"At its best, life is completely unpredictable."- Christopher Walken

As I stood in Omar's kitchen taking in the view of his apartment, I couldn't help but marvel at how unpredictable life can be. Almost 7 hours ago I was sitting on a bench outside our hospital, as he tried to convince me to marry some other man. And now I was standing alone in his kitchen, guzzling down his food because I hadn't eaten anything since that morning.

This was a one-bed apartment, with a living room and kitchen that were connected. I was somewhat impressed by his taste, and was glad to see that he liked contemporary, modern furnishings like me. And that, while there were some plates and cups scattered around, it was by and large a neat and tidy place.

He had refused to tell me where he was going to stay, but I hoped he had some friendly neighbors. It was weird enough that I was staying here, and I didn't want to make it more awkward by probing him about his own plans. He was hellbent on taking care of me that night, and for once I thought it best to just let him.

Better call my dad...he is probably freaking out!

I smiled as I typed in my initials and my pager number as Omar's phone password. He had never given me flowers, or chocolates, or gifts of any kind, the usual romantic stuff. Not that I was the kind of woman who put too much value on those material things, but secretly I wouldn't have minded a box of chocolates every now and then. Though, I could bet that none of those things would ever beat the warm, fuzzy feeling inside me knowing that he thought of me everytime he used his phone.

"Papa...Assalam Alaikum"

"Madiha...beti...are you in a safe place now?", my dad asked in a concerned voice.

"Yes, Papa I am. I am in Omar's apartment...and before you worry he didn't even come in. He just gave me his apartment key and phone and left", I hurriedly told my dad, hoping to put his mind at ease.

"Good... But seriously Madiha, what were you thinking?", he asked me sternly.

Honestly, I had been wanting to help out at those demonstrations for the last few days after Elijah had mentioned the medical tents. Racism, the underlying issue these protests were against, was personal for me. But I had held back, because I didn't want my parents to worry about me. However, when they blatantly disregarded my wishes I saw no point in honoring theirs either.

I was still trying to decide how to best explain that to my dad, when he asked in an irate voice, "Tum Omar ki khatar gai thi kya? Yeh uss ka plan tha na? (Did you go because of Omar? This was his plan, right?)

What? No!

"No Papa...it was the exact opposite", I replied, feeling like my blood pressure was rising, "Why do you always associate everything negative with him? I went because I wanted to, even though he tried to stop me. But then he came anyway because he cares about me. Papa, he cares about me more than Faraz, or anyone else ever could..."

"Madiha...", my dad tried to say something, but I really needed to get some things off my chest first.

"No, wait Papa, please let me finish. I know that you think that just because his family doesn't respect me, that neither does he. But he does. Papa, I can feel it every time I talk to him. And it's been like that ever since the beginning of his intern year, long before I decided that I want to marry him. So I am sorry, but I don't understand your hesitancy in accepting him"

"For your Mama and I, he is not the problem...", Papa replied.

I had suspected as much, but that still didn't make it right. I had to reason with him.

"Ok...but then don't punish him, or me. He didn't choose his parents. And you've always taught me to focus on the good and ignore all the other background noise. Why do you think I won't be able to do that with Omar's family? Besides, this would not be the first time I would be dealing with difficult people...Papa, you've taught me to keep my head high despite all the negative comments. At least, now I'll have a husband who supports me"

"Madiha...tum bobhat thaki hui lag rahi ho, subha baat karein ge (you seem very tired, we'll talk in the morning)", my dad tried to end the conversation, but I wasn't going to let him go till I had made my point and convinced him.

"No Papa...please, let me speak now. I am tired, but not because of the day I have had. I am tired because despite the fact that I know, no one will ever be better for me than Omar, I can't marry him because our parents can't seem to see past our obvious differences. Please, Papa I can't go on like this...", I implored.

There was silence on the other end, so I decided to tell him one more fact about that night that I had held back because I didn't want to scare him.

