Masqué Chapter 13

That last cliff hanger was probably the strongest cliff hanger I ever used on any of my stories/chapters. =)) Sorry for being so evil but believe me, it was worth it. Hope you enjoy this chapter. :D

Dedicated to: @LuluAFK, my meanie cutie patootie♥, haha I love your quirky DMs, always makes me laugh! And to @Sharifa_alk, who's the most sweetest person. :*

Any other silent readers who haven't commented yet? I love hearing from everyone. :D x


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I felt the lights blind my eyes through my closed eyelids. I forced my eyes open and squinted at the light bulbs that were shooting right at me. The light dissolved slowly and finally, I could see what was in front of me.


I was in a hospital room. The walls were cream coloured, the furniture were wooden and there were a few portraits hung over the walls to make the room a bit more cozier.


To me, all it did was make the room even more blank and untouched. There was no one in the room, there were a couple of roses and lilies on the table next to me that hinted that people were in this room when I wasn't conscious.


I tried to sit up but I felt a sharp pain slice into my chest. I peeked under the covers and the dara3a I was wearing, I found that my chest was bandaged. I tried to lay back down as carefully as possible, wincing every second when the pain came rushing back.


The memories of the car crash flooded back into my head. 


Saif.


He wasn't wearing a seat belt.


Where was Saif?!


My eyes filled with tears again as I remembered the image of his handsome face being covered with blood. 

I heard a click, I quickly turned to the right and found that the wooden door was pushed open by a tall figure. 

"7bebte g3dtay? Shlounich al7een?" He asked with a worried tone. The woman behind him hurried over to my side, her hands grabbing mine.

 "Benti! Shlounich?!" She cried out, her small eyes full of tears.


"Wein omi?" I asked, confused.


"Ana omich.." The woman replied in disbelief.


"La2.. entay mu omi." I yanked my hands away from her. "Entayy ely khatheiteeny Switzerland!"


That woman, who was grabbing me in the airport was her. I remembered everything. She wasn't my mother. She was the liar. The kidnapper. Both of them were.


"Amal.. 7bebty.. what are you saying?" The woman took a step back, looking at me in horror.


"You kidnapped me!" I yelled back at her, my voice full of anger. I clenched the sheets over me, trying to calm myself down since the pain in my chest was exceeding.


My heart rate was racing, I felt the beeper go off next to me, indicating that my heart was beating too fast.


"T7achay 3adil, hathee omich!" The man yelled back.


"Enta mu obouy! Wla ehya omi! You've lied to me for years, how can you stand lying to me for another second?!" I yelled, the pain in my chest was unbearable. It caused me to wince out in pain, I grabbed my chest, trying to lay back down.


"It's the drugs." The man said to the woman. As if the medicine the hospital gave me would have made me act this way.


"La2.. she remembers everything." The woman whispered back in disbelief, her small eyes staring into my almond ones.


-Flashback-

"Mama, wein ray7een?" I asked Mom, looking up at her dark skinned face and her friendly almond eyes.

"Binrou7 bait khaltich, mama ana maree'9a fa lazem arou7 London 3shan at3alaj. Ma ra7 tig3deen 3ndehom wayed, bas lema a6eeb 7bebty, okay?" Mom crouched down to the ground to pull me into her arms, I hugged her as tight as I could. I didn't want to leave her but she said Dad would be with her. I also liked being at Auntie's house, it was big, just like a princess's mansion. 

We were standing outside Auntie's house. Auntie opened the door, her small eyes looking down at Mom and I, who were still hugging each other. Mom finally let go of me, the tears in my eyes were increasing.

"Mama.. digeega la trou7een al7een!" I yelled as Mom walked away. Auntie grabbed my hand, forcing me to enter her vast house.

"Khalti.. digeega bas.. abe Mama!" I begged Auntie Najla. Her small eyes and milky skin didn't resemble mine, she didn't look like my mother at all. 

"Yalla omich lazem etrou7, be a good girl now or no cookies for you." Auntie Najla said, closing the door behind us, closing the view of my mother's back. 

The tears were spilling over. How long did I have to stay here? When could I see my parents again?

"I always wanted a daughter like you.." I heard Auntie Najla say, her small eyes widening in wonder as her fingers combed back my long mahogany hair. We were in her living room now and she kept playing with my hair as my tears never stopped spilling over.

"Amoula, laish z3lana?" Auntie Najla asked me.

"Abe Mama." I sobbed. Was Mom going to die because of this sickness?

"Shrayich nel3ab le3ba?" Auntie Najla's eyes lit up.

"Le3ba?" I asked, the mention of a game distracted me from missing my mother.

"Eee, it's called 'house', I'll act like your Mom and you act like you're my daughter, shrayich?" Auntie asked.

"O-okay." I hiccuped. We played the game all day, I had to keep calling her "Mama" but whenever I said the word, I kept remembering my true mother, who was on her way to somewhere in the UK right now, who had to get her breast cancer treated.


