With the first lights of morning, Elif came to accompany Deniz and joined her for breakfast, then took her to physical therapy. Although these warm gestures that Deniz found unusual embarrassed her, they both made her feel special and truly supportive.
Finally, they had returned to the room to rest. Elif was looking at Deniz with a sly smile while arranging the fruits. She seemed delighted, as if she had discovered a big secret.
"Manager, by the way, your eyes are very swollen underneath. Couldn't you sleep at all last night?" she asked with an innocent expression.
Deniz swallowed. "The hospital environment... you know. I couldn't sleep comfortably," she murmured.
"But the Commander looked very comfortable. As if he were at home. Did he sleep well? Or was he feeling good, I wonder," Elif said, giggling.
Deniz's face turned red. "Elif! Stop talking nonsense now!"
"I'm not talking nonsense! The man is leaving here in the morning, wearing a camouflage T-shirt... His boots beside him... He literally spent the night here!" Elif said, blinking her eyes.
Deniz grabbed her pillow and threw it at Elif. "Enough already! He just lay down on the chair, that's all!"
"On the chair?" Elif asked in a skeptical tone. "Then why are both sides of the bed messy?"
Deniz froze. The sheets were indeed wrinkled on both sides.
"I... sleep very wildly! That's why," she shouted.
Elif burst out laughing. "Of course, of course. If you sleep very wildly, that means..."
Deniz had now changed color from embarrassment and averted her eyes...
Meanwhile, at headquarters, Fatih was sitting at his desk reviewing duty-related reports, but his mind was constantly on Deniz. How beautiful she looked when he left her side in the morning, how she had smiled...
Most importantly, he had spent the night with her breath hitting his face - this was the first night he had slept next to the woman he loved...
"Commander?" Harun's voice was heard.
Fatih suddenly raised his head. "Yes?"
"This is the third time I'm calling you. Were you going to sign the reports?" Harun said curiously.
Fatih pulled himself together. "Yes, of course. Sorry, I got distracted."
Even though Harun didn't know exactly what kind of night they had, he could tell from Fatih's mood, from the silly smile on his face...
Something had happened.
He swallowed, "Commander, how is the Engineer's condition?"
"Good, thank God she's good," Fatih said.
Then he suddenly stopped. Why did he go into so much detail? "Thank God what, you idiot!" he was cursing himself.
He paused, "I mean... the injury wasn't serious," he added.
Harun nodded.
Even though he couldn't ask openly, he was dying inside. He had come very late yesterday. Had Deniz woken up, had they talked?
He pulled himself together, with a forced smile "I'm very glad. By the way, Commander, were you able to return comfortably last night? Your vehicle was at headquarters," he said.
Fatih was suddenly flustered and dropped his pen. "I returned. Well, I came by taxi," he said and cleared his throat with a sharp cough as if to dodge the interrogation.
Harun had gotten the message. He stood at attention respectfully and left the room...
At noon, Elif was sitting next to Deniz, constantly making jokes.
"Manager, the Commander is really very handsome. Don't you think so too?"
Deniz bit into her apple angrily. "I don't know. I didn't pay attention."
"You didn't pay attention? The man who almost shed tears thinking you were dying last night - you didn't pay attention to him?"
Deniz dropped the apple, coughing. "What? Tears? When!" she said, turning to Elif excitedly.
Elif said, "Of course! When the helicopter landed at headquarters, they transferred you to the ambulance, I saw then - his eyes were bright red. He was literally crying. The whole team saw it," with crazy delight.
Deniz's heart started beating rapidly. Had Fatih really cried for her?
But then when she saw Elif's delighted facial expression, she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"Your imagination is very developed, Mashallah! I have a writer friend, Angelina. She also writes screenplays and such. Would you like me to introduce you? Because you're being wasted with this talent!" she murmured.
Elif giggled, "Then let's send our Captain Fatih to acting too. Even the most skilled actors can't make their eyes turn bloodshot like that," she said. It was obvious from her lips curving with great pleasure...
Deniz said "Oh patience!" and lay down on the bed and turned her back...
In the evening, an urgent duty order arrived at Fatih's desk. In the document signed by Colonel Mehmet, it was requested that the documents seized yesterday be matched with the archive and detailed research be done on the 'Lucky Six' organization.
Until the official duty order came, he couldn't look at the archive files, so he was eagerly waiting for this order. Because they had attacked the woman he loved, he was even more resentful of this organization...
Fatih immediately went down to the archive section.
He gave the duty order to the soldier on duty in the archive. "I am Captain Fatih Ulutürk! I have a duty order. I want all files urgently," he said.
The soldier saluted with a firm voice. "Yes, sir, Commander!"
Fatih searched among old files for hours. Finally, in a folder from 2011, he found a file labeled 'Lucky Six.'
