Uri knew that he could not safely take Hassam out with his weapon. If a bullet hit anywhere inside the suicide vest, detonation was imminent.
As the light turned, crowds of pediatricians crossed the street to the medium. Many made their way West to the Clock Tower. Uri noticed two tourist busses lined on both sides of the square. As dozens of people stood in line to load the busses, the square became more crowded.
Uri checked his phone. No return text from his Commander. He called Lavie.
"Uri, where are you?" Lavie asked as he picked up.
"I am walking towards the Clock Tower. Listen to me very carefully. There is no code dagger in Jerusalem. The bomber is here in Tel Aviv and he is walking in your direction. You should notice him soon. Short kid. Looks to be thirteen years old. He's wearing a heavy black coat."
"Shit, I have eyes on him,” Lavie confirmed.
"Where are Chana and Penina?"
"They're still here, I had the keys to the car, and we got separated."
"Lavie, we can't cause a panic. That will make him act sooner. Get Chana and Penina out of here now. Do it NOW!"
"I'm on it, I'm moving them."
Uri checked his phone again. Still no response from the commander.
He looked to see if he could catch sight of Chana. The crowd grew so thick in the last ten minutes that Uri almost lost sight of Hassam.
He looked straight ahead at the crowded square. Some tourists were taking pictures before loading the busses. The sun glared into Uri's eyes, forcing him to squint.
That's when he saw him. Hassam was slowly making his way up to the Clock Tower. Uri was relieved to see the tourist buses fully loaded and pulling away from the curbs. Now he had a better view of the area.
Keeping his eye on Hassam, Uri watched as he turned around in his direction. Uri also noticed many active soldiers wearing weapons in the busy area of Yefet Street. Most were walking quickly, and some were running. Uri assumed that they had also gotten word about the Code Dagger.
Uri checked his phone again. This time he attempted to call his commander but received no answer.
Uri looked at Hassam again and wondered if he could tackle him, but he knew it would be a death sentence for him and dozens of others.
As he looked around the sidewalks, Uri spotted another soldier in civilian clothing quickly walking in his direction. Careful not to draw attention to himself, he took out his phone and pretended to look through messages until the female soldier crossed his path.
"Excuse me," he said to her, showing a broad smile, trying not to invoke any panic. "May I talk with you?"
The soldier looked at him confusingly, but after noticing his weapon, she stopped. He nonchalantly and gently pulled her to the side of the walkway by the elbow.
"What are you doing?" she asked defensively.
Uri lowered his voice. "Listen to me very carefully," he said. "My name is Lieutenant Uri Geller. I know you heard about the Code Dagger in Jerusalem, but we have a situation here in Joppa.
Uri could tell she was a new recruit, barely eighteen years old. Uri felt bad for putting her in this position, but every second that passed was another second closer to Hassam blowing himself up.
"I need you to look at your right towards the Clock Tower. Do it now and do it naturally."
Sensing his experience and rank, the young soldier did what she was told.
"There is a young boy standing to the right of the tower wearing a black coat. Do you see him?" Uri asked her, knowing that they couldn't spare any time.
Uri drenched in sweat as the soldier scoped out the area. Mere seconds passed, but it was too long for him to wait.
“Do you see him?” he asked her again, his voice heightened with urgency.
"No," she responded.
"Look again," he told her. "Slowly."
Uri’s heart raced as she looked around the area once more.
"Ok I see him," she finally confirmed. Ensuring that she wouldn’t tip the boy off, she looked in another direction and slowly turned her attention back to Uri.
"That boy has a suicide vest under his coat. I need you to trust me. I am going to approach him, and I need you to calmly tell as many people as you can to evacuate the square slowly and calmly. I am also going to give you my weapon. Do you understand what I am asking of you?"
Uri could sense that she was falling into flight or fight reflex mode.
"Can you do what I'm asking of you?" he asked again. "We don't have much time."
