A government bomb destroys Salama's home, killing her mother and leaving Salama with a serious head injury.

Layla pleads with Salama to secure them safe boat passage out of Syria before the baby arrives.

Salama approaches smuggler Am at the hospital and learns that safe passage for two people costs four thousand dollars.

A six-year-old boy named Ahmad dies of internal bleeding in the hospital despite Salama's desperate efforts to save him.

When Am rushes in with his shot daughter Samar, Salama refuses to treat the girl unless Am guarantees cheaper passage.

Am agrees to transport Salama and Layla to a waiting boat in exchange for two thousand dollars and gold jewelry.

Am informs Salama that the boat to Germany will now arrive in ten days, shortening the wait.

A sarin chemical attack floods the hospital with dying victims, turning Salama's grief into fury at the government.

Salama and Kenan join a protest in Freedom Square, chanting for freedom until soldiers open fire and scatter the crowd.

Hiding in her bombed-out former home after fleeing the protest, Kenan pulls out a ring and proposes to Salama.

Salama and Kenan exchange vows in a small ceremony at the hospital, with Dr. Ziad officiating amid cheering patients.

When Kenan enters Layla's room and sees no one, Salama is forced to accept that Layla has been a hallucination.

Enemy soldiers storm the hospital; one tries to sexually assault Salama after she throws an object to protect a young girl.

A bomb destroys the hospital; Salama races back inside and helps Dr. Ziad carry babies from incubators to safety.

After their refugee boat shipwrecks in a storm, Salama and her family are rescued and eventually settle in Toronto.

Salama is a pharmacy student turned field doctor in war-torn Homs, battling survivor's guilt while her sister-in-law Layla desperately begs her to find safe passage out of Syria. After a young boy named Ahmad dies in her care, Salama hardens her resolve to leave and makes a desperate moral compromise, using a smuggler's injured daughter as leverage to negotiate cheaper passage. Amid the violence, she falls in love with rebel filmmaker Kenan, and the two attend a protest together before impulsively marrying at the hospital. When Kenan cannot see Layla, Salama is shattered to realize her best friend died months ago and was only a hallucination born of grief. Enemy soldiers invade the hospital and a bomb destroys it shortly after, but Salama and her new family reach the coast and board a refugee boat. Though the boat shipwrecks in a storm, they are rescued and Salama eventually builds a new life in Toronto with a lemon tree in her garden.

The core decisions and turning points that drive Salama's escape from Syria.

Salama's brother Hamza and their father Baba are arrested and taken to a government prison for participating in protests.

Salama and Layla discuss selling their family gold to pay Am for passage, but Am refuses and demands only money.

Kenan races to the hospital begging Salama to come treat his younger sister Lama's dangerous shrapnel wound at home.

Salama performs emergency surgery on Lama and removes the shrapnel while Kenan and his mute brother Yusuf weep with relief.

Sniper gunfire outside Kenan's house traps Salama inside, forcing her to spend the night under his roof.

Kenan reveals to Salama that he was once considered as her potential arranged marriage candidate before the war began.

Kenan arrives at the hospital with his video camera and begins documenting patients' stories and the daily conditions of the ward.

Salama makes a first payment to Am, who confirms the boat to Germany will depart in approximately one month.

Salama tells Kenan she can secure two spots on the boat for his younger siblings Lama and Yusuf; he agrees.

Layla and Salama pack two bags for Germany, carefully including lemons to prevent seasickness during the boat crossing.

A released list of living prisoners confirms that Salama's father has died in prison while Hamza is still alive.

After the sarin attack and Salama's persistent urging, Kenan finally agrees to leave Syria with his siblings.

Kenan moves his younger siblings into Salama and Layla's home so the group can spend their last days together.

Dr. Ziad tearfully says goodbye to Salama at the ruins of the bombed hospital, vowing to stay and rebuild.

The group travels with Am by car, navigating corrupt soldiers at multiple military checkpoints before finally reaching the coast.

Before the main story begins, Salama's brother Hamza and father Baba are arrested for protesting, leaving her and Layla alone and driving their desperate need to flee Syria. Salama first meets Kenan when she is called to save his sister Lama, and their bond quietly deepens after she discovers he was once her intended marriage candidate. As Kenan begins filming patients at the hospital, Salama makes careful payments to Am and negotiates boat spots for Kenan's younger siblings. A released prisoner list confirming Baba's death and Hamza's continued captivity tests everyone's resolve, but Kenan ultimately agrees to leave after the sarin attack overwhelms them both. The final days before departure see the group moving in together, bidding farewell to Dr. Ziad among the ruins, and passing through dangerous military checkpoints on the long drive to the coast.

The relationships and surrounding events that shaped Salama's journey from Homs to the coast.

After her head injury, a hallucination named Khawf appears dressed in a dark suit and refuses to leave Salama's side.

Khawf forces Salama to relive the day Hamza and Baba were taken away and the moment her mother died in the bombing.

After Salama weeps beside two dead children, Dr. Ziad comforts her and insists she go home and rest.

Salama asks Am directly whether he will accept gold jewelry as payment for passage; he flatly refuses and demands only cash.

Consumed by guilt over using Samar as leverage, Salama starves herself and cannot keep down what little food she eats.

A wounded Free Syrian Army soldier sings the anthem 'How Sweet is Freedom' while Salama amputates his arm.

Kenan surprises Salama with a rooftop date to watch the sunset, and she feels genuine peace for the first time in months.

Salama negotiates with Am to add Kenan as a third passenger on the boat, offering more money and a gold ring.

Dr. Ziad begins warning Salama about a banned new weapon when sarin gas victims suddenly start pouring into the hospital.

Salama and Kenan flee through narrow alleys after soldiers fire on the protest and take shelter in her ruined childhood home.

In the ruins of her old home, Salama tells Kenan she loves him; he confesses his love in return.

After their wedding, Salama removes her hijab for Kenan and the two share their first kiss as husband and wife.

Salama confesses to Kenan that she used Samar as collateral and has been starving herself out of guilt ever since.

On the boat at night, Khawf tells Salama he exists in every human and every culture, then bids her farewell.

As the boat takes on water in a violent storm, Salama decides to jump with her family before it fully sinks.

Salama's internal world is shaped from the start by Khawf, the hallucination of fear who appears after her head injury and weaponizes her worst memories to push her toward survival. She wrestles with her shifting morality, starving herself from guilt after compromising her medical ethics, while stolen moments of joy — like a rooftop sunset with Kenan — crack open her capacity for happiness. As their relationship deepens through confessed love and a first kiss after marriage, Salama grows brave enough to reveal the full truth of her mental struggles to Kenan. The pool traces how small decisions and quiet scenes build toward Salama's complete emotional transformation, from a girl paralyzed by guilt to one who can accept fate with courage. Khawf's farewell on the boat and Salama's decision to jump before the shipwreck mark the final proof that fear, once faced honestly, can set a person free.

The hidden fears, quiet revelations, and emotional shifts that define Salama's transformation.

Zoulfa Katouh

Novel

Fiction

Guide