Sometimes she slept.
Sometimes she woke crying.
Sometimes she screamed until her throat became too painful to continue.
She later struggled to remember exactly how long she remained alone.
Her memories of those early days were fragmented by exhaustion, dehydration, and pain.
But she remembered one particular moment clearly.
She had stopped calling for help.
She was lying on the cold ground when she heard a voice.
“Who’s there?”
At first, she thought she was dreaming.
Then the voice came again.
“Can you hear me?”
She tried to answer.
Only a weak sound emerged.
A light appeared somewhere above and to her left.
Footsteps followed.
Then a man’s face emerged from the darkness.
He was older, with a gray beard and deeply lined features.
He stared at her in astonishment.
“What happened to you?”
Layan began crying.
“I fell.”
The man approached carefully.
He examined her injured leg without moving it unnecessarily.
