OS: Memory

'Bhaijaan...I found her, there she is the one in the blue top' Najma pointed out the girls who had so bravely helped from some goons. Asad walked up to the girl with Najma close behind 'ummm...excuse me' Asad called out to her to get her attention and that was all that he could get out for a long time. The girl that just turned around had surely just descended from heaven, Asad had never seen anyone so angelic so beautiful, her golden brown eyes that sparkled, her gorgeous smiles and that dimple had him totally mesmerised...MashAllah!

Najma nudged her brother for the third time 'bhaijaan what is wrong with you?' Asad quickly shook his head to bring himself back to reality 'umm...sorry...no I mean I wanted to thank you for helping my sister, it was very brave of you to jump in like that...' 'Its ok...really you don't need to thank me at all, I couldn't sit there and watch those random idiots taunt and upset anyone...I mean how dare they...but don't worry am sure they on be repeating their little stunt anytime soon' Asad couldn't help smiling at this beautiful stranger, she was so animated, someone who seemed to be full of life. 'Even though...thank you Miss...?' 'Zoya...Zoya Farooqui ' Zoya held out her hand which Asad took reluctantly 'I'm Asad...Asad Ahmed Khan...is there somewhere we can drop you off...it's the least we can do' Najma looked at Zoya and nodded her head as if to say please come 'sure, I am staying at the Seven Kings Hotel, you can drop me off there' Asad smiled at her and then led her and Najma to he car.

Zoya sat in the back with Najma their non stop chatter kept Asad entertained. 'Zoya you have to come home one day ammi would love to meet you' 'I can't promise, I am only here for a few days and then I go back' Asad looked at her though the rear view mirror she was leaving already 'I have only just met her how can she be leaving so soon, I don't know anything about her' he frantically thought to himself 'Miss Farooqui...what do you do? I mean you say you are leaving in a few days, are you here on business' Asad tried to keep his question as general and as open as he could, the last thing he wanted was for her to think he was being nosey. 'Yes, I came here through my university there are a number of international conferences taking place I had to come here and then on Wednesday I fly out to Melbourne' Zoya looked at Najma who was pouting like a little girl, Zoya found her very cute, being an only child she didn't know what it felt like to have siblings not wanting Najma to feel bad Zoya pulled out a card from her purse 'here...this is my card, it has my mobile number and email address, you can message me or call me when ever you like' Najma looked at her wide eyes she jumped up in excitement 'really...thank you so much Zoya'. Asad came round to open the door for Zoya 'thank you Mr Khan, it was very kind of you, it was lovely meeting you both...take care' Zoya hugged Najma and gave Asad a heart warming mile before she walked away.

'Bhaijaan can I borrow your laptop please?' 'Yeah sure...you have another assignment to do?' 'No I wanted to email Zoya, she is leaving for Melbourne tomorrow I just want to say goodbye'. Asad felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of her name, his mind went back to when he first saw her, for the first time Asad Ahmad Khan felt his heartbeat race and that too for a girl. 'Najma, I am on late duty tonight can you please remind ammi, and also remind her to take her medication, I need to re run some of her tests next week' 'aye aye Dr Asad Ahmad Khan...will pass on your messages...see you in the morning'.

Asad had recently graduated as a doctor he was in his second year of house training after which he would chose his specialism. For the past few weeks Asad had been working in A&E, something he enjoyed, it kept him going especially during he nights. Asad was onto his third case for the evening, a young boy who had fractured his arm play fighting with his older brother, as Asad was about to prep him to be plastered a nurse came running in Dr Asad there has been a serious accident involving a lorry and three cars, they are bringing the injured here we need you in trauma' Asad nodded 'take over from here and once you have finished come back to me'. Asad made his way and met up with other doctors that had been called in to deal with what was coming. After a few minutes the first of seven people seriously injured was brought in by an ambulance, after a few more minutes they had all started coming in one by one.

