His Substitute Wife

Aleena Yildiz stared at the doctor as he spoke about her father's condition, looking remorseful despite the fact that he had given this speech to many others before him. She tried to listen and understand, but the harsh beating of her heart and the worry in her mind didn't give her a chance to.  "So," she breathed out, stopping the doctor from speaking. "Is he going to die?" Her tear filled eyes were wide with worry and fear as they stared at the doctor. Her lips began to tremble and her body began to shake in a silent cry. He hadn't given her an answer yet, but she already knew what to expect. Over the years, she had watched as her father's body begin to deteriorate until there was close to nothing left. He could barely even stand up straight without his walking stick and he had yet to even reach his fifties.  "Unfortunately if he doesn't get the surgery, he'll only have about six weeks left to live," the doctor informed her of the tragic news.  Aleena dropped to her knees and began to hyperventilate as she cried her heart out. A nurse rushed over to her and tried to calm her down but no matter what she said or did, Aleena could not bring herself to stop.  Her dear father was the only family she had left. Her mother and younger brother had passed away when Aleena was only a little girl, and both her parents were orphans who met in an orphanage so she didn't even have any distant relatives that she knew of. It was just her and her dad. And soon, it would just be her. "No," she sobbed into the nurse's shoulder. "This can't be happening. Why him? Why does it have to be him? He doesn't deserve this."  She wasn't sure how long she cried for but soon the nurses gave her some sedatives to calm her down and left her in her own company. Aleena fell asleep shortly afterwards only to wake up with dried tears on her face. Even sleep couldn't stop her heartbreak.  However, she knew that staying in the room and crying would do nothing for her father. So she left to find someone to speak to about treatment options.  "We can schedule a surgery as early as next week," the surgeon told her when she found him.  "What are his chance of survival if he has the surgery?" Aleena asked him as she tried her hardest not to break down again. She needed to stay strong, both for her father and for herself.  "There is a sixty nine percent chance that the surgery will be successful. If it goes smoothly, then his life can be extended to up to eleven years."  "And what are the risks of the surgery?"  "There is always the risk of his heart stopping mid-surgery. Unfortunately that is the most common complication to this procedure. Although very rare, there may also be an infection at the site of implantation or there may also be some swelling and allergic reactions too. However, we will try our best to avoid such complications. Our hospital has a very high successful rate in pacemaker procedures."  Aleena looked down in shame before she asked, "How much will the surgery cost?"  A short moment of silence passed between the surgeon and Aleena before he answered.  "If your father has health insurance then his insurance will cover it all," he smiled at her reassuringly. "You can speak to the receptionist about prices and if you're happy with everything, you can book in an appointment. As I said, we can schedule a surgery as early as next week."  Aleena's lower lips trembled again as she slowly started to stand up and leave his office. She wanted to thank him but she was feeling so broken and upset that she just couldn't bring herself to speak at all. She managed to find the receptionist and the two began to discuss payments.  "Does Mr. Yildiz have health insurance?" the receptionist asked brightly. Seeing her bright expression only dampened Aleena's mood even more. "No," she answered breathlessly.  Her family was in no way considered to be living in poverty, however their income was only enough for them to get by. They didn't have enough money to pay for insurance on the side so they did not have any type of health insurance at all.  "Oh," the receptionist said almost awkwardly before she continued, "usually with insurance, the insurance company would pay for it all and you would only need to pay a little bit out of your pocket. Since he doesn't have it though, you would need to pay the full price out of your own pocket prior to the surgery." "How much is it?" she asked, swallowing the lump that had suddenly grown in her throat.  The receptionist searched for the price in the database before she started listing the prices.  "The surgery, along with his hospital accommodation will cost about forty-five thousand dollars," she announced clearly, not an ounce of shame in her voice. How could she speak of such a price confidently to someone who wouldn't ever be able to afford such a surgery?  