“Very well. Clear these men out of here. I do not need an audience to perform. You, woman, go to the medical wing and get me a sterile surgical tray, saline, and everything needed to start an IV.” The doctor snaps, and I look around wondering who the fuck he thinks he’s talking to. Surely it’s not me.
Grasping Sebastian’s hand tighter, my other hand flexes around the grip of the pistol. I meet Matteo’s eyes, and even without a word he tells me to grin and bear it. Unfortunately, that’s just not my style.
“Enzo, go,” Matteo commands, and the doctor gives him a stern look.
Enzo leaves without another word to fetch the supplies, and most of the other men clear out of the room as well. Matteo is uncomfortable around the doctor, which puts me on edge as well. I’m putting the life of the man I love in the hands of someone I don’t trust. But what choice do I have? I don’t want to watch him die right before my eyes, so I have to let this man do his work.
Sebastian groans, his eyelids flickering open and shut. He mumbles something completely incoherent, and my heart skitters to a stop in my chest. If I wasn’t sure about my feelings for this man, they are crystal clear now. Seeing him this way is like fucking torture.
“Ness…” he says, his voice strained as he grips my hand tightly.
His jaw clenches tightly, the pain evident in every inch of his body. He’s in agony and there’s nothing I can do about it. I squeeze his hand back, just letting him know I’m here. I don’t know how conscious he really is.
“I’m right here, Seb. I’m not going anywhere.” Tears stream down my face, but I ignore them. There’s no time for my emotions right now. I have to remain strong for him.
The doctor rolls up his sleeves, turning Sebastian onto one side. Every muscle in his body contracts in anguish, but he remains silent, refusing to show weakness in front of his men. I want to cause this doctor the kind of pain he’s causing Sebastian, but right now he’s a necessary evil.
“I don’t think he would be conscious if the bullets hit any major arteries. The internal damage, however, I cannot tell you the extent until I am able to get him to the medical wing and retrieve the bullet. Only one of them went all the way through, the other appears to be lodged in his rib, if I had to make an educated guess. He will lose consciousness again soon, and he will need surgery.” Panic settles into my bones with every word the doctor speaks.
Enzo comes back into the room with the supplies, and the doctor busies himself with packing Sebastian’s wounds and starting an IV. Everything moves so fast, yet slow all at once. All of a sudden, I’m taken back to a memory from when I was a little girl. Aria took me on a carousel at the park close to our house. I begged her to take me for a ride. I’d been mesmerized by the beautiful lights and intricately painted ponies. But once the ride started, I was terrified. We were standing still while the world around us seemed to move so quickly, and I panicked. I cried in her arms the entire time until the ride ended. I feel the exact same way now as I did that day on the carousel.
“Ness, please listen. He’s gonna knock me out. And I need…you to do something…” Sebastian’s eyes lack their usual fire, his voice thready and thin.
“Anything. What is it?” If he asked me to fling myself off the top of this villa right now, I probably would. I can’t imagine a single thing I wouldn’t do for him.
“I need you to go home.” he says, and the earth shakes beneath me.
I can’t imagine a single thing except that.
I stare at his face for a few long moments before I realize he’s not kidding. Why he would be kidding at this moment, I don’t know. But why would he be asking me to do something so unthinkable? I can’t imagine being separated from him. Eventhe thought of being in the next room makes me feel ill. He wants me to be an entire ocean away? I don’t understand.
“I’m sorry, I just hallucinated. What?” I ask when I finally snap out of my stupor and process what he’s asking me to do.
“Leave this place, Vanessa.” He winces, maybe from the pain, maybe from the demand he’s making.
“I can’t just leave you, Sebastian! You can’t ask me to do that!” My voice is shrill, barely less than a screech, but I don’t care. I feel completely panic stricken by his request.
“He’s ready, we need to go now.” The doctor says, and my brows furrow.
Everyone in the room is looking at me like I’m going to blindly obey his command, but I’ve never been the kind to mindlessly follow anyone or anything. Why would I start now?
“Teo,” Seb says, calling him over, and Matteo comes closer.
He whispers to him so closely that only Matteo can hear what he’s saying. I’m stuck looking back and forth between the men, my hand still wrapped tightly around Sebastian’s, as they decide the fate of my future. There’s no way I can get on a plane and leave here not knowing if Sebastian will live until tomorrow. Sure, he’s talking to me right now, but things happen during surgery all the time. And he told me we were supposed to be in this together. That I could trust him. Trust him to send me away at the first sign of trouble?
“I’m not fucking leaving! You can’t make me leave you, Sebastian! You don’t get to do this to me, you fucking bastard! You don’t get to make me fall in love with you and then send me away!” I scream, not caring how absolutely insane I look right now. He looks almost remorseful before he kisses my hand.
“You are not safe here. You have to leave. This will not be the end for us…” he winces, and I know I’m delaying his care, but this feels like an impossible situation.
“We need to gonow,” the doctor urges, and I wish I’d put a bullet in him when he came through the door. Through anyone who dares take him away from me.
“Please, Seb.Pleasedon’t do this to me,” I sob, clinging to him for dear life.
“Tu sei la mia anima,” Sebastian says, barely loud enough for me to hear. I should’ve learned more Italian before coming here, should’ve known I’d need it around him.
“Let him go, Ness. They have to take him.” Matteo pries my hand from Sebastian’s, pulling me away from him entirely. Somehow in the shuffle, Enzo manages to take the gun out of my reach as well. That’s probably for the best. The rage I feel right now would definitely end Matteo’s life.
I watch helplessly as a few men move Sebastian onto a hospital bed and rush him from the room. I want to scream. I want to break every fucking bone in Matteo’s body right now because he’s the one holding me back from following Sebastian.