Salt and Pepper

Prologue

"Come on! Wake up! Wake up you idiot!"

Tears were flowing freely from my eyes and I was trying my best to get those words out through sobs. I didn't care about the big angry bleeding gash on my forehead or my left eye swollen shut with a possibility of a broken artery or the dried up as well as fresh blood on my white scrubs from the various bruises that I could no longer keep a count on.

No. None of it mattered.

Not the broken shards of glasses and test tubes around us or part of the building being reduced to nothing but rubbles.

Not the throbbing pain at every nook and cranny of my body.

Not the dead bodies and wounded men around me.

None of it was enough to make my heart race with fear and make me wish I would rather die than be in a situation like this.

The only thing that was crushing my heart and compelling me to end my life rather than enduring the soul wrenching agony, was the man on my lap soaked in a pool of his own blood.

"Come on baby! Please don't die on me!" I choked out with my forehead pressed to his and my body shaking with my sobs as I prayed to all God's to give me back the one thing that mattered the most to me in my whole life.

That last thought struck me hard and the more I thought about it the more I realised how true it was. And I had no idea when he had become my lifeline from an irritating jerk that I could never stand to even spare a glace at, in these past four months.

He moaned softly again out of pain and I could sense him dwindling in and out of consciousness. My eyes shot open on hearing his pitiful moan and I slapped lightly on his cheeks to keep him stay conscious.

"Just a little longer. Stay awake for me Krist! Please stay awake! Just a little longer" I rushed out desperately trying to hold on to his life which I could feel slipping away between my fingers right before my eyes.

Despite having certified medical knowledge and having seen my own fair share of blood and cut open bodies, I could not bring myself to approach the situation with medical expertise right now. There was so much blood gurgling out of the deep cut across his stomach. He was losing a lot of blood. And losing it fast. All my mind could come up with was to press my palm into his wound as hard as I can to staunch the flow and lessen the blood loss. Other than that I couldn't think of anything else to treat him medically. Not that we had any medical supplies around us to begin with.

We were dumped in a rickety old warehouse at the far end of the town abandoned from the rest of the town that no one would even doubt for the presence of any form of life here. A perfect place for everything illegal to build it's empire and run smoothly away from prying vigilantes.

A place where we are going to die right now.

I don't know how long I laid there until I heard another pitiful moan rise out of Krist and I heard footsteps approaching at a distance.

And I did the only thing I could think of right then. I shouted at the top of my lungs my throat aching and my voice already gone hoarse from crying so much, "Help! Help! Someone please help us" I tried between sobs.

Krist let out a sharp gasp now and I saw his eyes droop close like he had lost the will to fight anymore and his face was becoming more pale than usual. Panic coursed through me and I tried again to wake him up by tapping his cheeks, his blood on my hands smearing across his cheeks making a dark contrast to his pale form and paining me even more.

"Come on Krist! Fight it! Don't you dare die on me you jerk!" I shouted again torn between anger and helplessness and it took me every ounce of my strength to finally manage those words out without feeling like someone had plucked out my heart with their bare hands and hammered a thousand nails on it.

"I love you Krist! I love you so much! I love you! I love you! Please please" I chanted it like some mantra not caring that my words were coming out as bits and jumbles through sobs that no longer made sense anymore.

"You said it finally. I always knew you were a cheesy bastard" I heard Krist manage through painful wheezes in a soft whisper his eyes trying hard to stay awake and a soft dreamy smile touching his lips.

That gave way to the onslaught of a fresh set of hot tears from my eyes and my mind wavered between wanting to kiss him right there and panicking even more at his state. God I loved this man to death and he was making me fall for him even more with every passing minute, if it was even possible.

My lips upturned into a smile of it's own at his words and my eyes softened with the warmth and love that I felt for this guy.

The footsteps approached faster and I could hear them clearly now. I felt someone tugging on my arms and practically lifting me away from him as I held on to Krist's unconscious body for dear life. "No I don't want to be away from him. Let me go!" I screamed and thrashed despite my tattered body groaning in protest at  my violent motions.

"Calm down Sir! We are just going to get you some medical help! Allow us to help him" someone tried to reason out.

"Singto! Singto! Oh my God! Are you ok?" I heard someone shouting my name and running towards me. I didn't even turn around to see who it was not even when they hugged me to their chest and ran their fingers through my hair letting out a short sigh of relief to know that I wasn't bleeding to death. The whole time my eyes were fixed on the one guy before me.

The blaring sirens of the ambulance probably accompanied by some police cars, the sound of more footsteps, someone barking orders to look for more victims and seal the area away from intruders or even press, people running to carry out the orders, more painful moans and people being herded into police cars and ambulances; none of it registered in my mind.

Everything around me became a blur and my eyes were following just one person as I saw him being herded into an ambulance and someone draping an oxygen mask over his face.

The ambulance doors sealed shut after that and I could do nothing but pray to all gods and stare at the vehicle retreating out of my line of sight at a lightning speed.

And there was only one thought running through my mind among all the commotion.

Please come back to me my love.