I'LL MARRY YOU

"I like the blue one more." I murmured, frowning

thoughtfully.

"Doesn't blue represent sadness?" Hamza raised his brow.

"Happiness and Sadness is a state of mind, dear brother." I

handed the blue balloon to the worker silently announcing my

decision and walking out.

The party was to be held at our house. It had been a day. The

reports of the tested we had conducted were yet to come and

Azaan was shifted back to his home upon his request. I had

invited him but he kept saying he didn't want to go around

with a nebulizer.

I lied down on my bed.

His negative thoughts were running through my mind like

wild Cheetahs. I couldn't help it. In front of him I would never

let my fears out but deep down inside of me I knew I was

scared. Forcing myself out of the fears he had instilled inside

of my head I got out of the bed.

As I combed my hair, I thought of how much happy I should

have been today. It was Daniyal's birthday. An occasion that

we were celebrating after so long. After Hamza's scandalous

drug incident, I didn't remember celebrating birthdays with

my family. The last time we did it was when Daniyal was 18.

I should be happy today.

It's my favorite person's birthday.

Azaan's presence shouldn't matter that much. Just for a night.

Daniyal was coming back at 7pm. It was 6pm now. I hurriedly

wore my wedges and walked out hoping for the preparation

should be done. We didn't go all out for it but we had called

the decorators for creating an exotic shape of the balloons. I

excitedly entered the room.

The balloons royal blue, baby blue and golden were lined up in

an exotic shape. Just beside them were a few tables with

golden legs and white tops. A large bouquet of blue daisies,

blue poppies, blue Hydrangea and a large blue Hibiscus was

placed on one of the tables. There was a little table for some

savories and a blue two layered medical shirt cake sat proudly

on the tallest of the tables. I giggled when I first saw it. It was

Daddy's idea to make a custom cake related to medicine. I

glanced around the room and I saw Hamza coming down.

"You look good, dear brother." I stated amusingly.

He held my hand gave me a twirl. I smiled and looked down at

my dress. Mama had bought it for me. It was a navy blue

embellished, flutter sleeve, knee length dress with sequins on

it.

"So do you." he smiled.

"What's up with that nice attitude, Hamza? What do you

want?"

He sighed.

"What? Can I not be nice with people without any gain?" he

sat down.

"I highly doubt that." I grabbed an orange juice.

"Hey. Hamza."

I turned to the voice behind me.

"Wow!" Irfan exclaimed as he drank in my form.

I turned to Hamza who looked somewhat nervous.

"I didn't know you were invited." I smiled at Irfan.

"Hamza texted me this morning." he pointed at Hamza.

"I thought this was a family gathering." I smiled at Hamza.

"Irfan's soon to be family." he smiled, but his smiled faded

away as he saw my expression.

"Like we are possible business partners so, that makes us

family, right?" he smiled again.

I shook my head.

"It doesn't?"

I shook my head.

"Okay." he nodded.

"Where's Mama and Daddy?"

"Mama's waiting on the porch for him and Daddy must be

sleeping."

"What? Sleeping? Now? Why?" I got up.

"Guys, Daniyal is here." Mama walked in.

"What? No, stop him."

"Why?" Hamza munched on a cupcake.

"Because, we are not ready yet. I'll call Daddy and you

switch..." my sentence finished midway when I saw Daniyal

enter the room and hug Mama then he looked around

awkwardly. Then he turned to me.

"Any special occasion?"

I blinked confusedly.

"Bro has the memorization of thick medical textbooks erased

the previous information that your brain had stored?" Hamza

got up.

"What? I..." he looked around and his gaze landed on the cake.

"Ahan... So, that's what this is about." he smiled.

"But I don't celebrate my birthday anymore." he shrugged.

"What? Why?" Mama looked sad.

"Because, when I was in the first year of my residency

program, I had a patient. He was a 10-year-old. His dad was

abusive and had beaten him up badly and he was rushed to

the hospital. He was my patient for a few days before dying on

my birthday."

"Which is why I don't celebrate my birthday anymore." he sat

down and removed his coat.

"But, what about the décor that I did." Mama looked around

sadly.

Hamza scoffed.

"You mean what about the horrible supervision that you did

which involved barking at the decorators each time they

busted a balloon."

"And, what about the gift that I bought?" Irfan chimed in.

I choked on my juice at the realization.

Gift?

Did I just forget to bring a birthday gift for my favorite person

in my family?

Did I stoop that low?

