Songs of Us ~ A Mafia Romance

five

Seia

I had just finished studying and summarizing my final notes on clinical rotation. My head spun and it felt like a ton of bricks weighed on it. Groaning inwardly, I packed up my stuff and cleaned the table. The sky was a dusky orange and the evening alarm on my buzzed reminding me that I had a day off and didn't need to go to work today. I practically squealed with delight at the prospect of me taking a hot shower, wearing baggy clothes, ordering pizza, and watching murder documentaries till I fell asleep on the couch.

I, clearly, lived a thrilling life.

"See you later, Pauline", I said quietly to the old librarian.

She gave me a toothy grin and winked. "Got a date then?"
I shook my head and chuckled. "With a whole pepperoni pizza and Netflix!"
She grumbled and shooed me off. I left the beautiful library and made my way to my apartment. As I reached the corner flower shop that indicated I had ten minutes till I reached, my phone beeped.

"If you're ordering pizza, order some for me too! Don't forget extra mushrooms and cheese!"

I beamed at Elsie's message and slid it back into my duffel bag.

And that's when gunshots fired.

William

Emille had stopped to pick up flowers for his wife, Lydia, who was heavily pregnant.

"I won't take long, boss", he said.

I waved him off. "Go and take your time. I don't have any meetings to get too anyways"

He nodded and we stopped at the first one we saw near a tall, spiral-roofed library. He parked the car and left. I scanned my phone, flicking through the news and through the data that Emille had managed to collect on Seia. I couldn't help but reread it for the thousandth time. He had even managed to attach a few pictures of her from her social account.

It was a picture of her near a pond holding a fat, green frog. Her smile was broad and bright, as if she were mid-laugh. The second picture was of her and her pink-haired friend, who I'd found out was named Elsie. They were grinning as they drank a glass of wine and the TV screen behind them had The Office playing.

A shout came and my head whipped to the side to see Emille fighting someone in the dark alley beside the flower shop. I opened the door and rushed over immediately, readying my gun on the side of my hip. Charging forward and pulling Emille back, I took a good look at the man he was fighting. Or who was fighting him.

He was around my age, maybe younger, and his nose was bloodied and the lower cusp of his right eye bulged blue while Emille sported a busted lip and bruises around his cheek and chin.
"What the fuck-"
"He's a fucking spy with the Russian", Emille growled and I looked up my chest burning with sudden fire.
His eyes glowed with recognition and he scoffed before pulling a gun. "It would be so easy to kill the don right here and now wouldn't it?"
But then Emille pulled his own gun and he shot without thinking.
Typical Emille.
The spy ducked and began to shoot as well.
"Fuck", I cursed and shoved Emille earning a direct shot into the blade of my shoulder.
"Fuck", I groaned but this time with the familiar roaring pain that spread like wildfire around my left shoulder.
He ran faster than light, turning a corner and into the main street.
"Boss!", Emille exclaimed grabbing me.
"How did you know he was a Russian spy?"
"I understood everything he was whispering into that burner phone of his. He was tracking the car. Probably wanted to find out and patternize our movement-! But boss your- "

"What the hell?"

We both looked up, the pain coursing upwards to my neck. I had had my fair share of bullet wounds but it never did ease the pain.
It was her. It was Seia. And her eyes were larger than moon, shock etching her face.
Then in a blink, as if she snapped out of her shock, she pulled out her phone.
"We need to get you to the hospital"
"No", Emille and I said in unison.
"What do you mean no? You have a gunshot wound in your shoulder! With any luck we could get it stitched up in time before you bleed to death!"