Ignored Innocent Heart novel Chapter 44

“What the hell?!” He exclaimed with shock, anger and worry clearly visible on his face.

“Bhai, woh-” hana started as she was crouching on the floor near her Dado who was laying on the floor with her body, shaking. Hana was gripping her dado’s both arms in her one hand and the other hand was pushing the injection on her stomach. Hana had fear written all over her face as she was looking at her brother who caught her doing this but she still push all the medicine that was in the injection in her dado’s body.

“Bakwaas band! Ye kiya kr rahi thi? (Shut up! What were you doing?)” Zamid came back to his senses and hurriedly went towards Dadi jaan’s unconscious body. He pushed hana and she fell on her butt. He tried to move his dadi jaan and tried to wake her up but no response. She stopped shaking and in his panick, Zamid shouted for his parents. From all this commotion, everyone gathered in the room to check what was going on.

Rayaan and Daniyal instantly went towards her and also tried to wake her up. Rayaan poured water on her but still no response. Zarmeena’s father was already on the phone with his daughter. He told her that their Dadi jaan is not waking up and they are going to bring her to hospital so they should be ready for the emergency.

“Dadi jaan? Dadi Jaan, uthain! Uthain please! Come on, wake up! (Grandma! Grandma wake up please!)” Zayn said while lightly patting her cheeks.

“What have you done, hana? Why, huh!?” Zamid angrily asked her that why she was trying to kill their dadi jaan.

“I did not-” she began to clearify but he was not having any of it and cut her off again.

“I saw it with my own eyes! You tried to kill her!” He shouted before she could explain what actually happened.

“You better hope nothing happens to her or else I’ll kill you!” He threatened hana while harshly holding her face in his hand. A mark was already showing on her cheeks after he pushed her away.

“Zamid! What are you talking about!?” Hiba asked with confusion as no one understood what was going on. Zayn and Rayaan had already picked their dadi jaan and went with Rayaan’s father to the hospital in their car. They did not wait for the ambulance as they knew it can take a lot of time. Now, it was only hana, Zamid, Zeeniya, Daniyal, Hiba, Asfand, both of Hana’s tayis and younger taya.

“Mama, you should be calling the police for this murderer that we gave sanctuary to!” Zamid said while glaring at hana who was looking scared as hell. She moved a little closer to her mother.

“How can you, Zamid!” hiba said with anger in her tone and glaring at him.

“What is wrong in this! Huh! She is not our blood! Infact, we don’t even know whose sin she is!” Zamid kept on saying mockingly.

“ZAMID!” Hiba and Asfand shouted to make him stop.

“Mamma, Baba, dekhain na bhai kiya keh rahay hain! (Mamma, baba look what brother is saying!) I did not do anything! I promise! Please believe me!” hana grabbed her mother’s sleeve and tugged on it! She pleaded for her parents to believe her. Hiba hugged her daughter instantly. She was trying to protect her from her brother and hiba was looking angrily at Zamid with tearful face.

“Zamid, you better keep your tongue in control!” their father, Asfand, became extremely angry at Zamid and shouted at him to stop his nonsense.

Flashback

It was a bright, sunny day in Islamabad. The busy roads of Islamabad were filled with cars, bikes, rickshaws and other vehicles. You can even see the people rushing to reach their destination.

In the midst of all this hustle bustle, there is a beautiful couple in their mid-20’s that looked very excited and happy. The driver was driving them to an orphanage.

Upon reaching the orphanage, they looked even happier. At the entrance of the orphanage, a woman in her mid-thirties is standing.

On spotting the couple, a beautiful smile can be seen on her face. The women welcomed them wholeheartedly.

“Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Asfand!” Said the woman to the couple.

“Thank you miss Palwasha! How is my princess doing? I hope all the papers are ready because I cannot wait any longer to take her home with me!” Said a very excited and happy, Mrs. Asfand.

“Yes! Yes, of course! All the papers are ready. You guys just have to sign the papers and then you can take her home.” Said miss Palwasha.

“Shall we proceed then?” asked Mr. Asfand.

“Yes! Please come in!” Sain miss Palwasha to the eager couple.

The three of them went to the main office of orphanage and after reading the papers, Mr Asfand signed them and forwarded the papers to his wife. After all the protocol was done, they walked towards the living quarters.

They entered an old looking room. Upon entering the room theu saw a small baby of 3 months, wraped in soft, yellow blankets, sleeping on a single bed. Both sides of the baby were protected with pillows so that the baby may not fall off the bed.

