☀︎︎ three o'clock ☀︎︎

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"It's been 18 hours, sir. I've been checking up on her every hour." The nurse informed handing the updates file to Momin. The IV drip was attached to her arm, refilled by the nurse.

"Okay, you may leave." He glanced at the file then at Zuha, still laying on the hospital bed, unconscious. Thankfully, there were no injuries to the legs. The abdominal surgery was going to take 4-6 weeks to heal, but she would have to be careful and not lift anything heavy for 3 months. The scratches on her arms and face were tended to by the nurse.

There was a bandage on the top left side of her forehead, she had gotten 3 stitches there. He was reminded of her old scar on the forehead he had noticed when she had visited him at the hospital for the first time.

He stood next to the bed, his hand moving up to move her hair backwards, his thumb caressing the old scar hidden there. He stared at her, his jaw clenching.

There was a knock on the door and he backed away. Eshal entered the room and he acknowledged her presence with a nod.

"Uncle and aunty are on their way." She informed.

"Oh okay. Make yourself comfortable." He pointed at the sofa. "I hope you had something to eat." He had asked Aneel to take care of that after her wound was disinfected. Surprisingly, he hadn't complained.

"Yes, thank you." A small part of her felt ashamed, she wanted to apologize to him. It felt like her fault that his wife, her best friend, was in this condition right now. She was the one driving, how could she not think that way.

Yet no one blamed her, none of them showed any sign of anger or remorse. Instead of saying "how could you be so careless when driving?", Zuha's parents had asked her if she was fine. If she had any injuries.

Momin nodded and made his way out of the ward with one glance at Zuha. He stepped out to find Aneel standing with his back to the wall outside, his arms folded over his chest, his foot crossed over the other.

"Now that was a first." He whistled watching Momin's expressionless face. He was so used to Aneel's antics, they didn't even confuse or shock him anymore.

"What?" He blinked.

"I've never seen The surgeon Momin's hands shake during a surgery before." Aneel covered his mouth with a hand, shaking his head. Momin sighed and started walking away, so done with him.

"Do you love her?" Aneel matched his footsteps, walking backwards beside him. Momin's step halted for a second, but he didn't spare his friend a look and kept walking ahead.

"I mean, you most certainly care for her well-being. You lost your mind, and my God, I swear I've never seen your face go pale like that. It's imprinted in my mind like the best meme now." He paced forward, walking ahead of Momin to face him and laughed out loud.

"I regret not capturing it, bhabhi would've loved to see it. Your eyes were literally---woah!" Momin pretended to turn right so Aneel would do the same, since he was walking backwards, he stepped on the cleaning mop by the wall, slipping but saved the fall by balancing himself against the wall. Till then, Momin was gone into his room, door shut. "Gadha! I was just trying to make him laugh and feel better."

Zuha felt a strange sensation over her body, weighing her down, pressuring her soul down even. She wanted to move. But it felt too much. Was she dying? Or was she dead and in the grave right now? Will the angels show up now?

Her brain slowly started registering some words. She felt something on her hand. Her eyes fluttered open in a quick motion. All she saw were black dots. She blinked. Blinked some more. She narrowed her eyes to focus, eyebrows scrunched.

"Ya Allah, shukar hai!"

"Hosh aa gaya meri bachi ko."

"Zuha beta."

"Zuha!"

She slowly recognized the faces right above her face, looking at her with worried faces and concerned eyes.

"Mama? Baba? Eshal? Zain?"

She tried lifting herself up, but an excruciatingly sharp pain shot up her abdomen and she winced out loud. She lifted her head from the pillow, it felt so heavy as if someone just threw a hammer at her. She was definitely alive. But this pain was going to kill her.

The four people gathered around her were all speaking at the same time, telling her not to move, someone shouting to call the doctor as she closed her eyes and laid there in agony.

//❀❀❀//

Zuha yawned shutting the magazine close. It had been five days at the hospital and she could do anything to get out of there soon. She's supposed to get discharged 2 weeks later. It already felt like ages to her. Although, she was on sedatives and mostly slept for first three days since the pain was too intense. She hated the moment she had wished for this. Being a patient sucked.

