Divine Love

Pain Near Death

The next day, May 10th. Octavian got up first and made Veronica breakfast. But he continued to think about how he acted yesterday. And he felt an extremely bad vibe that something was going to happen to him. Due to him being emotional, his fear on the inside was getting to him. He tried to hide it from Veronica with a smile. As he went out for work, he turned to Veronica and said: "Yesterday I treated you bad, and me walking out this door is how I'm going to pay for it." "Why would you say that?" Veronica asked with deep concern and fright in her voice. Then she followed up with: "Baby, take my car to work." "I'm good babe" Octavian replied. He went up to the porch to kiss  and hug her before going off to work. He was gone till sunset. His advisor wanted him to stay back for extra hours to help him with extra money on his check. While coming home, Octavian appeared to have seen four aggressive tough guys wearing blue and black, but they weren't the police. Unfortunately, Octavian was walking alone. "I feel like whipping somebody's ass" said one of them. Then another nodded his head to Octavian's direction. So they made their move. By the time Octavian tried to turn around, the four men surrounded him like a tornado. Octavian landed a solid uppercut on the one in front of him, knocking him out. But right after he did that, the one behind him hit him in the back of his head, sending Octavian to the ground. And the three that were up stomped out a defenseless Octavian. Each one punching him on the ground. One hit him in rib, another hit him in his face, and the other to his back. When they were done, Octavian lied motionless on the ground. Knocked out badly. Fighting for his life. The fear he thought of came true. But most importantly, he feared of scaring Veronica like this before the assault. Now he was on the sidewalk, along with the one he knocked out. He no longer had his phone with him, because the men who beat him took it, along with his shoes, wallet, and his watch. He was bleeding. Veronica grew worried because she knew he was supposed to be home three hours ago. But she invited Denise, and Octavian's friends Olive and Janet over as well, and they tried their best to calm her. "Did you call him?" Asked Olive. "Yes, but he didn't answer" Veronica answered pouring down in tears. "Did he tell you something like he was working late?" Denise asked Veronica as she hugged her. "Yeah, but he also said something like he was going to pay for what happened yesterday." "And you let him leave anyway?!?" Olive said with an angered fear. "Olive, calm down" Janet said in her calm voice. "Look, I know Octavian. He's like a little brother to me.  His reasons of staying behind at work was to get more money for the both of you. Yeah, he may slack here and there, but when he tries to lookout for people, he make sure he does it as if it was the last thing he'd do on earth." And as Janet continued speaking, everyone looked at Janet because she was the calmest person in the room. Janet turned 32 in 2028. She had light skin, but had a nice figure for her thickness. Octavian  sees Janet as one of the most peaceful people he's ever known. Assertive. Kind. Honest. And she finalized her talking with this line: "He acts dumb, but he has faith.  So it's no need to worry about him cheating on you. Besides he talk my ears to death about you. And he may sometimes show signs of weakness, but he's strong.  So he'll definitely be alright." Olive turned on the tv straight to the news, and everyone saw Octavian's face and name. The anchorman spoke. All they could remember hearing is he's been taking to Shock Trauma with life-threatening injuries. It shocked the women who were waiting for Octavian's safe return. They paused, then all cried. Janet then commanded the other women to come to the hospital with her to see Octavian. They followed without hesitation. "Hold on baby, we're coming" Veronica said still in  tears and Olive holding her in comfort also still in tears. And Janet drove off to see her friend. Hopefully, this wouldn't be her last time.