Chapter 42 Get Far Away (1)

• Jamal opened his eyes and squeezed them shut. The light in the room hurt his eyes and his head ache. He let about five minutes go by and slowly opened his eyes, this time taking in the source of the blinding light and saw it was from the window. He looked around the room and saw a kettle boiling on a makeshift cooking stove. A man with his back to Jamal bent low over the fire, fanning the flame to life. He couldn't take in the light anymore. He tried placing his right hand over his eyes to calm himself and screamed at the pain he felt from the exercise. The man fanning the fire dropped the kettle he was holding back on the stove and rushed to Jamal's side.
• He helped Jamal rest back on the bed, placing the cover over him. Jamal wondered how long he had been out as his entire body felt stiff. He touched his upper chest and winced at the pain he felt. He hadn't thought the wound Roksolana gave him had been so deep by then. Jamal remembered that he had waited for a few minutes so that Roksolana could get as far away from the house as she could possibly go before he alerted his guards. The last thing he remembered was that waves of dizziness had hit him and he had fainted before he could call for help. He wondered who had found him and felt embarrassed to have been caught in such an awkward situation.
• If he had known that Roksolana would stab him so deeply, he would have evaded the attack. She was such a fierce and stubborn woman. The only reason he wasn't that angry at her was because he had seen remorse on her face after she stabbed him. Right now though, he tapped the bed gently because he was worried about her safety. He hoped that she had gotten away from the house before the guards came in to him and he knew they would have done a perimeter check. Looking at the man who had resumed back to fanning the fire, Jamal wondered if he should ask the man directly or not. Deciding that he couldn't risk exposing Roksolana or the fact that he knew who the attacker was, he chose an indirect question.