The silence in Khamis's dorm room had become a physical presence, a heavy blanket of despair that Zaid felt every time he visited. After another failed attempt to get him to engage, Zaid dragged Bassam off-campus to a small, quiet restaurant, insisting on paying for lunch just to have a change of scenery.
"He's just... fading away in there," Zaid said, pushing his food around his plate. "We have to do something, Bassam. A big gesture. We need to pull him out of this."
Bassam took a slow sip of his drink, his expression characteristically calm. "You can't pull someone out of a state like that, Zaid. He has to find his own way out. We should give him space. Let him process it."
"But we're his friends!" Zaid insisted, his voice rising with frustration. "Friends don't just give space. They
