Forbidden Romance

Chapter Twenty Four: Good-Bye

     "Allah hu akbar, Allah hu akbar, Allah hu akbar." (God is great.)
The family members of Mariam and Khalil stood behind Ahmed's grave and prayed for him.
"Who did this?" Khalil's father, Aziz, asked his sixteen year old son, Issa.
"I heard it was Jamal and Usman. No one knows what happened exactly, but we all know they're responsible," he responded.
"First my son, now my grandson. They're going to pay for everything," he bent down and grabbed the dirt that would soon be thrown over Ahmed.
+ +
"Its midnight, you should go," Jamal commanded Usman.
"Take care of yourself nephew,"
"Be careful out there," they hugged.
Usman walked out into the dark freezing forest alone in the yellow raincoat that Jamal had given him.
He turned on his flashlight and disappeared into the foggy shadows of the night.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Jamal walked into the cabin as he witnessed Zachary trying to pull the ropes apart.
"We have a hostage and a douche," Zachary mugged him.
"You should be a comedian," Jamal gave him a fake smile.
"So, what now?" Zach wondered.
"Now, we wait." Jamal peeked out of the window.
"We're going to die if we stay here," Zachary sighed with blood still dripping down his nose.
"Thats exactly where you're wrong. You will die here, alone. I won't," he gave a devilish smirk.
"You hear that?" Jamal paused in a suspenseful moment.
"Barking?" Zachary said as he continued to listen.
"What the hell is that?" Jamal said softly as the sounds got closer and closer.
"Its a dog you idiot," Zachary laughed.
"I have come here only about a thousand times and not once have I spotted a single dog,"
"There must be someone in here, the lights are on," a man said as he approached the cabin.
"Theres someone here," Zach whispered.
"HELP! HELP!" He called.
"I swear if you don't shut your mouth Zachary Spencer I will cut your tongue off."
"You don't scare me," Zachary looked at him in pity.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, "Hello, is anyone there?"
"Don't say another word, maybe he will leave," Jamal thought.
"I can hear you in there, please open the door,"
"Shit," Jamal said to himself.
"Might as well," Zachary laughed.
Jamal instantly pulled out a gun from the back of his pants and stood behind the door.
"Who are you and what do you want?" He asked as he barely opened the door the get a peak at this mysterious person.
"Please let me in. I'm lost and there is a storm coming in," the man begged.
Jamal quickly shut the door in the man's face as he paused to make a decision.
As the old man began walking away, Zachary thought Jamal released what little bit of humanity he had left in him.
"Come in," he opened the door.
"I'm sorry to bother..." He walked into the cabin stunned at the sight of Zachary tied to a chair.
"What in the hell is going on?" He asked as his dog barked continuously.
"You just walked into a death trap," Jamal grinned as he closed the door.
+ +
"Shes awake, you can see her now," the nurse said to Nancy.
"Oh, my baby, alhamdillah (thank god)."
Nancy quickly rushed towards Mariam as she lied paralyzed in a hospital bed.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Nancy kissed her forehead and held her hand.
"She had internal bleeding, which is what caused the seizure. At this stage, she is very fragile so be careful. She may not see everything but she can certainly hear everything," the nurse explained.
"Will there be anymore seizures in the future?" Nancy wondered as she felt a knot forming in her throat.
"Yes, it is very common that these type of things happen. It may occur often if Mariam remains in the stage she is in."
"Why me? Why my children? Why Allah (god)?" Nancy cried.
"Oh my god," the nurse's head turned towards Mariam.
"What is it?" Nancy panicked.
"Mariam, she just moved her finger," the nurse pointed at Mariam's hand.
Mariam was nothing but a weak bird with a broken wing at this point, but nothing can ever stop the strong bond between mother and daughter.
She raised her index finger as Nancy smiled in hope and happiness.
"I'm going to go inform the doctor," the nurse smiled and left the room.
"M-m-mom," Mariam uttered as her dry lips barely opened to leave out a breathe of strength.
