Chapter 3 :
In the morning, Asad went to the hospital with a new determination, winning
Zoya's trust.
When he came in the hospital, he heard screams coming from the ladies' ward, he
didn't know why but he went running to the ward, as if knowing that something
bad was going to happen and that's exactly what he saw. His sixth sense hadn't
betrayed him, he saw Zoya being forced on the bed with four nurses trying to
keep her in place.
Zoya was screaming, crying and calling out for help, while a
fifth nurse who he recognized as sister Tanveer was trying to force breakfast
in her mouth and all the patients were watching as if a movie was going on,
Asad couldn't take it anymore, he whistled loudly, grabbing everybody's
attention.
Asad saw Zoya had stopped moving, but still the nurses were grabbing her limbs
forcefully. Asad came forward and removed their hands from Zoya and shot them a
death glare.
"What the hell is going on ?!" Asad asked furious to the nurses,
"Is this a way to feed somebody ?! And do you really think that even if
you make her eat like this, she will be able to digest it ?! If her health
deteriorates, who will be the responsible ones ?! And i'm telling you that i won't
be shy taking names !!", Asad yelled at them, letting his anger out.
Zoya pulled him down on the bed, making him sit and she clunged to his back,
Asad shot them a glare dismissing them. Zoya was sobbing, crying and
complaining against his back.
Asad pulled her forward, trying to console her by hugging her side-ways and she
snuggled in his side as if this man was her only shield. Asad calmed her down
but she still didn't move and stayed in this position, he knew that he had to
divert her mind.
"Zoya... I want to meet Pat..." Asad pouted like a cute child and
Zoya got out of the embrace and squealed happily before taking Pat in her lap,
Asad smiled at her innocence.
"Pat, there is somebody who wants to meet you !" Zoya told the plush
happily, before whispering few things in his ear, "So Pat, meet my...
Savior ! Savior, here is Pat ! Come on shake hands !", Zoya said happily
while holding the plush's small hand out to shake.
Asad was stunned, she called him her SAVIOR ?! Did she mean it ?! Of course,
she did ! The innocence in her eyes said it all ! Asad was overwhelmed with
happiness, when he realised with his small gestures towards her, she had found
him to be her SAVIOR. In two days, she gave him her TRUST ! The trust Dilshad
talked about, the trust you had to WIN ! Had he won her trust ?
Asad was so lost in his own thoughts that he forgot that Zoya was holding Pat's
hand out, but he came back to his senses when he heard Zoya.
"Hey Pat, look at this weirdo, he sleeps with his eyes open !" Zoya
giggled and as soon as Asad heard her, he burst out laughing, first for being
called 'a weirdo', then for her cute deduction.
"I wasn't sleeping, Zoya..." Asad said finally after stopping his
laughter.
"Liar !" She murmured under her breath and he smiled.
"I'm not a liar !" Asad pouted, "By the way, why Saviour ? I'm
Asad !" Asad showed his 42 teeths, holding his hand out this time, but
Zoya shook her head.
"No, no, no ! You are my Savior ! You saved me from Bhaiseena yesterday,
you saved me from Shireen Aunty and you saved me from these evil witches today
!" Zoya counted on her fingers while making faces and Asad laughed at
'Bhaiseena', clearly knowing that she must be refering to Haseena Qureshi.
"So YOU. ARE. MY. SAVIOR !", Zoya continued while poking his chest at
every word and he smiled with a little red on his cheeks.
"Awww ! Look Pat, Saviour is blushing like a girl !" Zoya giggled
making Asad chuckle at her.
Then Asad remembered that she had to have her breakfast, then medicines.
"Ok now Zoya, have breakfast, you have to take the strawberry-medicine
after that..." Asad said softly knowing that she was scared before, Zoya
pouted and tightened her embrace on Pat not looking up, visibly still scared.
"No ! It tastes yuck ! I won't have this breakfast !" Zoya made faces
and Asad got an idea and stood up.
"Come with me ! But shhh... It's a surprise !" Asad whispered and she
got up.
Asad was leading her to his cabin and Zoya was following him with Pat in her
arms, she felt the eyes of doctors, nurses and staff members on her, she felt
scared, as if they were going to hit her...
