Fatal Wounds

43

Valentina

Everything happens in slow motion.

In a blur, leaving me unable to stop it.

The man lunges at us. Theo tightens his grip on me protectively. He backs us up so that his body is tightly covering mine. A knife rises in the air and brought back down onto Theo.

My scream full of terror pierces my own ears. Theo grunts and the hand that isn't grabbing mine flies to his abdomen that begins to bleed red.

My hands tremble as I pull myself out of Theo's grip. I ignore his pleas for me to stay behind him. The homeless begins to yell again about weapons and lunges against Theo, hurting him with the knife in his chest. My heart stops and my stomach lurches.

I successfully pull myself out of his grip just as he staggers backward. Theo hits the wall with a groan and looks down at his bleeding chest.

My mind races and I can't think clearly. Everything spins. My heart hurts. Skipping beats, feeling like it's going to stop.

I drop next to Theo as he slides down the wall. The homeless man seems to begin to understand and makes a run for it, dashing away, leaving me crying and panicking over Theo. 

"Valentina-" he chokes, blood painting his lips.

"Don't." I cry pressing shaky hands onto his wound, hoping the pressure is enough to stop the bleeding. "Don't speak please." My voice cracks, tears spill from my eyes and falling onto his chest.

A grunt and loud smack behind me has my attention for a second before it's back on Theo. The man who did this to Theo has been tackled down to the floor by another man. I ignore the commotion and try my best to help Theo.

"V-Valentina," he speaks, defying what I told him. "Mi amor listen to me please."'

My eyes frantically search his chest and abdomen, avoiding his face knowing that if I see the pain he's in I will break. When his hand reaches up to my cheek and forcibly makes me look at him I squeeze my eyes shut, tightly. "Theo," I whimper, "please no."

"Please." He whispers, caressing my cheek softly. "Please Valentina." The raw pain in his voice cracks my heart into a million pieces, they lurch forward and plunge into my chest mirroring Theo's pain. Only his is physical and mine is emotional, taking a physical toll.

My eyes slowly open, more tears dropping in the process. His eyes are big, deep brown, and in so much pain. If only I could take it away, I would, without a doubt. My Theo doesn't deserve this pain. He doesn't.

He manages a shaky smile that only digs the shards of my heart deeper into my chest because that's not his smile. It's supposed to look happier and less in pain. "I don't think-" he coughs, blood stains his lips, "I'm not sure I'll be alright."

"Don't say that." I cry, a broken whisper.

"L-let's be realistic. I'm bleeding out." He groans, his eyes begins to flutter making me sob. My head bows down, nearly touching his bleeding chest. Behind me I faintly hear a frantic voice asking for an ambulance at our location.

He brings my face back up to look at him and he smiles despite the pain he's so clearly experiencing. "I h-hope you know how much I love you." His smile turns shaky. "So so much. More than anything. I never had many dreams but when I was with you I did. I do. I want to live forever with you. Marry you. Have children with you and watch them grow. There's so many things I wish we had the time to do together."

"Theo stop it. Stop it. Y-you can't say things like that. You're acting like- like-" When I understand what he's insinuating I can't stop sobbing. Not when he tells me it's okay. Not even when he grabs my face so gently and lovingly. "Why couldn't it have been me?" I cry harder feeling like my chest is splitting open, just as Theo's is.