She had forced her parents to go back home. Since Zain had school and she didn't want them staying at the hospital uncomfortably. It was hard, but they agreed and left. Although, she was sure they'll travel back and forth to check up on her.

The door opened and Eshal entered her room with the bland hospital food. She couldn't eat anything solid for a week and she was sure this tasteless food was making her sicker.

Eshal placed the food tray infront of her as Zuha kept staring at her. She thought she wouldn't have noticed her best friend being so quiet around her for so long with that guilty look on her face?

"Eshie. You feed me." Zuha patted the space on the side of her bed ushering her to sit down next to her. Eshal gave her a small smile. Usually her response would've been, "Allah ny do haath diye hein na, help yourself."

She forwarded the spoonful of soup towards Zuha's mouth. Zuha slurped it in making an ugly face. "Mein yeh nai kha sakti. How do you call this food?" She whined.

"This will help you get better." Eshal said while dipping the spoon for another bite.

"This is helping me get worst. Tum try kar ky dekho!" She carefully pushed the next spoonful towards Eshal's mouth who immediately backed away.

"Zuha, don't. Gir jaye ga!" Eshal pulled her hand away, putting the spoon back in the bowl. "Khud khao."

She was about to get up when Zuha pulled her to sit back down with her arm. Unfortunately, injured arm. She winced and Zuha quickly pulled her hand away.

"Are you okay?" Zuha straightened a little, ignoring the slight pain in her abdomen. "You told me you weren't hurt?" She held Eshal's hand, pulling up her sleeve to check.

"I'm fine." Eshal pulled back her arm as Zuha saw the bandage.

"I'm sorry." Zuha brought her hand back to not touch her injury again.

"It's nothing next to yours." Eshal finally looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Why are you sorry? I should be the one sorry. I should've been more careful. I forced you to go out. I was the one driving. I was at fault. Yet, you're the one lying here like this." She started crying out loud. "I'm so sorry."

"Eshie." Zuha pulled her in a hug, placing Eshal's head on her shoulder, with little movement of her wounded area. "Are you that stupid, you ugly crier?!" She smacked her back after a while, as Eshal sniffed, her tear-struck face moving away from Zuha's now wet gown's shoulder.

"An accident is an accident. It can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't the dog's fault. It wasn't that car's fault. God, yeh saaf karo!" Zuha grabbed a tissue from the tray, handing it over to Eshal to clean her runny nose.

"In fact, you saved that dog's life. Risking ours doesn't matter, dog ki zyada qeemti thi wesy bhi." Zuha held back her laugh since it hurt to do so due to the stitches. Eshal gave a low whiny sound. "You're not at fault, okay? It happened because it was supposed to happen. If it was me on that driving seat, you could've expected a bigger blunder. That's why I don't drive."

They stayed there for an hour, Zuha listening to her go on about how she felt worst because she was the one driving and Zuha ended up injured so badly. It felt unjust and unfair. Zuha gave her another lecture making sure to add humor so she would feel better. "We good now?"

"Yes. I felt like shït." Eshal plopped her head up from Zuha's shoulder.

"You're a piece." She elbowed Eshal and giggled, but the pain surging through her abdomen had her scowling. Eshal got up from the bed, looking at the bowl.

"It's all cold. Finish it." She pushed it infront of Zuha who made a face as if about to vomit. "Zuha."

"Acha, khilao." Zuha opened her mouth to receive a light slap on it.

"Chup kar ky khud khao. Allah ny do haath diye hein na." Eshal replied. Zuha had a huge grin on her face hearing the words of her best friend.

"Let's go on a tour then. I'm bored of these four walls." She pointed at the wheelchair, her energy refilled.

Zuha gazed around the corridor, sitting on the wheelchair which the nurse was pushing forward. Since Eshal's arm hurt due to the force it required, she was walking beside them.

Her eyes widened on the sight of Momin walking from the other side, his attention on talking to the intern who was almost running to catch up with his steps. Even though she was at the hospital now, he had only visited her twice. Although, Eshal told her he usually came to check on her when she was asleep.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, she probably looked awful right now. To pretend she did no see him, her eyes wondered to the side before they stopped on a small girl sitting on one of the chairs. She had long blonde hair, green eyes, a cute button nose and chubby cheeks. Adorably beautiful.