Yes, I did.

What do I do now?

Save myself.

"Yeah, Mama. Daniyal's right. He must've taken an oath. We

shouldn't make him break it. In fact, we should silently retire

to our rooms and pray for the soul of that little boy. What was

his name again?" I turned to Daniyal.

"John."

"Right. John."

"Daniyal now that I've done the preparations let's celebrate it

just this one time." Mama ignored me and smiled at Daniyal.

I gasped.

"No, Mama. We should respect the soul of John. Let's go. Let's

go." I grabbed Daniyal's coat and arm forcing him to get up

and retire to his room.

"You know what. You're right, Mama. I shouldn't let go all of

my family's attempts to make my day just because one of my

birthdays was tragic." he left my arm.

Can I still do something about it?

No.

Should I tell him myself?

Yes.

"Daniyal, I..."

"Happy Birthday, son." Daddy walked up to him with a box in

his hands.

"Thanks, Daddy." Daniyal smiled nervously as he hugged

Daddy and took the box from his hands. We sat down.

"I've always loved and appreciated you as my son. You truly

are an obedient and perfect son of mine." he patted Daniyal's

shoulder.

Daniyal opened the box. In it were a bunch of different things.

Customized for a doctor. A customized mug, phone case,

stethoscope, a T-shirt and an old doctor's toy set.

"Remember when you asked me to bring a doctor's toy set as a

gift for your birthday?"

Daniyal nodded.

"I thought it was just a child's immature wish but when you

admitted yourself in a medical college that's when I knew that

wish wasn't immature. I just couldn't accept the fact that you

didn't consult me."

"And, when you left for San Diego that was a big blow to my

heart. I couldn't accept the fact that you left me behind."

Daniyal smiled a little and before we knew anything he had

unshed tears in his eyes. I smiled and moved forward to sit

beside him. He chuckled and wiped them off.

"Thank you, Daddy. I'll never leave you again." he hugged

Daddy.

I laughed as I saw him continuously wiping his tears.

"Are you crying?" I lifted his chin up, he swatted my hand

away.

"You're crying." I laughed and Hamza joined me.

"Let's go and cut the cake." we heard Irfan's very exciting

voice.

"Yeah." I laughed and we got up.

We heard the bell as it ringed.

"Are we expecting someone else?" I turned to Mama; she

shook her head.

"I'll get it." Irfan walked to the lobby.

Our living room was connected to the lobby.

I got up when I saw Sarah and Zainab. Involuntarily I smiled.

He was here.

He came.

I saw the wheels of a wheelchair and then I saw him as the

wheelchair entered the lobby. His head was down as he

adjusted himself and then he looked up, he pushed his hair

back. He looked around the room and then his eyes settled on

me.

He drank in my form and smiled charmingly at me. Despite

his sickness his charm hadn't faded away. And, the way he

smiled I felt as if he felt the same way for me. I didn't know if

it was the nagging hope inside me ever since I discovered

feelings for him or it was something else. But, in that moment

I found affection for myself in his eyes. Like, he loved me or

perhaps wanted to. I walked up to him. Malik pushed his

wheelchair forward.

"I missed you." I leaned down and lightly kissed his forehead.

He smelled very sweet.

"It's just been a day." he smiled.

"What can I say? You've taught me how to miss you." I smiled

back.

He laughed and coughed lightly.

I passed a small smile to Malik as Zainab and Sarah hugged

me.

"What kind of spell have you casted on her? She forgot the

birthday boy as soon she saw you." Daniyal came to stand

beside me.

"I didn't forget you. I just came to greet him." I hugged

Daniyal and looked back at Azaan. He smiled again and I

laughed and looked down.

"Is my sis blushing?" Hamza came to stand beside us.

Daniyal held up my chin and gasped at my possible red

cheeks.

"I am not." I pushed him away and everyone quietly laughed

around us. I took a peek at Azaan who was laughing at my

misery too.

"Let's cut the cake, shall we?"

I went behind Azaan and pushed his wheelchair.

"I feel pathetic." he whispered.

"Me too." I leaned down and whispered to him.

"What happened?"

"I didn't get the birthday boy a gift."

He clicked his tongue.

"Just how low could you steep, Romi."

"You're making me feel more pathetic." I groaned.

"That's what I plan to do for the rest of the night."

"Make a wish." I interrupted before Daniyal could cut the

cake.

He stopped and then glanced back and forth between me and

Azaan.

"I did."

