Chapter 35 - The Cost of Blood
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The crack of the gunshot was deafening.
Luca grunted heavily, his body jerking violently backward, collapsing against me. The sheer weight of him sent us both tumbling onto the hard, unforgiving asphalt of the runway.
“Luca!” I screamed in absolute horror, scrambling to catch him as we fell.
Before Vivian could realign her weapon for a second shot, Luca’s lead security operative fired a single, precise round. It struck Vivian in the shoulder. She screamed in pain, dropping the handgun, which clattered uselessly down the metal stairs.
Two operatives rushed up the stairs, violently tackling her to the floor of the jet and securing her wrists with heavy zip-ties.
But I didn't care about Vivian anymore. I didn't care about the sirens or the shouting men.
I tore open Luca’s jacket, my hands frantically searching for the wound. Blood was seeping rapidly through the crisp white fabric of his dress shirt, blooming like a dark, terrifying rose just beneath his collarbone.
“Medic! Get a medic over here right now!” I shrieked, pressing both of my hands desperately against the wound to staunch the bleeding.
Luca groaned, his eyes fluttering open. He looked incredibly pale in the harsh glare of the runway lights, but he offered me a weak, reassuring smile.
“I’m okay, Emma,” he gasped, his breathing shallow. “It went clean through. Just a flesh wound.”
“Don't you dare minimize this, you idiot,” I sobbed, tears streaming down my face as I maintained heavy pressure on the bleeding. “You jumped in front of a bullet for me.”
“You are my life, Emma,” Luca whispered, reaching up with a trembling, blood-stained hand to gently touch my cheek. “I would take a thousand bullets before I let anyone hurt you.”
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The paramedics arrived seconds later, shoving me gently aside to begin emergency triage. They loaded him swiftly onto a stretcher and rushed him toward the waiting ambulance.
I stood on the tarmac, my hands covered in my husband’s blood, watching the flashing lights illuminate the darkness. We had won the war, but the terrifying, agonizing cost of this victory was bleeding out right in front of me.