"Mariam, Mariam, oh my god. You just said... oh my god I cannot believe this. I'm so happy right now," Nancy paraded.
"W-water, water," Mariam said as her dry throat almost forbid her from speaking.
"Okay, okay, here, drink," Nancy pressed the cup of water against her lips as she began to open her eyes.
"Nothing makes my job worthy than this very sight right here," the doctor walked in.
"Oh Dr. Westly, thank you so much for bringing my daughter back," Nancy weeped with joy.
"You are very welcome. May I ask you a question?" The doctor insisted.
"Yes of course, anything doctor,"
"Who is Ahmed?" He asked.
"Ahmed?" Nancy felt as if all the weight that was just lifted a few minutes ago had came crashing back down onto her shoulders.
"He's.. My grandson."
"You should get him here immediately. All Mariam did during her surgery was mumble his name many times,"
Nancy tried to hold back her tears, "He.. He.."
"M-mom, where is my son?" Mariam asked as she longed to see Ahmed.
"He... He... He..."
"He went out for ice cream with his dad," Archie walked into the room as Nancy was obviously unable to utter the words that would soon shatter Mariam.
"Yea... That." Nancy said as she let out a breathe of temporary relief.
"Hello Mariam, I'm glad to see you getting better. I knew you would, You're a very strong women," Archie said as he got settled on the guest chair near Mariam's bed.
"I want my son," Mariam demanded.
"Don't worry about him right now, just hurry up and get out of this dang hospital because their cafeteria kind of sucks," He said in total sarcasm.
Nancy couldn't hold in her tears any longer, "I'm going to go down and call Zachary okay, I'll be right back," she power walked out of the room.
"What's wrong?" Mariam suspected something wasn't right.
"Nothing, what made you think that?" Archie acted clueless.
"I just woke up from a coma, I don't know what day it is or how much time I've missed from my son's life. But I am not stupid, Archie, what is going?"
"Oh crap, you know what, I just remembered I parked my car in a handicap zone. Let me go before my car gets towed away," Archie quickly rushed out of the room.
"Something is definitely wrong," Mariam said to herself.
+ +
"Hello father," Khalil appeared on a sunflower field.
"Son, you're back," Aziz reached out for him from a distance.
"Grandpa," Ahmed showed up on a burnt cornfield.
"Oh grandson, I've missed you so much,"
"Why did you lie to me?" Ahmed asked.
"They took you away, I wasn't able to see you. Forgive me," Aziz cried.
"No, I never want to see you again," Ahmed ran away.
"Grandson, wait, I'm coming,"
"Dad, all I wanted was for you to take care of my son, but you couldn't. I hate you," Khalil began walking away slowly.
"Khalil, I'm coming,"
"HELP! HELP! HELP!" Aziz screamed but it seemed as if he was trapped alone in the middle of nowhere.
"Khalil. Ahmed. No, come back. Khalil, forgive me. HELP!" Aziz mumbled as he woke up from sleep drenched in his own sweat.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" His wife, Norah, asked.
"Yea, just the same old nightmare," Aziz wiped his forehead as he grabbed the glass of water on his night stand.
"Its okay, they're in a better place now," she rubbed his back.
"I cannot keep living like this," he threw the glass of water against the wall as Norah jumped up and gasped.
"Calm down Aziz,"
"They are going to pay, I don't care if I have to die in the process," he stared at the lit fire place as a reflection of flames appeared in his eyes.
+ +
"LET ME GO!"
"Slow down grandpa, just a few minutes ago you were begging me to let you in," Jamal laughed at the man he had just tied to a chair placed next to Zachary as his dog lied shot dead on the floor.
"Please don't hurt me, I have a wife and children," the man gave him a sincere look.
The man's body was sculpted, tall, and a caramel brown skin color. His muscles looked as if he could take out ten men in one fight as he looked like a man of character. His shiny bald head almost mirrored his surroundings.
