AZIZE

Chapter 39/Part 2

"What about all times you said you had the answers?
What about all the happy ever afters?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?"

"We are problems that want to be solved.
We are children that need to be loved."

***
Kartal's POV

It wasn't my first time to lead an operation for my family, even when my father was alive this used to happen, he had some type of trust in me that he never said it with words but often showed it with actions.

So, my personality had that calm side where I am quiet, strategical and sensible towards each operation or mission. Most of them I ended without with success, and my own personal goal was to end each one bloodlessly, I couldn't tell anyone about that part because they would eat me alive.

In this operation too, despite how many times Barbaros tried to kill me and demolish my family, my main goal wasn't to kill him, I knew how to solve it without killing him.

But what was new to me in this operation was leaving the palace with a heavy heart. Actually it was ironic to me to describe something about my "heart". It's all new to me. I never felt emotionally connected to anyone, not my family or Asya or anything, they were all some kind of obligation to me.

But now, I feel longing, I wanted to finish this operation as fast as I can and meet with Melek, the way she hugged me as a goodbye, made me — for the first time ever— question and hesitate whether I should leave or not.

Nothing new, it's just another feeling I had to experience thanks to her.

As I summed up the plan, we had to attack different Barbaros' properties at the same time to have control over him. I leaded the operation to his house, and unexpectedly the fence we were to attack from he prepared to explode it, and it happened. So this is why I am in one of our secret places under medical care, I was aware that I have some serious bruises and cracks in different places of my body especially my ribs and my abdominal.

So Yaman stayed with me, while the rest of the men under Balkan & Adnan's lead are securing the places we already took from Barbaros.

I didn't have a chance to rest though, Asya came to re-plan with me how to re-attack Barbaros' place and capture him. I placed my bet that Barbaros wouldn't kill me, he knows that I have everything he owns and one way or another I was going to catch him. The whole fence explosion wasn't to kill me or my team, but for him to win more time to make a better plan, but I already trapped him.

While in this mess, and while my brain and heart were totally with Melek, I received her text but I couldn't answer her at all. After I woke up in this care place the first thing I wanted to do is to hear her voice, but Asya was around and I wouldn't risk her [Melek] getting sad thinking that I possibly preferred being with Asya in this situation, which is not true at all. If it wasn't for her own safety I would've ran to her without hesitation.

I doubted whether to call or text her but these options weren't enough, I wanted to see her, I knew that this would definitely make me feel better.

I also overthought about whether to call her or not, minding how late the time is but I wanted see her, nothing but her presence can calm my racing mind and restless state now.