Short Story Collections 📚

DKA-9

The next evening, the house was buzzing again - cousins rehearsing for the upcoming ruksati, phuphos arguing over outfit shades, and elders finalizing guest lists.

In the middle of the chaos, Jibraan stepped out of his room, heading toward the study - but something caught his eye.

Haya's door, slightly ajar. A suitcase half-packed on her bed.

His heart dropped a beat.

For a moment, he just stood there. Watching.

Folded scrubs. Her stethoscope. A framed photo of her and Zoya wrapped carefully in a scarf. And right on top - the envelope from Lahore General Hospital.

Before he could stop himself, he knocked once and stepped in.

She turned, startled. "Jibraan?"

He looked at the suitcase, then back at her. "So it's true?"

Her lips parted. "I... I'm just packing in case I decide-"

"You already decided." His voice wasn't angry. Just quiet. Controlled.

"I haven't," she said quickly, walking toward him. "I just wanted to see what I'd need if I-"

"If you what, Haya?" he asked softly, eyes locked on hers. "If you leave?"

Silence.

Her throat tightened. "It's a big opportunity."

"I know," he nodded. "I read the hospital's name. Big city. Bigger hospital. Huge name for your career."

"Then why do you look like that?" she asked, barely a whisper.

"Because you didn't tell me."

She blinked.

"You told everyone but me," he continued. "I had to find out from a half-open door and a suitcase."

"I didn't mean to hide it-"

"Then why did you?"

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Then finally said, "Because I didn't want to know what you'd say. Or worse - that you wouldn't say anything at all."

His jaw tightened, but only for a second. Then he stepped closer.

"I would've said," he said gently, "that I don't want you to go."

Her breath caught.

"But I'm not the kind of man who asks for what he doesn't deserve."

Her voice cracked. "What does that mean?"

"It means," he said, staring at her, "that you deserve to choose your dreams, your path. And I... I don't deserve to hold you back just because somewhere in between taunts and nok-jhoks, I started to fall-"

He stopped.

She froze.

He looked away for a second, exhaling sharply. "Forget it."

"No," she whispered. "Finish that sentence."

He looked at her again. No walls. No sarcasm. Just raw, unguarded emotion.

"I started to fall for you, Haya."

Her eyes brimmed.

"I don't like sweets. I don't like noise. I don't even like mehendi functions," he added with a soft laugh. "But I like you. A lot. And maybe that scares me more than your transfer ever could."

She stepped forward. "Then why didn't you stop me?"

"Because I was waiting for you to want to stay. For me."