2.3|Aafreen • Innocent|

"Mr. Qureshi, I think any incident has triggered her past traumatic experience that is why she fell unconscious."

The doctor left the ward after telling him this.

Shahaan looked at Aafreen who was lying unconscious on the hospital bed.

He felt guilty.

Gauri entered the ward. She worked in the same hospital and saw Shahaan rushing inside with an unconscious Aafreen in his arms.

"Shahaan, what happened? Don't tell me you did something to her."

"Gauri, due to a misunderstanding I locked her in the basement and there she passed out. And maybe it triggered any of her past trauma."

"Are you out of your mind? How could you do this?" Her anger knew no bound. First of all, she had an idea that Aafreen was mentally unstable. Secondly, she never expected Shahaan to go this harsh with a woman.

"Gauri, I thought she tried to hurt Zoya."

"Still it doesn't justify your action. By the way, you just mentioned past trauma. What about that?"

"I hardly understood what the doctor said. You can directly ask Dr Rastogi in detail."

"Okay, I am going to meet him. Don't you dare even touch her?" With a final glare, she left.

Shahaan rolled his eyes. Okay, what he did can't be justified, but she could say it calmly as well. He wonders if she is a psychiatrist or a psycho herself. He dared to chuckle in this serious situation as well.

His eyes again fell on the sleeping beauty in front of him.

Doesn't matter how much he hated her, a little part of him still cared for her. A part which still believed that she was innocent.

At that moment he remembered the kiss he shared with her. He still didn't know what overcame him that night. It wasn't anger. It was desire. The evil side of his mind made him do it on the name of revenge, which wasn't right and he accepts his mistake. But still, he didn't regret that kiss.

He was lost in admiring her beauty from a distance when he saw her blinking her eyes open.

Aafreen looked at her surroundings. Firstly she was blank and confused. But then she realized she was in a hospital and she panicked.

Shahaan came forward.

"Why am I here? I want to go home? The doctor will inject me. I will again get zero in class tests. She said I will remain dumb my whole life. Take me away."

Her words made zero sense to him. But he focused on the word 'she'.

"Aafreen, don't worry. I am here with you. I will save you, hmm." Shahaan tried to calm her with a warmth that he thought had died years ago.

"No! She will kill me. She will kill me just like she killed her. She killed her. No! No! I killed her! I killed her!"

Suddenly she began repeating these words again and again. Shahaan felt like she was talking about something related to his mother's murder. It was just a simple doubt erupting in his mind, which could be justified as she repeated 'I killed her'.

"What are you saying? Who is she?"

"Shanu, she said she will kill me. I didn't kill her. No! I... I killed her."

His heart fluttered when she called him with his nickname 'Shanu'. Most of his friends as well as little Zoya call him 'Shaan', it was only Aafreen who used to call him 'Shanu'. And the argument she once gave for this nickname was that her bond with him was different from others. Others were his friends, she was his soulmate.

"Aafi, I won't let her kill you."

He cupped her face lovingly.

"But you don't trust me. You hate me. You will also kill me."

It would be a true statement a few moments ago but not now. Shahaan sensed that Aafreen is mentally unstable. Although her words somehow made it clear that she was innocent. It wasn't entirely convincing, yet he wanted to trust her.

"No! I promise." He hugged her. Her head resting on his chest. He was consoling her. Showing that her Shanu is still alive.

"Sleep, Aafi. You are tired."

He kissed her forehead. His lips lingered there for long moments. Aafreen's state visibly pacified at his touch. Tears blurred her vision.

Her heart had feared it all these years. But his single action of affection towards her shooed away her fears. She said what she wanted to say for the last ten years.

"Shanu, I didn't kill her. She killed her."

Before Shahaan could ask further darkness embraced her.

She was very tired of this life. She needed relief from this suffering. Maybe Shahaan was her relief.

Shahaan softly pecked her naturally pink lips. This confession of hers was enough to make him trust her. Surely it also brought many questions in his mind, but the peace to have her back was bigger than those worries.

He didn't put her on the hospital bed. Just kept her in his warm embrace. Because he knew, both of them needed it the most.

After some time Gauri entered the ward with Dr Rastogi. They saw a sleeping Aafreen in Shahaan's arms and Shahaan smiling like a love-sick puppy.

"What happened, Shahaan?" Gauri asked.

"She panicked after seeing herself in a hospital."

"I think it's better to take her home while she is asleep or she will again panic." Dr Rastogi suggested.

•••

Aafreen opened her eyes after a long peaceful sleep. She found herself in her old room where she had spent her childhood. She smiled looking all around her.

Everything was different in the room. She recognised it because the ceiling still had the design of the solar system.

The door opened and Gauri entered.

"Hey, you awake? That's great! You must be hungry. Let me send your breakfast."

Gauri exited the room as soon as she entered.

Aafreen liked Gauri. She was beautiful inside out.

After ten minutes Rania came into the room with her breakfast. She placed it on Aafreen's lap carefully.

"Sorry, Aafreen Bibi, I misunderstood the situation. Thanks a lot for saving my daughter."

Aafreen gave a simple nod. She found this conversation uncomfortable. It reminded her of his slap.

