THE DECISION
261 Words
Jamal didn’t answer Kabir immediately.
He stayed seated, phone pressed to his ear, eyes locked on the emergency wing doors. They kept opening and closing—doctors rushing in, nurses moving fast, faces tight with urgency. Every movement inside felt like a countdown he couldn’t control.
Aisha was in there.
Fighting.
Losing time.
Kabir’s voice came again, quieter now, almost clinical.
“Jamal… don’t die standing still.”
That line landed differently.
Not as persuasion.
As permission.
Jamal slowly lowered the phone from his ear. For a moment, he just looked at it like it belonged to someone else.
Then he stood up.
Not suddenly. Not dramatically.
Just… decided.
He walked out of the reception.
The air outside the hospital felt heavier, like it understood where he was going before he did.
A few steps away from the entrance, he stopped and called Kabir back.
Kabir picked up instantly.
“I’m listening,” Kabir said.
Jamal’s voice came low.
“What do I do?”
A brief silence on the line.
Then Kabir spoke, calm and precise.
“Meet me at the back gate of the old market. Bring nothing. Just yourself.”
Jamal swallowed.
“This ends tonight,” Kabir added.
The call ended.
Jamal stood there for a moment longer, staring at the hospital building.
Behind those walls, his wife was still breathing.
His children were still alive.
For now.
He turned slowly and began walking.
Each step away from the hospital felt like he was leaving something behind that might never come back.
And yet… he didn’t stop.
- Writer