Zoya held Asad by his wrist, letting him guide her.
Asad was surprised, he expected her to grab onto him him but
he had expected her to grab onto his labcoat, not his wrist. He smiled at her
and continued leading her towards his cabin.
Once inside, Asad made her sit on the black couch while he took out his
untouched 'aloo ke parathas' that had been packed for his breakfast from
Dilshad.
Asad made his way towards the couch while hiding the box behind him and sat
next to her, he showed her the meal and she squealed in happiness and gulped
them all down while Asad kept studying at her. Finally Asad gave her her
medicines and they made their way back to the ward and she thanked with a breathtaking
smile.
"So ? Are we friends now ?" Asad asked with a mischievous smile,
while Zoya tapped her finger on her chin while looking at the roof.
"Not yet !" Zoya exclaimed after a moment, before running away in the
ward, leaving Asad stunned, but then, at least she wasn't scared of him
anymore.
*******
A few weeks passed and Asad and Zoya became partners in crime, Zoya had started putting her trust in her Savior, he had made a place for himself in her life. He was the only person to whom she would talk to, she wouldn't even look at others, scared that they would hit her, but with Asad she was her true self.
Asad was no less than Zoya, the people surrounding him noticed that he would be smiling more oftenly, be lost in his own thoughts and more relaxed than his usual self. As if a breath of fresh air had come in his life, he knew that he was thinking a bit too much about Zoya but Dr. Asad Ahmed Khan kept saying to himself that he needed to think about her, after all he was her doctor.
It had been two weeks now, that Zoya had been admitted to the hospital, but she would talk to nobody not even the nurses, except for her 'Savior'. She had grown attached to him, he was the only person to whom she would talk and listen.
Today, she kept waiting for him since morning, it was now 4 pm but he hadn't came yet. She felt like crying, the most important and best moment in her days was his appearance, the only person with whom she would talk, at one moment she thought, what if he had left her just like her Ammi Abbu had left her ? The thought made her cry even more, she was alone, she tightened her embrace on Pat.
Zoya had not eaten since morning, whenever the nurses would come to her to give her food, she would push the tray away or throw it to the floor. At the beginning the nurses thought that it was only a mere tantrum but when she started throwing the food on the floor, they had no other choices than call the Dr. Khan.
Asad didn't came to the hospital because he had the flu. For his patients' health, he had to stay back home and even he wasn't so happy of that, he loved his work and wanted to be there, he was lost in his thoughts, when his phone rang.
The hospital called him and told him the events and Zoya's behaviour, Asad rubbed his forehead and asked them to give the phone to Zoya. Once Zoya got on the phone, he could hear her sobs and he felt sad listening to her sobs.
"Angel ? Won't you talk to your Savior ?", Asad called her out softly by the nickname he gave her during these two weeks while he could hear her sniffling.
"Savior ! Where are you ?! I'm alone here ! Why didn't you come ?! I'm angry with you !" Zoya sobbed between each sentences and he smiled sadly in the phone.
"I'm ill, Angel... I can't come..." Asad replied calmly.
"If you are ill, you should be here in the hospital !" Zoya scolded him still angry.
"Don't worry, my Ammi is taking care of me... But you, why aren't you eating anything ? Don't you know that good girls always listen to others ?!" Asad said rubbing his nose with a tissue paper.
"No, i won't eat ! What if the witches mixed something in the food ?!" Zoya said in a shocked tone and Asad chuckled.
"There is nothing mixed in the food, trust me, you can eat it..." Asad smiled in the phone.
"Why can't you come ? I feel lonely here..." Zoya asked innocently and Asad sighed sadly.
"But if i come, you will get all my germs and it will be your turn to be ill...", before Asad could say soomething further, Zoya cut him off.
"YUCK !! Digusting !! Germs !! Buuurghh..." Zoya made faces while making these sounds and Asad laughed.
"Ok, now Angel, i want you to do something, i want you to eat and have your medicines !" Asad sweetly ordered.
"No ! It tastes yuck !! I want 'aloo ka paratha' !" Zoya exclaimed at first disgusted but continued excitedly, looking forward to eat those 'aloo ke parathe' that Asad brought once.
