Chapter 37 : B

"Yes, I'm friends with most of the people here and they even have some people to ask about him if they don t know. But I won t do that unless you eat your food, shower and change into something fresh, okay?" Maryam nodded and began to eat her food, which made Bilkisu smiled lovingly at her. She liked the girl, the lady, the woman; whatever the right way to address Maryam was. But she wanted to talk to her about Na im even though she didn t know what exactly she would say and she was afraid that if she did, Maryam might end up telling Na im and well, she didn t know what that would cost her; her life included in the endless list.
Maryam kept pacing in the living room as she waited for Bilkisu to be back, she had made her promise that she would be back shortly but it was taking forever to do that. She wanted to go out, but she was scared, she could remember his words so well when he told her that she had to stay in this apartment and no one should see her. She didn t know that maybe if she go out, she might be taken hostage like Intisar was.
There was a soft knock on the door and like Bilkisu had thought her, she waited for some time. "Bilkisu is that you?" She asked with a wavering voice, silently praying that whatever news Bilkisu brought with her would be a good one.
"Yes, please open the door." And she did, before Bilkisu even had the chance to close her mouth. But when she saw her along with Na im s soldier friend, his clothes stained all over with blood, Maryam s heart skipped a bit and she found it hard to be on her feet.
Wordlessly, she moved aside until they got into the living room and Maryam was certain her heart wasn't beating as it should, on a normal basis. Hafiz looked at her with a solemn look as she began to shake his head, "I m sorry..." She quickly cut him off, she had heard enough apologies now, she didn't want to.
"No, you re not. What s it? Where s he?" She asked with her mouth slightly trembling and Hafiz just stared at how terrified she looked, with tears already washing down her face.
"He has been shot in Bama, but we ve just had him transferred to Humaru Shehu hospital here in Maidguri. I just thought I should let you know, since I figured you two were together when I called him."
Maryam wiped at her tears, but it seemed as though she was begging them to water more. She gulped down a lump in her throat, squeezing past the steel of agony that had stood there for a while sometimes. Not everyone that was shot got killed and she was certain Na im wouldn t get killed too. She had asked him three days ago if he was going to die and he said no, so he wouldn t lie to her.
"Where s he? He s not dead, right? I mean, I know he isn't..." Her shoulders shook and she had lost her balance and was about to fall on the floor when Bilkisu quickly caught her and helped her to a sofa. "Please tell me he s going to be fine." She cried painfully, her shoulders shaking and he only watched her, as different thoughts got through his mind.
"He s going to be fine, Maryam. I was just here to inform his father about it and I'll go back to the hospital to check how he s..." She cut him off again, already on her feet as she looked around for her shoes.
"I'm coming with you and don t say no please, I beg of you." She begged silently and Hafiz just stared at her before he nodded his head and both her and Bilkisu got ready in a flash. He didn t know if he did the right thing by taking Maryam to the hospital, but the way she looked in so much agony while she spoke about him, he knew she would never be herself unless she saw him. He knew Na im might not voice it out himself, but he might be worried about her too deep in his mind.
She kept on crying until they arrived at the hospital and she was about to get out of the car when he stopped her. "You need to stop crying, Maryam. I'm sure he has told you that he doesn t like people seeing you around him since it won't be safe for you, right?" She nodded her head and felt her hear sink a bit, "You can t do anything that will bring people s attention on you. I'll just take you to his room, see him for some minutes and I'll take you back to Shehuri, okay?" Reluctantly, she nodded her head, appreciating the few minutes Hafiz was willing to give her.
They got down from the car, and Hafiz had never been thankful that it was dark until today. His father had asked him not to tell anyone apart from himself and he had already made a call to the Colonel so his injury would be kept a secret, so it was safe to say that they both were safe. Faruk and Jafar were fearlessly guarding the door to his room and Maryam s body was already shaking when she stood by the door.
Hafiz didn't offer to go inside with her, Bilkisu didn t even make the attempt of going inside with her. Maryam turned to look at Jafar and he nodded his head before he opened the door for her. There he laid, on the white bed with nothing but pain evident on his face. He was sleeping, or in better words, still unconscious as she took her next trembling steps towards him.
She knew she had seen her father in an even greater pain than his, but this was a different type of agony she felt. She didn't know what would be of her life when she lost Na im. You shouldn't die, she silently begged and slumped on the chair that was in front of his bed. His hand was attached to a tube of IV and his breath was labored by a computer. He didn t open his eyes, just there, laying lifeless and she saw the place the bullet had been taken out of his body around his shoulder.
She cried bitterly but did all she could to stop the sound from coming out of her lips, "You said you d come back," she began with a wavering mouth as she thought of what to say next. She couldn t be angry at him, she was just terrified that he might not be able to wake up from this. What would she do then?
Reluctantly, Maryam took his hand that was free and watched the way both her hands weren't able to cover just one of his hands. "You can't die, you know it, right? You re all I have and Baaba said you'd take care of me. I haven t even found Intisar yet, you have to be alive, Captain." She was crying so bad, long forgetting that she shouldn't be making enough sounds as she was now, that were audible to him.
He didn't move and Maryam, even though she knew that unless he was still alive nothing will have the doctors kept him there with them and everything that was attached to his body, but she was still not satisfied. She felt as fear enveloped her mind and she shivered slightly. "Please, you cannot leave me alone. I'll forgive you for not coming back that night but I can t forgive you if you leave this way." She looked up to stare at his lifeless face and felt the surge of pain right into the aorta of her heart, "I haven t even told you how handsome I think you are and that your laughter always calms me down. You have to wake up now, I want to talk to you." If someone had seen her now, one would think that she was talking to his dead body, but Maryam was just desperate to see him move, for him to just do something that would indeed confirm to her that he was alive. She wasn t going to trust all these machines that seemed to beep with the sound of life.
"You're being too loud, Hoor." He managed to utter amidst the avalanche of pain he felt the moment her crying voice woke him up. He had to wait for the pain to lessen before he spoke and the squeal amalgamated with gasp that escaped her lips was enough to show him that she hadn't noticed when he had moved his fingers to show her that he was alive.
She stood up and slumped on his body, forgetting about the wound he had on his shoulder as she hugged him while she broke into tears. "You ve scared me, Captain. Thank god!" She was crying in nothing but grief, yet she was relieved that he was alive. She would've died if he were dead too.
"That hurts, Mairam." He groaned in pain and she was quick at lifting her body from his and she stared at his eyes that were painfully opened and were filled with nothing but pain. She laughed amidst tears and wiped at them but more gushed down, "I told you not to cry that way again, didn't I?" He spoke in labored breaths and she nodded her head in relief and more tears cascaded.
"I'm just thankful you re alive." Her lips trembled and more tears rushed down to her cheeks. Na im was just staring at her crying face, aware that she still hadn t let go of his hand and he slightly squeezed it. It was flabbergasting how even at his nearly death point, Na im thought of her and that smile she had flashed at him while she ran towards him to show him her henna.
"Come, let me give you a hug, okay?" She nodded her head vehemently and leaned towards his body, careful not to even touch the shoulder that pained and when Maryam rested her head on his good shoulder, she closed her eyes and cried silently. "Shh, it s okay. I'm here and I'm not leaving, okay?" She nodded her head and held his hand even tighter. He closed his eyes, despite the pain on his shoulder, Na im felt as an unidentified peace glided through his soul and he held her warmly to his body. She was peace and solace joined altogether for his chaotic soul.