Love Is A Crime

Till death, do us part

"Aghhhhh!" Zulema groaned in pain as she clutched her side, trying to stop the blood.
"It's not far now. Just keep holding on, Zulema," Maca said, glancing down at her. She didn't look good. Her clothes were stained red and her face pale. She somehow looked really small. Maca found it strange to see Zulema Zahir looking so weak and vulnerable.
Maca could see the fear in Zulema's eyes. She decided to reach for Zulema's free hand and squeeze it tightly. "Everything is going to be ok. Trust me," she smiled at Zulema who tried to keep her strength as much as possible. She hated to look weak in front of la rubia. She had never seen this look on Zulema before. She'd never seen fear and anguish in her eyes before, but now it was so dominant. To see Zulema like this, made Maca feel scared too. Zulema is her leader. Her partner in crime. The one who leads the way and is in charge of, everything. And if she is weak, Maca feels weak too. Maca especially feels the anxiety if anything should happen to Zulema. She has no idea how she would actually cope and carry on.

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The hospital sign approached quickly in the distance. "Zulema," Maca said, keeping her eyes on the road. There was no response. "Zulema?" She tried again. "Zulema, the hospital is ahead. We're nearly there," but there was still no reply. Not even a groan to acknowledge to Maca that she was still awake.
"Zulema?" Maca said louder, but as she looked down at her, her eyes were closed. "Zulema!" She raised her voice again. "Oye! Despierta!" She tried to concentrate on the road, but she needed to make sure Zulema is ok. She lay still, eyes shut, barely moving. Maca reached for her hand and clasped it with her own. Shaking it, she tried to wake her up. "Zulema!" Maca's face filled with worry and desperation. She just needed to concentrate on driving. There was only a short distance left to the hospital. She put her foot down, and the car sped up. At this point, she didn't care if you was over the speed limit; she just needed to get Zulema to the hospital.

A few moments later, they finally reached the hospital and as soon as she'd slammed on the breaks and stopped the car in a random position outside the entrance, Maca immediately jumped out and ran to the other side. She quickly opened the door, to see Zulema still lying still. "Ayuda!" She shouted loudly, hoping someone would hear, as she scooped her arms around Zulema to try and pull her out. "Ayúdame!"
Luckily, there happened to be two nurses walking by, and they came rushing over. "Ayuda por favor," Maca cried. "She needs help. She's got a gunshot wound to her stomach!" She continued in a state of panic as she stayed by Zulema, trying to cover her wound again.
"Ok, ok. Step back miss," one of the nurses said as they gestured for Maca to come away from Zulema, who lay covered in blood. Maca moved back, not wanting to leave her.
The nurses together, managed to lift Zulema out of the car and carry her to a wheelchair that was waiting by the doors. As they took her over, she was completely limp and floppy. Maca's heart skipped a beat.

Maca followed them closely, as they began to wheel Zulema inside. "I need a bed here, we have a female patient, gunshot wound to the lower abdomen! Heavy bleeding!" The nurse ordered in a loud voice to a doctor inside the building. Maca tried to stay as close to Zulema as she could, but people kept on getting in the way. When the bed came, the team of professionals lifted her onto it. Lying against the perfectly white sheets, the blood was visible even more, making Maca's fear rise further. She couldn't let anything bad happen to Zulema. She just couldn't.
Maca rushed after them as they took Zulema straight to the OR. She became closer and closer to the bed, and was now by Zulema's side. As they were moving quickly, she held Zulema's hand and squeezed it tight. "It's gonna be ok, Zulema. It's gonna be ok," she said quietly so no one else could hear. Zulema still had her eyes closed, but Maca hoped that she could hear her. A tear rolled down Maca's cheek now, as she couldn't bare to see Zulema looking this way.
"Ma'am, please step back. We need to take her now," said one of the nurses as they slowed down with the bed and asked Maca to move away. The blondie didn't want to let go of Zulema's hand. Hesitantly, she slowly stepped away, holding her hand until the very last second where she slowly released it, leaving her hand slightly hanging off the side of the bed. That image broke Maca even more, as another tear rolled down her cheek. With a heavy beating heart, she watched Zulema go, not taking her eyes off her until she disappeared through the doors.

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What seemed like days, was only hours, that Maca waited for Zulema to come back out. Whilst she was in the waiting room, she could not sit down. Too many thoughts and fears were running through her head, as she paced the room, back and forth. When she forced herself to sit down, realising that Zulema wasn't coming out any time soon, she sat with her head in her hands. Her head was spinning as she walked through her mind, contemplating the recent events. One thing she hadn't thought of, was that the hospital would be suspicious about them because Zulema's injury is a gunshot wound. They would most definitely call the police. And then they would be discovered and their disguises would be pointless.

As the waiting and anticipation grew worse, Maca couldn't handle it any longer. Rubbing her hands over her face, she stood up and ran to the bathroom. Flinging open a toilet cubicle door, she sat on top of the toilet and held her face in her hands. And suddenly, she let go. A flood of tears rushing out of her eyes as she cried out loud. Her body began to shake as her hands and face became wet with salty tears. She felt a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she's never felt before. It was the feeling of potentially losing Zulema. And it was enough to kill her.
Her sobbing worsened, as her cries became louder, to the point where someone knocked on the door, making her jump back into the atmosphere around her.
"Oye, estás bien?" An older lady called to her from the other side of the door.

Maca hesitated.

"Sí, sí," the blondie breathed as she rubbed her hands over her face again, trying to wake her mind up. She waited until she thought the lady had gone, before slowly exiting the cubicle and walking to the mirror. As she looked at her reflection, she saw mascara under her eyes, red, puffy eyes, and her face was wet. She knew she should go back out into the waiting room, no matter how hard the waiting for news is. Composing herself, she reluctantly returned to the waiting room, the place where she would soon receive either good news, or news that would shatter her heart forever, before she had a chance to embrace the true feelings that lay inside of her...