Page 9

Khalaf came back to the hospital, and the nurse rushed to him. They walked away to a corner to talk privately. We saw him covering his eyes with his hands. That's it, i knew Hamdan wasn't okay. He walked to us and sat down. The scratch on his face was still visible and dirty, "He's going to be okay, Layla" he said with a fake smile. "Why're are you all lying to me?" i yelled out. My heart was rushing with fear. "The nurse said he has to make some check ups and he'll be okay" Khalaf mentioned. "Layla, you have to go home and rest and in the morning you can come back and see him" Nayef interrupted. "No I'm going to stay here till he wakes up" i replied with anger. Khalaf pulled Nayef to the side and talked to him and kept looking at me. What was the secret they weren't telling me? I walked to the nurse and asked her how he was. "He's fine madam, you will see him soon" she replied with a smile. I could tell she was lying. "Tell me what's happening now, why did Khalaf inform you not to tell me!" i yelled. "Tell me now!" "Is he dead?" i burst out. They all looked at me with silence. Was he dead, i thought to myself. Khalaf held my arm and sat me down. He knelt down on both his knees and looked up to see my red inflated eyes. "I know this is hard for you, but it's hard for us too" "Please calm down, God's with him" "Have faith in God, Layla" He said with his hands trembling.

We've been in the hospital for around 4 hours now, and i still didn't know what was happening. Khalaf and Nayef were sitting next to me on the chairs infront of the emergency room. They were both asleep, Nayef sleeping on Khalaf's shoulder very peacefully. I just stared at them, looking so tense and tired. I hoped things would be okay. The doctor came out of the emergency room with three nurses. "Are you with Mr. Hamdan?" the doctor asked. "Yes" i replied. The nurse that once talked to Khalaf whispered in the doctor's ear. He looked at me and smiled, "As soon as Mr. Khalaf wakes up send him to my office" he said. "Why don't you just tell me, he's asleep?" i replied. "I'm sorry miss, we have specific instructions not to inform you" the doctor stated with a soft voice. I began to cry. The pain i felt inside me was unexplainable. The thought of loosing someone very dear to me was unbearable. I never told anyone how i felt about Hamdan, my love to him was my little secret. As i broke out of my tears, i got an idea. Since all the nurses and the doctor left the room, that meant no one was inside with Hamdan. I decided to go inside to finally figure out what happened to him.

I slowly got up the chair, very careful not to wake Khalaf and Nayef up. I walked quietly towards the big white door of the emergency room. I opened the door, and walked in. There he was, the broken angel. Hamdan was on a bed, with scars and bruises all over his body. His face was yellow, and still had some blood stains. He had an oxygen mask on and injections on his arm. Blood flowing through the tubes, and other white solutions passing through his arm. I walked closer, shivering with fear. I ran my fingers through his hair, and there was blood all over my fingers. I started crying again, this time with my throat all dry. "I love you" i said with tears rushing. I slowly held his hand, and then something happened. The heart monitor started speeding up and made a loud noise. Beep Beep Beep it kept repeating. The lines on the heart monitor were jumping. What was going on? A nurse rushed in and called the doctor to come fast. "What did you do?" a nurse asked me. "Nothing" i replied. "Please leave madam, Doctor come here quick!" She yelled with the top of her voice. Random nurses ran in and i just ran out of the room. What have i done? Khalaf and Nayef saw me leave the room, so i ran to the bathroom. I sat in one of the bathrooms, and cried my heart out. With every tear came a memory, and with that came pain.

I heard footsteps of people running towards the bathroom. "Layla!" "Layla!" Nayef and Khalaf were calling. "What do you want?" i replied. "Come out!" they yelled. "Imagine Hamdan saw what you were doing to yourself, how do you think he'd feel?" Khalaf said. I ignored, "Come out for him" he mentioned in a low voice. I came out and they told me to wash my face and drink some water. "What happened when you went in?" "and why did you go in?" Khalaf asked. "I couldn't just sit there not knowing how he was, so i went in." "I just looked at him, then i held his hand, and they all rushed in" i said. They both smiled. "Layla, you held his hand then his heart beat started speeding yea?" Nayef asked. "Yea, i didn't mean it, it's all my fault.." i mentioned until Khalaf interrupted me "Layla, he loves you."