Torn

VIII

Warning: This chapter contains themes of violence and death that may not be suitable for some readers.

Chapter Song: Ocean Eyes - Billie Eilish

Emma

After the call got disconnected, I grew restless as she wouldn't answer, going straight to voice mail. She should have already arrived at the station, with each passing second my gut feeling got worse. So, I took two officers and drove to the bridge. From afar two crashed cars could be seen, getting a glimpse of that; ignited a bomb of the most horrid outcomes in my mind. I tried to brush it off and focused on getting there, but when I heard a clear gunshot, my heart stopped.

I stepped on the accelerator like a crazy person, most likely leaving traces of the tires on the street. I heard muffled complaints to stop but I didn't care, I needed to see her. I parked in front of the crash and ran, then I saw her. She was kneeling over a man lying on the ground, with her hands firmly pressing his chest, there was blood everywhere.

I called her name several times, but she didn't move, I tried it once again as I kneeled next to her. "Nina?" She didn't notice, instead she kept mumbling something I couldn't understand. It wasn't until I put my hand on her wrist, that she finally looked back at me.

She had tears of sorrow running down her cheeks, and her swollen eyes begged for help. "Emma, you have to help him, please." She asked with a raspy voice that only comes when you scream so loud, your throat tears. Adding to that, her left arm was bruised above the elbow, and she also had a bad scrape on the shoulder. What worried me the most was the open wound on her forehead.

The man was clearly gone, but she couldn't process it from the state of shock she was in. "It's okay, they'll help him." I pointed at the other officers that had come with me and the ambulance that had just arrived. She nodded but still didn't move. "They'll take care of him, okay? For now, let's take you to the hospital." I extended my hand, but she didn't take it.

"I'll go after they take him. I just want to make sure he's okay." The look in her eyes made it impossible for me to say no, but I knew what was best for her.

"I know you want to make sure he's okay, but you're pretty hurt too. We need to go now so a doctor can see you." I carefully put my jacket on her shoulders and extended my hand again, but she was still hesitant. "It's okay, they'll take care of him." She didn't seem completely sure but ended up taking my hand.

I helped her stand up and put my hand around her so she could lean on me since she was having a little trouble walking. I wanted to get her into the patrol as fast as possible so she wouldn't see anything, but I failed as a black bag stole her attention.

"Wait, w-what are they going to do with that? Stop! That's not what they are supposed to do!"

She turned back to the scene, trying to walk towards it but I stopped her, standing in front of her. "Nina, look at me, I'm so sorry."

The look on her face when she realized; her lips quivering as she tried to come up with words, and her eyes red and tired from crying, getting teary once again, it was an excruciating sight. Not knowing what else to do I wiped off her tears and hugged her tightly. We stayed like that for a while.

When she stopped crying, we went to the hospital, on the backseat of the patrol I held her hand the entire way. She didn't utter a word and vacantly stared ahead.

When we arrived, a doctor checked her. They treated the wounds and told us she'd be fine after some days of rest. The whole time we kept holding hands. Soon after the doctor left, Ren arrived swinging the door open. He looked frantic, his tie was undone, his hair out of place and his hands were shaking. He had guilt written all over his face.