One Small Miracle In Gaza

Present

They won't find us here, or at least not Karim, not for at least thirty minutes. I climb up the stairs, my heart pulsing.

I remember the first time I set foot in this hospital: noise and flurry all around, beds being wheeled in and out of the emergency department, and a bald man with a British accent screaming something in English.

That was long ago, but I had felt then the same excitement as I do now. Something is about to happen, I think. And my former fear, the icy tendrils of sweat sneaking down my back, are replaced by the ever-growing sensation that something magnificent is afoot.

Half a dozen will be blown to pieces, and if Allah wills, it will be a catalyst for their complete destruction. The fear in my chest turns to adrenaline. I must do this.

Of course, I will not live to see the aftermath, but for a brief moment, I imagine myself looking down on the crowd from up in Jenna, and a strange seething sense of triumph fills me. Allah will be avenged. Yasser will take me in his arms. I take the stairs a little bit faster.

I am just about to push the door open to an empty hallway when I hear a voice.

"Don't."

I freeze, whirling around.

But there is no one on the stairway, just a little bit of light from below, which must have been Karim forgetting to totally dim them.

The voice was audible.

But it was nothing, just a trick of the imagination or more likely, a Djinn sent to tempt me away from my holy mission.

I turn and keep on going up the stairs.

"Don't, Nada."

I freeze.

I turn.

This time, I blink. Is it a man? I blink again. The outline of him was visible, surely visible, for a brief moment at least.

But now I can't be sure. And there is no breathing, no motion, no nothing behind me.

"Who is it?" I ask, my voice wavering.

But there is only silence.

My hand trembles so I grip harder onto the railing. I will carry this out. I will do it. No one can stop me, not even a djinn from the pit of hell.

"Allah protect me from the djinn. Protect me from the devil," I pray aloud.

For a moment, there is silence.

From a hallway far away I hear the sound of feet, of yelling, then a shot. They've entered. Go!

And so I turn, push the door open, and hurry down the empty hallway.

At the other end is another door that is unlocked. I push it open and climb two sets of stairs.

By the time I am at the top, I am out of breath.

I can hear more feet pounding, then shouting, then another round of bullets.

Hamas is resisting, and pushing them towards me.

I enter the empty hallway and run to the door on the far right.

I smile, pull a card from my pocket, and put it to the sensor on the door.

It beeps and I push on the handle. Shukran Allah, I am in.