When he opened the file, he read the lengthy reports one by one. Then with the name he saw, the papers in his hand began to tremble. The name he saw on the martyrs list seemed to have stopped his heart.
"Major Kemal Hazar - Martyr"
Deniz's father...
Fatih collapsed into the chair. He was having difficulty breathing. Deniz's father had been martyred by the organization he was now pursuing.
He continued reading the file. Kemal Hazar had been martyred in an operation to neutralize Artin Gevorkyan, the leader of the 'Lucky Six' organization. But Gevorkyan had managed to escape, and the organization had been scattered. 02.04.2011!
Fatih's eyes filled with tears. Deniz's father had been martyred fighting heroically, leaving his daughter an orphan. And now the remnants of the same organization had targeted Deniz. What was this then? A bitter fate, or revenge?
Fatih put his head in his hands.
The only thing he thought was that Deniz should not learn this...
Hours later, the engineering team had come to the hospital to visit Deniz.
Deniz was having a very pleasant time with the engineering team. The team had brightened up the room with the food they brought.
"Manager, work has come to a standstill without you," said Engineer Taylan. "We can't continue the project without your touch. Because Berat is reading all the drawings wrong," he said, laughing.
"Don't exaggerate, Taylan! I'll be up in a few days," Deniz said, smiling.
Berat grumbled angrily, "You lead the team and let me handle reading the project." Then he turned to Deniz, "Boss, the construction site crew took a 47-minute tea break yesterday. And this one sat with them chatting away," he said.
"Also, Ms. Deniz, Lieutenant Harun keeps asking about you," Berat said with a sly smile.
Deniz straightened her posture, "Yes, everyone had a hard time because of me. He must be asking for duty purposes," she said.
"Captain Fatih also called three times today. Asking 'How is the Engineer?'" Taylan said.
Deniz's face reddened, "Bless them, I've made everyone worry," she said.
Just then the door opened and Fatih entered. But there was a stillness on his face. There was a shadow in his eyes as if.
"Hello," he said to everyone.
"Hello, welcome, Commander!" they responded.
Fatih looked at Deniz. "How are you, Engineer?"
Deniz had noticed Fatih's stillness. "I'm fine, thank you. How are you? You look tired," she said.
Fatih murmured, "A bit... work overload."
The conversation in the room continued, but Deniz was curious about Fatih's condition. Something had happened, but she couldn't ask in the crowd.
The conversation continued for another hour. Finally, the team began to disperse.
"Manager, we'll come again tomorrow," Elif said.
"Thank you, thanks," Deniz said.
After everyone left, Fatih and Deniz were alone.
Deniz fixed her eyes on Fatih curiously.
"Fatih, how are you really? Did something happen?" Deniz asked with concern.
Fatih stood up and approached the bed. There was deep sadness in his eyes.
"Deniz..." he began but couldn't finish his sentence.
"Tell me. What happened? Did I disrupt your duty? Did you get a warning or something because of me?" Deniz asked.
Fatih's silence was scaring Deniz. She immediately stirred from the bed.
"Get up, let's go, I'll give an official statement. It's my fault, I couldn't come down quickly! I'm not like a soldier, really, let's go," she was rattling off words one after another.
Fatih slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Then suddenly he hugged Deniz. He hugged her tightly.
"I couldn't protect you," he whispered. "I'm carrying the anxiety of how I might not be able to protect you again," he said.
His voice was trembling.
Deniz didn't lift her head resting on Fatih's chest. On the contrary, she was breathing in his scent, listening to his heartbeat.
She was surprised. But she wanted to comfort him. "Fatih, what are you saying? You protected me. I'm alive because you were there. Against three people, you were alone. You got help for me. You were by my side," she said, placing her hand on Fatih's cheek.
Fatih shook his head, his eyes had filled. "No, you don't understand. I... I want to protect you from everything. I want no evil to touch you. Neither from the past nor from the future," he said.
Deniz ran her hands through his hair. "What past, what future? Fatih, why are you talking like this?"
Fatih raised his head and looked into her eyes. "Because... because I love you so much, Deniz. I'm in love with you. Since the first moment I saw you..." he said.
The words were now flowing involuntarily from his lips, "I don't want to wait, not even a minute. I want you to love me right now. I want you to accept me. I want to belong to you..."
These words stopped Deniz's heart. This was a word she didn't expect but wanted very much.
"Fatih..." she whispered.
Tears had begun to stream from Fatih's eyes. His words were like a small child's fear... "I don't want to lose you. I never want to experience those terrible moments again. You are my... you are my everything," he murmured.
Deniz was looking into his eyes. She could understand how sincere these words were.
She smiled, "I love you too, you cold fool! Why did you wait so long to say it?" she whispered.
Fatih hugged her tighter. All his fear, all his love fit into this embrace.
He didn't know how to tell her the secret about Deniz's father. But now there was only one thing he knew: He had to protect her. From everything.
And he wanted to love her to his heart's content...