"Yes, I can do it," she answered confidently.
"Ok," he said as he calmly handed her his weapon.
"I am going to approach him. Don't start approaching people on the square until I put my hand in my back pocket. Stay here and watch for the sign."
"Ok," she nodded nervously.
"It's going to be okay. What is your name?"
"Dina."
"It's going to be ok, Dina," Uri said. "Watch for my signal."
He slowly made his way to the Clock Tower staying close to a group of people that appeared to be his age so he would blend in. He mentally prepared himself to speak Arabic.
As he walked by Hassam, he pretended not to notice him, but then circled back slowly and approached him apprehensively.
He turned so his back was towards Dina and he casually slid his hand into his back pocket, giving her the signal to move.
"Hassam?" Uri said to the boy in his best Arabic accent.
The boy, who was sweating profusely, looked at Uri with a mixture of fright and suspicion.
"Hassam. . . is that you?" Uri spoke in Arabic. "You have grown so much since I saw you last."
Uri could sense a change in the atmosphere of the square. Dina was doing her job—starting with the people on the opposite side of the square from where Uri and Hassam were standing, trying not to draw attention to Hassam.
"Who are you?" the boy answered apprehensively.
"I'm Faheem. I saw you a few times with your father. You were much smaller then."
"How do you know my father?" he asked suspiciously, showing no indication of trust.
"Eh, you know, business."
The boy looked increasingly uncomfortable. His dark cheeks flushed in the afternoon heat
"So why are you in Joppa?" Uri tried to ask in a way that invoked a tone of friendliness.
"School trip," the boy answered. "I got separated from my group."
"Do you need help finding them?" Uri asked, using the opportunity to assess his surroundings.
He noticed that the square was almost empty; Dina did her job well.
"No, they will be meeting me here." Hassam answered.
Once again, Uri felt the odd feeling that something was off. This time, he felt an instinct to look to his right. He glanced in that direction and saw . . .Chana.
42
In utter disbelief of his stubborn wife, Uri stared at Chana, standing half a block from the Clock Tower, watching him.
Sweat seeped through his shirt. His immediate thoughts were to get to Chana. He withheld his composure in front of the boy, who seemed to grow suspicious that people were moving away from the square.
"It was nice to see you, Hassam. Give your Bubbe my best."
Uri began to walk away when he realized he made a grave mistake.
The Arabic word for grandmother was "Jida." In an instant, he blew his cover by using the Yiddish word "Bubbe."
Uri knew there was only one thing left to do.
He frantically ran towards Chana.
"Chana get the hell away from here! Turn around and run. Do it now!"
Chana stayed where she was as Uri approached. “I'm not leaving you!" she hollered, waiting for him to reach her.
Uri back looked at Hassam. He knew it would be seconds before he would detonate.
"Okay, I am right behind you!” he shouted, relieved to see Dina running up along his side. "Dina, go help my wife. I am right behind you!"
As he looked back to the square, he noticed Ha
ssam moved from the Clock Tower. He had walked half a block to the west but stopped in the middle of the busy street.
Uri knew he only had one option left.
"Run! Everybody, run! That boy has a bomb!" he yelled in Hebrew and English.
Pedestrians on the sidewalks began to scream and disperse. People opened car doors and ran in opposite directions.
Uri ran after Chana and Dina. Nearly nine months pregnant, Chana couldn't move fast, but Dina was doing her best to help her.
"Keep running, Chana, I am right behind you!”
He saw her look back at him with a look of terror. That's when everything went black.
URI AWOKE WITH HIS head on the pavement. He couldn't hear a sound. Black dust and ash obstructed his vision. He was trained for this. He knew his hearing would return soon, but first he would hear a piercing sound.
It was difficult for him to tell which direction he was facing; he could only feel the hot pavement below him. He felt glued to it, but he knew he needed to start crawling.
"Chana!" he yelled into an empty void. He could not hear his own words.
