Happiness defined me in that moment. Of course, Jared deserved to have me stay away a little longer, but after what he said, that he pushed himself so hard to forget the hate his brother felt for him, as he had to forget the loss of his parents, I realized he needed me much more than I thought. I wouldn’t abandon him in such a moment. I would give him all my love, and if it wasn’t enough to make his ghosts disappear, I’d find him a therapist. I just wouldn’t leave him unless he told me to.
As usual, the fire inside us didn’t leave and we entered the apartment kissing each other, going to the stairs that led to our room to spend the day making love, as we had done in the beginning. We were in the middle of the room, holding each other, starting to take off our clothes when we heard someone moving near the kitchen door. As we parted to see who it was, my heart stopped. I felt terror overtaking me, making my blood run cold.
As unbelievable as it may sound, it was Jeffrey, right there, standing before us. He was different. Thinner. His beard was longer, and he had a strange vacant stare in his eyes from drug abuse. His clothes were dirty and disheveled, but he had a gun, and it was pointed at us.
With an agile movement, Jared pushed me behind him, staying between Jeffrey and me as a shield. I felt his body tensing and his eyes fixed on his brother.
“Did you really think you’d get rid of me so easily?” Jeffrey asked coldly, looking crazily at Jared.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Lorry?” Jared demanded in a low voice.
“I put her to sleep, but unlike you, she’ll wake up.”
“How did you get inside?”
“With the key. You’re so stupid you didn’t change the lock. Did you really think I’d stay in jail?”
“How did you escape?” Jared kept asking question, startled.
“You are really unaware of anything that doesn’t have to do with your business! You didn’t even care to know my court date,” Jeffrey said. “Unfortunately for you, I was absolved… the case was dismissed. The guy who cut your brakes recanted his testimony, and the doctor never implicated me. The police don’t have anything on me. They can’t keep an innocent man in jail.”
“Are you really innocent? You didn’t anything to do with it?” Jared asked naïvely.
Jeffrey laughed bizarrely.
“Of course I did, but I have friends in this town and a couple of them kidnapped the drug dealer’s wife. If he didn’t change his story, his wife would die.”
Fuck! That bastard was sicker than we thought.
“Enjoy your freedom and go live your life, man,” Jared said. “If it’s money you want, I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you properties. You can start again wherever you want.”
“I can never live my life as long as you are alive, Jared, because you were the end of me.”
“I didn’t do anything to you,” Jared said, beginning to realize he wasn’t to blame for his brother’s madness.
“Yes, you did. You were born. That’s bad enough.”
“Jeffrey, you’re sick. You need treatment. Put down this gun, I’ll help you.”
“Help me? You? Don’t make me laugh. You never cared for me. You just wanted to prove that you were always better. You were our parents’ favorite, the teachers’ pet, women’s idol, and the neighbors’ fair-haired boy… and you left me behind in that fucking hell. Have you got any idea the things I had to do to pay for drugs while you were here getting rich?”
“I didn’t do anything to hurt you,” Jared insisted, but Jeffrey wasn’t listening.
“And not satisfied with being everything I wasn’t and having everything I didn’t, you still took Inaya away from me, the only woman I wanted to share a life with.”
“Jared didn’t take me from you, Jeffrey. I feel in love with him. We can’t choose these things.” I tried to stand beside my husband, but he pushed me back again.
“What is it like being the first man in the life of such a woman?”
“That doesn’t matter. Put that down and let’s talk as men, or are you just a man with a gun?”
“Don’t provoke me, Jared. I’m not kidding. I came here to kill you, and that’s what I’ll do.”
When he said that, the bile rose up in my stomach and my body shook in terror. “Don’t do that, Jeffrey. He’s your brother,” I said, trembling.
“I won’t if you come with me, Inaya. At least I want to know what it’s like to fuck you.”
“I’ll go.” I said.
“No way.” Jared replied, holding me behind him. “If you want to do it, kill me, but leave her alone.”
“Don’t be ridiculous by trying to be a hero just to impress her. After I kill you, I’ll take her upstairs and do whatever I want to her. No one can stop me.”
My body trembled again, violently.
In this moment, Lorry, who had blood on her face, came behind Jeffrey with a pan, ready to surprise him, but he heard her. He spun around fast to face her and pulled the trigger. She fell to the floor, unconscious.
Jared used this distraction to charge Jeffrey. My heart pounded rapidly with fear. He grabbed his brother’s wrist, raising the gun toward the ceiling as they struggled. It looked like they were trying to kill each other as they each tried to control the gun. I was petrified, not knowing what I could to do to help.
Knowing I wouldn’t survive if Jared was killed, I saw the pan by Lorry’s hand on the floor and ran to her. I would hit Jeffrey on the head and save the man I loved, but I didn’t time. I heard the gun go off again, simultaneously feeling the bullet painfully burn my skin. I grabbed my belly immediately and felt the blood flow through my fingers.
I lost control of my legs as I tried to find Jared’s face because I knew I wouldn’t survive without seeing it. However, I was unable to focus as darkness crowded in on me. The world was spinning and, as I fell uncontrollably to the floor, I could no longer feel my body.
I heard Jared’s desperate yell and another two shots as I slipped from consciousness. I thanked heaven for taking me to that dark abyss, because I couldn’t bear seeing the man I loved die.
