INAMORATA: Before Our Heaven Turns To Hell

Chapter One - The Wounded Stranger

Note: Bold sentences throughout the whole story indicate that the character is speaking in Mandarin. Since the Chinese words are irrelevant, I took the liberty to put the English translation directly on this story. Thank you and enjoy.

"Thank you for your hard work! Enjoy the rest of your night Rosie." Mrs. Liu said in lousy English as she waved behind the counter as I was about to leave. She is a chubby thoughtful woman in her mid-fifties and currently she is my boss here at Fat Liu's Diner. I've been working here for two years now and if it wasn't for Mrs. Liu, my family and I would probably have had a hard time.

"Thank you, Mrs. Liu. Good night." I smiled with the same enthusiasm then I pushed the glass doors open and left.

It was already a quarter to twelve and the night was unusually cold for the month of October here in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I wrapped my arms around myself as I pulled my sweater around me but I still shivered because it was too thin. It was all my money could afford and I don't want to spend my salary for things that I already have such as sweaters. As long as it's not yet in tatters then it's good enough.

After our father died ten years ago because of an accident, all his responsibility was passed down to our mother. Since then, she had been working and searching for part-time jobs just to provide for the three of us.

Until one day, two years ago, mom was hospitalized due to Transient Ischemic Attack or TIA. It was a predictive of a serious stroke and because of that I have to stop going to school in order to fill her position as our provider.

I know that some teenagers would regret not being able to attend university just to work but regret never crossed my mind and I never blamed my parents for the negative things that happened in our lives. If anything, I'm quite relieved that I'm old enough to support my family and tend to their needs. Even if I have no rest at all, even if I have to work seven days a week, I will never lose my drive. I love my family too much. They are everything to me.

After walking for fifteen minutes I finally arrived at the bus stop. It took the bus almost half an hour to arrive at our neighborhood and it was already twelve-thirty in the morning.

I walked the remaining block to our house and as I turned to a corner I saw a man limping on the street.

He was supporting his body by leaning on the wall as he clutched his side with his other hand. I can hear him groaning and coughing as he struggled.

What's wrong with him? I thought worriedly even though he was a stranger.

I decided to take a closer look at the man, still a little cautious, and that's when I saw the blood dripping from his waist through his hand. My instinct told me to help so I immediately rushed to his side but he already fell to the ground before I could even reach him.

"Can you walk?" I asked him urgently as I held his face gingerly. His breathing was ragged and he looked so pale.

Don't panic, Rosie. Don't panic. I thought frantically as I repeated these words in my head like some sort of prayer.

"Hey mister, can you walk?" I asked again in a much louder tone.

Finally, he weakly nodded and that's all I needed as a motivation to bring him to my house and tend to his wound because the hospital was too far away and he might lose a lot of blood by then. He won't make it if I do that.

I carefully held him so I could support his whole weight. I put one of his arms around my shoulder then he groaned. God, he's so heavy. I thought as I let out a breath.

"I'm sorry but you have to hold on a little bit longer. My house isn't far away from here so we'll be there in a few minutes. Just hold on." I tried to encourage him when I noticed that his breathing was starting to slow down.