An Echoing Race.

Chapter Forty Five.

*wriggles around in the closet, looking for excuses as to why this book hasn't been updated in over a month* 

Oh, look I found something. 

A little something called....are you ready...

UNIVERSITY. 

But seriously, I am sooooo sorry for keeping you guys waiting this long, especially on a cliffhanger. I'm also sorry that after such a long time the chapter isn't long but honestly, this is all I could manage with such a busy schedule. 

The good news is that I finish in a month! And then the showering of updates will begin :D

Enjoy my very patient readers!

#Chapter Forty Five#

Tariq's POV.

"I love you too," I whispered, my voice sounding nothing like my own.

I knew I was supposed to be doing something.

Anything!

I was a doctor for God's sake, I had been trained for this!

Yet as I felt Sameena's petite body go limp in my arms, my panic skyrocketed and I felt bile rising up my throat.

What if...what if...

No, I couldn't even think it!

I wiped the tears that had wetted my cheek and looked down at her. The blood was still oozing out of her chest wound at an alarming rate despite the jacket that I had wrapped around it. She was pale, way too pale, and in my trembling state I couldn't even identify if she was breathing or not.

"If you don't start doing something within the next second I'll strangle you." Tilting my head upwards, I searched for the familiar, deep baritone voice. My eyes eventually met with Salem's furious ones and when I simply sat there and stared at him like he was from outer space, he grabbed me violently by the collar. "Sameena's life is on the line! Do you understand that or not?!" he yelled into my face and I flinched, both at his tone and at the spittle that hit my face.

Sameena's life is on the line.

I felt like I had been slapped across the face.

Salem must've noticed the renewed determination in my eyes because he instantly let go of me. I immediately bent down and placed my ear above her mouth and to my utter relief, I heard two, very faint and uneven breaths.

Not good, but it could be worse...

I placed her in the recovery position and opened her mouth to check if there was any blood or mucus blocking her airways.

Nothing.

I had just laid her back down and bent to check her breathing again when a hand clamped down on my shoulder.

"Sir, if you could please step aside."

My annoyance quickly turned into relief when two paramedics squatted next to me and began to assess Sameena exactly as I had. As soon as they located a pulse and breath, they readied themselves to haul her onto the stretcher.

"Do you know what happened to the patient?" one of the paramedics, a short yet muscly woman asked me.

I nodded my head and swallowed. I was glad that at least in this, I could help.

"Gun shot wound to the chest area. Excessive bleeding. Narrow pulse pressure and tachycardia. My best guess would be massive hemothorax in the hilum of the lung." The two paramedics stared at me dumbfounded for all of one second before they must've come to the conclusion that I was a doctor.