Beautiful Mistake

Chapter 2 - Blood

Elena's POV

We heard the screeching of tires against the tarmac, followed by a black van leaving the scene. Clearly, this was a hit. They don't care about me. They only wanted him dead.

I removed my jacket in a rush, folding it up and placing it beneath his head as I lay him down gently. I then immediately began applying pressure to the gunshot wound in his chest. He sounded like he was drowning in his own blood as he tried to speak and it frightened me.

"You'll be alright. We will get you treated somewhere and -"

"No." He managed. "I will not make it."

I continued pressing down on his wound to try to minimize the rapid speed of the bleeding.

"Please..." he coughed again.

"Please, Elena, you need to warn my son. There is a traitor close to him. He needs to know the truth..." he began coughing again, this time harder than the first.

"But his mind could already be poisoned by the stronzo (asshole) I once called a friend. You need to make sure his mind is clean from that poison before telling him the truth."

He tried taking in a gasp of air before continuing.

"He might not believe you straight away but even if you send someone else, just please make sure he knows and give him this."

His hand let go of mine on top of his wound. He gently pulled on a ring that was placed around the index finger of his left hand. He then tried lifting my hand from his wound. At first, I tried fighting him. I didn't want to let go of his wound. He then nodded his head gently, indicating to me it was alright. I released my tension and allowed my hand to open up as he placed the ring in the middle of my palm. He then closed my hand over it, holding my hand in both of his.

"Who are you?" My voice sounded with a shaky breath.

I watched as he tried to open his mouth and speak once more. However, the blood rushed out too much from me releasing the wound. I could hear the gurgling sounds while he tried speaking.

"V...V... Vinny."

That was his last word to me before finally going limp in my hands. His hands let go of mine and fell to his side, his head tilted slightly while his eyes remained open. I watched the life drain from them while the feel of his body began running cold to the touch.

Time stood still around me and I merely sat there in absolute silence. The rustling of the leaves as the wind blew through, brought me out of my trance. I could feel all the adrenalin within me dissipating into nothing like the harsh reality before me sunk in.

My hand opened up, the ring falling onto his torso. I turned my trembling hands over and gaped at my skin, completely stained with a mixture of dry and wet blood upon them. I felt droplets falling on my arms, causing me to realize that I was crying.