"Ammi, mera right haath zakhmi hua hai left nai!" She sulked in her low pitched voice, as the woman beside her who was draped in a brown shawl, moved the tiny ice pack and pressed it on the right hand.

Zuha smiled telling the nurse to take her near them. Momin's eyes had caught Zuha's sight long ago and he was now walking towards her.

The little girl blinked at Zuha as she smiled at her while waving her hand. Just when Zuha awkwardly pulled down her hand feeling embarrassed, the girl giggled.

"Salam api. Mein Parisa hun. Aap ka naam kya hai?" She spoke in her pakhtun accent and Zuha grinned.

"Zuha." She then pointed at her hand. "Kya hua Parisa ky haath ko?"

"Hum tou yahan sair karny aaye thy pehli baar lekin yeh itni shararti hai. Jhooly sy kood gai aur haath par saara wazan par gaya. Pata nai haddi na toot gai ho." Her mother explained shaking her head.

"Uff ammi. Haddi nai tooti meri, mein bata rahi hun na." Parisa palmed her left hand on her head disappointingly. Zuha and Eshal shared an amazed look. Dramatic enough.

The mother started speaking in pashto and the look on Parisa's face definitely told she was being scolded.

She pulled her hand from her mother's grasp by grabbing it, and her right hand was swollen and unmoving. "Api, mujhy dard ho raha hai."

Momin was now standing behind her wheelchair. He cleared his throat to grab her attention. Eshal took a step away to give him space next to her.

Zuha made a brief eye contact with him then turned back towards Parisa. Her green eyes were now filled with tears. Zuha wanted to pick her up and place her on her lap but she couldn't even bend forward in her own condition.

"Yeh doctor uncle hein na, yeh aap ka haath treat karein gy phir aap ko bilkul dard nai ho gi." Zuha gave her a reassuring smile when the little girl blinked up at Momin with her innocent green eyes. This was definitely not his job as a surgeon in the hospital.

Momin crouched down, placing his elbow on the wheelchair's side, close to her leg. "You're api aur mein uncle?" He mumbled to her and Zuha held back her laugh. "Kyun? Aap ny desi aunties ki tarah mind kar liya?" She whispered back, their attention turning back towards the girl.

"Mein check kar lun?" He brought his hand forward. Parisa shrieked when he slightly lowered her wrist.

"She needs to get it X-rayed quick. Take her to Doctor Ayesha." He told the nurse who was pushing Zuha's wheelchair. Zuha passed her a smile as her mother picked her up following behind the nurse.

"How're you feeling?" He asked while pushing her wheelchair back to her room. Eshal had excused herself to go get a glass of water.

"Are you asking as my doctor or as my husband?" Zuha tapped her fingernails on the side arm, looking ahead. She wished to see him but she could not look up or turn back to look at his face somehow.

"Well," he dragged the silence, Zuha was impatiently waiting for an answer. Before both of them could say something, they were inturrepted by a woman in white coat.

"Momin?" He came to a halt and Zuha gawked at the elegant lady. She is a doctor and she works here with him?

"I wanted to talk about the little patient you sent." The woman pointed to the side with her thumb to excuse him away. So she was doctor Ayesha. Zuha couldn't help but notice how beautifully she carried herself. She watched them from her side eye, until her eyes caught a sight of her own self in the reflection on the transparent glass of the waiting room area.

She almost gasped loudly. She looked horrible. Oily hair. Swollen eyes. Dry lips. God, she was going around the hospital looking like this? She squirmed down, hiding her face.

She saw Eshal in the waiting area with a plastic cup in her hand. Zuha waved her hand to grab her attention and when it did, she bent her fingers, up and down, pointing Eshal to come out. She was going to kill her.

Telling Eshal to somehow drag her back to her room, she sneaked away from his sight. Eshal helped her back on the bed, and she hid inside the cover. She needed to hide herself. She felt ugly and embarrassed for going infront of him like this. Cringing at herself, she somehow ended up dozing off.

When she woke up, she felt someone poke her arm. "Parisa?" She rubbed her eyes, as the little girl was sitting on her bed, rocking her legs back and forth.