I was hiding behind the kitchen counter. Auntie Najla said we'd play Hide and Seek. I waited for her to find me, there was a cookie jar on top of the counter. Auntie Najla was overweight, when she approached the counter, she bumped her hips against the counter. I didn't know if it was by accident or on purpose.


And the next thing I knew, the cookie glass jar fell on top of my head. The glass sliced into my forehead and skin. Causing me to fall back onto the ground, hitting my head the second time. The second fall was even harder, the concrete floor caused a large thud as my head grind-ed against it.


And after that. All my memories were washed away and replaced with new ones. For probably 14 years, I was playing "House" with Auntie Najla and her husband. Thinking that they were my parents, when my true parents were back here in Kuwait.


They were right in front of me. They walked past me in my Grandmother's house, having to act like they were nothing more than Uncle and Aunt to me..


Khalti Zainah was my true mother. She was the woman who played with Saif and I back in the days. She was the one who was always there. She was my true blood.


But how did they get away with it? How did they trick the hospitals, countries, onto thinking they were my true parents? How did they successfully kidnap me? Did they force my parents into signing the papers, into letting them adopt me legally?


Now I know why their families wouldn't speak to them. Their families didn't accept how they stole a child away from her own true parents.


"Amal?!" I heard Khalti Najla call out, crushing my memories and thoughts.


"Wein omi!?" I asked again, my voice venomous. "I remember everything, you can't lie to me anymore!"

At that same second, the door opened again. Auntie Najla and her husband were still shocked, they were simply speechless. "Auntie Zainah" walked in with Bibi and Turki behind her, both had worried expressions.

"Auntie Zainah" approached my side, her eyes full of worry. Bibi had tears in her eyes and Turki was holding Bibi's hand, trying to calm her down.

"7ayate entay, are you okay? Tabeen anady el doctor?" 'Auntie Zainah' asked worriedly. I extended my hand so I could grab hers. I watched her eyes avert down to our hands. Her skin was perfectly like mine, just as smooth and tanned.


"Mama." I breathed the word out, the pain in my chest fading away. 

(*Khalti Najlah was my aunt, she acted as my mother for all those years. She was the sister of my mother. How could Najla do that to her own sister? Take her own baby away?)


"Bentii." My mother breathed out the word, her eyes filling with tears. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into her warm chest. "You remember me, you remember your mother! I can't wait till I tell your father!"


I dug my face deep into her shoulder, not wanting to see Auntie Najla's crude face or her husband's. I couldn't look at their faces anymore. They disgusted me. They weren't my parents, I couldn't trust them with anything anymore.


"How did you let them take me away?" I sobbed into her shoulder, unable to let her go. I was too scared that someone was about to take my mother away for the second time.


"I didn't let them, I fought for you! They blackmailed us, they were the reason to your Grandfather's heart attack, allah yer7ema. I let you stay with Najla so I could get my cancer treated but she took you away from me. She was going to steal away the family's money with her blackmails, she was going to leave your Grandmother living in the streets if we took you away. We couldn't do anything. I regretted that choice your Grandfather made everyday Amal, he didn't want to see his wife on the streets. He chose his wife over my daughter.. We never stopped watching you, we sent out people to take pictures of you, we sometimes even visited Switzerland just to see you and then leave.." My mother was sobbing, her words turned into mumbles every once in a while but I still understood everything. Her words explained the pictures of me I found in the office that were taken when I didn't know.


"Ehya benti, mu bentich! Ana ely rabeit'ha!" I heard Khalti Najla yell, her husband was holding her back.


"She's my blood, not yours! It's not my fault that you can't have children!" My mother screamed, her voice booming. Bibi and Turki were watching the fight with shocked expressions on their faces.


"Amal ekhty?" Bibi asked in disbelief.


"Eee." Auntie Najla turned to look at Bibi, finally realizing that she was saying everything in front of her other two children. Bibi glared at Auntie Najla.


"Shloun tir'9ain takhtheen ekhty men ahalha?!" Bibi spat at my Aunt, her words like daggers.


"Yalla Najla, khan rou7." Najla's husband, the man I thought to be my father, tried to pull Najla away.


"Ma ra7 akhaly benti!" Najla screamed out, her arms trying to free herself from her husband's grip.


"EHYA MU BENTICH, MU KAFI ELY SAWEENAH?" Her husband yelled at her in a loud voice. 

Najla stared back at her husband in shock, she turned around and stalked out of the room without another word. Her husband followed her out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Amal, are you okay?" Bibi literally ran over to my side, her eyes skimming over mine.

"No." I said truthfully. "But I will be." I turned to look up at my mother, the pain in my chest becoming more bearable now. 


"Great, now I have two sisters I have to keep up with." Turki huffed, causing my mother, Bibi and I to laugh. Turki eventually came to my side and gave me a side hug, whispering "welcome to the family" into my ear.


