Finding Muna: A Palestinian Novel

Chapter Forty-Three

The girls limped into the airport as fast as they could, holding on to each other's hands. April pushed the door open and they instantly felt the gush of cool air blow on their faces as they stepped into the airport, remembering how they felt the gush of wind when they first stepped their feet into the Gaza Strip. 

The girls were noticed only a few seconds after they entered the airport, gasps were heard, people rose to their feet, camera flashlights were on towards them, and everyone gaped at them in shock and disbelief. they knew the people recognized them as the three journalists who risked their lives to expose the truth about what was going on in Palestine, while some of the other people probably recognized them from their videos and updates on the various social media platforms.

The workers in the airport quickly surrounded them and were taken away from the eyes of people. Everything happened so fast that it started to feel like a dream, like a hallucination that was far from reality. the girls never left each other's hands, it was the only thing that kept them sane throughout the entire situation. 

They were taken to a private room, and everything they took along with them was collected from them and put aside, they offered them clothes to wear and allowed them to settle and take everything in.  

April and Lamees were wary of what was going on and so they didn't trust any of the people that came around to ask them questions, nor did they trust whatever they brought along with them, be it food, clothes, drinks or the bed they asked them to rest on.

The only thing they consumed was the water to quench their thirst, the both of them chugged down almost four bottles of water each in one sitting which made the lady watching them a bit concerned - a lot concerned.

She sat before them with a sigh and watched as one looked around the room with suspicion and the other watched her keenly as if she would harm them, she shook her head and heaved in again, and as she ran her eyes on them, she bursted into tears, shaking violently as she teared up at their extremely pitiful conditions.

One of them had her leg amputated and the other had an almost useless arm, both of them looked very malnourished and only a few more days without food would make them give up the ghost, the beauty of their faces was snatched away, the skin on their bodies was harsh and disfigured. Blood was visible in every part of their bodies and the clothes on them were torn so that their sacred parts could be seen.

It broke her heart that someone would deliberately treat people in extremely inhumane ways, and the girls she could see before her were only two out of the million others who were also going through the same thing as both of them, maybe in a more pitiful condition than them.

She quickly wiped her tears and tried to converse with them but she noticed they were only staring at her in confusion, she tried a couple more times only to be met with the same reaction and then she stood up and left the room to find a staff that spoke English.

The girls still looked around, and a small part of them was in fear considering how the lady left without saying another word, they wondered if they had angered her and whispered to each other alarmed.

But their conversations were cut short as the lady entered again but this time with a lady tagging behind her, they noticed that the lady also teared up as she saw them but was quick to blink away her tears. She offered them a painful and forced smile as she sat before them.

"Hello," she started with a smile.

"My name is Chloe, how are you both doing?" she asked while April and Lamees exchanged glances.

"I heard you both are just arriving from Gaza, welcome here, and I want to assure you that you are both safe here okay?" she said slowly.

"The days of horror are over, this isn't Gaza, this is Amman and we will do whatever it is we can do to protect you, okay?" she asked and slowly April nodded at her while Lamees was still eyeing her, not trusting a word she said.