Lost

Chapter 7: Leave the Loved Ones

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After Asim regained some of his composure earlier, he was forced to let someone take a look at his wound. They pulled out a glass shard and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

"You might need stitches," the student informed Asim after he cleaned his wound. "The wound is deep. It might start bleeding again."

Asim said nothing. He could not care less about a bleeding temple. Stitches or not, he was alive, he was fine. All he cared about was finding professor R.K. to talk to him about Salma. He wanted to know what the professor was going to do about it.

Once the student applied antibiotic on his temple and bandaged it, Asim muttered a thanks and headed straight to the professor. He was standing next to the bus, arguing with the blonde girl in red dress.

"What do you mean not right now?!" she cried. "You are telling me we have to leave him behind? What if he's hurt?! What if he needs immediate help?! How can you decide to just leave him here?"

"Claire, listen to me. We are not leaving him behind, but we need help." Professor tried to talk sense into her.

"He needs help! Zayn needs us to find him. I'm not leaving without him!"

"Claire - "

Her friends tried to comfort her but there was nothing that could relieve such agony.She was full on sobbing and Asim could feel her pain. He found out earlier that another student, Zayn Harris, had fallen victim to the same unfortunate fate as Salma. 

Asim thought Claire had it tougher than him. Sitting in the front row, she actually saw Salma and Zayn fall out of the speeding bus. Asim could not even begin to imagine the trauma Claire was going through, and he was already going through enough.

Professor R.K. noticed Asim and his face turned to the same expression of exhaustion and worry, that it did earlier when he first approach him to inquire about Salma. Asim was certain the professor dreaded telling him, what he had to tell Claire moments ago. He felt sorry that R.K. had to be the guy in charge; the person who had to deal with them and tell them one bad news after another. Since he had already heard that the professor was not planning on finding Salma and Zayn, Asim decided to put him out of his misery.

"We aren't going to go look for them?" Asim asked, his voice hoarse.

Claire looked at him through her tears, looking hopeful. Asim guessed she was hoping he would help her change the professor's mind.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Rahman," Professor R.K said, worry etched into every line of his face. "I understand what you two are going through, but you have to realize there isn't anything we can do right now. We lack the expertise and the equipment to look for them in these mountains."

Asim nodded. The lump in his throat grew bigger. He blinked rapidly when his eyes started to sting.

"So what's the plan?" he asked, his voice thick with tears.

The professor appeared massively relieved that Asim did not argue. Claire, on the other hand, seemed disappointed. Quite frankly, there was nothing to argue about. While he was getting his wound checked, Asim went over every possibility of getting Salma quick help. And the only solution he could come up with was contacting a rescue mission as soon as possible.

"It's already getting dark," the professor began, "so I suggest we spend the night in the bus -"

"What? Why can't we just -"

"Mr. Rehman, it'll be night in an hour or two," the professor reasoned, sounding exasperated. "We have no idea what is out there. It's not safe. I know you want to do things fast, but I'm responsible for all these students. It's best if the rest of us stay out of harm's way."