"I always believed that Najla pushed that cookie jar over your head to make you forget." My mother whispered to herself, her hand in mine, holding onto it tightly.


"After knowing she kidnapped me, she's capable of anything in my eyes.. el7amdellah, I remembered everything." I said to myself, trying to reassure my mother.


"Bibi.. wein Saif?" I suddenly remembered the worst of my problems right now.


"Amal.. he's.." Bibi's eyes filled with tears again. Turki lowered his head down to the ground in sadness.

"Bashoufa Bibi.." I begged Bibi to continue, but I knew she wouldn't. They helped me transfer onto a wheel chair without a word. Turki and Mom decided to stay back in my room, leaving Bibi and I alone.

Bibi pushed the wheel chair down the hall. I tried to comb back my hair with my fingers. I knew I looked horrible but it didn't hurt trying to look a bit better, did it?

Bibi stopped in front of a closed door, she pulled it open and pushed my wheel chair into the room. My grandmother was sitting by Saif's bed with his parents and Nawaf.

Saif was lying back on his bed, his room was just like mine. His eyes were shut, he had a tube in his mouth, several wires connected to his body and his right leg was in a cast. His face was full of bruises, his head was bandaged and his bottom lip was swollen.

It brought tears to my eyes. Everyone turned to look at me as I watched Saif in silence. Even with all the bruises, bandages and cuts, he was still handsome.

"He's in a coma." Nawaf was first to speak. 

"Amal, lazem tirta7een, laish ga3da?" My Grandmother cut Nawaf off.

"Eee Amal, a7sanlich etrideen darich 3shan tigdireen tirta7een." Saif's mother, Khalti Ghaneema, said in a sad tone. Her eyes had streaks of red and her eyelids were swollen, showing hints of nights she spent crying over her son.


"Shloun arta7 chithe?" I gestured towards Saif's frozen body. His chest was moving, he was still breathing but he still looked lifeless. I couldn't stop the tears from flooding my eyes, my chest was filled with pain as it was heaving up and down. I couldn't breathe.


"Amal!" Bibi exclaimed, noticing how hard it was for me to breathe.


"Take me closer to him." I pushed the words out. I gasped, forcing a lungful of air back into my chest, trying to quiet down my heavy breathing.


"Nad el doctor Nawaf!" Khalti Ghaneema ordered, her worried eyes staring at me.


Nawaf hurried out of the room, trying to call a doctor for me. 


"Bibi, take me closer to Saif!" I begged. I couldn't control my breathing and I was running out of time. Bibi quickly pushed the wheel chair over to where Saif was lying. I noticed Saif's parents and my grandmother quietly leave the room, leaving me alone with Saif.

I stared at his angelic face. I traced a finger over his cut that sliced through his cheek. A few of my tears fell right over his cheek as I was leaning over him, trying to get a closer look. 

I brushed the tears off his face, my other hand was grabbing the arm of the wheel chair I was in. My knuckles turned white as I was holding onto the wheel chair with such force and pressure.

"Amal.." Bibi whispered sadly. "We need to take you back, you're not breathing properly.."

"Why would I want to breathe and live anymore when I don't have Saif?" I gasped out in between heavy breaths, my tears clouding my vision.

Without even thinking, I grabbed Saif's free hand. His other hand was bandaged but his left one was smooth and didn't have a cut on it. I looked down at our fingers, staring at them.

It was ironic. The happiest moment I had with Saif was also the worst moment. I was so close onto gaining him, having him in my life and then, in a split second, he was taken away from me.

Life has wicked schemes. I couldn't understand what was going on. One second, I was in a normal life with Ghalia in Switzerland. One move to Kuwait changed my life. Everyone around me was keeping something away from me, even my own family. I learned who to trust and to let go of.

I felt Saif's finger twitch against mine. His finger was moving!


"Saif?" I whispered out in shock. His eyelids fluttered a bit before he opened them. His dark eyes shot back at mine, making my heart skip a beat.


Bibi ran out of the room to call out her parents, grandparents and other siblings. All of them rushed in as Saif's eyes were staring into mine.


"You came back." I breathed out. I was forced to let go of his fingers because my siblings were in the room. A tall woman with ash blonde hair walked into the room, her label said "Dr. Hensworth".

"Amal, you're supposed to be connected to your oxygen supply." The doctor said as she was observing my heaving chest. She was about to pull my wheel chair and guide me out of Saif's room but I stopped her.

"Wait!" I grabbed Saif's bed to stop her from pulling me away. Saif was watching me, his eyes, those same dark eyes I fell for, those eyes that watched me all those years.

"Saif!" I heard Saif's parents call out, their voice sounding grateful of the miracle.

I watched Saif. His expression resembled someone's.

It resembled my own expression, my confused expression when I just found out I had amnesia.

"Who are you?" Saif asked his parents, his eyes trying to find the answer to his question.

His eyes failed to solve the problem.