The nurse helped Zuha sit upright with the pillow behind her back, and Parisa begun chatting with her. Her hand and arm was wrapped up in a thick plaster. The fracture was going to take 8 weeks to heal. After Zuha was done answering the curious girl's questions of how she got inujured, Parisa drew closer towards her.

"Mujhy wo doctor achy lagy." She whispered as if telling a secret. Zuha held back a smile knowing she's talking about Momin since she had just told her he 'saved' her. She wouldn't get what a surgery is.

"Kyun?" She played along.

"Wo handsome jo hein." Parisa giggled, then continued. "Mujhy lagta hai, un handsome doctor ko aap pasand ho." She again lowered her voice to a whisper. Zuha almost choked holding back a snort.

"Acha? Wo kyun?" She whispered back.

"Wo na nurse ko aapka favourite khana bata rahy thy, ky 'she likes chicken. She can have that for lunch tomorrow." Parisa spoke in a little broken english but Zuha was impressed. But she couldn't ignore the happiness her stomach felt on knowing she can have solid food from tomorrow onwards.

"Wah. Aap ko english bhi aati hai?" She squished her chubby cheeks, grinning.

"Han na. Hum school mein sentences banaty hein." And so she switched the topic to asking about her class and friends until her mother came and they bid goodbyes.

It was already midnight and she could not fall asleep. Eshal had gone home in the evening, and sleep seemed miles away. It was because she had slept during the day fo escape from someone who seemed to be too busy anyways so it was all in vain.

The door opened and she glanced to see who'd come to visit her room at this time. She quickly shut her eyes, gulping. Think of the devil? She could feel his shadow move close to her bed, and she grew nervous with each step. Why was she even pretending to sleep?

Momin stopped reaching infront of her bed. Her face seemed red when he last saw her going back to her room with Eshal, although he knew he hadn't told her to wait but she seemed off. He wanted to check if she had fever or was feeling unwell.

Not wanting to wake her up, he brought his hand up to her uncovered feet to check for any signs of fever. His hand brushed on her foot slowly as her toes twitched due to the contact. He paused, and turned to look at her.

"God!" He stepped back finding two pair of eyes staring straight at him. "You're awake?"

"What are you doing?" She blinked, still staring at him with a serious face.

"Just checking if you have fever." He replied quickly.

"Oh. There are other ways." She held up her hand, indicating for him to help her sit upright. He straightened the pillow and helped her up. It still hurt when changing positions so she winced and he held her waist carefully letting go when she relaxed.

"Were you mad at me?" Zuha asked, as he sat on the side of the bed, facing her. "I didn't tell you I was going out that day, and then I ended up in the hospital. You must've been shocked." She fidgeted with her fingers, nervous at noticing how close he was sitting with her legs.

"I was terrified." He spoke in a slow voice and Zuha's eyes snapped up to look into his. "I've never been afraid of performing a surgery before. I've never felt so scared for my patient before." He caressed the back of her hand, she stopped fidgeting.

"Aneel asked me if I loved you?" He changed his position, sitting next to her with his back attached the pillow, his arm rounding behind her to hold her by the shoulder in a side hug. Her face was near his chest now. "I think I do." Zuha froze in her position, her heart beating at thousand miles per second. Did he just confess to her?

"I don't know how it works. But if love is feeling the way I felt when I saw you like that. The fear of losing you had me shaken up so bad, I couldn't think at all." His hand on her shoulder gently moved to her arm, his other hand was still caressing one her hands, Zuha could feel his heart beat near her ear. Their hearts seemed to be on a competition of who beats faster.

"Nothing mattered. I kept thinking of our last conversation. Your last message to me. The frown on your face when you call me rude. Your habit to play with your hands when you're nervous. Every little thing about you. I didn't even know I carried them within me. I-" He paused and Zuha looked up at him, her heart wild, eyes wide with emotions.

"Actually, love is a habit. Staying in your company during the time I spent at house, I got used to the days with you by my side." He looked down and his eyes met hers. Their faces broke into a smile together. He definitely had a way with words, she was feeling a rush of happiness which was undescribable. He loved her. She mattered to him.

"You know, when I got into medical and things started getting tough for me, I never told mom it was hard when she asked, I never told dad I thought of quitting medical a few times and joining his business as he wanted me to, I never told Maha I refused to take her to visit the lab in fear she'll find out I had vomited and fell sick a few times when performing my first surgeries." Zuha's head was placed on his chest as she felt a pang of pain in her chest.

