Destiny - مقدر

24 - Where Is He? - وہ کہاں ہے؟

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao Tzu 

"Hello? Hello?" 

The words rushed by in a blur and I knew the pain was coming. It went by fast, yet slow, almost suspended. Then impact. I felt my bones move in a way they shouldn't, jangled. Without looking I know there is blood seeping from the wound that seconds ago was dry. I don't move - anything to delay the fall that would so definitely come. Torn and dirty skin, reddened, weeping, I was a mess. Fainting was easy, I only let go and gravity did the rest. 

One minute I was alert, taking in the surroundings like a camera lense. The next, I had collapsed on the floor, a heap of wounded, bloody skin and broken bones. I looked up at the greying sky, clouds that once seemed so beautiful, only made me shudder. I remembered pointing out their beauty to Daniyal as he sat beside me. That long-gone memory made me tremble. My view turned blurry, the light of a flashlight shining it's rays into my watery, bloodshot eyes. I could hear muffled conversation, the low voice of a man. Daniyal, maybe? I hoped and prayed with every inch of my body that it was him. That he'd carry me to safety and take me home. 

I blinked once, then twice, my eyes watering and becoming blinded by the bright lights that were being shone into them. I let my body sink into the mud; it's cold, wet feeling was almost soothing as it enveloped my body. I dropped my head onto the ground, my energy had run out; my time had come. I un-tensed my muscles and shut my eyes. 

.......................................

"Hello? Are you awake, miss?" 

I wake suddenly, every thought in high definition. I wake up faster than a cat in ice-water. My eyes take in every ray of light and without a doubt I know I've slept too long. The noises are of a busy commotion, something that never should've happened. Though my eyes are open I can't think of why; my heart is pounding, mind empty. A blast of adrenaline shooting inside of me. I strain, breathing rate beginning to steady.

I looked up and a man was standing in front of me. This man, however, wasn't Daniyal. His face wasn't bloodied, he wasn't covered in mud. His limbs were still intact. One thing was for sure, he definitely wasn't in the crash. Either that or he was incredibly lucky. He had a small slither of dark hair on his upper lip and a goatee that sat comfortably on his chin. His eyes seemed stern but turned to compassion after seeing the state that I was in. He lowered his face in sympathy, respect flowing through his veins just the same as blood. 

"Hello, Ma'am. I am part of the rescue team that was sent after reports that this flight had crashed. You were on your way to Lahore, correct?" 
All around us there were men in murky green uniforms with dark facial hair and stern looks. I prayed that one of them was with Daniyal right now, looking after him. "Your plane crash-landed in Udhampur... in a Eucalyptus forest." Udhampur was next to Jammu, where we were supposed to be making an emergency landing. It all made sense actually. The large trees, the grass and mud, the nature sounds that had previously filled my ears.

I stood up, shaken and completely unstable. I was still outside in the same place I had previously been. But everything was different. There were soldiers and medics tending to the injured and the dead. I looked towards the plane wreckage and there was a crew of men struggling to lift the chair off of Layla, who was whimpering from underneath. Did she think I'd left her purposely, out of spitefulness? That I'd betrayed her? I hoped not. The man held my arm and I winced, he'd touched the skin surrounding my wound and it stung incredibly. "Oh, sorry." He apologised. I flashed him a forgiving look and let him lower my arm back down by my side. 

This scene, that had previously been so quiet, was now commotion. There was not an inch that did not hold a person. There were more that had survived than I thought. That gave me hope for Daniyal's safety. There was no doubt in my mind that there was a soldier tending to him right now. There was screaming and crying, adding to the headache that had already grown in my head. I couldn't say I blamed them though. After my fall, everything hurt. I just wanted to sit in a corner, my head on my knees and cry. But I swallowed the tears down and exhaled deeply. I couldn't just burst into tears, not now.