Hushed Confessions

Trust

Malik Idris

I finished the last paperwork about the newly acquired criminals, who were now in police custody. Nathan, Cole and I spent a good two hours filling the information on the pages.

It was quite tedious, but we got it done. I sighed as I opened the drawer to my desk, filing my hard work for the day. My thoughts seemed to stray to Sajdaa. I wonder how she was doing.

After we watched Ridwan get carried away by the ambulance, Sajdaa and I sat next to each other quietly. Sajdaa had been deep in thought, most likely from thinking about the wellbeing of her older brother.

I had to admit, what Ridwan did at Ethan's place was a brave act. Ridwan knew what Ethan was like even before we went there. Ridwan specifically told me to call for backup as soon as something felt out of place, but he told me to wait until he gave the signal.

Personally, I wanted to kill that goddamn bastard as soon as he started drooling over Sajdaa. Just the lustful gaze he had when he stared at her was enough to make my blood boil. I wanted to f*****g strangle the hell out of him.

I would have made his death slow and painful, however, given the circumstances I had to refrain from my dark desires. My fingers tightened around my pen as the events of today raced through my mind.

Fuck, I almost lost her.

Sajdaa could have died today. She was so close to death that I honestly thought my heart stopped beating as soon as I saw her get dragged away.

Luckily, Sajdaa was no i***t. She beat their asses up and somehow took down almost three guys straight without seriously injuring herself. A faint smile crept up my lips as I realized that little spitfire could do some serious damage to a man's anatomy and ego.

Ridwan must have taught her some self defense a while back. It made sense. An overprotective brother like him would never take his younger sister to such a dangerous place if she didn't know how to fight. Ridwan was more calculative than I thought he was.

He knew Ethan's intentions from the beginning, but he took the risk. Was that all just for his sister? Ridwan was smart. He told me beforehand to watch his sister's back at all times.

No matter what happened to him, Ethan was after Sajdaa, so my only duty was to protect her. Sajdaa didn't need protecting though. She clearly could handle herself.

"Thinking about Sajdaa again?" an amused voice asked.

I snapped my attention to Nathan. "Hell no," I scoffed.

Nathan's blue eyes gleamed with mirth. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"Very funny," I muttered as I capped my pen.

He shrugged. "I call it how I see it."

"She's seventeen, man. I'd stop your matchmaking before it gets me arrested," I lightly joked.

"Technically she's going to turn eighteen soon. Then it's not illegal anymore," he winked.

"Give it a rest."

"Fine," he grumbled. Then, he looked sadly at the picture of Ridwan on my desk from the crime scene. "For a big brother, he sure does take his role seriously."

I nodded. "Can you blame him? It's his baby sister."

"That Ethan guy is a d**k. I mean come on, lusting after a teenage girl. Wait, no. A teenage Muslim girl, that's pretty sick."

"He's an ass. I gotta admit," cut in Cole as he took the seat across my desk. "I mean I hate her, but I wouldn't say she deserved to go through that type of trauma."

Nathan pondered his words before grinning. "She kicked their asses though. That girl's got it going for her."

"Can we not talk about her?" I asked, tiredly. I wasn't in the mood for this. After everything that happened today, I definitely did not want to think about it. The memory alone was enough to leave a scar on me. The fear I felt today... it was a real eye opener. "Right now, we need to focus on the serial killer on the loose and see if Ethan might have rigged the phones."

"Rigged?" questioned Nathan.

Cole rolled his eyes, blowing his jet black hair away from his face. "Ethan sets a trap up for all of them right after he gives us the coordinates of the supposed killer. I don't know know about you, but that sounds fishy as hell." He stroked his chin. "Regardless of what happened, I still have a bad feeling about that Muslim girl."

"No one cares about your prejudices, Cole," I snapped.

Nathan and Cole both looked taken aback by my tone. Cole's jaw clenched and his brown eyes narrowed at me. I could sense his body tense, but I didn't give a single f**k about it. We were police officers.