Asad was working on an elderly man and a young boy believed to be his son. The son was not so badly hurt he needed a few stitches to the forehead, whilst his father was unconscious every team surrounded the patience being brought in. As Asad was injecting the elderly man the paramedics brought in a female victim Dr Kiran shouted out for Asad to come 'nurse I need you to get Dr Dev right now, I need this patient to be X-rayed as soon as possible' Asad turned to the young boy 'don't worry, we have the best people here, nothing will happen to him' the boy gave him a faint smile and whispered a thank you before Asad left.

Upon reaching the resuscitation room Asad walked up to the female patient that had been badly hurt, her face was covered in blood from the deep cut she had suffered just above her eyebrow. As Asad put on his surgical overalls an gloves Dr. Kiran ran through her vitals and stats, the patients had a deep cut across the side of her head, they needed to operate immediately to stop the bleeding. Asad was going to be assisting Dr Kiran with the surgery.

The nurse had just finished wiping the patients face of all the blood when Asad turned around and froze 'Zoya' he whispered in shock 'Zoya' he said louder as he ran to her 'you know her?' Dr Kiran asked Asad who was too shocked to speak nodded his head 'Dr Asad are you ok to do this, I can get someone else to help' 'no' Asad almost shouted Asad closed his eyed and took in a deep breath 'I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...I meant no I want to do this...I am ok'.

Asad stood over her 'Ya Allah please don't let anything happen to her, Ya Allah if I ask anything of you it's for you to save her life' The surgery took over three hours, by the end of it Zoya had been transferred to ICU, Asad had requested he be allowed to take over her case, so was with her the whole night. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her he sat beside her and took her hand into his, 'I don't really know you but I feel like I am connected to you, like I have known you for years, if you an hear me Zoya I want you to know that you will be ok, I won't let anything happen to you, I will take care of you'.

Dr Kiran came in to check on Zoya, Asad stood up to talk to his senior 'Dr we have made checks through the police, the patients doesn't seem to have any family here, from what they found in her belongings she seemed to be here on a business and IT conference and was on her way to Australia...at the moment there is no one we can really inform' Asad felt his heart constrict as he looked at her 'if we can find out what university she is from, maybe we can find some one through them, or better still wait until the morning, when she will be able to tell us more'. Dr Kiran nodded and left Asad to continue to observe her.

In the morning Dr Kiran was called to ICU as Zoya had started to regain consciousness. Asad came running back from the nurses station as soon as he heard 'hello...Zoya I am Dr Kiran, you are in St Mary's Hospital, you were involved in an accident...' As Dr Kiran continued to talk to Zoya her eyes wondered around the room blankly, she looked at Asad who kept smiling at her trying to talk to her through his eyes, as if to say Zoya it's me Asad. Dr Kiran placed her hand over Zoya's to avert her attention back towards her, Zoya looked down at her hands and then up again at Dr Kiran 'Zoya...do you know where you are?' Zoya shook her head Dr Kiran looked up at Asad who reciprocated the concern in her eyes. Dr Kiran looked back at Zoya and asked her a multiple of question, which Zoya did not know the answers to. Asad started to panic he ran towards her and took her hand in his 'Zoya, it's me Asad you know right...and Najma...remember you saved her from those goons?' Zoya withdrew her hand scared 'no' she whispered Asad stumbled back. How could this be, he looked at Dr Kiran as his eyes moistened, Dr Kiran stood up and took Asad outside 'Dr it's not...it can't be...she doesn't even...' Dr Kiran placed her hand on his shoulder Asad you are a doctor foremost you need to calm down, you know very well what has just happened, Zoya has lost her memory, we obviously won't know anymore until we do further tests she has just undergone a horrific accident as well as life threatening surgery, it will take time for her to recover and I will ensure we have the best neurology team and psychiatrists working with her, you know yourself its too early to say anything. For now just go with she says'.

