ENOUGH OF THE RIVALRY

Back at the hospital.....

Zara was sitting on the bed in her room after throwing a fit and making a mess of the entire room. She sat on the bed tired and panting,trying to catch her breath when a nurse ran in. "Thank God! Doctor Al kaseem is back. He should come take care of this crazy woman. I can't deal with her anymore".the nurse told the other nurse who was fixing an injection for Zara after she destroyed the other one.

'What? he is back? After keeping me waiting for so long now?' Zara said inwardly and her mind wondered else where. She saw the nurses leaving her roomp quietly and she didn't even bother with them.

"Mother,here, your phone" Suraj said as he handed Mrs Karina her phone.

"Thanks son,you both should go ahead. i'll just ....."

"Hmm! You want to see the director before leaving right mum? Hehe.....you don't need to hide it anymore. We both know you and the director are seeing each other. no wonder he has been overly nice and sweet to me these days" Leylah teased her mother.

"Woah! You..."Mrs Karina was left speechless.

"Its okay,say hello to my step dad for me. We'll go ahead now" Leylah said and winked at her mother and held Suraj's hand as they left.

"Tsk tsk,this girl catches on on everything so fast" Mrs Karina smiled and just as she was about leaving,she saw someone rushing towards Leylah and Suraj's direction from the opposite direction.

She looked like a maniac from her appearance. her hair was messy,dress rumbled and her appearance just looked scary. Mrs Karina looked at her for and a while but when she saw the lady's hand,she was alarmed and rushed quickly to Leylah's side.

"Klutch!"

"Mother,mother...hey.....somebody Come here quickly" Suraj shouted and the two nurses that were close ran and helped them when they saw what happened.

Few minutes earlier...

Zara got furious thinking that Leylah has successfully taken Suraj away from her and Suraj was always angry at her and it was all because of Leylah.

He doesn't look at her the way he used to before. He never smiles at her but with Leylah it's as so easy for him to laugh.

And the way he looks at Leylah with his beautiful eyes, so lovingly and tenderly makes Zara hate Leylah even more.

"I can't let her take him away from me,he is also mine but since she doesn't want to share,she's left me with no choice"

"Nabeela scolds me now but is best friends with her all of a sudden"

"Enough of the rivalry Leylah,its time to take back what belongs to me" Zara said as she looked at the knife in front of her. She had left her room earlier to take a walk and ended up in the hospital kitchen.

She saw Leylah holding hands with Suraj and laughing happily,the sight alone infuriates her. She dashed to Leylah with the knife in her hand and without having any thought. The only thing in her mind was to end her one and only rival.

Leylah was shocked and just sat on the floor, where her mother had pushed her, shielding her from Zara's attack. She looked at the scene in front of her in horror.

After a while,realisation finally hit her and she snapped out of her daze, 'My mum has just been stabbed from a knife by Zara!!!'.

In the operation room.....

" Doctor, the patient is losing a lot of blood" a nurse said.

"We have to compress the site of the injury until we have achieved adequate resuscitation" the head surgeon instructed.

"okay doctor,am on it" a resident doctor replied.

"Doc I think we have a case of juxtahepatic venous injury" the assisting surgeon informed looking at the head surgeon.

"We failed in maneuvering to arrest the hemorrhage adequately" the assisting surgeon added.

"Okay,we need to perform the portal traid occupation with hepatocyte protection"

"Prepare large doses of steroids and a topical hypothermia,we have to protect the hepatocyte quickly" the head surgeon said and everyone got to work.

Couple of hours later....

Leylah was pacing up and down,she was going out of her mind. They have been waiting outside the operation room now for hours and nobody has come out to inform them about the situation about her mother.

Mrs Karina was immediately rushed to the operation room as the knife wound was deep. the doctor told them the knife penetrated her liver,but that was the only information they've got. its been hours now and nobody is coming out to tell them of any progress.

"Calm down my dear,your mother is a very strong woman and she will fight this. The surgery will be a success and your mum will be back up strong again....mm. So just come sit here and rest a bit". Mrs Najma tried to convince Leylah. She has been standing and pacing around for hours now.

" yes doctor maleek,you should sit down a little. Standing for a long time isn't good for you and the baby" the directed said.

He was waiting for Mrs Karina in his office because she had called him saying that she was in the hospital that afternoon. He was waiting in his office but got impatient when she wasn't coming and went to meet her.

He knew she will probably be in Leylah's office,so he went there. But before he arrived there, he got the news of the accident. He was devastated and shocked.

He instructed the best surgeons they had in the hospital to lead the operation so that the surgery will be a success. He has developed strong feelings for this woman and cannot afford to lose her now.

"Here have some water my love,mother will be just fine InshaAllah. She has the beat surgeons in there so everything will go well InshaAllah...Come on" Suraj coaxed Leylah,trying to make her relax.

He was very scared when everything happened so suddenly. he helped bring Mrs Karina to the OR. They didn't allow him or Leylah into the OR knowing their relationship with the Patient. Leylah went crazy and everything overwhelmed him.

He quickly called his mother and Nabeela to come over because he was also shocked and couldn't seem to think straight,let alone comfort Leylah.

"Babe" Leylah called him in a low voice after sipping a little from the water.

Suraj was in a crouching position in front of her while she was seated on the seat close to Mrs Najma and Nabeela.

