Scattered ruins

Just as the ambulance was driving away, Laila, Maria along with the shadow entered the building through the garage entrance. They arrived with a high speed and once the car stopped moving, Laila and Maria practically jumped out of the car only to freeze in their steps when they saw how bad the situation was. The scene looked very post-apocalyptic and disturbing. Blackened concrete floors. Smoke everywhere. Dying flames. Scattered ruins of what had once been Steve's car.

Maria gasped as she saw the state the garage was in and felt like her knees could give in at any moment as she realized what had happened. Though she didn't know that Steve had been the one to suffer the worst of it all nor did she know whether any of them had gotten hurt in fact, she knew this wasn't good. She knew what she could see and she knew that Noah was at least still alive at the time he answered Laila's call, giving her hope that Steve might be too. But the scene in itself, the thought of it all, was enough to make her heart sink to her stomach and make her feel weakened.

While Maria seemed unable to move, and the shadow had gone to see her colleague and get answers from him, Laila desperately searched for Noah in the hectic crowd of people. Frantically she looked in all directions while she moved closer to the centre of the crowd. When she spotted him, she ran to his side as she called out to him with her every step. Noah snapped out of his cold and angry stare and turned to where he heard Laila's voice. When he saw his wife, he instinctively opened his arms to hug her. As she jumped into his arms, he held onto her tightly while she did the same.

Laila started expressing her feelings in what could only be described as a stressed voice. The tone in her voice was revealing all the worry she had felt and the relief she was feeling now, now that she could finally see that Noah was okay for herself. That she could touch and feel him, to know it wasn't just an illusion or dream. "Oh my lord Noah. What happened here? I was so worried about you. You wouldn't say anything and I was going out of my mind." Then she let go to look at him and his body. To make sure he was okay as she kept repeating that question in different ways. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you sure you are fine? Maybe we should go to the hospital to make sure."

Noah cupped Laila's face and pulled it up to her to make her look at him before he said with a smile, "I am fine. I promise." Laila stared at him in silence for a moment. Looking deep into his eyes as if trying to read his mind and determine if he was speaking the truth. When she felt satisfied that Noah was indeed okay, that is when Laila asked about Steve. As she turned her face from side to side she asked, "Where is Steve? Wasn't he supposed to be with you? Is he okay too?" That is when Noah's face turned grim and he said, "Well, Steve...He unfortunately got hurt." As he looked and gestured at Steve's blackened car with his eyes, he added, "He couldn't get away fast enough. He was just taken away to the hospital in the ambulance that passed you guys."

This time it was Laila who gasped and she felt her heart starting to race from worry once again. Her legs were getting weak and she was beginning to feel nauseous. Through her tears and with a frantic look on her face and an equally frantic state of mind, Laila said, "We have to go as well. We have to be with him. Where is Maria? We have to find her. We have to tell her. He had better be okay. He can't do that Maria. Not when she finally started caring about someone again." This is when Noah had to step in.

He cupped Laila's face once more and tried to talk to her but it was clear that Laila's mind was in a total frenzy. So, in a strong, calming voice he said, "Look at me. Look. At. Me." When Laila finally made eye contact, Noah said, "I need you to calm down a bit. I know you are worried and so am I. But at the moment there is very little we can do for Steve other than hope he is okay. So, I get that you want to see him and we will go to the hospital to see him but your current state isn't helping matters. We won't be able to see him faster if your mind is all over the place nor will you be able to give your friend the support she needs if you are panicking yourself. So, take a deep breath, dry your tears and let's go get Maria."

Laila nodded and took a few deep breaths before she wiped away her tears and held Noah's extended hand as they walked to where Laila had left Maria. But Maria had by now made her way over to Steve's extinguished, burned out car. She had recognized the car being Steve's car and seeing the state it was in, her eyes started moving in the direction of the dispersing crowd. That is when she saw the blood on the concrete where Steve had been lying just moments before. Seeing this image caused her to break down fully. Following this image, she slowly slid down to the floor and began crying uncontrollably. Her mind was imagining all the things that could have happened and the scenes that she was thinking up were becoming increasingly worse.