"Don't worry, he's not going to hurt you. You're the last of his worries," Zach tried to calm the man.
"Don't be too sure Zach, this man has seen my face and he knows my location. If I want to move on with my life, I cant leave any loose ends," he said as he walked closer to the old man.
"ANY!" He jabbed a pocket knife into the man's left palm that was placed on an armchair, making him stuck to it.
"Why are you doing this to me?" He asked as the blood rushed out of his wound.
"I had a wife and kids too... But they were taken away from me," he walked towards one of the windows near the front door.
"Listen, its all going to be okay, I'm going to get you out of here. Just stay calm," Zach promised.
"I don't want to die without saying goodbye,"
"You won't, YOU WONT!" He shouted.
"I cant stand this, I'm going to take a walk and see if I can find anything to eat, you two better stay put," he grabbed his coat off of the coat hanger near the front door and ran off into the oncoming blizzard.
As Jamal left, Zachary refused to let the man die, "Listen to me, I need you to focus. Don't think about your hand right now, tell me about yourself, what's your name?"
"My name is Marcel Phillips,"
"Okay, nice to meet you Marcel, my name is Zachary Spencer,"
"Spencer, Spencer, sounds very familiar,"
"So, you mentioned you had a wife and children. What are their names?" Zachary questioned.
"I have three kids. My oldest son's name is Amari, he's twenty five. He just joined the marines, said he wants to be like me,"
"Okay, keep going, what about your other two kids?"
"My twenty one year old daughter just started college, her name is Cassie," the man started coughing.
"My last child, my favorite. Wilson, little willy, he's eighteen and just graduated high school. I love my kids so much," he began tearing up as his blood continued flooding the floor.
"I'm sure you do. You know, I have a son too, his name is Ahmed. He's eight years old, in the hospital right now,"
"What happened?" Marcel lifted his head and looked at Zach.
"He got shot trying to save me,"
"I'm sorry," the man apologized as he began breathing heavily.
"So, tell me more about your wife,"
"My wife's name is Sheryl, she's a police officer at the Durham county police station. She's also..."
"WAIT! Sheryl is your wife?" Zachary jumped.
"You know her?"
"Do I know her? She had helped me so many times over the years, even now. She is searching for me,"
"No wonder your name sounds very familiar, she has told me a lot about you," the man said as he shook his head.
"Have you heard anything new about my wife or son?"
"Mariam right?"
Zach gave him a sincere look, "Is she okay?"
"She's still in the hospital. It's, it's pretty bad,"
Zachary gritted his teeth in anger at the fact that he was unable to be by her side.
"Ahmed on the other hand,"
"What? What's wrong with my son?"
Marcel looked down and remained silent.
"WHATS WRONG WITH MY SON?" He shouted.
"I'm sorry Zachary,"
"No, no, don't say it. DON'T SAY IT!"
"He's dead, I'm sorry," Marcel confessed with a tear rushing down his cheek.
"NO! NO! NO! This cant be happening, Mariam will go crazy, THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!" He began to loose his mind as he tried to force his way out of the chair he was tied too.
"Zachary calm down, CALM DOWN!" Marcel yelled.
"I need to get out of here, I need to get back to Mariam," he stood up and jumped backwards onto his back causing the old wooden chair to break.
"Zach, are you okay?" Marcel asked as his breath began cutting shorter.
"Ahh, ahh," Zach began moaning as his back ached.
He slowly picked himself up and untied the ropes that attached Marcel to the blood covered chair.
"Quick, I need some type of fabric. I would offer mine but its all I have and I need it to survive if I want to save us both,"
Marcel reached for his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief.
"Here, bite on it," Zachary placed the handkerchief into Marcel's mouth and his teeth quickly grabbed on to it.
"Okay, this is going to hurt a little, bare with me," Zach placed both of his hands onto the knife that was still stabbed into Marcel's bloody hand.
Zach slowly started to pull it out as Marcel began groaning at the pain.
