Chapter 4

Ja'afaar's wife scrambled up and walked over to daddy. "How is he please? Can we go see him now?" She asked as her voice shook with fear. "We can't go see him now because they're not done, Amina. He will be under treatment for two weeks now to see how things will go. Your prayers is all he needs, but in sha Allah he will be fine," he consoled. She slowly nodded even though she wasn't convinced. "As soon as they're done, they will inform us. I want to go pay the bills now," he excused himself. Amina looked at his retreating back as the tears she has been holding came rushing down. What would have happened to her husband if not because of this man? Forever grateful they would be.

After ja'afaar was wheeled out of the A & E, they changed his room to a private one. Daddy asked Muhsin to take Dalia home to get whaever they'd need for their stay at the hospital. He did as he was told and they set the road to Kuje. No matter how he tried to console her, it was avail. He couldn't describe her pain but he knew she was in deep sorrow.

They went back to the hospital afterwards. Daddy was still there with them. They bought all the necessities before leaving the hospital with a promise they'd be back tomorrow.

Muhsin went back home later in the night. Amira was on the sofa watching her movies, as usual. She looked up and smiled. "You're back. Daddy told me you have been together since in the afternoon," she spoke and turned her attention back to the TV. He sighed and settled down on the two seater while she was on the three sitter. He was very hungry and he knew asking for food was a waste of time and stressful.

"You could not believe what happened today," he started. Having a conversation with his wife would hurt. That's if she actually pays attention to him. She looked at him smiling, "what, babe?" She asked as if she was going to listen to him. "We took daddy's friend to the hospital. The sight of his family really broke my heart. Only Allah knows what they're going through...." He paused when he realized her attention was far away from him. He hissed softly and stood up. He left her there and headed up the stairs to his room.

**

When the words couldn't come out, the tears did. The mourning was supposed to be something dignified and stoic in her and her mother, but she cried like a child, noisily, with running snot and choking sobs and she wasn't ashamed because losing someone so close to you, especially a father wasn't something that would pass one time.

"Mama is he really dead? They're joking right? Abba just went into a coma, I know he is not dead... you should stop covering his face, else how would he breathe?" Dalia lamented, traumatised. She couldn't take the news that her father has really passed away.

How were they going to live without him? She couldn't even imagine life without her abba. "It's okay, Dalia. Our prayers is what he needs not your tears, okay? May Allah grant him the highest rank in jannah. In sha Allah he's in a better place." She hugged her daughter firmly while they mourned together.

Dalia cried until there was nothing left inside but a raw emptiness that nibbles at her insides like a hungry rat. Her irises were threaded scarlet and her eyeballs hung heavy in their sockets. Her whole body hung limp like each limb weighed twice as much as it had before and just moving it about was a slow, painful effort. No beauty left in the world as from that day.

"Salamu alaikum," daddy uttered as he rushed into the room. Dalia's mother raised her head up and looked at him. She wanted to smile but the pain in her was too much to bear. She couldn't even reply his greetings.

"Innalillahi wa'inna ilaihir rajiun," he murmured looking at the corpse still lain on the bed. He moved to the bed and opened his friend's face to see if it was really true. He stared at the face, many memories rushing back to him. Ja'afaar was not only a good person by heart but also soul. He was a good friend. A friend that always listened to his stories, a friend that always killed his worries and replace it with joy. He was a friend daddy would never forget about.

He covered it back as he shook his head. How would he even start to console them? He couldn't even imagine what they were going through at that moment.

"Ya Allah," he sighed and turned his head to the mother and daughter clinging onto each other. "Amina I don't even know where to begin with," he started but then sighed. "I can understand the way you feel. And I know you feel like He's being unkind but Allah always chooses what's best for us. May his soul enlighten the garden of paradise. Please have patience."

She didn't even pay attention to what he said, left alone to reply him. She held her daughter so close and stroked her back.

Ja'afaar's brother came back to the hospital together with some of ja'afaar's friends. They took him home and on that same day, he was taken to his righteous home.