NURA

Chapter 15

Nura

Jan. 2014, New York

"So, are you feeling better? You look better than the last time I saw you." Ben said as they sat on the bench in a park near his house.

Nura sighed and looked at the children playing on the playground, the girls giggling near the swings and the boys battling each other with sticks. She smiled wistfully at them, the memory of her childhood and brother making her eyes burn. She shook her head and inhaled deeply since it would do her no good to think about the past that would never be again.

"I'm okay, I guess. It's not like we've been together for long. It had barely started. I am sad because I really liked him, more than liked him. But I'll get over it, so don't worry about me." she said with a forced smile, noticing how Ben looked at her doubtfully.

"I'll always worry about you, Nura," Ben said and smirked, making her giggle as she hugged him tightly.

"How about I buy you strawberry ice...Ah..."

Nura was crouching down to get her bag, smiling at the thought of ice cream, when Ben stopped talking in the middle of his sentence, a gurgled sound escaping his mouth. She frowned and stood up, her eyes bulging out of their sockets at the image of Ben standing in front of her with his hands covered in blood as he clutched to his neck.

"What the... Ben!?" she screamed as Ben fell to his knees and then back to the ground, his whole body shaking as his eyes looked around as if searching for someone.

Nura kneeled beside him, her hand pressing down on the wound as the other touched his cheek.

"I am here, Ben. I am here. Please don't die on me, please! Someone call 911!!" she screamed at the people looking at them in shock until a teenage girl finally took her phone out and called for an ambulance.

After that, everything went by in a blur, Nura feeling so scared that she couldn't see or hear anything except Ben, whose eyes were trained on hers, as Nura cried and held onto his neck. After a few minutes, the ambulance came and hauled them both up into the vehicle, and after what felt like forever, Nura felt the van stopping and thanked God that they had made it.

"You'll need to hold on for a few minutes until we get him into the OR. Okay, honey?" the young paramedic asked her, and she nodded, still not taking her eyes or hand from Ben, even though her whole body shook and her hand was starting to cramp hard.

"Nura!?" she suddenly heard a familiar voice through the haze, and her head snapped to the side. The sight of Nate standing there and looking at her in surprise was what finally broke her, and she started to cry again.

"Just breathe, Habibi, just breathe. I will do everything I can, I promise." Nate said as they entered the operating room, his eyes never leaving Nura's until they eventually made her leave the room.

The next few hours were excruciating; Kate's and Jonah's presence only slightly dampened the fear of losing Ben. Nura knew she should have been the one to console them since Ben was their husband and father, but Kate shook her head at her pitiful attempt with a stern glare before marching her to the toilet so she could scrub the dried blood from her hands and face.

A nurse thankfully provided her with a new shirt, and Nura had to admit that she felt just a pinch more comfortable than she had been before as she rejoined the Hayes family.

She had just given Kate a cup of tea when she heard the door open and saw Nate approaching them.

Nura didn't even think about what it would mean; she just followed her heart as she jumped and hugged him tightly. In the next moment, she felt Nate's arms wrapping around her as the man pulled her closer, and she almost started crying there and then when his intoxicating scent hit her.