When the man released my arm to punch Bogdhan, I took that opportunity to try and get away. If I could get to the people, I knew they wouldn’t shoot into a crowd.
I took two steps when the man grabbed me and spun me around in front of him. At that precise moment, Bogdhan fired his gun. Although it was meant for the man, it struck the top of my arm near my shoulder.
As blood sprayed against my neck and cheek,red-hot pain ricocheted through my body. At the sight of my gunshot, the man ran and started sprinting down the street while Bogdhan started to jump into the white van.
“Don’t leave her, you idiot!” the driver snarled.
“Just move!”
And as the van started squealing out of the parking lot, I collapsed to the ground. Some of the people from the sidewalk ran over to me. “Call 911,” someone shouted.
“I’m on the phone with them now,” another person responded.
“DREA!” Bianca screamed. Her voice sounded far away, but then it grew closer. She dropped down beside me in the street. “What happened?”
“Bogdhan…was…kidnapping me. Another man came… for me.”
Bianca ripped the Hermes scarf from her neck and brought it to my wound. When she pressed down hard, I screamed. “I’m sorry. I just need to try to stop the bleeding,” Bianca replied.
“B?”
“Don’t talk now, Drea. Everything is going to be fine.”
“I need to ask you something.”
She stared intently into my face. “Yes, you can pay me back for ruining my scarf.”
I knew then how scared Bianca was. She was just like Leo in using humor to try to deflect. “If I don’t make it–”
“Seriously,D? It’s barely a scratch. Stop acting like you’ve been gut-shot.”
“I want you to take Luca.”
Her eyes bulged in horror. “No, I’m the last person you should want to take your baby.”
“You’ll be an amazing mom.” Shaking my head, I added, “I can’t have him go to my parents.”
“God forbid.”
As the wail of an ambulance assaulted my ears, I gripped her arm. “Promise me.”
“Okay, I promise.”
Once the paramedics arrived, things began to be muted like I was underwater. Blue and red lights flashed around me while witnesses talked to the police. After working on me for a few minutes, a tall paramedic proclaimed, “All right, let’s go.”
As they loaded me into the ambulance, Bianca hopped in with me. Her face was the last thing I saw as I finally went under the surface.
***
When my eyes opened again, the hospital’s hallway lights were flying by over my head. I realized then the stretcher I was on was being guided by nurses running beside it.
We took a sharp curve before the double doors of an OR opened. “What’s…happening?” I croaked.
“We need to get your baby out,” a nurse relayed.
The room spun around me. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose Luca after everything I’d been through to get him here. “Is he okay?”
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he is.”