An Echoing Race.

Chapter Twenty Eight.

Masha'Allah all you little detectives. A lot of you were really close to guessing why Sameena can't remember Tariq. I enjoyed reading all your theories, some of 'em were so good, I was like, hmm maybe I should utilise their idea instead of mine :P

But the person who came closest to the correct answer is ruya123! Big round of applause to you! Be proud child!

Don't worry, you will all be finding out the nitty gritty details of their relationship soon :)

Enjoy!

#Chapter Twenty Eight#

The large body landed right onto my legs and God, did it hurt. I yelped in pain but to my relief, I felt nothing break or crack, only a shooting pain with the weight of the body, trapping my sprawled legs from moving. I couldn't see who it was as I had landed on my side and turning my head was too hard of a feat at the moment.

It was only when I had managed to take in a deep breath and refuel my lungs, did I realise the absolute chaos that had ensued around us. People were screaming and running around frantically, some were staring at us in horror and others were clasping tightly to their phones that were held to their ears. I searched around for the man in black but found him no where.

Frustrated, I yelled out for Ziad or someone to come and help me.

"Move, out of the way!" A booming voice yelled and I sensed rather than saw Ziad's form appear behind me. "Salem!" I heard him shout only a second later, his voice aghast and urgent.

I felt my heart pick up speed and I desperately tried to haul my body upwards to see what was happening. Gritting my teeth due to the large amount of exertion, I managed to hoist myself up and balance a quarter of my upper body with my right hand. Finally, I turned my head and gasped in shock when I saw Salem's semi-conscious body on top of me. Tariq was kneeling by his body, inspecting his body at inhuman speed, his eyes focused and unwavering. I had never seen him like that - so zoned in, so intent and knowing.

I flinched when Tariq ripped off a large piece of fabric from Salem's shirt and wrapped it around his bloodied head.

Bloodied head?! When did that even happen?!

Next, he ripped off another piece of fabric and tied it around Salem's left arm, securing it tightly in place with a knot. I gulped and mentally tried to reassure myself that Salem was going to be fine - of course he would be fine.

If something happened to him...

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

I was just about to declare my legs going numb, when Tariq's eyes flashed to Ziad - who I didn't even realise was by my side - and said, "we need to lift him off Sameena." Ziad nodded and he moved towards Salem's feet. "Be careful when you put him down, he's had a bad hit to the head." Two bystanders came to help haul Salem's body off of mine, since clearly he was too big for even two grown men to carry him. "One, two, three," Tariq said and at the last count, they lifted him off me. "Can someone get me water?!" he yelled out loud but everyone just stared at Tariq with a mixture of apprehension and stunned shock.