"Mm" Suraj said as he held her small hands which were trembling in his and looked into her swollen eyes which were red from crying.

"Mum is going to be okay right?" Leylah asked as her voice broke and she started crying again.

"Yes,I promise you my love. InshaAllah mother will be alright. So stop crying please,you've been crying for long and its really hurting me and our baby" Suraj said squeezing her hands as he used his other hand to wipe her tears.

Some minutes later,the head surgeon and the assisting surgeon finally came out. They were all sweating and looked exhausted from the several hours of surgery.

Leylah quickly rushed to them with Suraj holding her. Mrs Najma,Nabeela and the director followed them too.

"How is my mum doing? How is she doctor?" Leylah asked anxiously and Suraj squeezed her hand gesturing for her to relax.

"Doctor how was the Surgery?" The director asked.

"Ahmm,She lost a lot of blood and the knife penetrated to her liver just like I told you earlier..." the head surgeon started to explaining but got rudely interrupted by Leylah.

"We know that already, was the Surgery a success or not?" Leylah shouted impatiently.

"It was a success doctor even though we encountered a case of juxtahepatic venous injury. She has been transferred to the ICU" the assisting doctor interjected.

He took a deep breath then continued, "We did our best but am afraid she doesn't have much time to live". The assisting doctor said without filtering his words.

He didn't mean to make things hard for them but they still need to tell the family member the severity of the situation. There was no time to waste.

" what?"

"How do you mean she doesn't....."

Mrs Najma and the director were questioning the doctors but Leylah dragged her feeble legs and rushed to the ICU to see her mother.

When she got into the room,she saw her mother on the bed,connected to a lot of tubes and cables. The nurse was adjusting her oxygen mask.

"Mum....." Leylah cried as she saw her mother in such state. The nurse quickly brought Leylah out and made sure that Leylah wore the designated gown,a hair net and a hand glove before she allowed her to enter back into the room.

Suraj also did the same and entered the room,Leylah held her mother's hand in hers and caressed her face. she cried seeing her beautiful mother looking at her weakly.

Suraj stood beside her and tried to console her,he was also silently crying even though he tried so hard not to. He has never seen Mrs Karina look so weak and helpless before. The sight broke his heart.

"M...my.....dar...li...." Mrs Karina tried to speak but her voice choked. Her felt felt pain in her throat and her voice was horse.

"Shh mum,don't say anything my darling mummy. You must be in so much pain". Leylah stopped her mother from talking and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Why did you do that mum? You shouldn't have stepped in for me then...then....you wouldn't be hurt now and be in this state." Leylah scolded her mother lightly and Mrs Karina looked at her with a sorry expression on her face.

"Sorry,I shouldn't scold you. How cruel of me to be scolding a sick patient" Leylah forced a bitter laugh.

" I won't let you leave me you hear me? You will stay here with me for a very long time. You will see your grand child and spoil her just like you did to me. Mm my sweet mummy".

"You can't even think of leaving now because you still have to get married to the director and let me call him step dad officially".

"Just one thing though,you two shouldn't even think of having a child together" Leylah warned jokingly and Suraj laughed and Mrs Karina smiled.

"I'll be your only child,your only darling daughter,Leylah okay mum?" Leylah continued to blabber. she just kept talking to hide her fear. She was very scared after she heard what the doctors said few minutes ago.

"Mother please forgive me for not protecting you from that situation. Punish me later but please stay with us,we really need you now more than ever" Suraj said squeezing Leylah's shoulders to hold his tears back in.

Mrs Karina looked at them and felt a pang of pain in her heart,she can't believe she is leaving her children so soon. She shook her head slightly to push her tears back in.

How cruel this life is,she has so many things she wants to do for Leylah before she left this world. She didn't want to leave her only daughter at this stage of her life. its is really going to take a toll on her but what can she do now?.

Mrs Karina smiled bitterly at them as she used all the strength in her to squeeze onto Leylah's hand. She looked at Suraj and fluttered her eye lashes.

'Take good care of yourselves and my grand child. Am sorry I couldn't stay with you all,forgive me'.

Tears fell from Mrs Karina eyes and she started to jerk and shake violently on the bed. She was having a seizure.

Leylah was alarmed as she saw her mother shaking like that. She and Suraj quickly turned her to her side to keep her airway clear.

The nurse present quickly called the doctors who operated on Mrs Karina. They came with the director,Mrs Najma and Nabeela.

After a few minutes the monitor started peeping,everyone quickly turned and look at it in shock.

"Mother" Suraj said with in a terrifying voice and in the next minute,he started performing CPR quickly on Mrs Karina.

"No mum.....no.....no.....no,please don't do this to me .I won't be able to survive it" Leylah shouted as she cried.

The director pulled Leylah away from Mrs Karina when the doctors started using the defibrillator since there wasn't still a response even from Suraj's CPR.

After a few minutes, they recorded the time of death of Mrs Karina. The doctors gave their condolences to the family and left. Suraj collapsed on the floor in beads of sweat and he looked lost.

Leylah was all over her mother crying and jerking her to open her eyes with Mrs Najma and Nabeela holding her as the nurse was covering Mrs Karina with a colth.

The director just stood there lost and dejected as he watched the woman he has come to love and was willing to give everything for, just leave like that.