“Every second, every minute that passed felt like forever. Minutes ran into hours, and the door was still sealed shut; nobody was coming out. I was so tired, hungry, and sleepy. Slowly, I stopped praying; I was too tired to.” Rauf Continued

“I saw your Dad and Mom walk in, and with one look at her, I knew she had been crying her eyes out. Her face was all puffy and red.” He said

There was no surprise there, my mother can be quite emotional and often find it difficult to hide it.

“He asked me about your condition, and I told him the little I knew, pointing out that you were still in the Operation room. He nodded his head in affirmation. They asked who Zarat was; I introduced her as your girlfriend, the one who donated the blood for the transfusion. Your Mom kissed and hugged her, thanking her. She was so grateful and happy she wouldn’t let go of her.” Rauf

We all sat quietly, other than your Dad who paced around the lobby, each lost in their own thoughts as we waited for more hours. It was up to 7 hours before someone came through the door, and my heart skipped a beat as he approached us. He kept a stern face; I couldn’t read his expression.” He said

” We all rose to meet him, and he told us the surgery was a success; you were stable and would be transferred to the ICU. Your mom gave a yelp of delight but was told to quiet down. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Finally, I could rest. Your Dad gave me a bear hug; I could see his ecstasy overcoming him.”

“It was getting dark, and he told us to go home and rest, saying we’ve done quite enough. He said he and your mom would stay with you overnight, and we could come tomorrow morning and take over from them.”

“We’ve been taking shifts since then. Zarat and I often watched you together during the day, while your parents stayed with you at night.”

He checked his phone. “It’s getting late already; they should be here soon. Your sisters also came yesterday and went back. It seems they are residing with one of your uncles temporarily. Uncle Jafar, I think,” he said.

Uncle Jafar was my Dad’s younger brother and one of my few paternal family members I was really close with. We often spent our holidays with them during our childhood years. He’s really cool and a very nice man. I knew my sisters were in safe hands; they would enjoy their stay with him. I wondered if my parents told them what happened to me.

“What about Mr. Ali?” I asked.

“Who’s Mr. Ali?”

“Oh, the bomber. I heard he woke up 3 days ago. He was taken into custody for interrogation yesterday.”

I remembered, I know enough to put him away.

“It was Professor Giwa,” I told him through the pain in my jaw.

“Don’t sweat it, we know already. He is also in custody. He confessed after an intensive drilling. Apparently, the conspiracy ran deeper than we could ever fathom. There was also a High-Ranking military officer involved who supplied them with bombs and a politician who was related to Professor Giwa. They’ve all been arrested and are in custody. The politician was trying to fly out of the country when they caught him.”

I felt so relieved. Everything went far better than I could have eve imagined.

“The captain and Rasheed often came to check up on you too. I think the captain also wants you to write a statement whenever you are fit to, to help with the investigation,” he said

“You could dictate; I will help you write,” he added

I nodded my head in affirmation. “Yeah, we can do that.”

I watched the door opened, and my parents walked in. My mom looked so weak but quite excited to see me.

“I’d thought I would never see you again,” she said. She rubbed my hair and kissed my forehead; I knew she was dying to hug me but couldn’t, not to touch my wounds and cause me pain.

“Same here, Mom. I’m so happy to see you again. I’m sorry I made you worry so much,” I said.

I felt a twitch in my jaw and remembered the darn wire. I have talked too much for a man with a wire in his mouth.

She shook her head happily. “I’m just glad you are safe,” she replied.

“How are you, son?” my Dad asked. There was so much joy in his eyes. I responded to him with a nod.

Abdulrauf rose to his feet. “I’m leaving; it’s getting really late. I will be here early tomorrow morning. Stay strong, man,” he said, ruffling my hair.

I tried to get some sleep after he left.

My thoughts wandered about all Rauf told me. I was quite fortunate and lucky. I tried making imaginary faces for all those who contributed to saving me. I thought about what had happened to me.

Ruptured spleen. Broken teeth. Broken hand. Busted eye socket. Laceration.

I thought about Zarat; her blood was running through me right now.

I watched the fan spinning above; I tried to squint my eyes until a mirage of the fan was created. I didn’t realize when I slipped into the land of sleep.