How a bird gained freedom

Chapter 8: the truth revealed

I woke up energized today. Nothing has changed on my daily routine, but yet i feel a bit different. I woke up at 9 am like usual, washed my face, brushed my teeth, checked my mobile and emails, and finally hopped back to Evan's warm arms in bed. But i didn’t sleep again! that would be weird! i only go back to bed after i wake up to relax until Evan wakes up at 10 am.

At 10 AM, Evan woke up a bit tiered. He kissed my forehead, and gently felt my face and hair.

"I'll always be there for you baby."

"Me too, but why are telling me that now?"

"I just felt like saying that."

i could sense that there was something wrong. Evan isn’t the type of person that feels like saying deep random stuff. Ok he is a random person by personality and action, but not the type of randomness im sensing now. It's weird! I moved my hands to his cheeks and kissed him, while laying on top of him. I then noticed that there is a bruise on his neck!

"Evan, why do you have a bruise and dry blood on the back of your neck? what happened?"

"Oh, thats nothing important baby, i accidently cut myself while shaving."

Deep inside i knew that this is not from shaving. i could feel that something happened but he's refusing to tell me about it. I also still didnt forget that he promised to tell me what got me into the hospital,

"You promised to tell me what got me into the hospital about a month ago."

"Oh right, ok now babe remember the first time you and I hooked up?"

"Yes"

"Remember that after that night you decided to let it go, and post on instagram a picture of us together."

"Yes i do remember all that, but what does that have to do with me being in the emergency room in the hospital."

"When all of your friends from Jordan, knew about our relationship, your family did too in some way after a while has passed over posting that picture of us."

"What? but how? i dont have any of them on any of my social network accounts."

"How? i cant answer that since i dont know the answer."

"ok continue what happened!"

"Ok, so last month, the day that you got into the hospital, You, and I were out walking in the downtown of Sydney. I stopped to get us something to eat from a hamburger shop that was near us. You cam e with me, but you waited outside of the shop, after i paid for your chicken burger and my hamburger, i turned around to see that you were standing still and frightened, and across the street there was a man standing with a gun pointed at you. Then, he fired the gun at you and while that happened,, i tried to grab you so that he gunshot wouldn’t get into you, but i was late! It already got into your shoulder. So i rushed and called the ambulance while tears were pouring down my face. For a minute, I thought that i wasn’t going to see you again. I then followed the ambulance to the hospital because they didn’t let me in with you, and i say the hospital people carrying you to the emergency room. I asked one of the nurses if you were seriously injured, and she told me that your condition was critical since the bullet got close to the veins connected to the heart. I almost panicked when she said that! She then told me to wait a couple of hours in order to see wither you were still alive or dead, as the doctors were trying to get the bullet out of you. I was so angry and worried at that time, so i got out of the hospital, and back to the area where ypu were shot, to find out who did this too you and why. the area was surrounded by police, and they were investigating the crime scene. They said that they didnt figure out who the man that shot you was, but there was a portrait artist with them, and a witness describing to the artist how the man that shot you looked like. When the artist finished drawing, it look really similar to the actual man that shot you. The police asked me if i could identify who that man was, but i couldn’t. Thus they went to the police office in order to know for sure who that man is. I tagged along with them. After hours of investigating and searching their documents they identified him by a man from your country Jordan, that currently lives in the USA, and his name was Samer Barakat. His surname matched yours!"

"My brother did this to me! How could he! why? what have i done to deserve that." As Evan continues the story, tears burst from my eyes like the water that sprouts from a fountain. When Evan noticed that i was crying, he held me closer to his chest, and kissed my forehead.

"You did nothing wrong babe, you didnt deserve that. But im pretty sure he did that, because your family knew about our relationship, and that we where intimate together. Therefore, they might have wanted revenge. I remember that when you first came here, you told me that you dont want your family to know about our relationship because they are still not open-minded for such a thing, and that back in the conservative area you lived in, such thing is viewed as disgrace and shame and deserves a punishment."

"Yes, im aware of that, but they wanted to kill me! How could they! They shot me because i wanted to be independent, because i finally felt that im in a place that i belong in! I hate that!"

"It's okay babe, the important thing is that you didnt die, and that i will always protect you."

Evan tries to comfort me and make me feel better. in my mind I have thoughts of revenge because I'm so angry from them. this incident also made me feel that all my life they've been lying to me. they never loved me! my mom, dad, and brother never loved me! I've been living a lye all my life! the one and only person that truly loves me is Evan, and oh my sister too. 
I never felt what I feel with Evan right now with someone else. it's different!

Evan goes to shower, so I try to relax on the couch in the living room looking through the big window and thinking about my current situation.
The grass glows green on the mountain behind our house, not a person to be seen in this morning. A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm free. The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside me. I couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried!
I didn't let them know, didn't let them see. Ive been the good girl i always had to be. i tried to hide it in, didn't let them know, but I couldn't keep the secret relationship anymore.
And now they know! So i tried to let it go, because I can't hold it back anymore. That all happened because I let it go, so i turned away and slammed the door!
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the war rage on. I never felt free anyways!
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem so small, and the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all now!
It's time to see what I can do. I can test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm trying to become free! I'm never going back to my home country that was in the past!

(Note: the paragraph above is inspired from the song let it go from the movie frozen. I didn't steal the songs words and I don't intend to. I was just inspired from it.)

when Evan got out of the shower, he got dressed and sat next to me, holding me in his arm.

" I feel like i should give them something they deserve like what they did to me. Revenge maybe?"

"Dont be silly babe, they probably forgot about you."

"No, they didn’t forget! i opened my moms facebook since i know the password because im the one that made it for her, and she was private messaging my brother about tracking me again after a while passes to the incident and killing me because everyone in jordan is talking about the disgrace i brought for my family."

"Retarded people! I can’t understand why they shove their noses in everyones business."

"Yeah i know."

"its a good thing that you managed to get here baby."

"Yeah i feel better here."