Black Rose

Nineteen

Omniscient

Raine exhaled loudly and let his head fall against the backseat as Lee drove him to his final destination. He'd been on the go since the break of dawn getting last minute plans and gifts together for Melrose. Thousands of dollars were spent, but that was the least of his concern. If he had to spend every dollar and every cent for Melrose to forgive him, he'd do it in a heartbeat. Along with stressing over Mel forgiving him, B has been harassing Raine through messages. He couldn't figure out why she came back into his life without warning and it nagged at his soul. She wasn't even moved when he broke up with her. In fact, she laughed in his face and congratulated him for finally growing balls. B's arrival appalled Raine, but more so pissed him off. He'd take any steps necessary to keep B far away from Melrose. If that means getting his hands dirty himself, he'll jeopardize his life and do it.

"We're here, Mr. Mercier." Lee interrupted his thoughts. Raine shook his head and looked out of the window to see that they were indeed at the gallery. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yeah I'm fine, Lee. Just tired, that's all." He told him, opening the door himself. "Stay here. I'll only be a few minutes."

"Yes sir." Exiting the car, Raine slightly frowned once he noticed how abandoned the place looked. He knew she had to be here today to meet customers, so why does her sign says closed? Taking a chance, Raine went to pull on the door, expecting it to be locked but fortunately for him, it wasn't.

"What the fuck?" He mumbled, stepping over half painted canvases. Some had holes through them while others were just scattered everywhere and Melrose wasn't in sight.

"Mel!" Raine called out to her, but she didn't answer. "Mel, where are you?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" She queried, from behind her desk. Her voice was hoarse due to the hours of crying and yelling she'd done.

Raine plodded over to where her voice came from afraid of what he might see. Stepping around the desk, what he saw broke his heart. Both of her arms were covered in blood trails going in different directions.

"Mel, are you serious right now?" He rushed to her side and grabbed her sliced arms. Taking his shirt off, he cleaned her arms and hands the best he could. "What happened? Why did you do this to yourself?"

"You shouldn't be here. I don't want to see you." She slurred, completely ignoring his questions. Melrose wasn't in her right mind to be interrogated by anyone. She'd lost a fair amount of blood and it took the pinch of energy she possessed after her meltdown.

Raine knew something horrible had to have happened. He just prayed B wasn't the cause of it. In one swift motion, he'd  scooped Melrose up in his arms and headed for the door.

"Where are you taking me?" She queried, closing her eyes to shield herself from the sunlight.

"You're going to the emergency room, Mel. This has gotten out of hand." Lee rushed out of the car when he saw his boss carrying a barely conscious Melrose. Opening the back door for them, he shot Raine a questionable look but Rained didn't catch it.

"No." Melrose tried to get down but Raine death grip wouldn't let her. "Take me home."

Raine knew she'd continue to protest if he disagreed with her, so he lied just to keep an argument from transpiring. "Ok, I'll take you home."

She nodded and relaxed in his arms, keeping her eyes closed. Lee looked at them through the mirror and Raine mouthed for him to head in the direction of the hospital. She would be seen by a doctor whether she wanted to or not. He wouldn't stand by and watch the love of his life slowly kill herself. "It's not happening. Not on my watch."