The days turned into weeks, Zoya started to make excellent progress but the only thing that remained was she had no past memory of who she was and where she came from, the doctors, Asad as well as Najma tried everything they could but nothing helped. Asad sat on the sofa, every minute of everyday his mind went back to Zoya 'bhaijaan where will Zoya go, she has no one' Najma asked as she wiped her tears, Asad ran his fingers through his hair 'she will come here and stay with us, she will be a part of this family' Asad and Najma stood up to face Dilshad 'ammi...really are you serious?' Najma asked with renewed excitement 'yes why wouldn't I be serious...Asad when Zoya is discharged from hospital tomorrow you bring her straight here, I will make sure the guest room is ready for her' Asad smiled at his mum, he felt a sense of great relief wash over him.

Asad walked in with Zoya as soon as she came through the door she grabbed hold of his hand, she entwined her fingers with his and walked behind him as if she was scared. 'Its ok Zoya, it's just Najma, who you have met and my mum' Asad held her hand I between both of his as he tried to calm her nerves. 'Aasalam O Alaikum Zoya, come beta' Dilshad stood in front of Zoya with her arms open, Zoya looked at Asad who gestured with his eyes saying its ok go. 'Ammi' she whispered looking at him 'yes...ammi...go Zoya' Asad led her toward Dilshad and then let go of her hand Zoya took a few nervous steps towards her before she engulfed her into a hug.

...One Year Later...

'Ammi why don't you understand I can't believe of all people you are siding with her' Asad I didn't ask for an argument...answer the question yes or no...Asad do you love her...yes or no?' Asad had been arguing the same argument for the last four months he fisted his hands and closed his eyes the pain, he frustration he felt no one could understand. Dilshad carried on looking at him, today she stood her ground she was not letting him go until she got all the answers 'what do you want me to say ammi?' Dilshad put her hand on his cheek and caressed it 'whatever is in your heart beta I want the truth'. 'The truth...the truth is that I love Zoya more than anything in this world, I feel like that every minute very second of my life every breath I take is only for her...but ammi what you are failing to understand and accept is that Zoya's memory could come back at anytime...or it may never come back. I can take that risk I can't marry her' 'Asad it's not like Zoya doesn't know all this, she loves you beta and wants to be with you why is that so wrong?' 'Under any other circumstance it wouldn't be wrong...ammi she has no recollection of her past, we tried so hard but could not find anyone here or in America, what if after the nikah her memory comes back and refuses to recognise me, you, the life she has made here for the last year...ammi I can do it not to her nor to myself'.

Dilshad knew what Asad was saying carried weight she knew that it was a risk but in all this what she couldn't bare to see was to people who were so much in love with one another be apart because of what my happen. Zoya had been asking Asad to marry her for a long time, for her it was the most natural thing to do once they had admitted and declared their love for one another, but Asad always put it off. This time he felt cornered he couldn't get them to see or understand what they were asking him of, what they were doing to both of them. Asad's biggest fear was that Zoya would not remember him and their love and that she would claim to have someone else in her life.

Asad stood in the garden taking in the cold breeze that passed him, he suddenly felt two arms wrap around his waist, Zoya held him from the back and rested her head between his shoulders. 'Asad please don't take his away from me...' Zoya started crying Asad quickly tuned around and held her close wiping her tears 'Zoya...please why...' Zoya didn't let him finish 'if you were going to take yourself away from me then why bring me into your life, why didn't you just leave me at the hospital or better still why didn't you let me die' 'ZOYA' Asad grabbed both of her shoulders, Zoya broke down in his arms 'Zoya' 'Asad I'll die without you please Asad let me be with you...I promise you that no matter what happens I will always be with you...my first memory is of you Asad and I want my last one to be of you as well...I will pray everyday that Allah never gives me back what He took that day, because what He gave me in return is what has given meaning to my life...I love you Asad and I want to be yours in every way possible' Asad cupped Zoya's face and kissed her on the forehead 'I love you too...ok Zoya we will do it and then just take one day at a time'. Zoya smiled through her tears and jumped up into his arms.

Asad looked up and sent a silent prayer to his creator 'Ya Allah, that day I asked you to save her and you did, today I ask you to save us...please be with us'.