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Furious tears burned.
Acid splashed in my insides.
Familiar burning, stinging, aching pains of loss and denial swamped me.
I couldn’t survive it.
Couldn’t withstand the rapidly building pressure.
Dialling the number for immigration that I’d grown to know by heart, I listened to the ringing.
While I was trying to find him, I couldn’t break.
While I fought for Aslan, it wasn’t over.
I would marry him tomorrow if it meant they’d leave him alone. I would hand over my childhood diaries of loving him for years. I would show them my tattoo for the commitment we’d made to one another.
They couldn’t deny that he was wanted.
That he wasn’t a valuable member of society because he was.
So, so valuable.
He’s mine.
My everything.
I’ll do anything!
“Hello, Australian Immigration, how can I help?”
“I need to speak to the case officer in charge of Aslan Avci, Aslan Kara’s visa case. I’m his fiancée, Nerida Taylor.”
Silence, followed by a huff. “Ms. Taylor, I told you a few hours ago, there is nothing we can do.”
“Let me see him. I can get this all straightened out. We’re engaged, doesn’t that mean anything?”
“I suggest you wait a few days to hear from Aslan himself. Perhaps then you can—”
“He’ll be dead in a few days!”
“Like I told you before, no one in our custody is in danger of dying. I’m sorry. Have a good day.”
I choked on a howl as the line cut off.
Please.
Someone.
Anyone!
I’d stopped caring about implicating myself.
I gave up my name as if it were bait to trap the monster holding Aslan. If they wanted to know how he’d stayed in the country this long, then fine. If they wanted to arrest me for harbouring him, so be it.
In the dead of night when there was no one awake to call, I researched the trouble my parents would be in if I recounted every year Aslan had lived with us.
The Migration Act carried a maximum penalty of ten years for people smuggling and concealing a non-citizen. Ten years I would happily serve on their behalf if only Aslan was released. I’d serve every day for a hundred years if they gave him an Australian passport and permitted him to stay.
