Between the Grapevines

12. Itna 'Ashar

"Farhan!" Amer burst through the tent, tripping over the uneven ground and nearly crashing into the chessboard in front of Harakat before catching himself desperately on his other leg. They both flinched at his sudden appearance and the despaired volume of his voice. "Hamza and... Riyad-," he gasped, choking on the words.

Farhan rose from his chair. "What's with you?" He shouted.

Amer gulped, his eyes darting toward Harakat as she watched him closely, rising from the ground to match both of their heights as much as she could. Her expression was still in contrast to her racing heart. Then he whipped his head back toward their leader. "There was an attack...," he breathed, unsure how to continue.

"What attack?" Kader asked, appearing quickly in the entrance after he'd seen Amer racing back over with flushed cheeks.

"It was the Jinen camp calling," he explained swiftly. "They said there's been a confrontation between our side and the Occupational Forces surrounding the town. They said they've taken him to the hospital."

Farhan's expression shifted. "Him? Who?"

Amer glanced back toward Harakat then to Kader. "That's the thing."

"Amer!" Farhan's hand clapped against the wood.

"They said they could only get one out. The other's gone."

Harakat paused, looking over the features of all three men around her as her heart began pounding in her chest at a forming thought. If Riyad had been pulled out, then Hamza had perished and if Hamza had been pulled out, then Riyad had.... She forced the thought from her mind because she couldn't bare the memory of how she'd ignored his attempts the night before. How she'd sent him away with a locked door and a cold glare to a violent confrontation that may have killed him.

Farhan slammed the folders shut. "We're going. Kader is with me and Amer will stay here," he moved around the desk.

"What? No, I should-." Amer tried.

"You have a prisoner and her to look after. Kader and I will go deal with this and return with our men." Farhan didn't offer another word on his way out, taking Kader with him and leaving the other two in the silent tent to blink after them.

Harakat rushed forward and tugged on Amer's sleeve to turn him to her so that he might see her wide-eyed expression. He reflected the same look, his lips pursed together in confusion. "Don't worry," he assured her. "I'm sure they're both fine."

She tugged more firmly on his arm.

Amer spoke again. "I'm sure... one of them is fine. By God's will."

They sat together on the floor of that tent, forgetting the chess game they'd never finished and the prisoner that remained sleeping in his tent, for hours and hours to come. Harakat remained caught in her worries, hoping the better of the two fates would go to the man she'd ignored that morning so she might correct her mistake. Her heart was tight in her chest, a familiar feeling of not knowing and knowing at the same time. She recognized the fear and panic that sat heavy within her heart the same way she'd identified it when she'd lost Tamim. It extended past what she could remember, engrained so strongly in her very fiber that her body knew to feel it and remembered all the times it had felt it before.

Whatever life she'd lived, it hadn't been a peaceful one if it had led her to this point. If it had made her entire body light on a familiar hateful fire when she looked at the men dressed in green uniforms and saw them cowering before her. The mere sight of their shock had sent waves of pride through her before the rippling confusion became all that was left in her.

It was nearly midnight when Farhan returned without Kader, his shoulders heavy when he stepped into the tent to find the two in the same places he'd left them. Harakat and Amer quickly rose from the ground, their gazes caught on him expectantly. His expression was dark.