What type of job did we have if we let racisms and prejudices cloud our judgement? Especially in a case as important as this. If we didn't find this killer fast, then we were going to lose the lives of many of the youth, thus dragging more attention to the neighborhoods. We'd be bringing negative here, more so than usual.

"You're losing your touch, Malik," said Cole as he clenched his fists.

I glared at him. "Just because I want to treat this as a fair case?"

"There's nothing fair about this case. Malik, you were in serious danger from just following a Muslim's orders. Don't be such a dumbass."

I inhaled a deep breath, trying to extinguish my anger. "Ridwan's orders were not a dumbass decision. In fact," I pointed out, "if Ethan really is the accomplice or even the killer himself, then we landed ourselves in a good position by arresting him."

"That's a fair point," admitted Nathan. "It'd be a very far stretch for Ridwan to even stage something like this. With a guy like Ethan, a staged crime is completely unlikely."

Cole crossed his arms over his chest. "No one ever listens to me," he mumbled under his breath.

Nathan patted his shoulder. "There there," he mockingly soothed. "Maybe one day when you come up with a good idea, then we'll listen to you."

I stifled my laugh with a cough.

"Shut the f**k up."

Nathan winced. "Harsh."

"I think that was the point," I commented.

I turned to my computer and started looking into Ethan on the police database to see his backgrounds. Sure enough, my suspicions were correct. Ethan had been an accomplice to murder charges before, however, Ethan was never caught for it.

He was wanted for a very long time. I frowned, so how did Ridwan know him and not turn him in?

"What's with the long face? You find something?" asked Nathan as he leaned over my chair, peering at the bright screen.

"If Ridwan knew, why didn't he turn him in a long time ago?" I questioned out loud.

"Perhaps, Ridwan is not as innocent as you thought him to be," smirked Cole. "Told you to listen-"

"Shut up. The big boys are talking," interrupted Nathan. He stood up straight, running his fingers through his long blonde hair. Then, he turned to me. "Does Ridwan have any criminal records?"

I quickly searched him up. "No."

Nathan flopped down in the leather chair besides Cole. "Ridwan probably didn't know the full extent of Ethan's criminal history," he said.

I stood up, picking up my jacket and keys. "Well, I'm going to check up on Ridwan before going home. First thing in the morning, I want a thorough interrogation of Ethan. Cole, that's your job. I want confessions to come out of him," I gave him my pointed stare. "I'm serious."

He grinned. "I live for this kind of thing."

"That's why I assigned it to you." I turned to Nathan. "I want a full analysis of the crime scene and evidence. Look into any similarities between the cases and present it to me by noon. Understood?"

Nathan groaned. "Why does Cole get the fun job?"

"I'm surrounded by idiots," I muttered to myself as I slapped a palm to my forehead.

"That you are," winked Nathan.

I ignored his comment as I headed out the door, making sure to flip him off behind my back.

* * * *

The bright white hospital corridor made a chill run down my spine. Hospitals always gave me a creepy feeling. It was home to the sick, injured, wounded, and soon-to-be dead.

Not exactly a good thought to come across one's mind. I shook off the eerie silence and followed the directions the receptionist had given me earlier. Room 225, I remembered as I scanned the rows of doors till I finally found it.

I hesitantly knocked three times. No one answered, so I let myself in. It was midnight. They were all probably asleep or at home resting. As I walked into the door, I realized I was completely wrong.

Sajdaa's body was sprawled across the small couch in the corner of the room. A small white blanket went over her body. Besides her a little boy, who resembled Ridwan almost completely, leaned his head against the wall as he softly snored. His breaths came out slow and deeply. That kid's dead asleep, I thought.

My attention moved to the hospital bed. Beeps were heard from a machine. The oxygen mask was still on Ridwan's face. His usually tan skin was now paler, the color drained from his face. Looking at the heart monitor, I noticed that Ridwan's heartbeat was still very weak. The pauses between the beeps were long.

