A few months later, in the middle of the night, Anisa jolted awake from a nightmare, screaming. "Hasan, no! Don't grab me! Let go, you're hurting me!" She awoke in a cold sweat, her body trembling, her face pale. "It was such a terrible nightmare," she thought, sitting up. She reached for the glass of water on her bedside table, drinking it in shaky gulps. š°
After a moment of gathering herself, she picked up her phone and called Yugh. The call rang in Singh's house, waking Yugh from a deep sleep. Seeing "Anisa š" on the screen, he sat up in alarm and answered. "Yes, Anisa? Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep but laced with concern.
"I'm sorry, Yugh, for calling you so late and bothering you. I got really scared, that's all," she said. š²
"Scared? Why?"
"I had a dream... Hasan was forcing himself on me, kissing me. I woke up because I was so scared of that dream," she confessed, her voice breaking. š
"It's alright, Anisa. Don't be afraid. Stay right there. I'm coming to see you, to your place," he said, understanding immediately. He hung up, quickly changed out of his nightclothes, rushed to his car, and started driving towards her apartment at speed.
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Meanwhile, elsewhere, Asifa suddenly cried out in the night, clutching her abdomen in pain. The sound woke Hasan's mother in the next room, who hurried to her side. š©āš¦³
"Asifa, dear, what's wrong? Are you in pain?" she asked urgently.
"Yes, Mom... I think the baby is coming," Asifa gasped through the pain. With the help of staff, Hasan's mother quickly arranged to take Asifa to the hospital. Medical staff arrived and guided her into the labour room. The clock on the wall read 3:00 AM, the deepest hour of the night, yet a time for new beginnings. In one car, a man rushed to soothe the fears of a past trauma. In another, a woman was rushed towards the painful, beautiful brink of a new life, the darkness of the night holding both anxiety and profound hope. š