“Good boy.”
A bark burst out of his mouth and she broke into a grin. Samar grabbed the handle over him with his other hand and got down, the compression clothes covering his entire body feeling like a tight vice.
“Bags.” He began to open the door behind him when she snapped it shut with her free hand.
“I’ll come back for them later.”
He glanced at the reports, scans, his own hospital bag, the pack of compression clothes, all overflowing on the backseat.
“I told you we should have called Adil.”
“Adil is a minister.”
“He is also Adil.” And he had offered to come drive him. But Samar knew it would have been a logistical nightmare.
“Stop distrusting my abilities and just walk.” She commanded.
“I don’t distrust your abilities, Amaal.”
“Then walk.”
Samar sighed, accepting his plight for now. He curved one arm around her shoulders and took as much of his own weight as he could while he limped. The first few steps were the hardest. As momentum built and his muscles loosened, he was able to go easier, and even lose the support if the ground was flat and a handle in sight.
She pushed the gate open and they stepped in, the interiors cool and drafty. The building was quiet, smelling of wet mud. He looked at the pots of plants. They had been recently watered, leaving the fresh scent in the air. The scent of Amaal. Samar turned his head discreetly and inhaled. Lilies. Not sterilisation anymore. Amaal.
“You creep.” She deadpanned. Samar smiled into her hair and did it again.
“You have stairs to climb, Daaxsaab, save your energy.”
His nose dived into her hair, unable to stop the snort. And his next big test came and stood in front of him. The stairs.
She bolstered up and clasped her fingers with his over her shoulder — “Let’s go.”
Samar didn’t have to count it as a test because she kept huffing and puffing every three steps, making him laugh, supplying sound effects to his panting, and then, when they had cleared the first landing, breaking into applause.
“You annoy me and amuse me in equal measure.” He managed, feeling the entire surface area of his skin stretch taut.
“You do the former to me.”
“I annoy you?” He turned the landing and they began ascending again, making this ordeal into something else. Something good.
“Do I need to cite the last two months?”
“Since you stayed, I assumed you enjoyed it.”
She rolled her eyes, making him smile. “Slow, slow,” he coughed.
“We are here.” She held him the last three steps and then she left him to navigate the corridor on his own. Samar slapped one hand on the wall, lingering there to catch his breath as she rushed ahead and unlocked the door.
“Quick, I’ll close it on the count of three.”
Samar leaned on the wall. “Go ahead.”
“One,” she stepped inside his flat. “Two, three.” She shut the door. His eyes widened. He stood there, knowing she would open it. A minute passed. She didn’t. Two minutes. She didn’t. Samar didn’t want to break yet but his limbs were getting tired of holding his body up and she was clearly not showing mercy. Was this his karma of the last two months coming to bite him?
He pushed off the wall and limped to his door. Samar latched onto the grille with one hand and depressed the bell with the other. She didn’t open the door immediately. And when she did, she was drinking water from a glass.
“Oh hullo, fancy seeing you here, sir.” She smiled, turning the latch and opening the grille. Samar glared at her, holding the frame of the door to step inside before her hand caught his and helped him in.
