Chapter 1: The Night Everything Changed
Chapter 1: The Night Everything Changed
The rain had not stopped since Maghrib.
Ayesha stood in the cold corridor of City Hospital, her cream hijab slightly wet, her hands trembling as she held her mother's hand. Her Abbu was inside the ICU. The doctors had said only one line, "We are trying our best."
She was 21 years old, a girl who had always believed that duas never go waste. But tonight, for the first time, her heart was asking, "Ya Allah, are You listening?"
She walked to the window and whispered, "Ya Allah, please don't take my Abbu away. Please send someone who can save him.At that exact moment, the doors of the ICU opened.
A young doctor walked out. White coat, tired eyes, and a file in his hand. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
He looked at her mother and said, "Your husband is stable now. The surgery was successful. He is out of danger."
Her mother burst into tears and kept saying, "Shukr Alhamdulillah."
But Ayesha was looking at the doctor. Because when he said those words, his eyes stopped on her for just one second. And in that one second, Ayesha felt like she had seen those eyes before. Somewhere. A long time ago.
The doctor smiled softly and said, "Dua kijiye ga. Bas dua hi kaam aati hai." And then he walked away.That night, Ayesha could not sleep. She sat holding her tasbeeh and made a new dua. "Ya Allah, jis doctor ne mere Abbu ko bachaya, usko hamesha khush rakhna."
What Ayesha didn't know was that on the other side of the hospital, that same doctor was sitting alone.
His name was Rayan. In his hand, there was an old, brown diary. He opened the last page and wrote:
"Today I saw her again after 10 years. She didn't recognize me. But I recognized her in one second."
"Ya Allah, if I can only ask for one last thing, let it be her. Let me protect her family, even if she never knows who I am."
Ayesha had prayed for a stranger that night. Rayan had prayed for Ayesha for 10 years. Neither of them knew that their duas had already been heard.
