لخّصلي

“THE WAY TO THE COFFEE SHOP

Ehab shook Yehya’s hand encouragingly, welcoming him into a relationship of friendship and solidarity, where he would be at Yehya’s disposal. He told Yehya that he was ready to help him any way he could, with anything and at any time. Whether he was in the queue or at the newspaper headquarters, all Yehya had to do was call him. He gave him his phone number and left him with Nagy; he didn’t want to waste time talking when he was sure he could find this Mrs. Alfat, wherever she was. If Yehya was ready to go public with his story, which was sure to spark an uproar, he would be by far the most important person Ehab had met in the queue; he and his bullet were pieces of solid evidence that hadn’t yet been covered up. If Yehya was able to get his permit, it would set a significant precedent; the Gate had never issued anything like it before. But if he failed, he would pay with his life, and no bargaining or compromises would save him. Ehab meant it: he was ready to do anything to help Yehya stay strong “until the Gate opened. He and Nagy could take care of anything Yehya couldn’t do himself—any difficult tasks that could cause Yehya’s health to “take a turn for the worse. There was no question that the two of them were faster than he was, but he refused to stop coming and going. He kept fighting against it all, even though it was exhausting his ailing body and he desperately needed to rest. Ehab had been interested in Yehya since he first laid eyes on him and his perpetual frown. It didn’t seem to match Yehya’s admirable fighting spirit, but from the time they’d first met in the queue, Ehab didn’t remember ever having seen Yehya smile.

“A few days after the Gate released its announcement, Amani called Nagy from the office. She’d been debating what to do, and trying in vain to reach Yehya, and she was so anxious by the time she phoned Nagy that she didn’t even wait for an answer when she asked how he was, and leapt right into her next question:
“Did you hear the message?”
“I heard it.”
“What about Yehya?”
“Yehya heard it, too. We’re looking for the head nurse.”
“I think we really screwed up. We got off to a late start; Yehya should’ve requested the X-ray sooner.”
“We would have run into the same problems either way. That or other problems. Now’s not the time for blame, Amani.”
“Tayyeb, all right. Listen, I took two days off work, and I’m going to Zephyr Hospital tomorrow or the day after.