Those words feel like a dagger twisting in my heart, but I attribute them to the pain she must be feeling. “I’ll ask my mother and sisters to come to the hospital as well,” I say carefully.
“As you wish,” she replies, turning her face to the side, pretending to sleep.
An hour later, she’s been examined, and the doctor reassures me that there are no broken bones, but he wants to talk to both of us about the baby.
I stand next to the hospital bed, holding Madeline’s hand, and she can’t hide her fear.
“I don’t understand. You said everything was fine with me, doctor, but you are not sure about my child?” She mixes up three words in a relatively short sentence, and witnessing her anxiety feels like a glove squeezing my heart. I would give anything to spare her this pain.
But it was you who caused her pain in the first place, a voice reminds me.
I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for putting her at risk. My conversation with Adil was what made her run away.
“What I’m trying to say, Your Exce—” he begins, but she interrupts him:
“Miss Turner.”
“What I’m trying to say is that we’ve confirmed there was no bleeding, which is a good sign. But since you’re still in the very early stages of your pregnancy, we’ll only be sure there was no miscarriage with a blood test, checking the beta hcg levels. And even then, I advise repeating it at least three times, every two days.”
Madeline covers her face with both hands. “Oh my God, what have I done?”
“Can you leave us, doctor?”
“Of course, Your Excellency.”
He leaves, and I hug her. “It’s not your fault. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“It is my fault. Right after leaving the palace, I realized I had made a mistake. I was dizzy, I felt sick, and that’s the only reason I accepted a ride from a stranger.”
“He was waiting for you, or more likely, someone informed him that you had left; otherwise, he wouldn’t have found you so quickly. But I promise he will pay, Madeline. They will all pay,” I swear because that is one of the few things I’m sure of in my life right now.
“And what difference will that make if I lose my baby, Kamal? I know we didn’t plan for it, but I want my child.” She cries, hugging me, and I let her vent, not allowing my own pain to show. Madeline needs my support, even though right now I feel as torn inside as my woman.
“I called Christos,” I tell her. “He told me the doctor advised against Zoe traveling, as her pregnancy is advanced. But when the obstetrician confirms that everything is fine with our baby—”
“When?”
“Yes,when. I’ve been praying, and I know our child will be okay.”
“Once, you told me you were a realist.”
“And I am, but not when it comes to you and our baby. In that case, I’m a man of faith.”
“Alright. Go on.”
“Zoe’s obstetrician thinks she shouldn’t travel, but as soon as you do the third blood test and confirm our baby is fine, I will take you to Boston on our plane.”
“But . . .”
“What’s wrong? Did you think I’d keep you trapped in Sintarah, Madeline?”
“Yes, I did.”
I step back a little to look at her. “What you heard was my jealousy talking right after I found you with Zarif. Add that to Adil bringing me the recording of the call to your mother.”
“You ordered them to watch me?”
“No. There’s an internal security system because of the attacks we’ve suffered. Whenever a certain keyword is mentioned, the conversation is automatically recorded and reported to my government’s intelligence agency. At some point during the call, your mother said ‘bomb.’ Now, however, knowing what I do about Adil, I’m not sure whether he wasn’t watching you for his own purposes.”