***
“Inaya.... Inaya... Inaya...” I heard a familiar, but distant masculine voice calling me even though, somehow, I knew it was close. It took an extraordinary effort to open my eyes, but I finally did it. My vision was blurred and all I saw was a strong light from what looked like a white ceiling. I squeezed my eyes shut and blinked several times to clear them. I finally was able to focus and it really was a white ceiling.
Little by little, I felt my senses returning. I smelled the unpleasant odor of medicine, making me deduce that I was in a hospital. I felt a familiar touch on my hand and I finally heard Jared’s loving voice beside me, calling to me.
“Hey, girl. How do you feel?” He asked, without letting go of my hand.
I looked at him and focused on his beautiful face. It was different… he looked tired and worn. He hadn’t shaved and his eyes were wide with pain and relief. He stood beside me with my uncle Jamal beside him. What was uncle Jamal doing here?
I looked around, searching for answers, and I it dawned on me that I was in a private hospital room with a bedside table where vase with a bouquet of flowers sat. There was a needle in my arm connected to an IV and monitors were attached to me.
I tried to remember what happened, replaying the memories again in my head. I recalled the four shots I heard in the living room, smelling the gunpowder, seeing Jeffrey standing there, and Lorry on the floor covered in blood. I vaguely remembered the last two shots were fired at Jared, and I looked at him again, searching for signs of injuries, but there were none. For Allah! He was fine.
I tried to ask what happened, but my throat was so dry my voice didn’t work. I tried again, asking weakly for some water.
Uncle Jamal brought a glass of cold water from a small fridge near the wall and handed it to Jared who carefully helped me raise my head from the pillow to drink.
I felt tired and weak, and I coughed to clear my throat. “What happened?” I asked.
“You were shot near the pelvis, but you’ll be ok. The bullet went through without hitting anything vital,” Jared answered.
After he said that, I noticed the pain on my belly and touched it to feel the bandage.
“Are you okay?” I asked with a weak voice. Talking was difficult.
“Yes, love. Nothing happened to me,” he answered, still holding my hand.
“I thought Jeffrey had shot you,” I said and pressed his hand, relieved.
“No. You heard me shooting him in his legs just to stop him after he accidentally shot. He’s still alive and he’ll be in jail for the rest of his life. That’s where he belongs.”
“What about Lorry?”
He gulped, looking down. “She didn’t make it… the bullet entered her lungs. That was awful! She saved our lives. If she hadn’t shown up with the pan to try to stop Jeffrey, we’d be dead. Poor woman. But let’s not think about that now. Tell me how you feel.” My husband smiled at me beautifully.
“Weak, but I’ll be fine. How long did I sleep?”
“Two days. You lost a lot of blood.”
I looked at my uncle, who was watching us. He was very touched.
“And what are you doing here, Uncle?”
“I saw on the internet you had been shot and came to see if you were ok.” He came close with his effeminate way I missed so much, and Jared stepped back allowing him to lean down and kiss my face. “I missed you, my girl.”
“I missed you too.” When he stood up, Jared stepped between us again, touching my head. How’s everyone at home?”
“The same. Your mother wished she could come, but your father wouldn’t let her. You know him.”
“I do. Does she know about what happened?”
“Yes, but I called her and told everyone you’ll be ok. I’ll call to tell them you’re awake now.”
“Thanks, uncle.”
“So… will you tell her?” Uncle Jamal looked at Jared.
“Tell me what?” I wanted to know.
Jared smiled in that way that made me love him even more. His eyes were bright. “Isn’t it better to let the doctor check on her first?” he asked.
“Will you let a stranger give her your news? Don’t do that, beast,” my uncle said irreverently. “Well, I’ll go tell the doctor she woke up so you two can talk.”
My uncle left the room, picking up his cellphone.
“Okay, now I’m curious,” I said. “What was he talking about?”
Jared put his hand on my hair, putting his fingers between the strands and caressing me as his eyes became teary. I never thought I would see him like that.
“Miracles have happened to you, Inaya,” he said, profoundly touched.
“What?”
“The first was that this bullet went through without hitting any vital organ.” He hesitated for just a moment. “The second was that you lost so much blood and our baby is still going to be ok.”
I was confused. I didn’t understand it. “What do you mean ‘baby’?”
“You’re pregnant, Inaya. Just a few weeks,” he said. “You are carrying our baby. The doctors said it was a miracle that his heart is still beating after you lost so much blood, and I thank you for that. You didn’t just save my life, but our son’s.”
I faced him in disbelief, trying to remember my last period. It really had been some time, but I hadn’t felt sick or anything. “Is it true?” I asked.
“Yes. The doctor did an ultrasound. Nothing could make me happier, except your full recovery.”
I didn’t know what made me happier, if it was the fact I was going to be mother, or the happiness in Jared’s face when he talked about our child. Oh my! What did I do to deserve so much happiness?
I instinctively put my hand on my belly, feeling the life growing inside me, an unknown tenderness invading me, making me want to smile and cry at the same time.
“My Allah! I’ll be a mother. “I had never said anything so magnificent before.”
“Yes, and the most beautiful one on the planet.” Jared kissed my lips passionately.