Novel Behind the Lights Chapter Seven by Nour el-Hadi

_No…oh God no A tear ran from Jasser’s eye. He said to Dima: Open your eyes. She was in his arms, not moving. He pulled her hard into his embrace and said: Answer me, Dimaaaa… don’t leave me too…. Dimaaa Tears flowed from his eyes, and the stiffness collapsed, the strength broke — he became a boy crying like he cried over his mother and father. Jasser said: I’m sorryyy. He hugged her tightly, as if he might crush her between his hands, as if he wanted to hide her inside his ribs and carry her in him and protect her. He had been foolish to think she didn’t matter to him. Jasser said in a weak voice: I love you… don’t leave me. He said it sincerely, said it from his heart that had shown itself and broken free of its prison, and he said it honestly, with nobody deceiving him or pretending to be him. This time his heart spoke. A faint hiss of breath was heard, a weak exhale. _ J. Jasser The weak whisper only he heard. He pulled back and stared at her intensely, tears in his eyes. He said: I’m here… I was late for you. He wiped her face and said: It’s okay, I’m here. No one will touch you. Dima said: I’m sorry, I failed you. Jasser gripped his hand in sorrow at how she blamed herself, and said: I promise the hand that reached for you I will regret it. She fell silent and fainted, not moving again. Footsteps came, and the men appeared. One of them said: There she is, bring her. Jasser lifted his reddened eyes like those of a demon and said: Touch her and you’ll die. They looked at him after what he said. Jasser stood on his feet, rising like a possessed man holding his beloved in both hands, possessive. The men looked at him. Jasser opened the car door and gently placed her inside and wiped her face. He said: I’ll finish this matter and we’ll go. He closed the door on her. A man approached the car and Jasser grabbed him hard, and before the man could take a defensive stance, Jasser landed strong, fast, deadly punches, successive, and the man staggered in his hands, unable even to block them, until the final blow that left him unable to lift his leg, and Jasser tossed him away like trash. Jasser advanced at the men with terrifying steadiness, and they stared at him in anger. The first one who came close, Jasser struck him, grabbed another and made them hit each other in the face, and he landed a heavy box (punch), and a kick that was harsh, powerful, and frightening. Rage flew from his eyes, and they couldn’t handle him. Osama and the guards arrived and saw Jasser. The guards were about to approach; Osama said: Don’t come near if you don’t want to die today. Jasser was hitting brutally and angrily. Osama came close and touched him; Jasser was about to hit him, but Osama blocked him because he knows Jasser’s patterns. Jasser looked at him for being there. Osama said: Enough, don’t lose yourself. You’ll kill them with your own hands, and that will be your end now… remember you still need to be around. Jasser fell silent and looked at the men he’d killed in his hands, then threw the last away with disgust and said: Let Rashid take care of them. He took the car, and Osama looked at the fainted Dima. Jasser’s car sped off from them. ………………… Jasser arrived at the villa and saw Mai and Rashid who had come before him to see what happened to Rashed (note: literal says ‘where he went’). They were shocked when they saw him enter carrying Dima on his arm like a murdered woman, his eyes deadly, as if he had lost his beloved in a bloody war and she had been harmed. Mai said: Dima! Rashid looked at her and at Jasser who was walking silently with her. He carried her to his room and gently laid her on the bed. He grabbed her hand tightly while he stared at her. Mai and Rashid gathered, and no one could speak at what they saw. Rashid said: I’ll get a doctor right now. He left, and Mai kept staring at Jasser. Osama arrived. Mai asked: What happened? Osama said: The plan failed… Dima couldn’t reach anything and they caught her. Mai asked: And the contract… Ahmed El-Sioufi’s contract we set things up for like that? Osama said: As you see, we couldn’t reach it. They had it in a bag with a password, and Dima tried and couldn’t. Mai said: After everything that happened, and Jasser didn’t get what he wanted? Osama: I don’t know how we’ll do it again, but we were exposed to them. Jasser intervened and ordered us to bring Dima when she was in danger, and I think Ahmed will soon know that Jasser is not just a rival, he’s an enemy, and he’ll take more precautions. Mai said: Jasser has been very upset for a long time about what happened. He waited a long time and was following Ahmed’s contract and knew the details of the big investment Ahmed put his money into, because he was waiting for that moment. When Ahmed actually did it and made a big contract like that, it was Jasser’s chance to strike his first blow, and unfortunately things ended opposite to what he planned. Osama: I don’t know how he’ll accept it… let’s see what happens. The doctor came and began cleaning Dima’s wound and wiping the blood from her face. Dima was in pain and clutched Jasser’s hand. Jasser said: Give her more anesthesia, I don’t want her to hurt. The doctor said: That would be wrong for her. Jasser fell silent, upset, and the doctor stitched her wound again. She said: The wound reopened and bled a lot, besides she hadn’t yet healed from her previous injury, and what happened made her condition worse. I wish there’d be more care than this. Jasser nodded to her. The doctor left. Jasser said: Mai. Mai came near him. He said: Have one of the servants sit next to her, and tell me as soon as she wakes up. Mai nodded to him. Jasser walked away in silence. He stood in the garden. Rashid came and said: What’s bothering you, son of Kamel Bey? Jasser was silent, remembering the way she was in his arms while she fled from the men. Jasser said: She was harmed because of me. Rashid said: You knew she would be harmed, and you said it was okay since she’s Ahmed’s daughter. You felt your revenge would be doubled, because if he was harmed you would hurt his daughter without him knowing, and you’d have killed two birds with one stone. Jasser said: I hurt someone who didn’t hurt me, Rashid… it’s like I hurt myself. Anyway, she’s my wife, I married her. Rashid: But it matters, your marriage to her was for your revenge too. This is the first time I see you admit it… Are you upset? Jasser: What I planned is gone. Rashid: Are you upset because you lost, or upset because of her? Jasser: I don’t know what I was thinking when I put a girl like this in my revenge… maybe I was proving to myself her truth, and after what happened I realized every word she said was true, and that she and Ahmed don’t know each other. Rashid: The question here is, how could Ahmed not know her, or even Dima not know her father’s name, or even the real Kamel? Everything on the ID is Ahmed’s name, and the rest is her grandfather’s name. But her mother’s father… maybe her mother forged the certificate so Dima could continue. Jasser: And why hide her real father from her? Dima said she searched for him when she was little and stopped. Rashid: And why didn’t she continue searching? q