"I didn't want them to know. I wanted to keep my vulnerable side hidden from my own family, and to do so, I grew more and more distant and hid away in this shell, the hospital. This work keeps me busy. It gives me an escape from feelings. But now, that my family has gone away, and I can't catch a glimpse of them like before, I miss them. Mom's food. Dad's lectures. Maha's pranks. I realized....."

He kept talking and she kept listening. He never talked much, but with her, opening up felt so much easier. She never stayed quiet, but when he talked, she could stay silent and listen to him for hours. She loved hearing him talk. His voice was so soothing.

"I've learned to never take anything for granted in life." He said and Zuha lifted her head to look at his face.

"Including me?" She playfully asked to lighten his mood.

"You come first now." He bumped his head with hers slightly.

"The hospital heard." Zuha fake gasped. "Deewaron ky bhi kaan hoty hein." Her sautan would've been jealous hearing that. He smiled, shaking his head.

"I thought I'd never be able to tell you." He gently tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Tell me what?" Zuha's jaw hurt due to smiling so wide.

"That you're the most beautiful in my eyes. I've never been attracted to a woman the way I'm attracted to you." He caressed her cheek, staring at her lips. Her heart was thudding inside her ribcage. All the insecure feelings she had felt in the morning vanished into thin air when his lips hovered over hers. A shiver went down her spine, making her tremble when their lips met. And maybe, becoming a patient at his hospital wasn't that bad, she closed her eyes, their bodies leaning into each other.

The sun was bright today, as the two of them were cuddled together in the same half sitting position, his head placed on hers which was resting on his shoulder. She woke up with slight pain in her abdomen.

"Good morning." His sleepy voice reached her ears, she grinned brightly. This was the best morning even if it's in the hospital as a patient, and she suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth.

"I can't believe we just kissed in the hospital while I'm on the patient's bed and you're my doctor." She said with disbelief, shaking her head.

"I believe we need to get you out of this bed, get your teeth brushed and freshen you up." He stood up from her bed. Zuha frowned, her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. Did he mean to say she stink?

"Rude." She pursed her lips, but gasped when he picked her up in his arms, bridal style, carefully. She wrapped her arms around his neck. The ache in her wound wasn't that painful anymore, in this moment, it was just him and her. She felt all giddy. Lowering his face, he pecked her lips in a rather slow motion, and started walking. Zuha was grinning and blushing like a fool, clinging onto him.

//❀❀❀//

"And I feel perfectly fine but I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain it's 2 AM and I'm cursing your name so in love that you act insane and that's the way I loved you." Zuha's voice grew louder with each word of the song playing, her body swaying as she stared at the laptop screen, pressing enter to switch to the next slide of her presentation.

"You're too loud." Momin finally cut in interrupting her momentum. He was sitting on the bed with his files, as Zuha had occupied the whole table, sitting on the carpet instead of the sofas. Floor was more comfortable to work according to her. "You're too quiet." She retorted.

It had been four months since her accident. She was perfectly fine now, the wounds all left in the past. She and Momin had grown to be a real-inseparable-couple now, she could say. Inseparable only on Sundays though. The rest of the week was still busy, but they stayed in contact and he came early since the hospital had employed a few new doctors now.

Zuha had made a few rules for them to follow on Sundays and he followed them real well. One of them being, no work after 10 PM, there was still an hour left, and she regretted making that rule since she was stuck with it too now.

She had come across a competition being held for new start-up businesses. The organization would select the best business plan and help with the initiative by investing some capital into it. That would make the major work of setting up her career so easy. She had been working on the presentation for the past week now.

"Okay! I think I'm done." She stretched both her arms up, her eyes closed.

"Can I see?" She flinched, seeing Momin stand right behind the table. When did he even get up? She quickly hugged the laptop to her chest. "Will I get honest reviews?" She raised her brows. "Of course." He waved a hand.

"Just be honest, okay? Jhoot mat bolna mera dil rakhne ke liye." She fake glared at him, pointing a finger in his direction still hiding the screen to her chest.

"Pehly kabhi bola hai meiny?" He settled on the floor next to her, his knee touching the side of her leg as he folded his legs.

