Chapter 3

I lifted my heavy lids to almost get blinded by the bright lights. I blinked a few times to adjust to the bright lights before finally figuring out where I was.

I looked around to see that I was in a hospital gown. Why was I at the hospital? And who brought me here?

I tried to sit up but only ended up being held back by a throbbing pain at the base of my forehead . I placed my hand on my forehead to feel a... bandage? What was going on?

Creek

I heard the door opening so I rested my head back on my pillow.

A nurse walked in with a tray filled with cotton wool, an injection and so on. She noticed that I had regained consciousness and smiled at me before placing the tray on the table next to my bed.

"I see you've regained consciousness, how are you feeling?" She said with the bright smile still plastered .

I ignored her question and instead, gave her one of my own. "Who brought me here?" I really needed to know the answer. It was obvious Khadijah couldn't have, and dad....

Her smile faded as she thought for a while, before finally answering. "Someone called Laila Saleem. She said she was your friend". She said before continuing my check up.

Laila Saleem? A friend? Who was this person and why did she say she was my friend? Whoever she was,she must be a really nice person to help a complete stranger.

I observed her for a while, I watched as she changed my drip and arranged the items on the tray once more before making her way out of the room.

Before she made her way out the door, I called her attention once more. " When did she bring me here?"

The nurse stopped in her tracks before slowly turning back to meet my eyes.

"She brought you in here around two weeks ago". The nurse said. She waited for a few minutes, expecting me to asked her another question when an idea popped up in my head.

"Can you ask her to come see me. Tell her that I want to speak with her". I said without looking up to see the nurse's face.

Two weeks ago? That was around the time I came to this city. What happened that day that I ended up in the hospital? And who is this so-called Laila Saleem?

My head continued to hurt as my thoughts went haywire. I looked over to my side and saw a glass of water on the and beside it, I saw my phone, wallet and everything else I had on me that day. I found it quite strange that no one had bothered to visit me this past two weeks I've been in the hospital. What was I thinking? Why would I expect anyone to come visit me? Maybe that's the perk's of not being married at 28.

I shook off my thoughts as I reached out to grab the glass on the table. My head hurt, but my throat burned even more. As soon as my fingers touched the glass, I struggled to sit up straight before I could fully grasp it. Without wasting a second, I chugged down the water and emptied the glass, feeling a wave of relief wash over me as I placed the glass back where I took it from, stealing a slight glance at my phone in the process.

Would it be the best decision to take a look at it? See if anyone had tried to reach out to me while I was away? The urge to check if my father or even my sister had actually tried to contact was too strong to hold back. And before I could even manage to stop myself, I reached out to grab my phone .

I looked through my missed calls, and like I had expected, there weren't any...

I thought of calling my sister, but then again, if she couldn't even reach out to call me for two weeks, then why should I?

I reluctantly put my phone back on the table as I settled myself for my visitor. If this idea of mine works, then maybe dad and Khadijah would stop blocking me out of their lives and finally accept me as their family.

I waited, for what seemed like forever. The nurse brought me my food and I anyone came to see me but she said no.

How long could someone actually take to get to a hospital? Or maybe she wasn't coming? I was starting to loose hope on this golden opportunity I had to gain my father's respect when I heard the door creek.

I turned my attention towards it and watched carefully as the door slowly opened to reveal a young dark-skined woman who looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see her. Was that this so-called Laila Saleem?

She wore a red and orange striped gown that would've almost dragged on the floor if she didn't wear heels. She had her hair covered with a cap underneath a lonscarf that matched her gown perfectly. But one thing I couldn't stop staring at were her dark brown eyes. One thing that illuminated every part of her face perfectly.

She looked very nervous upon seeing me as she slowly made her way to the chair right next to my bed. She kept her head low, probably avoiding meeting my gaze as she spoke, "you wanted to see-". I cut her short by speaking up, which for some reason got her attention.

"Take a seat". I said as I observed as she slowly did as I said, all while avoiding my gaze .

I watched as she fidgeted with the sleeves of her gown before breaking the silence. I wanted to get this over and done with." You're Laila Saleem ". I asked.

"Yes". She said in a low voice. Still avoiding my eyes. It almost seemed like she was intimidated by my gaze, so to ease the tension, I looked at the TV Infront of me.

"You're the one who saved me". I asked again, keeping my eyes glued to the blank TV screen.

"Yes, but som-"

"Will you marry me?" I asked, cutting her short. She seemed taken aback by my question and took some time to answer. I maintained my gaze at the TV.

"What!" She finally answered. I turned to look at her. She looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"I said, will you marry me?" I repeated, just to get the point clear.

"What! You barely even know me. Why would you want to marry me?" She seemed so shocked by the question. I turned my head back to look at the TV as I switched it on. A video of her and some guy helping me to a car played with the headlines 'GIRL SAVES HEIR OF MULTIMILLION DOLLAR COMPANY ' before I turned it off again.

"Now will you still say you don't know me?" I asked her trying to get this over with. The sooner she agrees, the sooner I get my life back to normal.

"Yes! And you can't expect me to agree to your proposal because of that!" She seemed to be getting annoyed, it was obvious, anyone in her place would be getting annoyed, but I was even more pissed.

"It's a yes or no question". I finally spoke. Her answer was more important to me than she thought.

"At least let me know why you want to marry me?" She asked. I starred back at her for a while before finally looking away. It hurt to remember why I'm even doing this in the first place, but she deserved to know.

I sighed, before finally speaking. "My mom wanted me to get married. It was her last wish before she died, something she wanted to see so badly but wasn't able to. My dad respected her wishes and told me that if I don't find a way to get married soon, he'd make sure he makes my sister, Khadijah, the heir of his business. And now to respect my mother's wishes and maintain my status as the heir of M&C Jeweler's, I'd have to get married". Of course I didn't tell her the full truth. I left the part where both my sister and my dad are ignoring me presence in their life until I get married.

She didn't say anything for a while, gathering her thoughts, before she finally spoke, "But why'd you choose me though?"

I was taken aback by her question but remained calm. If I was being honest, I didn't have a clear reason for choosing her, maybe because she saved my life. Or was it because I saw her kindness incomparable.

"Because you saved my life". I finally replied .

"So...if some other girl replaced me back there... you'd have chosen her?" She asked. I didn't have an answer to her question, or maybe it was just that I didn't want to admit my answer. The fact that I didn't choose her mainly because she saved my life, but because I saw something different in her that I'd never seen in any other girl up until now. I looked away for a second before finally meeting her eyes.

"No". I finally replied. She looked a bit relieved by my reply and I wondered why, before snapping back to reality.

"So are you willing to accept this proposal? Please, just say yes. I'd do anything you want me to. And it doesn't have to be a real marriag. It would be bound by a contract. All you have to do is say yes ". At this point I'd do anything to convince, even if it is to beg. It's not like as if it was a love marriage, or, that we were getting married at all....

I observed her as she thought through my words. No Matt how much she tried, she'd never be able to understand why I was doing this.

"Yes". She suddenly replied.

'Niether will I be able to understand her reasons for doing this'...