The Lioness (18 page)

Rose awoke and she was surrounded by faces. They were
in a vehicle, moving at a great speed from what she could judge. She saw Noori,
Daoud and Mike. All were concerned but relief spread on their features when
they saw her eyes flutter open.

Rose licked her lips and felt and tasted dust. She
then licked again and tasted blood. She tried to sit up, but Noori pushed her
down. “Not so quick, you got a bad hit to the head. I asked Allah to help you,
that we needed you. Afghanistan needs you, the world needs you.”

Rose felt so confused. “Ty?”

“We don’t know. We have to get you safe then see if we
can contact the captors…” Noori wanted to get his hands on his cousin. He would
kill him himself. “When we get to the base we will try to get a hold of Samid.
All our phones were broken in the final blast.”

Rose tried to move, but felt the restraining hand of
Noori on her shoulder. “Don’t move, that’s an order.”

“But Samid and the men they were supposed to be at the
hotel.”

“We didn’t see their Land Cruiser in any of the
wreckage of the cars around so we assume they are fine. Now don’t worry. We
will take care of everything. You just rest.”

Rose closed her eyes. What if because of all this
something happened to Ty? She couldn’t bear the thought. She felt a tear
coursing down her cheek.

Noori saw the tear coming down and knew her thoughts.
“It will be okay, I promise.”

Mike looked ahead and saw they were at the gate of the
base. “We’re here.”

**********

Dawn was going to be in about half an hour. He felt
like he hadn’t walked in years, felt like his body would take a long time to
get accustomed to any activity again. He could see the gate to the base up
ahead. If anyone knew what happened to Rose, the army would. From what Abdul
could find out, an army solider had been with her. Maybe they had been coming
to get his stubborn Rose out of the hotel.

He had heard first an airstrike and a shot from a tank
had been the first to hit the hotel. What he didn’t know was why the Palestine
Hotel, which was a home away from home for the foreign journalists, would be
hit by an air strike and a tank. Then a well-coordinated suicide attack from
three different vehicles further destroyed the Palestine.

Ty walked up to the gate and was met by two guards.
Getting out his ID and passport that Abdul had given back, he handed them over.
They looked at the identification and then at him and then the biggest smiles
broke out on their faces. “Are we glad to see you. We have someone here who
will be even happier. Even though she’s hurt she’s raising a ruckus.”

“Ty heard the first part, even though she’s hurt.  Then
he heard the next part and knew his Rose would be okay. “Can you take me to
her?”

“Yes sir, right now.”

 Rose was sitting up in the bed, a bandage on her
head. The nurse trying to make her take some medicine. “I am fine, just give me
a few minutes and then I will, but I have to talk to my friends here and….” She
looked up at her friends Noori, Daoud and Samid. The men had gone looking for
tea for Rose. She could hear them outside and boy, what a noise they were
making. Next thing she knew men were pouring in and then she saw one who stood
out from the rest. Tall, dark and very handsome, even in his days’ growth on
his face.

She was up and out of the bed, the nurse protesting,
but she didn’t care. Her Ty was back, safe and sound. Everything would be okay.
“Oh my God Ty, you’re free, how?”

Ty couldn’t take his eyes off Rose. The men were all
around them. This wasn’t the way he pictured seeing her for the first time
after his freedom, but he would get over it and they would get through it and
then later they would have the time alone they needed. For now they would all celebrate
his freedom and her being safe.

Rose looked up into Ty’s eyes. “Sorry we have a crew
here, you know, our extended family.”

Ty brushed a tear away from her face and then looked
around at all the men who were here because of him and Rose. “It’s okay, we
have the rest of our lives, if you will have me?”

Rose felt the tears coming. “There should be no
question… I love you Ty, now and forever.”

The End