"What did you wish for?" I asked him when he fed me the

cake.

"I wished for you two to be together, Romi." he smiled.

"Thank you. I wish so too." I hugged him.

"I have a confession." I looked down.

He sighed.

"Romi, the last time you said this to me was when you were on

the verge of being suspended form high school."

"It was because that boy had fractured my friend's hand. He

deserved to be pushed into the fountain. And, that was one

time." I cried out.

"So, what did you do now?"

"Hey, Romi. Why did you give this to me? Isn't this for

Daniyal?" I heard Azaan behind us. He held up a blue box in

his hands.

I didn't understand what happened as Daniyal brushed past

me and began opening the box.

"Sorry, mate. I couldn't buy you a gift. Coming here itself was

a last-minute decision." Azaan smiled.

Daniyal looked at him in his eyes.

"That's okay. I don't want your gift anyway." and then went

back to open the box.

"Dior Eau Sauvage." he gasped revealing the beautiful and

infamous perfume box.

"What the actual heck, Romi? You knew I loved this one.

Thank you." he reached forward and hugged me. I hugged him

back still not recovered from the fact that Azaan had gifted his

gift in my name.

I gazed at him nervously, he shrugged.

"What was that about?" I asked him while the rest of the

family had dinner.

We were outside in our backyard.

"I saved you from a huge embarrassment. You owe me your

life now." he laughed and coughed a little.

"I swear these coughs will be the death of me." he coughed

some more. I stared at him absentmindedly.

"No, they won't be. It'll be fine." I grabbed a Nebulizer from

his storage backpack behind the wheelchair.

"No, I don't need it. I am good." he held my wrist.

"Are you sure? It seems as if you're having trouble breathing."

"No, I am good."

"You shouldn't have come here." I kept it back.

"It is very rude to decline an invitation."

"You have a valid reason. Besides, no one was forcing you." I

struggled to close the zipper.

"I am here to see you smile, Romi."

I stilled for a moment.

"I know I've hurt you. And this past 3 weeks have been terrible

for you. In the first week I broke your heart, in the second

week we didn't talk to each other for half the week. And, the

rest was spent in you running around back and forth between

your life and my ward." he chuckled.

"At the same time, I have done nothing to please you. All I've

done is uttering some heart wrenching words and venting my

negativity."

"Azaan, I..."

"I feel pathetic and terrible. I feel terrible for making you go

through this. I didn't want this to happen this way. I am

sorry."

"Please don't say things like that. And as far as apology is

concerned, we have our whole lives to live together." I stopped

midway and looked at him.

He was looking at me tenderly.

I reached forward and cupped his cheek.

"Will you?" I muttered softly.

"What?" he looked utterly confused.

"Will you live the rest of your life with me? Will you give me a

chance to spent my life with you?"

"Romi, I..." he tried to remove my hand but my grip tightened.

"I know this is too soon but..." I laughed nervously.

"Believe me I don't want to rush either. I just want to ask this

to you today."

"Will you marry me when I ask you to, Azaan? When you're

ready?" I smiled.

Around those dark branches of trees and under the simple

timber wooden frame lined with dazzling lanterns as I sat

down with this man in my backyard, I knew I wanted to live

with him. I wasn't going to make it sound cliché like I can't

stay alive without him. Of course, I can. But being alive and

living a life are two entirely different things. And, indeed I

couldn't live without him. Without him it would just be me

being alive.

"Our fate is really harsh, Romi. I don't think I'll be there for

you to ask me that question again." he smiled sadly.

"Don't say things like that. I believe I'll ask you that question

again." I smiled a little more.

"Why are you so positive about this, Romi?"

"Maybe, because of the thought of living with you and the fact

that you're here with me now." I laughed.

"Tell me." I asked him after a while when he didn't say

anything.

"Will you marry me when I ask you this question again?"

He started shaking his head.

"Alright, can you let go of your negativity for once and think

that you'll live further?"

He nodded.

"So, what will your answer be when I ask you this again?"

"Are you manipulating me or something? Twisting words to

have your desired answer?" he laughed lightly.

"No, I am not." I shook my head.

"I promise I am not. Just tell me. It's okay if your answer is

a..."

"What would your answer be?" he cut me off and looked away.

"What?" I stilled.

"If someone were to ask you the same question what would

your answer be." he looked up.

I smiled.

He smiled too.

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"I'll do it."

"Do what, sweetheart?" he smiled very widely.

I giggled.

"I'll marry you."