“Awww! Look Asfand! My princess looks so cute!” Exclaimed Mrs. Asfand with tears in her bright, brown eyes.

“Ma Sha Allah! Indeed she is beautiful!” Said Mr. Asfand, also looking very emotional.

The woman, miss Palwasha, picked the girl up and brought her towards the new and eager parents of the child.

“Here is your Amanat! We have not named the child yet! You can do the honors of naming her as she is yours now!” Said miss Palwasha to the couple.

“What do you want to name her, Hiba?” asked Mr. Asfand to his wife.

“You know, Asfand, I always wanted to name my daughter as ‘Hana’.” Said Hiba while wiping her tears.

“Then my daughter’s name will be Hana! After all, she is as beautiful and precious as a flower, just like her name sake!” Asfand said while gently patting his daughter’s small head with a teary smile.

“Hana is it then! Well, congratulations to you guys! May Allah bless you all with bright futures ahead!” Miss Palwasha smiled and said.

“Ameen!” Both replied to her duas with over-whelming hearts.

After this, the couple with their new family addition, followed Miss Palwasha to the enterance and took their leave. The driver opened the car door for the couple and congratulated them for their daughter.

The car took off from there and made its way towards the mall. The couple shopped a little even though they already had enough things for their child. Hiba was so happy that she could not help herself!

After shopping, they put their things in the car and the driver took them to their villa.

They got out of the car and hiba voiced her concerns. “What are we going to tell ammi? I know she is not going to be happy with us! I am also afraid she won’t be accepting hana anytime soon!”

“Don’t worry, Hiba! She is my mother and I know that she will fall in love with her as we did! And if it comes to this that she does not want my baby here then we will also leave and live somewhere else! If my daughter is not accepted here then my family will also not stay here!” Asfand said with determination and finality in his tone. His wife nodded and they made their way inside!

“Zamid, Zayn! Come here kids!” Asfand entered and called his kids that were in the lounge and doing their homework along with their cousins.

Both kids stood up and ran towards their father with smiles on their faces.

“Assalamualaikum Mama and Baba!” They greeted their parents excitedly.

“Walaikumassalaam! Come on kiddos! Look who is here! We finally brought your baby sister home! She is all well now! Come and meet her!” Said hiba to her beautiful sons with clear adoration on her face! hiba sat on her knees in front of 9 years old zamid and almost 8 years old Zayn.

“She is not our sister! Allah ta’ala took our sister back because he was missing her! We know that you took her from garbage!” Both the boys shouted and pushed hiba’s hands that were forwarding baby hana towards the boys.

The couple became shocked upon hearing this. Hiba looked as if she was in physical pain with the reminder of her baby girl that died before they can even bring the child home.

On the other hand, asfand became angry and harshly asked “What are you talking about!? Who told you that? And, is this a way to talk to your parents!?”

The kids flinched back as it was the first time their father was this harsh with them! The loud sound of his made them to cry silently while looking down with ashamed faces and the baby started to cry loudly! Hiba tried to sooth the baby in her arms by rocking her a little.

“Dadi jaan told us that you picked her from garbage! She told us that if it was really our sister then you would have picked her from the hospital!” a crying Zamid replied to his father while clutching Zayns hand in his small hand.

“Yes baba! I don’t want her! You will stop loving us if she will stay here!” Zayn looked up at his father and said while crying.

Asfand was sad and shocked that his mother has told such absurd things to his sons. He then took both of his sons in his strong arms and stood up from his hunched over position. He tried to sooth his crying sons and said “That is never going to happen, buddy! Your mother and I will always love you, no matter what! Just because hana is here, it does not mean that our love will lessen for you! And whoever says otherwise is wrong!”

“Dadi jaan said that the baby will steal you guys from us! And dadi jaan is never wrong! You said that yourself!” Zamid told his father with his face on his father’s right shoulder.

“We will not let her stay here! Throw her away! We don’t want her!” Zayn exclaimed while directly looking in his father’s eyes. Both the brothers had the same shade of brown as their mother and both were looking at their father now with their tear filled eyes.

“Yeah!” Zamid also nodded and both boys started to struggle in their father’s arms and when asfand put them down, they ran away.

After hearing all this, asfand looked at hiba who had tears flowing on her face. She was silently listening to them.

7 years later

Time past just like that and the time for Zamid to leave Pakistan came. In all this time, no-one accepted hana. She remained alone and started to spend most of her time in her room. She joined her family only for food. She is a shy and reserved child of nine years now!

