Page 28 of Saving Noor

Fatima’s eyes filled with tears, but she stood straighter, clutching the envelope. Though not bound by blood, she had been Noor’s steadfast guardian for five years, and had cared for the twins since the day they were born. Her gaze shifted to the helicopter, to where Noor lay unseen, and her composure broke. “My daughter… my granddaughters…”

Link placed a steadying hand on her arm. “You are her family. You kept them alive. That debt doesn’t end here.” He leaned in slightly, ensuring his words reached only them. “Once Noor is healed, and the girls are safe… we will make sure you see each other again. If you wish it, Hank can arrange papers. A visit to America, a new home together. You will not lose them.”

The promise was a lifeline thrown across an ocean of uncertainty. Hassan, who had been silent, let out a shaky breath and nodded, his eyes glistening. Fatima grasped Link’s hand, her touch surprisingly strong. “Thank you,” she whispered, the words holding a world of fear and fragile hope. “Tell Noor…tell her we love her. Tell the girls their sittu and jiddo are waiting.”

From the helicopter door, Warden’s voice cut through the quiet. “Link! Wheels up in ninety seconds! Say your goodbyes!”

With final, hurried nods, Tariq, Hassan, and Fatima were ushered toward the waiting van by Blast and Tank.

Just before Tariq climbed in, Sammy broke away from Link’s side and caught his friend’s arm. The fierce, tactical focus melted from his face, leaving just a scared kid saying goodbye to his only link to the life before.

“You’ll answer, right?” Sammy said, his voice almost lost in the wind. “When I call.”

Tariq looked down at the satellite phone in his hand, then back at Sammy. For a second, the old, familiar smirk, the one from a thousand street corners, touched his lips. “Yeah...I answer you. Unless you call ’cause you need me to bail you outta some mess you in.”

A real, shaky smile broke through Sammy’s anxiety. “Deal.” He threw his arms around Tariq in a quick, fierce hug. “Stay safe.”

Tariq returned the hug just as tightly, clapping him once on the back. “You too, brother. Go save your sisters.”

Then Tariq turned and climbed into the van without looking back. The door slid shut with a solid thud.

Link, Sammy, Jax, and Shadow re-boarded the helicopter. As the door sealed, Link looked one last time as the van’s taillights winked out into the desert. He had just made a promise that went far beyond protection. He had promised a future.

17 - NOOR

The world returned in layers. First, a low, steady beeping. Then, the sterile scent of antiseptic. Finally, a dull, all-encompassing ache that anchored her to the bed. Noor’s eyes fluttered open. Pale sunlight strained through half-closed curtains, painting the empty white walls of a hospital room.

Her arms were monstrous things, encased in thick plaster from elbow to wrist, lying heavy and useless at her sides. She tried to move. White-hot pain erupted from her ribs, stealing her breath. She lay still, breathing in shallow, careful sips.

Her mind, still wrapped in cotton, sent a sluggish command. Her right hand twitched, the fingers crawling an inch across the stiff sheet. They found the flat, empty plane of her abdomen beneath the thin gown.

The truth, which had been a shadow in the dark of the estate, solidified into a cold, hard stone in her chest. Gone.

A nurse entered, her shoes whispering on the floor. She checked a machine, her smile gentle. “You’re awake. Good. The surgery went well. You had some significant fractures.”

Noor’s throat was a desert. “The baby?” she croaked, already knowing, needing to hear it to make it real.

The nurse’s smile softened into profound pity. She touched Noor’s shoulder, a gesture of unbearable kindness. “I am so very sorry.”

The words were a final blow. Noor turned her face toward the window, the tears coming silently, a hot flood of grief for the life she’d never know and a terror for the two lives she had to find. Yasmin. Amina. Faisal’s face, twisted in rage, flashed behind her eyes. The tracker. He could be coming. Right now.

“Where…?” she began, but her voice failed.

The door opened, framing a silhouette against the bright hall. Noor’s heart clenched, a reflex of fear. The figure stepped in, and the light fell on a face that stopped her heart.

Samir.

Her boy. Her son who had vanished a year ago with a note about America. He was here. In a hospital. He was taller, his frame lean and hard where it had been soft with childhood. He wore dark, tactical clothing, and his eyes held a grim focus that was utterly alien. This was not the boy she remembered.

Confusion and a wild, desperate hope warred within her. “Samir?” The name was a dry rasp. “How…you were in America. The note…”

He was at her bedside in two strides, his hand reaching for hers but hovering just above the cast. “Ummi,” he breathed, the word thick with emotion. His eyes searched her face, taking in the bruises, the casts. “I came back. I’m here now.”

“Who are these men?” she whispered, her gaze darting to the door. “Who brought you here?”

Samir followed her look, then turned back, his expression willing her to understand. “The note was true. I did go to America.” He nodded toward the hallway. “He’s the one who took me. His name is Link.”

The pieces crashed together in her aching head. He had taken her son to America. He had brought her son back.