In the darkness, There was a light.

[Fathima Rimziya]

It was midnight.
There was nobody except him.
Not only us, but there was another one too
That emotion.
One hand held excitement,
The other, nervousness.
We weren’t sleeping.
We were awake.
We couldn’t sleep.

He cared for me, stroking my head,
holding my hands, rubbing them gently.
Whatever he did, his eyes were watching,
investigating, making sure I was okay.
This continued for about two to three hours.
In between, I’d fall asleep,
only to wake with a shout — Lightning in my stomach.
I felt the pain…
But his eyes teared.

It repeated several times.
But all that time, he was awake.

It was 4 a.m. I was waking up.
He said, “We have to get ready to go.”
I was scared.
I looked directly into his eyes.
There was a spark there…
Something that gave me strength.
I went to the washroom,
took a quick wash, came back, and got dressed up.
The pain was still there.
But I had to continue.

After some time, we were ready.
He came with the vehicle to pick up.
We were travelling.
He drove slowly,
but I don’t know why — it felt like the vehicle was moving like a racing horse.
Finally, we reached the place.
He opened the door and held my hand as I got down, carefully.

He spoke to the receptionist
While I sat in a wheelchair,
Lost in my world,
Thinking about the pain.
Some formalities were going on for a while.
Then she came and asked me to climb up on the stretcher.
I did, like a wind-up doll.

She started to push the stretcher.
That was the moment fear hit me,
because he wasn’t there.
I tried to get up, but she didn’t let me.
My eyes filled with tears.
We entered the lift.
reached a room.
She slid open the curtain.

There was a bed,
a side table with tools,
an ECG machine,
and a saline holder with a bag full of liquid.

I felt my heart —
beating in my throat.
Yes… It was.

But this time,
he wasn’t there to give me strength.
I was alone.
No — wait.

There was someone.
Yes…
It was her little kicks.
Our BABY — trying to come out to console me.