, it was as if death had plucked a blooming flower from Mr Ahmad's family. When it was 2am, Salma heard a loud bang on her door, she thought it might be her dad trying to apologise so she didn't get up to open the door. When the knock continued, she lazily walked to the door and stood.

"Dad, we'll talk tomorrow, please..."

"It's Zayn...your dad is..." Before he could complete his sentence she swooshed the door open and asked, he didn't say tangible

"Hmm, let's go to the hospital" Salma's knew her life has taken a drastic U turn and that moment she knew she was done, life has happened to her. When they got to the hospital, Zainab explained to her that her dad had heart attack and Pulmonary edema which is a condition caused by excess fluid in the lungs. This fluid collects in the numerous air sacs in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

"What? And you didn't tell me??" The pieces of her heart were once picked and dropped to the ground again.

"No...your dad"

"Aunttt..."

"He told her about it yesterday, he probably sensed someone" Zayn saved Zainab and made eye contact with her to make her act along

"Yeess, that's true andd...he told me that was why he couldn't fulfill your dream of studying a medical course. He spent all his savings on medication and..."

"That explains why he travels often..." Salma completed the puzzle and asked her aunt to take her to his room. When she opened the door, Ruqayyah sat beside her dad who was on oxygen supply

"See what you've caused" Ruqayyah hissed

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Zainab asked her but she didn't say anything.

By 5am, Salma's talked to his daughter and apologised for keeping such a huge thing from her.

"I've failed you... I'm failed my only daughter..." He murmured

"It's okay dad... you don't need to..." She interrupted him and kept her hand locked with his hand.

When it was 6:15am, Mr Ahmad's hand was stiff in her hand.

"Dad..." She called out to him but no response

"Dad...wait... please..."she gently removed her hand from his hand and bent down on him, to see if he was breathing but that was it.

"He's dead" she dropped and held the chair's handle but she was too weak so she fell flat on the floor and that was it, she also passed out.

Zayn, who went to get breakfast came back into the room and met both father and daughter in a terrific situation. He carried her out of the room and got the doctors attention. She was immediately taken in and her dad was covered and every medication on him was removed. Zayn called his wife who went to get breakfast in the hospital cafe, when the news was broken to her, she almost fell too but was held by her husband.

"Please... Zainab..." He called her by her name for the first time in many years

"For the baby, please... okay...calm down and get a hold of yourself... please...I love you" he hugged her as they stood and made sure he continued about anything and everything that will calm her down. When he knew she was calm, he released her and kissed on her forehead.

"Ahmad is gone? Forever?" She murmured

"It'll be okay, really" he reassured and kept reciting verses from the Qur'an, verses whose central focus was death.

When it was 8am, Salma regained consciousness and was taken home, the news was heard like a burning fire in a land with dry grasses. The Janazah prayer was being prepared, family and friends filled the house to the brim.

When the news got to Mr Muhammad Shehu and his son, they both quickly went to Salma's house, Mrs Fatimah, His wife didn't even go back to the house because Mr Shehu already sent his divorce papers with his signature on them.

Mr Hassan and his family including Miss Mira and Zafeerah also went to their house. Zafeerah, Zainab, Miss Mira and Hammad's mum sat with Salma in her room. Each of them sat with their eyes cast down and their mouths shut. Maryam was also informed but she couldn't make it that day because she had no money on her and her mother was in no situations to be asked for money.

Calls kept on coming in, Salma was tired of saying thank you so much for calling and so on. Families that were far away and couldn't come called Salma instead of Mrs Fatimah because she switched off her phone. Salma wanted to do the same but Zafeerah told her not to.

Her course mates and school teachers kept sending in their condolences. Her department was kind of to send a three man group to her house. She felt happy they considered her a part of them.

Alex and Samantha also visited her wearing black, they didn't know Muslims's traditions when a loved one dies but Samantha covered her hair in a veil and put a long loose gown.

"It'll be okay dear...I know how you feel and I want you to know I can relate to how you feel, I know how you feel... I've been there..." Alex talked to her when he got the chance to talk to her in private. Samantha hugged so tight that she tried to make a joke

"You want to crush my bones?" She smiled and for once, it looked strange and unfamiliar on her face. Alex chuckled and shook his head almost unnoticeably.

Nasir and Hammad couldn't say anything to Salma apart from the Du'as they made.

"It's four days already" she broke the silence because she noticed how tensed and uncomfortable it was for them, Hammad couldn't say anything because he was afraid the wrong thing at any moment.

"How's your health?" Hammad asked

"I'm on drugs" she answered him

"I think you should be very careful about your health, look after yourself" Nasir advised her

"I will" she reaffirmed

"Brother and Brother In law" Zafeerah walked up to them and sat down on a sofa opposite Nasir.

Nasir and Zafeerah didn't get any chance to talk to each other after the not so interesting incident so that was a chance for them to talk but Nasir wasn't really, he didn't just want to give in and act like nothing happened. He wanted answers to all of his questions.

"Dr Zafeerahhhh" Hammad smiled at her casually

"Hmm, Salma..." Zafeerah called out her name and didn't say anything.

"Dr..." Salma weakly smiled too

An uncomfortable silence fell on them again. Salma closed her eyes, breathed in and out and sighed before she started talking

"Having friends like you is a blessing, you are like family to me now maybe even better than some of my own relatives but then... that's how the universe works now, the bond of family is weaker than anything when given the chance to be weak"

"I love y'all" she concluded

"Aww, we are loveddd" came Jack's voice from Hammad's phone

"You called him?" She asked

"Of course, he did... couldn't miss such a moment.

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End of Chapter 43, thank you so much for your reads and don't forget to vote, comment and share.

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