The Healer Of My Soul.

Chapter Fifteen.

 Dreams that can be turned into nightmares.

After the dinner, it was time for the three of them to pray and for Shyra to go to her apartment to get some rest until it was time to pray the last prayer of the evening.

Imran and Ayra reluctantly wanted to let her go but she made up her mind as she wanted to rest.

"Okay, Shyra, and thank you for the presents, I will cherish them and promise to take care of them," Ayra says hugging her before letting her go out of the door.

"Thank you for dinner, I will see you around," Shyra says opening the door and leaving for her apartment.

"Look at them, Dad. They are so beautiful that I dont even want to use them as they would get dirty..."

"Yes, they are beautiful but she did give them to you, to use them and not to keep them in the cupboard and forget about them, right?" Imran says to his daughter who smiles remembering what her Papa had told her.

"Never let your Quran collect dust. Always remember to read even if it is a page of it every day".

"You are right Dad. I will use them but also keep them clean. Let's go and pray now," Ayra tells him.

Imran nodded and walked into his bedroom to do wudhu (ablution) while Ayra did the same in her room.

They meet in the living room to pray together as they always did. After praying the Magharib prayer, they would read the Quran taking turns to do it.

Meanwhile, Shyra was reading the Quran and she couldn't help but remember what her Aunt Hayat always told her along with the other girls whenever they would be over for a sleepover.

"Never say why me? Because Allah knows why He gives us the lessons. It is because we need them to be better people in life. You can't let a bad thing ruin your life, use it as a lesson and it will be in your mind".

And she was right as always. Shyra would always talk to her whenever she ever needed advice for anything ever since she left home.

Shyra took a deep breath and took her phone to call Aunt Hayat to greet her and also to tell her what had been happening in the last month.

"Asalam Aleikum Aunt. How are you doing?" Shyra asks her as soon as Hayat picks up the phone.

"Waleikum Salaam. Alhamdullilah and how are you doing? Is everything okay?" Hayat asks her.

Shyra explained to her what had been going on the last month. When she started talking about Ayra, Hayat was intrigued to know more about who the little girl was especially when she had made Shyra smile after everything that happened.

"She seemed like an amazing little girl. I would love to meet and get to know her," Hayat tells her smiling. "Alhamdullilah, you found friends there even though they aren't Iman, Saira, Hannah, and Hanan, right?" she added asking her.

"Thats true, but Ayra has the purity in her life. She is almost like..."

"An angel. It was the same when I first met Azaan when he was a toddler. It is something that you can't explain but you can only feel it when you are with her, right?" Hayat asks her.

"Yes, it is. She makes me smile without trying so hard about it. And she loved helping others without wanting things in return," Shyra explained to Aunt Hayat who understood as she felt the same way as Azaan when they first met.

"I am glad that you have found her. And what is her father like?" She asks Shyra who couldn't help but smile remembering how respectable he was when they were alone.

"He is different from the guy I have ever met and he is..."

"Respectable, nice, and doesn't let you feel like you are an object, right?" Hayat continues what Shyra left off. "He is one of a kind, Shyra. Men like him and your Uncle Aayan rarely exist," she added making Shyra smile.

"Yes, thats true but he deserves someone who isn't..."

"You are perfect just the way you are. And Allah knows why He sent you Ayra and her father in your life. He knows that you needed someone to tell you that you are perfect, worthy, and loveable," Hayat tells her. "When I met your Uncle Aayan, he was somewhat grumpy, but I didn't hold that against him because I knew his reasons and now Ayra's father knows your reasons to be the way you are. He will respect you until you are ready to let yourself be happy," she added.

"Thank you, Aunt Hayat, for the advice and everything. You remind me of my mother," Shyra says making her smile. "Okay, now I need to go and write the notes that I have missed. I will call you again soon," she says to her and then hangs up the phone.

After that conversation, Shyra grabbed her notebooks and started working on her homework. She missed a lot of days when she wasn't herself.

Sometimes people need to recharge themselves and to get their mental health intact. Shyra was thankful to someone like Imran who helped her in a way that no one expected.

After Shyra was done with the notes, she kept her books back in her bag and took a deep breath.

Alhamdullilah.

It was time for her to pray and get some rest until morning because she had an early class that she didn't want to miss. After saying her prayers and making duas, it was time for her to sleep.

In about a few minutes, she closed her eyes falling asleep. The nightmares started.

Shyra was in her old room wondering how she got there, thats when she heard his voice.

"Shyra, I know that you are in there... Come out come out wherever you are...

Shyra started looking for places to hide. The only place that she could ever find was under the bed.

"Shyra..."

She was too scared to even check where the voice was coming from. Then suddenly she felt someone's hands pulling her by her legs.

Shyra began to fight and kick him while he was still holding her.

Meanwhile, when Imran heard a yell, he immediately knew that it was Shyra's voice.

He couldn't wake up his daughter as she had school the next day and it was pretty late to do that.

"No, please stop. Get away from me, please," Shyra shouted while thrashing the bed she was lying in.

Imran ran to the door and started knocking very loudly but Shyra was still shouting inside her room.

He didn't even wait any longer for her to open the door, he took the spare key that he made with Shyra's permission and opened the door and just barged into the room only to find Shyra backed up against the wall beside the bed.

She was shivering and crying her eyes out.

"Stop, please. Just stop..."

Imran slowly walked toward her as he didn't want to make the situation worse than it already was. He remembered what his father told him about Shyra having triggers even if she was alone.

"Shyra, it's me,, Imran," he tells her taking a seat by her but not too close to her. "I am here, I am not going to..."

He didn't even finish when Shyra took his hand and plunged herself into his arms. This surprised Imran but didnt say anything to her.

"He...he was here. He will do it again," she says stammering and clenching his shirt not wanting to let him go.

"Shh, he isn't here, Shyra. He will never come near you and thats my promise you to," Imran says unconsciously wrapping his arms around Shyra making her calm down. "I am here, don't worry. Nothing will happen," he added rubbing her back and soothing her.

Imran vowed to always protect her along with his daughter. He felt angry when Shyra was crying, he felt responsible for her safety even though, she would feel useless. It was now his job to make her feel loved, cared for and smile again.

Imran made it his mission to make sure that Shyra smiled whenever she needed to.