In the House of Mahmoud Hefzy in Cairo.
Mrs. Najat, Mahmoud's mother, was in a constant state of anxiety because of the condition that her son Mahmoud was going through, she kept praying to God for a long time that her son would come out of this setback that had befallen him recently, Huda was divided between what her husband was going through and what Hadi and Toka are coming to within coming days in the exams. Najat was passing by Huda from time to time to check on Mahmoud, the children and all family matters, and in one of these visits to her son Mahmoud, where she did not find him there, she said to his wife Huda angrily:
- You left Mahmoud alone in Alexandria, Huda?!
- Never, Mama, Omar is with him all the time, I'm just busy with Hadi and Toka because their exams are very near as you know. And from time to time I call Omar to make sure that every thing is okay.
- May our Lord returns you back to us in safety, Mahmoud, my son.
- Pray for all of us, Mama Najat.
- When are they going to start their exams?
- Within two weeks or a little more.
- May our Lord be with them and they make us rejoice with their results in these hard circumstances.
- God willing, Mama.
- I am aware that you are overloaded however patient and grateful. Our Lord will make you pleased with your husband and children and Mahmoud will get back to you in a better condition.
- Oh, God, Mom, thank God anyway.
- Don't you need anything, my daughter?
- Thank you, Mama. Every thing is okay, just pray for all of us.
- I will do it, my daughter. I'm going to leave now as your uncle Ali is alone and he can do nothing alone. I am going to assure him you are okay, and you keep talking to me on the phone, assure me that all of you are good.
- God willing, mama. Say hello to my uncle Ali, to that time when the conditions are getting better and we all come to see you.
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In the charming city of Alexandria.
Things were going very slowly in Alexandria, five days passed without the situation improving much; Amira's condition was the same, it did not seem that she would return to normal in the near term, it was more difficult and worse than Mahmoud and Hamdi imagined, she remained a wandering Wanderer, delighting in her past and her own stories in the twenties, remembering things that made her laugh and others that made her sad and crying her eyes without anyone understanding what was going on in her mind; no one knows what her thoughts were or how to help her.
Mahmoud realized that time is not in his favor now, there are other things at stake in Cairo and need his presence, so he remembered Huda, Hadi, Toka, his parents and... Aaliyah, he hasn't called her since he arrived in Alexandria, she doesn't know any thing about him now and she doesn't know about Amira's matter either; He knows that she must have known about his leave from the bank, but she didn't call him to check on him, neither as a future husband nor even as a mere work colleague. He didn't think about this much, he considered that she might have used his absence to continue her thinking and concentration to get a good decision in the end.
Mahmoud went to Hamdy to let him know that he needed to return to Cairo for some time to do some work at the bank and at home as well, he said:
- I need to get back to Cairo during the day, it's necessary, excuse me, engineer Hamdi.
- Never mind, Mr. Mahmoud, we have made you upset, you have suffered a lot because of us and really helped us with all your possible efforts.
- No never, I really hoped to do more and help much, but as the doctor said the case is not so easy, it requires time and patience.
- Yes, of course, it may be better in your next visit. God willing.
- My phone number is with you, I hope you tell me updates on her condition or let me call you so that I can check on it, I mean, and I can, with your permission, come to check on you at the weekend, I hope I can help with any thing.
- Oh, of course. And thanks for every thing.
- No, don't mention it, and I hope my existence here did not bother you for a while, the subject is primarily humanitarian for me.
- The truth is that... your humanity, Mahmoud, is the one that torments me the most in the story.
Mahmoud looked intensely at him in amazement then said:
- I don't understand. What do you mean by that?!
- Nothing, I just tell you... thanks.
Mahmoud looked at him again in surprise, wondering, as if he felt that Hamdi was retracting what he had said; so Hamdi realized the matter, and he showed signs of regret and confusion, so said:
- I mean, your humanity has embarrassed us because we can't return your service and your favor.
- No, Of course. Humanities are not services that have a price and no favor at all. This is a duty I owe to you.
- I really thank you from all my heart.
- I will just say goodbye to Mrs. Amira before I leave.
- No problem, of course, you will just need to wait for Omar because he went out with Zina and Sarah.
- Ah, that's all right, it's no problem, I'm calling him to be back quickly while I see Mrs. Amira.
It seems that Mahmoud was not paying attention or aware of what was happening between Omar and Zina, with whom he had been going out almost every day since they came to Alexandria; the relationship between the two young people, Omar and Zina, had consolidated, so they talked a lot and walked together on the beach of the Alexandria sea in front of the chalet and spent a long time in front of the sea without feeling, as if Omar wanted to be the reason for Zina to stay in Egypt forever, as long as she had no problem living and working there.
Mahmoud went to Amira, who was sitting on the balcony overlooking the sea, reading a book and it already seemed to him that she was a beautiful twenty-year-old girl whose hair fell over her eyes and was caressed by the calm sea breeze at this time of the year, so he approached her smiling and then said gently:
- Would you let me interrupt you for a while?!
- Come on, Mahmoud, of course.
- How are you doing now?
- Could not you speak to me like them as a sick person who is going to die soon?!
- You have to know that all of us care for you, and hope to see you happy and good.
- You can only talk about yourself, who is the only one cares for me or my health.
- Never. They are all worried about you, especially Hamdi, he is upset since then, he does not go out and does not talk to anyone, he loves you very much.
Amira smiled and said rascally:
- Would he love me more than you?!
Mahmoud answered with no hesitation:
- Absolutely, because he knew you more than I did, and he lived with you almost all his youth time, and you both have an endless connection; Sarah and Zina.
- You just want to stay away from me, like before, but with your free will this time.
- I have to travel now back to Cairo. I'll get back to you at the end of the week.
Her facial features changed between sadness, anger and reproach, so her cheeks turned red and became like two vases of attractive roses and she looked at him as if she sympathized to him to stay with her without saying a word, but he nevertheless said:
- I promise I'll be here for you very soon.
She smiled and said:
- I will be waiting for you.