"There is one more thing I haven't told you yet, when we were at the protest, a cop fired rubber bullets directly at me. But Omar pushed me down and protected me. How can I not trust him with my future, if he is so willing to protect my life..."

"Allah khair kare...Madiha beti tum theek ho? (May Allah make it ok, are you ok?)", my dad exclaimed.

"Yes Papa, I am fine...", I reassured him.

"And Omar?", he asked with genuine concern.

Now that I thought about it, I had only briefly asked him if he was ok. My patient was on the ground and crying out for help when I recovered from the shock of being shot at and then finding myself being pinned on the ground under Omar. I had scrambled to help Mr DeShawn and had completely forgotten to check up on Omar later, and now I had no way of contacting him.

"He seemed fine...my patient got hit with a bullet though", I told my dad, praying internally that Omar was indeed fine.

"Chalo...Allah uss ko bhi Apni Hifazat mein rakhe (Ok...may Allah keep him under His Protection as well). These evil cops will one day suffer", my dad said, then added a few more choice words for the cop who had shot at us. He very seldomly cussed, but when he did we knew how seriously offended he was.

"Madiha...I am going to discuss your situation with your Mama in the morning and call you tomorrow. Leikan abhi tum ja ke so jao, please (But for now go and sleep)"

Discuss your situation with your Mama...That made me smile instantly and a long-awaited sense of relief came over me, because this is what dad usually said when he would finally agree with me. But wanted to make sure that he would not get into hot water with my mom.

"Thank you Papa, thank you so much. You will not regret this, and neither will I InshaAllah...Allah Hafiz", I told him, barely able to contain my excitement.

He laughed at me, "I haven't said yes yet...but Allah Hafiz. Talk to you in the morning InshaAllah"

But you will say yes!

I sat there grinning at myself, wishing that I had a way of communicating with Omar. But he said he would be at the hospital in the morning for his ER shift, only a short 8 hours away. Hopefully, things would have calmed down by then. According to the live news I scrolled through on Omar's phone, the Chicago police would be lifting the curfew at 5 am in the morning.

So, for now I lay down on the sofa and tried to catch some sleep. His bed was tempting, but that was a place reserved for us in the near future. Even being in his bedroom had made my skin tingle, but I had pushed those thoughts aside.

The beginning of that chapter of our lives was close...I could actually feel it now!

The next morning I woke up to Omar's 6 am alarm, and noticed that his phone had a few missed calls from his sister. I thought it best to let him call her back, I wasn't sure how to explain why I had his phone, or that I was in his apartment.

My neck cramped slightly from sleeping in an awkward position on the sofa, but otherwise I couldn't be happier. The sun was streaming in from the window and when I opened the blinds was pleasantly surprised to see a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan.

I could have stood there forever, and dreamed of a life in this apartment with him. But I would rather have met him in-person and I wanted to take a quick shower at my own place and change before heading to the hospital.

So I called an Uber, made a quick trip to my own apartment, took a shower, grabbed an energy bar for breakfast and drove into work. The streets were littered with remnants of last night's protest, but it was heartening to see that cleaning teams made up of some of the same volunteers I had seen last night were busy clearing up the discarded placards, and other trash.

In the ER, I couldn't find Omar anywhere, but I did see Kylie.

"Hey Kylie, any idea where Omar is?"

"Yes, he is in room 206 in the observation area. He may be sleeping right now though"

In the middle of his ER shift?

"Why is he sleeping in room 206?", I asked her confused, "Is this where he spent the night?"

I had assumed he had spent it at a neighbour's house.

Kylie gave me a baffled look, "Yes Madi, where else would the ambulance have taken him?"

"Ambulance...?"

I felt a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and she looked at me without saying anything for a few seconds before explaining further.

"I am sorry Madi...I thought you knew. He...uh...got injured pretty badly in his back and chest with rubber bullets last night, at the protest. And then he had trouble breathing and ended up passing out in the lobby of his apartment building"

In the lobby? Of the building that I was in? Sitting comfortably, and eating his food...while he was passed out?

