When We Were Young

Forty-five:

A/N: Trigger warning for gun violence. 

Forty-five:

Alina remembered everything about that day. The warm feeling she had after getting the locket from her aunt, and the note from Nikolai talking about her being at their Harvest Weekend next year. She remembered the feeling of Aleksander waking her up, his head buried in between her thighs. And she remembered eating dinner with Aleksander and feeling for the first time that she had a place that she belonged. Not the frat house, but wherever Aleksander happened to be. Alina and Aleksander drove to his place in Os Alta, and as they were getting out, that was when it happened.

Aleksander had opened the door for her, and then she heard it. At first, she thought she'd imagined it. The loud bang coming from somewhere that she couldn't quite place. But then she heard Aleksander cry out, and saw him grab his shoulder, blood pouring from it. Alina let out a scream. "Aleks! Aleks!"

There was blood on her face. Aleksander's keys fell into her hand. Alina looked around for the source of the bullets, but she couldn't find them. There was shooting off in the distance. Alina ducked. She grabbed the keys and managed to get up and push Aleksander into the car, forcing a seat belt onto him despite the blood coming from his shoulder.

Alina slammed the door shut, then she got into the driver's seat. "Hang on, Aleks," she whispered, "hang on, please, please, please..."

She sped out of the parking garage, through the streets of Os Alta, not caring about how fast she was going. Alina didn't stop until they got to the hospital, and when she did, she pulled him out, and half carried him using her shoulders to keep him up. "HELP!" she called out. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

A nurse saw her and before she knew what was happening, they had placed him on a stretcher and were taking him away from her. "Where's he going?" she said.

"Are you family?"

"I'm his girlfriend!" she blurted. "Where's he going?"

"We can only release information to family. Please, wait in the waiting room, Miss. Once his family is here, they'll let you know what is going on."

Alina went to the waiting room. But she didn't want to sit. She didn't want to wait. She did the only thing she could think of. She called Nikolai.

"Hello, Cousin," he said, "did you get our present?"

"He's been shot!"

There was a long pause. "Alina, what are you talking about?"

"Aleks!" she called out. "Aleks, Nikolai. He was taking me somewhere and someone shot him and we're at the hospital and they won't tell me anything because I'm not family. I don't have Baghra's number. Do you? I please call Baghra. Please call Baghra and tell her to come."

"What hospital are you at?"

"Royal Memorial," she said, "the one not far from the college."

"Okay," said Nikolai, "okay, I'll get someone there. I promise. Just hang tight cousin. It will be okay."

"I can't lose him, Nik," she said, "I can't."

There was a long pause. "You won't, cousin. You absolutely won't."