"Oh, mein bhool gai thi. Dunya ke sab se rude insaan se baat kar rahi hun mein." Zuha rolled her eyes, as he let out a low chuckle at her words.

"Isn't this kind of....too bright?" He spoke thoughtfully, after Zuha clicked on the last slide. "White background would look better, giving more attention to your idea. The judges will see that to be more professional, you know." He was right, she chose the theme a little too immaturely.

"Bohut samajhdaar hein aap tou!" She annoyingly shut the presentation from the cross at the top corner.

"Thori si aap bhi ho jayein," he couldn't hold back the teasing smile covering his face when he watched her face features scrunch into the cute frown, "tou meherbani hogi." He touched her hair strands gently.

"Rude." Zuha slid away slightly, turning the screen away from him. She wanted her presentation to be the best. She wanted to win this. This was an opportunity for her which could make her path to success shorter and easier. But her indecisive self took a week to decide on every little detail she added to the presentation. Fonts, colours, pictures, design. Yet, it still had so many flaws.

"I'm proud of the progress you're making. No matter how small. The slower the process, the better the result. I know you're going to win this." He said close to her ear, his finger twisting & playing with her hair strand. She melted right there. He read her like an open book and always knew what to say to make her feel better.

At 10 o'clock, the alarm rang and they both shut down their work and went to the hall. Zuha went to the kitchen to make some popcorns while Momin settled on the sofa turning on the TV.

He was watching the football match when Zuha returned, placing the bowl of popcorns on the table, she plopped on the sofa. "OMG, the cricket match was at 10 today, switch to that." She excitedly folded her legs.

"Come on, not cricket. Football is better to watch." He grabbed a few popcorns in his hand, his eyes on the screen as he chewed while watching the match intensely.

"Cricket is love, what do you mean?" She spoke in a very offended tone, her usual frown covering her features.

"Football is superior." He shrugged, tossing another popcorn into his mouth. Zuha didn't say a word and looked at him, visibly down. They really were polar opposites. Their likes and dislikes were different. She hadn't found anything she had in common with him.

"We have nothing in common, do we?" She changed her position, hugging her knees to her chest. Momin who was about to grab more popcorns, stopped midways and turned towards her, eyebrows scrunched, but his lips formed in a smile.

He pulled her by the arm to face him, her folded legs falling sidewards, partially on his thighs, her hands on his chest, eyes widened. Their faces two inches apart, she could feel his breath hitting her face.

"We don't need common interests in order to connect. We don't need a mutual love for music or sports or whatever to keep us together. I like you exactly the way you are and I wouldn't change a thing about you." He tapped her nose with his own gently, smiling wide and bright. A genuine and rare smile, he probably never gave to anyone.

Zuha wasn't there anymore. Her heart was about to burst out. She was on the seventh sky with him, his voice, his words, his gestures and his smile. She absolutely hated the affect this man had on her. But she also knew she wouldn't trade this feeling for anything in this world.

"You are my wife and you will be forevermore." He tucked the fallen strand of her hair behind her ear, his lips finding their way on her forehead, their eyes closed, bodies leaning towards each other.

"Then let's watch the cricket match." Zuha looked into his eyes, blinking.

"Uh, how about football for today." He tilted his head.

"Cricket!"

"Football."

"CRICKET!"

"Football, Zuha. It's fun."

"No, cricket is more fun, I promise."

"Foot-ball." He chewed on the popcorn, one dropping from his hand.

"No. And stop eating my popcorns!" She grabbed the bowl away from his reach, and the pulling game began to end up in a rain of popcorns all over the place.

//♥︎♥︎♥︎//

/Author's Note\

Y'ALLLL I LOVE THEM !!

THE DEVELOPMENT IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS IS EVERYTHING 😔

me @ them:

this chap was an additional unplanned chap added jbtw cuz the previous one was getting way too long and i thought it'd be a great idea to scare y'all w the accident 💀

anyways im planning to update the next chap sooon, but im really busy the next week ( w exams ) , so if i cant complete the chap by tomorrow, expect an update by next weekend then, In sha Allah. 💪

y'all better stay ready for more fluff scenes of them 🤭

until we meet these cuties again;

take care 💗

//❀❀❀//