Ridwan's eyes were shut, he looked dead. According to the machine, his body temperature was very low, which explained why layers of white blankets covered his body. I walked closer.

A small woman rested her cheek against the bedding of Ridwan's blankets. I could see the wet tear stains on her cheek. She looked like Sajdaa and Ridwan in a way. Her gentle face reminded me of my own mother. My heart lurched for the woman.

It wasn't easy losing a sibling and then watching her own son fight for his life. I noticed that she was holding something in her hand. Her fingers clutched Ridwan's tightly as if she was depending on him for her own survival.

"A mother's love surely is the strongest type of love in the world," a soft spoken voice said from behind me.

I turned around, seeing Sajdaa's father. "Sir-"

He held his palm up to stop me. "Call me Muhammad," he smiled at me. His eyes were red and puffy, almost like he was crying before I came here.

I nodded in acknowledgement as I returned my attention to the heartwarming scene in front of me. The woman wore a long black abaya. Her gray hijab was wrapped tightly around her head. The color reflected the atmosphere in this room.

It looked so normal in the hospital to see families grieving, but this family was different. I could feel their grief and anguish.

Soft breathing was heard, nothing loud or obnoxious. The sounds of sirens faintly wailed in the background. I could hear the doctor's hushed voices outside the room, and the soft typing from the nurses. It was quiet in this room, a peaceful quiet. Sajdaa's father spoke, momentarily bringing me from my deep thoughts.

"Thank you for saving my daughter's life today."

I turned to him, scratching my neck. "It was no big deal, really."

His brown eyes moved to his daughter. A sad smile coming to his lips. His hands were behind his back as he stared lovingly at Sajdaa. "It really was," he said. "We treasure her more than life itself."

"Your son was the real hero today. He risked his life for the protection of his little sister," my voice trailed off as my mind wandered. "Sir-I mean Muhammad?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you let your son go to Ethan's when you knew how dangerous he was?"

He sighed. "I wanted to protect my whole family. I knew the risk, but I also know my children very well. Ridwan and I planned an escape just in case Ethan played dirty. Sajdaa was taught to fight as a child for situations like this. My children were prepared."

"But still-"

"I told Ridwan to be careful," he interrupted. I kept my mouth shut, intensely listening as Muhammad closed his eyes like he was in pain. "I told him to keep the police officers outside the building before going in. I should have known he wouldn't listen." His eyes opened, revealing glossy tears. "Ridwan knew that Ethan would not be valuable if he did that, so he risked his life instead."

"He's very smart. He told me to wait till he gave a signal before I called for backup. Even though he was fighting Ethan alone, he made sure I protected Sajdaa," I confessed.

He nodded, small tears fell down his cheeks. They buried themselves into his graying beard. "Allah has a plan for us. I trust that," he said while wiping the wet streaks with his fingertips.

need to be close to her child. This family, they managed to go through so much together. It was like it didn't matter if the world were to collapse around them. They would always have each other's backs and keep their faith. No matter the hardships, their family would always trust Allah.

This was such a rare family bond that I'd never seen. I had never witnessed such a religious family stay strong like this. Even when their eldest child was on his deathbed, they kept believing.

"Your family is unlike any I've ever seen. Why do you all trust Allah so much?" I asked.

Muhammad smiled at me. "Allah is the only one who can help us. He wouldn't do this to Ridwan if good never came out of it. We trust Allah to take care of our family."

"Even when it looks pointless?"

He put a hand on my shoulder, gently squeezing it. "Even then."

I looked back at Sajdaa. Small baby hairs peeked from her hijab. Her lips were parted as she breathed in deeply. Her eyelids hid those beautiful brown eyes she had. Her cheeks were flushed. She was lucky to have a family as strong as hers. Perhaps, I had been wrong about Islam a long time ago.