Kylie put down the papers she was holding, "Come...I'll take you to him"

I followed her silently, as tears pooled in my eyes for the tenth time in the last 24 hours. I was with him, he protected me and got hit, and I hadn't even noticed how much pain he was in. What kind of a person am I? I was more worried about my patient, than the man I loved who had literally flung himself in front of me.

"We had to give him some pretty heavy painkillers so he may be a little groggy when he wakes up. But the good news is that nothing seems to be broken, and with the pain control he has been able to take normal breaths", I heard Kylie tell someone.

I hadn't bothered opening my eyes till I heard that sweet voice I loved to hear so much speak out with a tremble, like she was trying to hold back her tears, "Thanks Kylie...for taking care of him"

She was here? Of course, she was...

I opened my eyes and tried to sit up. Kylie and her both gave me a hand to steady myself. When I turned to face her, she looked at me with wet, sorrowful eyes and my heart went out to her. The last thing I wanted, was for her to blame herself for this.

"Omar...while I am here let me take a quick listen to you and make sure your bandages don't need to be changed", Kylie told me. When I nodded she lifted my shirt from the back and I heard Madi let out a gasp.

"Madi...come here", I turned to grasp her hand and pull her in front of me, "You don't need to see that. I am fine...seriously. The pain meds are working. It looks a lot worse than it is"

"Your entire back is covered with bruises and cuts, how are you fine?", she asked me, and I could see the horror in her eyes turn to anger.

Kylie changed one of the bandages and then left, leaving me to confront Madi alone. Who, on the other hand, was pacing up and down the room, like she always did when she was angry but couldn't decide what to do about it.

"I swear...I am going to sue the hell out of that cop. No...I am going to sue the entire police department. How dare they? How dare they do this you? We both had our badges...and we told him we were waiting for a patient", she said, through gritted teeth as she wiped away her tears. She looked so adorable, like one of those anime warrior princesses, I couldn't help but smile at her.

Despite my mask she must have noticed me smile, and that made her face redder, "What are you smiling at? Why didn't you tell me you were hurting so much...we could have come to the ER together in the ambulance?"

"It's ok...Madi. I didn't tell you because I needed to get you into my apartment safely. And if I had told you, you would not have listened to me. Besides, remember the paramedic said no extra people in the ambulance...COVID protocol"

"No...Omar, this is not ok. This is so unfair...right after we get married I am going to find us a lawyer and..."

I didn't hear the rest of that sentence, because my mind got stuck on the part about us getting married, "Madi...what did you say about us getting married?"

Without hesitation or even looking at me, she said, "My dad is probably ok with us getting married..."

Then she went right back to pacing the room, "But as soon as we are married, I am going to hire the best lawyer..."

I had zoned out again...her dad is ok with us getting married, potentially?

"Madi...", I tried to ask her what exactly she meant by 'probably ok', but she seemed to be in another world. And with her mask on I could barely make out her facial expression.

"Madiha Ahmed...", I repeated more loudly.

"What?", she finally stood still in front of me.

"Come here...", I reached out to hold her hand and pulled her a little closer to me, close enough for me to smell her flowery scent, and notice the eyeliner that accentuated her already beautiful brown eyes.

Her eyes had always mesmerized me. But in that moment I needed to see more of her face. And watch her smile grow as I asked what I needed to ask her. So I reached behind her ears and gently pulled off her mask. Then I pulled my own mask off as well.

"Omar...", she whispered.

"It's ok Madi...we are in a closed room...and I am sick and tired of talking to you through a mask", I told her truthfully.

This pandemic had taken away enough from us already. And we had a pretty low risk of viral transmission, with her recently recovered from COVID and I receiving what I thought was the real vaccine, given how much my arm hurt after the second dose. I didn't think we were putting ourselves or our patients at any added risk of the disease.

"I want to see you when I ask you this...", I smiled at her, which made her blush, "Did you talk to your father last night? What did he say?"

