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M A R I N A

She was sitting on her prayer mat, the lights in her dorm room slightly dimmed as she gave salams to end her prayer before raising her hands up towards her Lord in supplication.

'O Allah, please protect my family at all costs and grant me success for all my hard work in the future. O Allah, please prevent me from committing any sins further and displeasing you. O Allah, please grant me a religious and pious husband with whom I live a happy and prosperous life in this world and in the Hereafter'.

She blew on her hands and wiped them on her face, a few tears escaping her eyes as she closed them. She had been getting a few proposals from people, some of which were her parent's friend's sons. She didn't want to get married when her studies were going on, but an engagement was suitable enough at the moment. She hoped she'd meet her future lover as soon as possible.

She folded her prayer mat and placed it on the shelf before fixing her hijab and grabbing her keys. She was glad she finished studying for her upcoming Embryology module and she can now fully relax at her home. Her roommate/ best friend Amira had already left and hour ago to hers.

As she made her way to her car, she gave a slight wave to her classmates who passed by around the corner before getting in, the sightly warm temperature of the car soothing her nerves.

She inserted the key and drove out of the area not before turning on the radio. New Rules by Dua Lipa was playing and she didn't mind it.

After a good ten minutes, she passed down the city's most dangerous area, one that includes drunk and drugged people passing by, but as she passed the pubs, there were less and less people being visible.

Eventually she took a turn to the left when another car did the same but on a higher speed. It all happened in a flash, but in the next moment she saw and heard the impact of metal on metal - and it was a horrifying one to be precise.

"Ya Allah ", she whispered before jogging towards the damaged car. The doors opened automatically due to the collision and she could see who the driver was.

She unclasped his seatbelt and in the next moment his whole body weight was in her arms, blood oozed out from his forehead, which she wiped away." Are you okay?", she asked loudly, shaking his shoulders in the process due to worry.

Silence.

She brought her fingers to his neck to check if he was alive. Thankfully there was a pulse. She muttered an Alhamdulillah .

Her hands immediately went down to her pocket and she grabbed her phone to dial the emergency number.

"999, what's your em-"

"There was a car crash right in front of me and a man is severely injured. He's not conscious at the moment!" she said, her voice indicating her body being in panic mode.

She mentioned the address and told them to hurry up, her eyes being lined with tears.

"Okay, we're on our way!"

The call ended and she threw her phone on the ground before focusing on the man. He looked around her age and he looked familiar.

She dragged him out of the car and placed his head on her lap before checking for breaths. He wasn't breathing. A tear slipped her eye, she didn't want another person to die on her lap again.

"Please don't die. Please. Please ", she whispered the last word in a soft, broken voice.

She placed his head on the ground, interlocked her hands and placed them on his chest before performing compressions at a fast and steady rate, his chest heaving up and down in the process.

She did that a couple of times before uttering a bismillah and tilting his head and chin up, his mouth opening in the process.

Her fingers pinched his nose close and her mouth went on his to deliver a breath. She went back up to gasp for air before placing her mouth on his again and delivering it.

By the time she was about to give up, the sounds of sirens were blaring closer to her ears by each passing second. The next moment, the man was placed on a stretcher and carried in the ambulance.

"Thank you for being with him miss.."

"Marina", she voiced and shook the man's hand which he'd brought out.

He nodded and jogged towards the ambulance. Marina ran to her car not before grabbing her phone and decided to follow the ambulance.

She had to know if he was okay.

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