Chapter 12 12: B

He found him waiting at the door and mockingly, Hafiz saluted him. "I'll be waiting for you two here. I'll watch over to see if there's someone we know around or something. It s not dark for us to hide our identities." Na im nodded his head in an understanding manner, appreciating the warm and thoughtful gesture of Hafiz. They stood by the door as Na im knocked and it took minutes before they heard her babyish voice, "Who's it?" She had asked, and before Na im was able to answer her, Hafiz had beat him at it. "It s Captain Na im Bolori." "I don t know you." She had simply said and turned her back to the door, but the Captain and Bolori rang into her head that she nearly lost her balance if it hadn t been for the sofa next to her. She held it tightly and sat down to get a hold of herself; Intisar! Where had he taken her sister to? What if he was here to take her away with him too? What if it was Intisar that had begged them to bring her sister along and they came to find her? Tears had already washed over her face when the knock came again and terrified, she turned to watch the closed door. Maybe they had killed Intisar and was afraid that someone might reveal their secret so they came to kill her too? "Open the door, it s me." She heard his voice. This time, she didn t have to close her eyes before she could recognize it. It seemed like the voice had engraved itself in her heart. This just proved to her that he was the one that had indeed taken her sister away from her. Then why hadn t he reunited them? Had he killed Intisar already and he was feeling guilty about it that was why he was treating her so well? Or he was being like this because Baaba said he was her husband and he was going to take care of her. She was suddenly terrified of him more than ever, and she opened the door with her hands shaking. Maryam immediately retreated and tried so hard to fight her tears and wipe them away before he saw them, but he did. Gently, he closed the door behind him and when he took a step towards her, she took a few backwards and trembled. "What s wrong?" He knew they didn t have the best relationship. Hell, they didn t even speak as much as strangers did for him to expect something from her, but this seemed strange. It looked so new because when he stopped by in the morning, she seemed to relax around him. Na im was determined to find out what was wrong, and he took another step towards her while she kept walking back until she had her back pinned to the wall and he hovered over her, placing both hands on either side of her as he fixed his gaze on her now closed eyed face as she cried, trembling in fear. "Did something happen while I was away?" He asked in a cold and scaring tone that forced the cry Maryam was stifling out of her chest. Na im stayed still as he watched the way she cried and he was so right about taking her to see a doctor. She seemed suddenly terrified and it seemed like she was in too much agony to control her tears. He decided to back off, maybe it was that proximity with him that she hated. He took few steps away from her and before he spoke, there was a quick knock on the door and he thought maybe Hafiz had seen something he wanted him to know. He walked to the door while Maryam rushed back into the room and she slumped on the bed as she cried as hardly as she could. "What s it?" He asked when he saw Hafiz squeezing into the living room and from his expression, Na im knew that there was bad news lingering somewhere in his mind. "I just saw Captain Bolori, and he asked me what I was doing there and I told him one of my Uncles visited and I came to see him. He said he had a report to submit to our team, he can t see you here, Na im! He went to get the report from his car," Hafiz turned around the living and when he didn t see her, he knew she was back in the room, "I knew it was a bad idea staying in this hotel, he is a regular here. Even if you didn t run on him, someone might tell him his brother had booked a suite for a girl and you so well know that will peak his curiosity." Na im palmed his forehead, why was it that it was always Sadeeq that proved to be his greatest problem in life? But he was so determined in guarding this with his life, in keeping her a secret for the rest of his life and he would do that. "What do you suggest that I do?" "It s obvious, hide into the room and lock the door until I call you..." Hafiz didn t even close his mouth when they heard a knock and his voice came over. "Lieutenant Hafiz, are you in there?" Hafiz turned to Na im with a terrified look before he practically pushed Na im into the door and pulled it close. Na im set the lock and heard when he stammered as he said, 'Yes, Sir! He turned the TV on before he went to the door and unlocked it. As he turned, he stared at the way she was crying on the bed that she didn t seem to even know he was in the room. Na im didn t want to be angry with her, yet whenever he saw her crying the way she did now, he couldn t help himself but be. Yet, today he wanted to be a bit human, to understand that she was just a girl whom had lost practically all that she had in her world and in such a gruesome way ever imagined, so she ought to cry. He sat down on the bed and slowly tapped the space beside her, she flinched at that and rushed to the far corner of the bed away from him. What was she afraid of this badly? He knew that he had given her enough reasons to be afraid of him but this wasn't how she acted before. And he was certain if something had happened to her this wouldn t be the way he would find her, he might even not find her if she weren t at all safe. Whatever it was, it was connected to him. "What are you afraid of? Why are you crying so hard, uhm?" He tried to use his soft voice on her, even though soft would be the last thing his tone would be referred to as. But his eyes were sincere when he asked her the question and she didn t even look his way for him to have in mind that she might understand him. He stood up and walked to the edge she was, and he saw how she nearly got suffocated before he shifted away from her. Okay, he was angry and right now if it weren t for Sadeeq that was in the living room, nothing would ve stopped him from yelling as high as he wanted at her. "What the hell are you playing at?" No answer, but he didn't expect one when he asked and so he continued through gritted teeth. She might not answer him, hell, she might not even focus enough to understand what he meant, but he was going to speak and the tone of his voice would send her the signal of his answer. "Look, I'm in no way interested in playing hide and seek with your nor am I interested in playing whatever game you re so determined in playing." He stood up and pointed at her then to her clothes at the other end of the room, "Get up and pack everything that belongs to you," the authoritative tone he had used forced her to look up at him and the anger she saw evident on his face made her trembled even more. "Get up, now!" She nearly stumbled at the pace she got up to do what he had said, and he watched the way her hands were trembling while she folded the clothes and placed them in the nylon he had brought for her. He thought about how she obviously needed clothes and wondered who would help him do that. If only he had a baby sister...it seemed as though his brain had went into a seizure and there seemed to be a loud screeching sound in the empty space of his head. It was deafening enough to have him slumped back on the bed as he held his head in both hands, the sound getting louder. It was as if he had forgotten something that meant a great deal to him and the thought of having a baby sister was like a remainder of the sin his brain had committed for wiping away the memories of someone or something. He groaned in pain when it persisted and he felt the tightening in his heart. This wasn t the first time this was happening, it always happened whenever he thought about a mother and wondered if he had one or not, but never when something like a sister crossed his mind. The pain in both his head and heart made him groan even louder in pain and hearing the sound, Maryam turned to find him slumped on the bed with his hands blocking his ears as he turned around, trying so hard to ease himself of the pain. She rushed towards him, dropping the veil she was holding and when she came close enough, she stood there and watched him groaned in pain while he still had his palms over his ears. It seemed to her that he was about to loose consciousness, she knew what it looked like and she would be damned if something happened to this man. Yes, she knew he was the one that might ve already killed her sister, but he was still the one that saved her Baaba and he was her husband. She sat down beside him and placed her hands on top of his as she tried to lift his face up, but he was too heavy for her. "Stop it," that was the only thing she could say. She wanted him to stop groaning in pain, to be the rigid man he had always been. Amidst the subsiding pain, Na im felt her hands on top of his and he heard her voice as well. He couldn t speak as she pulled his head from the bed and placed it on her laps, looking earnestly at him with concentration and care plastered on her face. "I ll pray for you." She had said and leaned down towards his ear, she gently removed his hand and placed her mouth right above his right ear, just like Intisar always did to her whenever she had a bad dream or she got terrified if she were surrounded by people. Or someone mistakenly touched her, or someone placed his or her hand on her head and she seemed to be loosing her consciousness due to the heart palpitations she was getting.