"Angel, pleeeaaassseee ? Pleeeaaassseee eat... Won't you do that less even for your Savior ?" Asad knew that he was somewhat emotionally blackmailing, but if that would make her have some food, why not ?
"Ok ! But i'm only doing this because you are my friend !" Zoya said softly just before hanging up the phone, leaving Asad stunned on the other side, then a huge grin appeared on his face, Zoya finally considered him as a friend !
He dialled the hospital's number once again and gave his instructions to the nurses for Zoya and also asked them to call him if they had any problem with her. Asad lay back down on his bed with a satisfied smile for getting finally Zoya to make him her friend, he sighed and snuggled under his duvet.
**********
The next day, Asad felt better so he went to the hospital. When he reached the ladies' ward, before he could realize what was going on, he was pinned to the nearest wall in a female but yet strong grip, that's when he realized that it was none other than Zoya who had litteraly jumped on him, hugging him. He smiled and gently put his arms around her as well, she tightened her grip and that's when he felt the wetness of his shirt. Zoya was crying, he frowned but hugged her more tightly while she sobbed.
"What happened, Angel ? Why are you crying ?" Asad asked softly while rubbing her back but she just kept sobbing in his arms, "Shhh... That's alright, look, i'm back... Shhh,.." Asad tried to calm her down, but her sobbing became louder and her embrace just kept becoming tighter.
After a moment, Zoya finally calmed down but still clung to him, sniffling while Asad kept caressing her hair in reassurance.
"Now, will you tell your Savior what happened ? And why are you crying ?" Asad asked wiping her tears, he could see that she was scared and she was sweating, that's when sister Tanveer came forward.
"Voh Dr. Khan, look at what this patient !", sister Tanveer said sweetly but in an annoyed tone pointing towards the side of her bed where food had been thrown.
Asad gave an annoyed look to the sister Tanveer and looked at Zoya who was shaking her head in denial.
"Angel, is it you who did this ?" Asad asked softly, knowing full well that if he would speak loudly she would be scared and would go back in her shell.
"Savior, yes... I mean no..." Zoya was rudely cut off by sister Tanveer who was getting annoyed with Asad for being this sweet with Zoya.
"See ! Of course she...", before the sister Tanveer could finish her sentence, Asad had lifed his palm towards her, stopping.
"Sister Tanveer, did i ask you something ? I believe that i asked something but NOT to you ! So please, let her speak !" Asad scolded the nurse for as usual getting in the conversation, without even being asked.
Then Asad prodded Zoya again to speak, who was shaking with fear hearing Asad's loud voice, he scolded himself when he felt her shaking and trying to get away from him but he only held her firmer and smiled at her to encourage her to speak.
"I-It's true that i did that, b-but i didn't do it on purpose ! I-I was turning around to the nurse while sitting and my a-arm made it land on the floor ! P-Please Savior, believe me ! Yo-you told me to eat and i did even though i-it was yuck, but i-i did ! P-Please don't hit me !" Zoya cried and kept shaking and he held her by her shoulder.
"Angel... I believe you ! Ok, it's ok, you didn't do it on purpose ! I won't hit you ! Nobody has the right to hit you ! But now tell me why you were scared ? And why you were crying ?" Asad reassured her while wiping her tears.
Zoya looked up at him, then at Tanveer who was glaring at her, Zoya was scared but knew that till her Savior was here, nothing could happen to her.
Zoya pointed to the belts tied on the four corners of her bed, then showed him her wrists and ankles, where red marks were seen, thankfuly the nurses couldn't tied her because before that she ran away in Asad's arms.
Zoya started crying again, burying her face in his chest. she kept sobbing in his arms and Asad dismissed sister Tanveer and other nurses with a glare while he kept trying to calm Zoya down.
Zoya was just not calming down, Asad promised himself to make a report of those nurses for ill-treatment of patients along with incompetence, because clearly Zoya had problem since the day one with violence and that's what they were about to do to Zoya before he came. After finishing with those nurses, Asad would make sure that no hospitals would ever accept them as nurses.
Suddenly, Zoya stopped crying and before he knew, all of Zoya's weight fell on him, he pulled back, panicked and he realised that Zoya had just fainted.
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