Free The Red Line by R M Reef Page A

feeling of inescapable hopelessness was overwhelming her. She went to the phone and tried to call the Monzems , but the lines were really bad. She wanted to cry and cry until there were no tears left…
    Two days later, the last and fiercest battle happened. The Syrians marched into the Christian fief where they were met with savage resistance from both the Christian army and the militia. Many died, and many were taken prisoner. Nora, her aunt, and her mom stayed hidden in an underground bunker. They were aware of all the destruction above their heads, and they didn't dare get out.
    A week after the war ended, Nora was planning to go back to the hospital. Then Rheem showed up at their door. There was an awkward moment, but then suddenly it was as if nothing had happened, and they hugged and cried. Rheem had a lot to tell Nora about the hospital, but Nora wanted to hear about one person alone: Tamer.
    "Tamer? Tamer Monzem ? I thought you left him the day you came back to the hospital. It was more than a month ago."
    "Yeah. That was the worst day of my life. The day started at the hospital, but it ended at Tamer's house."
    "What happened there? Did you fight?"
    "No. I didn't see him at all. He had a fight with his uncle and then disappeared. His mom told me he was having one of his old crises, but I couldn't believe her. We’d had breakfast together that morning, and he’d looked sane and happy."
    "Oh Nora, don't forget that he was your patient. Whatever they said about him might be true. He might be back at the psychiatric hospital now. Did you talk to Azoomy?"
    "No. I want to talk to Mona first. I'm leaving tomorrow, going back to the hospital, and then I'll figure out where to go from there."
    Nora left the next day. Beirut was all new to her. The front lines had disappeared. No more militia, no more barrages. The ruined streets were filled with passersby. New construction sites were showing up everywhere. Ironically, she missed the war. What a strange feeling! It was like she didn’t belong anymore; she had ended with the war.
    ‘Beirut!’ She thought. ‘Where is my Beirut? Where are my hiding places? Where are my armed guys? And where is my love story now? Is it gone with the war? My lover disappeared with the last sound of the bombs, and o ur footprints crossing the line back and forth w ent away like dust scattered in the wind.’
    At the Monzem residence, no one answered the door. Nora knocked at a neighbor's door and heard the atrocious news. She fainted on the doorstep and had to be brought inside the house to recover. She learned that Mona was on her honeymoon with Kamil. She felt like throwing up. Tamer was no more. An awful cramp hit her in the womb, and she knew that she was carrying his baby.
    Back at the hospital, she had no one to turn to except Rheem. Her mother would die or kill her if she knew. Rheem was there, though, and she was supportive again. It was like her fight with her over Tamer had never happened.
    "Everybody talks about this obstetrician two blocks down the street. He does it all the time. He might not charge you much because you're a doctor, and none of the girls that went there had any complications with him. How far along do you think you are?"
    "Maybe a little bit more than two months. Oh my God, Rheem! I'm killing my baby, but I feel nothing! Am I dead already? A walking dead person? I'm not even thinking about killing myself! I'm feeling nothing! Nothing!"
    "Oh please, shut up Nora. You won’t feel anything; it will be like nothing ever happened to you. I’ll ask them for general anesthesia even if it's not necessary at this stage. When you'll wake up, it will be like a bad dream that went away, never to come back… I hope," she added with a deep sigh.
    They went to the procedure together. After Nora left, the only feeling that drove her on was a desire to run away, to run away from herself, to run away from the knowledge that she’d just sent a little breath of life back to