UNCONDITIONAL

XII

It was only after they arrived into the underground parking garage, a part of which was still under construction, that they realized they should have just gone to the main entrance and called for their drivers there instead. The area under construction had a yellow tape around it making it restricted but Prem and Noor would have to cross it to reach their cars. Prem ducked under the yellow tape, and Noor followed closely behind. They were only a couple steps in when one of Noor's heels dug into the uneven ground below, causing her to lose her balance and fall down.

"Ouch." Noor's mouth let out as she hit the floor leading Prem to instinctively turn around. She brushed her hands with one another as she looked up at Prem. He watched on, unaffected, as she pulled her heel out of the ground and slowly rose to her feet again. Once at his eye level, Noor gave him an impressed smile in the honor of his consistent straight face towards her.

Continuing through, Prem and Noor stepped carefully through the debris lying around. Towards the end of the restricted patch, they arrived in an area with a bunch of tools and pipes placed to the side. There was a pipe hidden under the dirt that Prem ended up stepping on and it slid forward causing him this time to lose his balance and fall straight backwards. On his way down, his free hand flung up making an attempt to catch onto anything in reach so he can obstruct his fall. He was unsuccessful in finding something to hold onto but did accidentally pull down a rope which was holding up some metal rods at the ceiling above.

Prem's pull at the rope had freed the rods and Noor noticed them all aiming for the floor at once. "PREM!" She immediately shrieked as she threw herself on top of him and became his shield taking the hits as the metal rods rained down on them.

Horrified out of his mind, Prem felt as if he had been paralyzed, unable to move, speak, or even think. He watched Noor's face display extreme pain at first and then her eyes gradually closed as her face fell forward onto his shoulder. Prem's entire life flashed before his eyes as he slowly lifted his hands to touch the almost lifeless Noor. "Noor..." He parted his lips to say but felt his eyes filling up with tears when nothing came out. He touched her arms and tried one more time, "Noor." His mouth barely let out a sound. She was unresponsive. The sudden extreme trauma to her body had caused her to lose consciousness. She had even suffered a few hits to her head and he knew they could prove fatal. Terrifying thoughts filled his panicked mind as he shuffled to turn over and carefully placed her on the ground next to him. Her face was losing its color and she was growing cold. Shaking, Prem cupped her face, "Noor..." he managed helplessly. "Noor." No response. "Noor..." He shook her vigorously to wake her up but in vain.

The thunderous sound of the metal rods crashing into the ground had invited Harleen and the executives' attention to the scene. They ran over to see what was happening. Harleen was left astonished when she spotted a helpless Prem with tears dripping out of his eyes desperately trying to revive Noor. The men around her immediately called for an ambulance, and some began over to Prem and Noor, but she stood watching them, almost frozen.

"Noor...Noor." Prem's touched his forehead to hers as he begged her come back to her senses. "Noor. Please wake up." He requested softly. "Please." He couldn't see or feel anything. All that ran through his mind was Noor, her condition, and terrorizing thoughts of something happening to her. "Noor..." He called out again as he rubbed the water out of his blurry eyes and sat up to scan her angelic face. He wiped away the dirt that had found its way onto her face and hair. Caressing the skin on her cheeks with both his thumbs, he gently placed her face into his lap. "Noor." He whispered as his tears poured down on her face. "Please, Noor." He cried as he put both of his arms around her face and hugged it. "You're my everything." He ended up saying when two paramedics tore her out of his hold and placed her onto a stretcher. Within seconds, they had her hooked onto multiple screens reading her vitals and were rolling her away.