"Chana!" he yelled again, and that's when he felt a pop in his ears and heard the piercing sound. His hearing would return soon.
"Chana!" This time he could feel the words coming from his mouth, but the piercing buzz continued to block out the sound.
He kept crawling on his belly, feeling for anything: a person, a shoe, a piece of metal, but he felt nothing. He closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them, his view was less obstructed; he realized that he was facing the opposite direction than he and Chana and Dina had been running.
He turned himself around and through the haze, he believed he could see Chana's bright tichel.
"Chana!" he continued screaming her name. Disoriented and dizzy, he slowly attempted to stand. Finally, on his feet, he realized the chaos around him—people screaming, a car on fire, bodies on the ground behind him appearing lifeless.
As he stood, he noticed blood seeping through his pants leg, but he ignored it.
"Chana!" he frantically made his way to the figure he believed was his wife.
"Uri!" he heard a voice as he moved closer. He was regaining his hearing but sounds continued to seem muffled. Although it was only a few meters, it seemed to take forever for him to reach her.
Chana was sitting up, pieces of shrapnel and broken metal surrounded her. Blood dripped from the side of her new headscarf. He kneeled beside her and attempted to examine every part of her. He had a sickening feeling when he noticed blood seeping through her shirt near her groin area.
Uri needed to get her to the hospital immediately.
He suddenly remembered Dina, he looked around but couldn't see her.
"Dina!" he yelled.
"Uri! Stay there, we're on our way!"
Uri looked straight ahead and saw Lavie and Penina running towards them.
"We need to get Chana to the hospital," Uri said as Lavie and Penina arrived at their side. Not wanting to panic Chana, he did his best to stay calm.
"I can help, too," Uri heard a voice say behind him. It was Dina. Somehow, in the aftermath of the blast she still managed to hold both her and Uri's weapon.
Uri nodded.
"Lavie, grab her legs," he ordered as he carefully lifted her by the arms. He didn't think she was aware of the wound near her groin and he didn't want her to be. It was important that she stay calm.
"Uri, I can barely hear you," Chana said loudly, unable to ascertain the volume of her own voice.
"It's okay, my love!" Uri spoke as loudly as he could. "Things will sound normal soon."
They rounded the street corner and found Lavie's car. They gently placed Chana in the back seat. Knowing there was no room for her, Dina handed Uri back his weapon.
"Thank you, Dina, you did good.” Uri said gratefully.
Dina nodded. "I will pray for your wife, now go!"
Lavie took the wheel with Penina in the passenger seat while Uri held Chana in the back. A skilled driver in the streets of Tel Aviv, Lavie knew all the shortcuts.
"Where are we going?" Uri asked.
"If we stay on Allenby, it's a straight shot to Ichilov. They have the best care and emergency department."
Uri nodded and held Chana's head. She closed her eyes.
"Chana!" He tapped her cheeks. "Don't close your eyes. You need to keep looking at me."
She attempted to nod and looked at Uri.
"You're bleeding," she said.
"It's nothing, I'm fine."
Chana attempted to sit herself up, putting her hand on her upper thigh as she did. She felt something wet and looked at her hand. It was covered in blood.
"Uri, am I...?" She laid her head back down in his lap.
"Chana, you're fine. You're going to be alright."
She couldn't bring herself to look at her wound.
"Is it really bad, Uri? Please don't lie to me."
"I think it's a piece of shrapnel, that's all. It's definitely below your belly."
He gently removed Chana's tichel from her hair and used it to firmly apply pressure to the wound in her groin. He inspected her head injuries and sighed with relief when he found no appearance of a serious head wound.
The sound of sirens from ambulances and police vehicles traveling towards the blast site seemed endless.
"Uri, press on my stomach," Chana's voice was strained and panicked.
"What?"
"Please, press hard in the middle above my belly button. I can't feel the baby move."
Uri did as he was instructed. He felt nothing.