Rania left with an apologetic smile.

Aafreen was eating her breakfast when Gauri dragged Shahaan inside with herself. Shahaan wasn't ready to meet Aafreen because he blamed himself for her condition and he felt guilty to peck her lips when she passed out in his arms. But feeling guilty didn't mean he regret it, he truly enjoyed it.

Shahaan looked at Aafreen but then immediately averted his gaze.

Isn't he supposed to hate me? What changed his attitude towards me?

Aafreen thought to herself, but then she thought back to their talk in the hospital. She wasn't sure if he believed her or not.

"Aafreen, how are you feeling now?" Gauri asked with a smile.

"I am good." She was about to eat a boiled egg but Shahaan interrupted.

"Aafi, you are allergic to eggs."

"Oh, I forgot."

Gauri was silently giggling at the way both of them were stealing glances of each other. She had an idea that they had feelings for each other ten years ago.

Suddenly her eyes fell on something terrifying.

"Aaaaaaa!!!!!!" She jumped on the couch where she was sitting previously.

"What happened, Gauri?" Shahaan asked.

"Shahaan, cockroach!"

Aafreen also shrieked hearing this. She put aside her breakfast and stood up on the bed.

"Please don't create havoc in this room. I'll do something."

He removed his slipper and went closer to the tiny cockroach. He was about to hit it with the slipper in his hand but Aafreen stopped him.

"Please don't kill it."

"For God's sake it's just a cockroach, don't get emotional."

"That's it, it is just a cockroach. It won't harm us."

"Okay." He wore his slipper back, looking at her panic state.

Something clicked in Gauri's mind.

"Shahaan, will you please come with me?"

He nodded and followed her outside while Aafreen huffed a sigh of relief that she saved the poor cockroach's life. She was about to eat her remaining breakfast, but the mentioning of cockroaches made her feel pukish. So she gave up eating.

•••

"What is it, Gauri?" Shahaan asked as he and Gauri entered his room.

"Shahaan, she cannot see an insect dying then how she can kill someone?

"So you are trying to say that she hadn't killed my mother?" He already believed in it and Gauri's belief only raised his hopes higher.

"Yes, and I am damn sure about that." She was confident about her statement.

"To be honest, Gauri, I think the same. Yesterday in the hospital Aafreen in her panic state confessed that she didn't kill Mamma and through her words, I have an idea that the original culprit is a woman and Aafreen knows her."

Gauri was surprised to hear this revelation. It gave her a hope that her instincts weren't wrong.

"I doubt Hiba aunty." Because she is the only woman who could be involved in this, according to her.

"Gauri, please! She can't do this. In these ten years, she's the one who took care of me. She is like a second mother to me. And don't you see how much she cares for Aafreen despite that she is her stepdaughter and accused of her sister's murder. It can't be her."

"Then it's Aafreen who can tell you about it. But I don't think she will tell the truth. She is afraid of that person."

Gauri knew she could be wrong and it wasn't her place to say anything. She is a psychiatrist, she can understand how a person's mind works. But she surely can't make a judgment out of it. Her doubt on Hiba emerged because she has seen guilt in her eyes. She was still confused if it even made any sense.

"She has to tell the truth." He went back to her room with a determined look.

•••

As he entered her room, he found her sleeping. After all those sleepless nights finally, she found her haven where she could sleep peacefully.

One thing was sure that Aafreen was innocent. Shahaan regretted hating her all these years. And the way he forcefully kissed her. He hated 'forcefully' but not the kiss. It was their first kiss, that's why.

He sat on the edge of the bed and began caressing her feet in the same way he used to do in their childhood.

If his mother wouldn't have murdered a decade ago and Aafreen wasn't accused of it, then everything would have been so different. Shahaan would have proposed to her. They would be living a happy married life. Maybe they would have a child by this time. They would have a family of their own.

Shahaan smiled at these thoughts. It seems so beautiful. His life with her presence in it would be a heaven. She was all he longed for.

A tear slipped from his eye at the thought that he hated the same girl all these years. But he wasn't at fault. And he will find the one responsible for it.

Right now all he wanted was Aafreen. He moved closer to her face and kissed her on lips. He was in no mood to leave her alone. So he without any second thought laid down beside her. Engulfing her petite frame in his arms carefully, he hid his face in the crook of her neck.

He was kind of nervous about her reaction when she will wake up, but he knew she has feelings for him. So not a problem for him at least for few more peaceful hours. Her scent was so intoxicating but homely. After a very long time, he felt peace settling over him. He fell asleep, her neck was his favorite pillow from now onwards.

Gauri entered the room. She had an idea that Shahaan won't keep his hands to himself now. But what she saw was beyond her imagination. He was sleeping beside her, literally on her.

She left from there with an elated smile. Shahaan was her best friend while she found a sister in Aafreen.

She was determined to find the real murderer to give Shahaan and Aafreen a happily ever after life. Even the ten years of hate, distrust, and agony couldn't end their love completely. What else is expected to prove that they are soulmates? Their bond was beyond worldly definitions.

She still doubted Hiba. Somehow it made sense as well. She had to clear her doubt.

☆☆☆

I hope story appears logical.