Today, her older brother was going to America for further studies just like her cousin, Rayaan, who went there a year ago. In this whole year, she never talked to her cousin or even saw him. Everyone was in touch with him but not hana.

Rayaan and Zamid were one year apart and are best friends. Now, rayaan is 19 and Zamid is 18 years old.

“Mama, please! I don’t want her to come and see me off! I want to have a last family moment and enjoy my time with you guys! So, please!” Zamid told his mother with annoyance for hana.

“Beta, what are you saying!? She is also your family! Don’t be like that! She adores you even if you don’t like her much! But for her, you are still her precious older brother. Let her tag along!” Hiba tried to persuade her son in letting hana join them.

They were having this conversation in hiba and asfand’s room.

“No mama! If she comes along then I will never talk to you guys ever again! It’s your choice now!” Zamid said and angrily stormed out of his parent’s room.

Hiba was feeling helpless! How can she choose one of her children over the other? When the time of his leave came, everyone went out of the villa and sat in their cars. Some were going to airport to see off Zamid while some were going to their own houses.

Hana was going to open the door to her father’s car when her mother called her and told her that she have to stay in the villa. When she asked ‘why’, her mother told her that there was not enough space for everyone to fit. She started to protest but after getting a glare and some scolding from her mother, shebecame sad and stopped with her head bowed.

“What’s the matter? Why are you scolding my baby, Begum (Wife)?” asfand asked after seeing the commotion.

“Can you please come aside for a bit?” Hiba asked her husband with her saddened eyes. Asfand nodded and they walk a little away from others. Hana stood there by the car while her cousins and brothers were chatting at a little distance and waiting for the elders to tell them that they can go to airport now.

After her parents were done talking, asfand approached her and softly said: “Hana, Baby! You should stay here as it will be very crowded there and since you don’t like crowds so…”

Before he could say anything more, hana said: “Okay baba! I’ll stay! Tell bhai to have a safe journey!”

she said all this with a fake smile. She was a very smart child. She knew that she is not liked by others, not even her brothers! She also knew that someone must have told her parents not to take her with them so she did not forced her parents or said anything else. She just smiled and ran inside, upstairs, to her room.

No one paid attention to her. They were all giving Zamid, some last minute advice while her parents were looking at the retreating figure of their daughter with sadness.

Both wanted to take her with them but they were helpless. They did not want to loose their first born by tking hana with them as they knew that Zamid was going through his moody, teenage years! The boys had already become rebellious enough that they did not want to risk more!

After all this, hana looked out at them from her window. She kept looking out the window even after they took off. She remained rooted to that same spot until the cars were back. After seeing the cars, she hurriedly wiped her tears and laid on her bed and pretended to be asleep. When her mother came to check on her after a few minutes, upon seeing her daughter asleep, she kissed her on the back of her head and went away after closing the door.

………………..

The time kept on moving and whenever Zamid called, he would refuse to talk to hana. This went on for the next two years. She always wanted to talk to her brother but he never talked to her. And then after two years, Zayn also went away to America. This time around, she went with her parents to see off Zayn and she was very happy with this small achievement.

She thought that now her brother Zayn might start talking to her and maybe even like her but that dream of hers was also shattered as none of them ever talked to them. They always refused to talk to her even if her parents asked them too but they never did!

When she was 13 years old, she stopped asking her parents about her brothers and even stopped voicing her wish to talk to them. She would always listen to everyone talk to her brothers and Rayaan but never talked. By her thirteenth birthday, all of her cousins were out of the villa and persuing their own professions.

The house became silent as all the boys were in America while the girls were in Karachi for MBBS. They could get admission in any university or college in Islamabad too but they wanted to experience the hostel life so they too, went away.

Hana started to become more silent and reserved. Her uncles (Tayas), aunts (Tayis), Parents and Dado were the only ones in the villa now. Hana was still in her school life.

She became addicted to romance novels at that time and would always be reading one book or another or helping her mother in the kitchen.

At night, she would sit with her parents in their room and talk to them about anything and everything. She was only talkative with them as she had no one to talk to other than her one and only friend, Mishaal!

She never talked to her tayis, tayas or Dado without reason as her aunts mostly avoided talking to her while her dado was always stern with her.

Hana only saw pictures of brothers and other cousins as they never talked to her directly on phone and never came to Pakistan! Her female cousins came on holidays but that also started to decrease as their burden increased of studies.