She nodded slowly, and then that heartwarming smile of hers appeared when she said in a soft voice, "I think he is ok with us getting married...he said he had to speak to Mama this morning. But I know he only says that to make sure Mama won't yell at him for making unilateral decisions"

She lowered her gaze and stood there quietly biting her lower lip, almost as if she was suddenly feeling shy in my presence. Which made me want to laugh because literally seconds ago she was pacing the room, ready to take on the entire Chicago Police Department.

She has so many personalities....and I adore every single one of them

Before I could respond, though, her pager went off, pulling us both out of the nervous silence that had engulfed us.

"I need to answer this, but here is your phone and apartment key", she said quietly, looking up at me again, "And Sehr called a few times last night while I was asleep. I just saw her missed calls this morning"

"I'll call her but you make sure to call your dad as soon as you are done with rounds...please", I asked her, as she turned to leave. I couldn't bear to waste another minute, if we had her parent's permission to get married.

"I will...", she smiled at me again, just before she put her mask back on.

"I hope your back pain is completely gone soon...and Omar, again I am so sorry that I didn't realize how badly you were hurt last night", she said, and that look of sorrow was back in her eyes.

"Hey...don't do that. None of this is your fault...and honestly, being with you makes me forget that physical pain anyway. So hurry up and finish rounds and come back to me..."

Was I acting like a clingy toddler? Yes. Did I care? No.

I just wanted to be with her.

She finally left, and I tried to lay back down on my uninjured side. Hoping that after the next dose of IV pain meds I would be able to get discharged with some high dose pain meds by mouth.

Meanwhile, I looked at my phone and saw that my sister had called three times between and 2 am and 3 am.

That's odd. Why would she call that late? I hope she is ok.

I was about to dial her number when Madi's dad's number flashed on my screen. I picked up immediately, perhaps I could try to convince him about his daughter and I, on my own as well.

"Asalaam Alaikum Uncle. This is Omar. Madiha just went on rounds. But I can give her a message if you'd like", I blurted out. Talking to a future father-in-law is intimidating no matter how confident you are.

"Walaikum Asalaam beta Omar...how are you? Madiha told me about what happened at the protest last night. Are you doing ok?", he asked me in a really caring, fatherly way...which honestly, made me miss my own father as well.

I gave him a brief summary of what had happened. And he too, like his daughter, loudly and passionately suggested that we sue everyone involved. After, a few minutes of me impatiently listening to him I tried to bring up Madi and I getting married.

"Umm...Uncle, I just wanted to say that I know you think that I have a lot of shortcomings. And I agree for the most part. I am not a perfect man. But uncle...I am going to be honest, I love your daughter so much. I don't think anyone will ever even come close to it...and if...", I started my speech nervously, but he cut me off with a chuckle.

"I know beta...you've proven that as Madiha repeatedly pointed out last night. Actually, mein ne Madiha se nahi...tum se baat karni thi (I didn't want to talk to Madiha, I wanted to talk to you)", he said, his words making my heart race.

Is this going where I think its going?

"Omar beta, I have to apologize. I thought I was doing the best for my Madiha. But it seems that in the process of trying to protect my daughter against this world, I forgot that she is a grown woman who her mother and I had raised to be strong and independent. And who is quite capable of choosing her own life partner. And from what she has told me about you, I don't see a reason to question her judgment. So..."

He paused and I swear my heart rate was through the roof with anticipation of what might come next.

"Sanam and I would like to invite you to lunch sometime this weekend. Whenever, you and Madiha are both free. Our family would really like to meet you"

I was grinning so widely that my cheeks literally hurt.

"Yes, uncle. I would really like to meet you all too...I think we're both free this weekend, but I'll let Madiha give you the exact day"

A few pleasantries later he hung up, and it was like the weight of a thousand stones was lifted off me. Madi and I were finally...as long as I don't mess up the lunch meeting, going to be able to get married.

Dr Madiha Ahmed...was going to be mine, against all odds!

I let out a huge sigh of relief and then thought about paging her, but knew she would be in the middle of rounds, so instead I decided to call my sister. But again just as I was about to dial her number, my phone rang.