Arise

Chapter One: Take These Broken Wings

Bariş was flying. Soaring through the sky, the silken clouds brushing against his face. He felt free for the first time in his whole life. He smiled and leaned into the clouds, inhaling deeply. Jasmine...the clouds, freedom, tasted of jasmine...Zeynep!

Bariş jolted awake. He was flying, on a plane. To London. He was also currently nuzzling his face into a silky cloud of jasmine. Zeynep lay asleep next to him, her head slumped on his shoulder. She had fallen asleep almost immediately when they boarded the plane, clearly emotionally and physically exhausted. He was glad she was finally resting and he found her ability to sleep so deeply almost instantaneously, delightfully adorable. He smiled to himself and reached over to brush the hair from her face. She was in a word, luminous. Awake or asleep, she glowed from the inside out. He leaned his cheek against the top of her head, imagining how beautiful forever would be if it existed only in this moment. He closed his eyes in an effort to keep all the reasons why it could never be at bay. Her past, that wouldn't leave her present. His present, that wouldn't stay in his past. So, they flew away. At least for today.

He had arrived to the hospital just as Mehdi was crashing. He received a call at work and was notified of the situation and he knew inherently that THIS was Zeynep's emergency, that had caused her to leave work so abruptly. As he strode down the hall with purpose, his entire focus was on Zeynep. Who, precious empath that she was, stood weeping and broken at the sight of her ex-husband, who had done nothing of late but terrorize and torture her, lay dying. His heart ached for her. She was surrounded by people she once called family and yet utterly alone.

He watched as Cemile turned on her and immediately began a tirade of guilt and shame, blaming Zeynep for her brother's current precarious state. She screamed about all the evil that had befallen their once perfect home the moment it had taken her in. Perfect indeed. Perfectly patriarchal, misogynistic and dangerously destructive to everyone inside it.

Nuh tried and failed to calm his wife, Kibrit beat at the window to Mehdi's room, begging her father to wake up and Zeynep was...frozen. Frozen in her grief, her pain, her fear. He tried calling out to her, but she was far away from him now. Far away from them all. Lost in her mind, where the hurt kept her prisoner far worse than the man currently flatlining.

Bariş had seen enough. He pushed his way through them and took the place he felt most himself in this life - between Zeynep and anyone who dared to put pain her eyes.

"Enough! Enough! The only person to blame for this situation now, is the knife-wielding maniac who decided to attack your brother!" Bariş stated firmly, looking directly in Cemile's eyes, begging her for calm, but prepared for chaos. He'd seen that wild eyed rage before in his own brother. He was prepared for war.

"She's to blame for EVERYTHING! My mother's gone, my child's away, my home is gone, my sister is DEAD! And now my brother, who was imprisoned with murderers might die and she could have saved him! Had she forgiven his mistakes and dropped the charges like I begged of her, he could have been spared more pain and suffering. Had Zeynep never come into our lives, we would all still be safe and happy and together. If he dies here, it's all because of HER!" Cemile screamed as her husband attempted to hold her back.

"The only one to blame for Mehdi's place today is Mehdi! This isn't his first time in jail or a hospital for HIS behavior. He isn't in prison because of Zeynep, but because of what he DID to Zeynep. It's not her responsibility to save him nor any of you! All of you have all spent your life enabling the behavior that brought Mehdi to this moment. He never had to take responsibly or face any real consequences for being a law unto himself. The great father of the neighborhood, is the man who locked his wife in the house and ignored her cries begging for release. The same brother who sheltered and looked after you all, stalked, manipulated and harassed an innocent woman. The man lying in that bed fighting for his life, attempted to take a life when he drugged, kidnapped and almost killed Zeynep! Mistakes you say?! MISTAKES! Abuse is NOT a mistake. It's a choice. All of his choices led him here! Not Zeynep's! If you need to lay blame, perhaps start with yourself!" Bariş declared with such a fierce finality, only a fool would dare to cross him now.

He felt a small hand on his back, closed his eyes and turned away from the stunned silent Cemile and towards the person who actually needed him. Zeynep and her beautiful tear-stained face pleaded with him silently. Bariş let out an unsteady breath, wrapped his arms around her and did the only thing he could do now - used his own body as a shield to protect her. Protect her from the people who brought her no comfort and from watching the man who tried to kill her struggle to live.

Instinctively she responded to him and buried her face in his shirt. A dam seemed to break within her and she sobbed into his chest, her little hands finding their way around his waist inside his jacket clinging to the back of his shirt. As if she wanted to crawl inside him and hide. He held her tighter and turned his head to glare at Nuh, looking pointedly from Cemile to the chairs across the hall. Nuh finally seemed to understand and was able to cajole his wife into taking a seat before she got her second wind and decided to pull this tiger's tale.

Bariş turned his eyes back to the scene before him. The doctors were frantically trying to bring Mehdi back and for a fleeting moment Bariş wished it would all just end here and now. But he didn't really want that, not for Zeynep or Mehdi. He wanted Zeynep at peace with her parting from this man and he wanted Mehdi to pay for his crimes. There was no justice in this death. And Bariş was a man of justice. He watched as they found a pulse and were able to stabilize him. He held Zeynep as she cried and whispered words of comfort to her into her ears as he ran his hand soothingly over her head. He wasn't sure how long they remained that way, but eventually she had settled against his chest and calmed in his arms. When she finally found the courage to peek up at him, he gave her a small smile and secret wink. "What do we do?" he asked quietly, brushing her hair from her eyes and cupping her face.

"We breathe." she replied looking him directly in the eyes and the first hint of a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, appeared. He brushed her cheek with his fingers, nodded, then ran his hand down her back. He had just turned his head in the direction of the chairs to check on the state of Cemile and Nuh when Kibrit cried out "BABA!"

Bariş whipped his head back around, feeling Zeynep go still in his arms, then begin to tremble, her nails digging into his back. He looked down at her and then followed her gaze that was locked on the window in front of them. Mehdi, very much alive, glared menacingly back at them.