"Do it again," she pleaded. "Harder."
This time he applied more pressure to the left side of her belly. Almost immediately he felt a return push.
"Did you feel that? She kicked me," Uri tried his best to give a reassuring smile.
"How far are we from the hospital, Lavie?" He asked.
"Five, ten minutes at the most."
"We're almost there, my love. Hang in there."
Chana nodded again and closed her eyes.
"Chana, please stay awake. You need to stay awake!"
She opened her eyes. Blood and sweat dripped down Uri’s face. The afternoon light seemed to illuminate him.
"Even when you're bloody and dirty you're handsome,” she said, her voice sounding hoarse. “Tell me a story and I will stay awake."
"A story," he repeated as they passed the sound of another siren.
"Do you remember our wedding day?"
"I remember our wedding night," she said, alluding to his poor sexual performance.
Uri rolled his eyes.
"You still have your sense of humor. Good."
"Remember when I put the veil over your head during the Ketubah signing and you couldn't stop laughing?"
"That was terrible," she replied. "I was horrified that someone would notice."
"I noticed because your veil was shaking. I knew you were laughing under that thing."
"Those veils are hideous," Penina said from the front seat. "I felt like I was wearing a lampshade."
"I remembered what happened in the yichud room," Chana said, referring to the small, private room that a married Jewish couple retires to after they sign their wedding contract. Usually a place where the newlyweds rest from the commotion, Uri and Chana took full advantage of their privacy. As soon as the door closed behind them, the two kissed fiercely and passionately.
"I thought that was a preview of what was going to happen later in the night," Chana teased him again. "You had my lipstick all over you. We couldn't find anything to wipe it off with. There were no napkins in the room, and I had to stick my head out the door and ask my mother."
"You had to spit on it to get all your makeup off of me,” Uri reminded her.
"I did, didn't I?" Chana said wearily. “That’s ok. I love touching your face.”
Her smile was weak; she struggled to keep her eyes open.
“Chana, remember
when they threw candy at us during the aufruf and one hit me in the eye?” Uri spoke loudly, trying his best to keep his wife alert.
She smiled again. “Yes, your eye was irritated for days. Even during our ceremony, it looked like you were winking at me.”
“I was so hungry,” Uri said.
“Not me,” Chana said. “I was too nervous to eat. Fasting was easy that day.”
“What were you nervous about? It was a great day,” Uri gently rubbed his fingers through her hair, careful to avoid her injuries.
“I was nervous when I had to circle around you seven times; I was so afraid I might trip. And I thought I looked silly.”
“You looked beautiful! I thought that you were praying for my safety each time you circled me.”
“No, I was praying that I wouldn’t trip! I’m so clumsy.”
Chana closed her eyes again.
“Remember when I had to step on the bag of glass four times to get it to break?” Uri tried his best to keep his wife talking.
She was quiet.
“Chana, do you remember?” Uri asked again, anxiously looking at Penina.
“Ha, that’s probably because you couldn’t see the bag because of your injured eye,” Chana said quietly. “I wonder who threw the piece that hit your eye?”
“Noa, for sure,” Uri replied.
Just as Uri thought she was going to close her eyes again, they arrived at the emergency room.
"I'll go tell them," Penina said. "Lavie, come with me."
"We're here Chana," Uri reassured her. "It's all going to be fine."
"Uri, do you think I should recite the Viddui?" she asked him, referring to confession and prayer one says before dying.
"Chana Geller!" Uri scolded her. "Don't be ridiculous. Besides, they are here for you now, are you ready to move?"
"I think so. I love you." Tears of not knowing what was ahead of her streamed down her cheeks.
"I love you more, Chana. And I love our daughter, too."
THREE NURSES ARRIVED at the car with a stretcher. Things began to happen so fast that it was all a blur to Chana.
"How many weeks are you, ma’am?" one of the nurses asked.
"Almost thirty-six," Chana replied.
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