"Almost done, hang in there buddy," he continued to pull it out as he finally completed the process.
"Now, that wasn't so bad," Zachary said as he grabbed the handkerchief out of Marcel's mouth and tied it onto his hand.
"Listen, you're going to be okay. This is all going to be over soon and you're going to be reunited with your family,"
"Thank you so much, for everything," he paused and looked at Zach.
"You're welcome, now lets go,"
As Marcel began taking a few steps, he fell straight to the ground.
"Whats wrong? Are you okay?" Zachary rushed to help him up.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he stood up again but only to fall a second time.
"You are not fine, let me help you up,"
"It's okay, I'm just feeling a little lightheaded," Marcel explained.
"Its because you lost a lot of blood. We have to go now," Zachary placed Marcel's right arm and placed it over his left shoulder as they hurried out of the cabin.
+ +
"Hey honey, how are you feeling?" Nancy walked back into the hospital room.
"I'd feel a lot better if someone would tell me what's going on," Mariam sighed with anger.
"Mariam, you're very weak and tired. You just woke up from a coma, go to sleep and rest," Nancy insisted.
"Mom, I'v been asleep for more than a week now, I'm done resting. Tell me, what the hell is going on?" She demanded a confession.
"Zach is..." Nancy sighed and turned away from Mariam, not being able to look her in the eyes.
"He's with your brother, I haven't seen him for about three days now, I'm so sorry,"
"Mom, is he okay?"
"I, I don't know. No one knows where he is, the police are still searching for him,"
"Oh my god, this is all my fault. I have to go mom, I have to go save him,"
"Mariam you cant,"
"Its me he wants, not Zach. I'm going," Mariam tried to get up from her bed.
She slowly picked herself up and tried to swing her legs to the side.
But she couldn't.
"Mom, what the hell is going on, why cant I move my legs?" Mariam said in confusion.
"Honey, stop, lay down,"
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY LEGS?" She screamed.
"YOUR LEGS ARE PARALYZED!" She shouted back with less patience.
"What? Paralyzed?" She placed her right palm over her heart.
"How? When? Why?" She continued asking Nancy several questions.
"No, it is not going to end like this. I have to find Zach and Ahmed. I have to," she tried to pick her legs up.
"AHMED'S DEAD!" Nancy yelled hoping to stop Mariam from trying to leave.
"What? No, no, you're lying. YOU'RE LYING TO ME! You never wanted me to be with Zachary, you want Jamal to kill him, let me go. You're lying, Ahmed cannot be dead, he is my little baby, my one and only. HE CANNOT BE DEAD!" She screamed in tears.
"I'm so sorry," Nancy tried to hug her.
"NO! Stop, you're not my mother. You're lying to me, I have to go find the two most important people in my life," she picked her legs up off of the bed though she was unable to feel them.
"I have to go, I have to go, I have to find them," she repeated.
As her feet finally touched the ground, she tried to stand up.
"NOO!" She yelled as she fell helplessly to the floor.
"Mariam, please," Nancy tried to help her.
"DON'T TOUCH ME! I have to go," she began slowly crawling towards the door.
"Ahmed, I'm coming for you baby, please wait for me," she continued crawling as Nancy tried to stop her.
"What the hell is this?" A nurse asked in shock as she walked in to the sight of Mariam having a meltdown.
"CAN I GET SOME HELP IN HERE?" The nurse called as three other nurses came rushing in to pick Mariam up.
"LET ME GO! I have to find my son, let me go. PLEASE! LET ME GO! My son is waiting for me," she tried to fight her way out of eight arms pinning her down.
The nurses forcibly placed her back onto her bed and stuck a needle through her left arm.
"You have to leave," they commanded Nancy.
"No, I am not leaving her,"
"Ahmed, wait for me. I am coming. Ahmed. Ahmed," Mariam passed out.
___________________________
Next Chapter: Happy Never After
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Authors note:
Hello beautiful readers, I'd like to thank you for being really patient with me as I have been REALLY busy. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!