Aleena was still a student without a proper job. Even if she were to quit her school and work full time at her part time job, it would take her at least two years to save that much money but the doctor had told her that her father had only six weeks left without the surgery.  She took a deep breath and shakily released it before she shamefully asked the receptionist, "Are there any p*****t plans?"  There had to be something for her. The hospital couldn't be so cruel as the let their patients die. Wasn't their job to treat patients so they won't die from illness? Or did they really only care about the patients that had money?  The receptionist that Aleena was really beginning to dislike started going through the computer again before she turned back to Aleena with a nod.  "We have a fortnightly p*****t plan," she began, "but it is a requirement that you have some sort of property in your name that you can put down as mortgage."  Aleena felt completely and utterly helpless and pathetic at that point. She felt so ashamed that there was nothing she could do to save her dying father. She was supposed to be his filial daughter yet all she could do at that point was let him die. She felt an extreme self-hate and wished desperately that it was her instead of her father in that hospital bed.  Tears rushed out of her eyes again and drained her shirt collar. She took a few slow and helpless steps backwards before she turned around and lifelessly walked back to her father's room. Once she reached it, she sat on the bench on the outside and helplessly cried her heart out once again.  "Aleena?" she heard the voice of her friend Nihal suddenly call for her while she was in the middle of her crying.  Aleena looked up and ended up crying even harder when she spotted her friend's worried face.  "N-Nihal," she sobbed as she ran to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She cried and cried until there were no tears left in her body.  Nihal sat her friend back down on the bench and wiped her tears away before she grabbed her hands in her own.  "What happened?" she asked her. "I saw uncle only a few days ago and he was healthy."  "He had a heart attack last night," she explained. "It just happened out of nowhere. They managed to save him but then they said that he has heart failure and only has six weeks left to live." Aleena began to dry sob, causing Nihal to pull her to her chest once again.  "But then they said he can have a surgery and live for over ten years." "Isn't that great news then?" Nihal asked, as she stroked her friend's hair to try and calm her down.  Aleena pulled away from her, looking devastated beyond words.  "We can't afford the surgery," she said feeling completely ashamed of herself. "They want too much from us. I c-can't pay for his s-surgery."  "Please stop crying, sweetheart," her friend begged, pulling her back to her chest. "I'm going to tell you something, but I'm going to need you to stop crying first."  Aleena pulled away from her friend and for the first time, saw that her friend too looked as ghoulish as she felt. Her face was grey and under her eyes were hollow. Even her usually bright blue coloured eyes looked lifeless. She looked as if she had been crying for days. "What's wrong?" Aleena managed to ask, feeling her heart sink for being so selfish and not paying her friend any attention.  "Zayd gave me three talaqs," Nihal said, looking as if she was about to burst out crying herself.  A talaq was basically a formal repudiation of marriage. A married couple had three chances and therefore, before they were officially considered divorced, the husband had to give three talaqs to the wife to officiate their divorce. Once the three talaqs were given, theY were no longer considered married spiritually and therefore they needed to separate immediately.  "What?" Aleena breathed out.  She had never met Nihal's husband since he was always too busy with work to spend time with Nihal and her friends. She had only seen him from afar once at their wedding and that was very briefly as he left right after signing the marriage documents. Aleena always thought of him as a brute but she couldn't believe that he would actually divorce someone as beautiful, kind and compassionate as Nihal. Especially considering it had only been about a year since they had married.  "We had a fight and he gave me the three talaqs in one go." Aleena gasped at that. Usually the talaqs were given over a period of months or even years. For him to give it all in one go really showed his level of patience.  "What now?" Aleena asked softly, gripping on to her friend's hand tightly.  She knew very well how much Nihal loved her husband. It was to a point where Aleena even felt jealous of their love. Everything she did was for him. Whenever she spoke about him, her eyes sparkled and a large smile played on her lips. She was head over heels for him. Aleena really couldn't imagine how devastated she much have been feeling.  "We can't get back together unless I marry someone else first and divorce him," a tear fell down Nihal's face but she quickly wiped it away.  Once the couple divorced, they were not allowed to get back together unless the woman married someone else and then divorced him too. It was so that she could have someone to compare her first husband to; to compare how he treats her, to compare how he loves her and to compare how he respects her. It was so that she knew that she was worth much better. However, in a situation like Nihal's, Aleena could see how hard of a decision that might be for her.  "I'm sorry," Aleena told her, knowing that her chances of getting back with her husband were now impossible.  Nihal loved Zayd too much to even think about looking in the direction of another man. It seemed things were really over between them now.  "No," Nihal suddenly said much to Aleena's surprise. "I already found someone."  Aleena's mouth dropped in shock. It seemed her friend had gone crazy.  "I have made an agreement with someone already. We will stay married for a few months and then divorce. Once it's done, I'll return back to Zayd."  It turned out Aleena was wrong, Nihal was so in love with Zayd that she was willing to do something so crazy. "That's not a go–"  "Don't bother," Nihal stopped her. "I have already made my mind. I have thought about it deeply and I can't lose him so I'm willing to do anything to get him back. Even marrying and sleeping with a stranger."  Aleena didn't say anything. Nihal was an adult so whatever she decided to do, Aleena was sure that Nihal had thought about it in a mature manner. She wasn't in any place to persuade her otherwise or judge her for her decisions.  "There's only one problem." "What is it?"  "Zayd's grandmother is against the idea of me marrying someone else before moving back to her grandson. She said that if I marry someone else then Zayd should also marry another woman."  Aleena's mouth dropped once again. She had heard lots of stories about Nihal's in-laws being nightmarish, but that was just insane.  "She believes that I'm tainting myself and she said that it is not fair for her son to be with used material while he stays pure himself," Nihal scoffed before she looked away.  "Maybe you should just forget about him," Aleena told her softly, knowing how much her words would hurt Nihal's feelings. "I'll pay for your father's entire medical bill," Nihal suddenly said, turning to Aleena with wide eyes. "W-What?"  "I'll pay for your father's surgery and for all of his follow-up treatments," she told Aleena again. "But I have one condition." Aleena wasn't sure where this was going but the chance to save her father made her heart skip a beat. "What is it?"  "Marry Zayd."  Aleena was so shocked that she jumped off the seat and looked down at her friend with pure horror on her face.  "You don't have to do anything with him," Nihal quickly added. "That's actually exactly why I'm asking you to do this, because I know you won't do anything with him."  "Nihal do you hear yourself right now?"  "I need to marry Zayd again no matter what happens, but that won't be possible unless he too marries another woman," she told Aleena. "But I can't trust any other woman with my husband. They won't ever let go of him. So I'm begging you, please marry him." "Nihal, I ca–" "Please," Nihal begged. "It'll only be a contract marriage and it will only last for six months. Once it's over, you can return back to your life like usual."  "Nihal can't you see how ridiculous you're sounding right now? I have a boyfriend. I-I can't just give everything up and play wife to your husband for six months. I ca–" "I'm going to compensate you. I'm going to pay for your father's surgery and treatments. I'll also pay your for your time at the Arslan household."  She was very tempted to go along with it but no matter how she thought about it, she just couldn't make it make sense. She wanted nothing more than for her father to survive, but she didn't want it to be at the cost of something as disgusting as a fake marriage, a sham. Even if she agreed to it, she knew her father would be so disappointed in her.  "If not for me, do it for your father," Nihal said, breaking Aleena's heart. "How will you live out your life knowing that you had a chance to save him but ignored it because of your pride?"  Aleena felt as if someone had stabbed her in the heart with a hundred knives. Nihal really hit her where it hurts most.  Her father was her most precious and Aleena knew for a fact that an offer to save his life would never arise again. If she didn't find the money fast, then she was really going to be left in the world alone, without her dearest. How would she be able to survive without him?"  "Alright," she said in a soft, broken tone. "I'll marry him."