𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆

~5 years ago~

-"Feeling nothing is better than feeling pain."-

_____________________________

2 weeks later.

"...H-help..." she stuttered as the line fell silent once more. He didn't waste a second in running down to her office with all of them following behind.

It seems when the phone rings, nothing good comes out of it, especially when they are at the base.

It seemed to go in slow motion. From the dinging of the elevator to signal that they were in the lobby to the trek outside Each excruciating step felt like a lifetime. The hall grew narrower and longer, making the balletic rush to the doors longer and a century away. It felt lucid and surreal. No matter how much they cursed time they couldn't run fast enough. It was agonizingly horrifying to see the scene that had unfolded in front of them by the time they had broken open the door.

There she lay.

Limp and unresponsive as deep red blood trickled down her nose, down to her cheek, mixing with the pool of blood under her. Fresh blood that stained her lips and spotted around her mouth confirmed that she had been coughing it up.

And the thing that caught them off guard the most...was the slits on her wrists. All oxygen had been sucked out from their lungs.

It was red.

All red.

The concrete floors were now drenched in the blood that blended around her, only spreading farther.

Her dark jet-black hair was sprawled out around her.

She looked like the night.

The splattered blood resembled stars.

Her fair skin looked paler than they had ever seen and her eyes were finally at rest.

In her debilitated hand was her phone...that was still on the line with Luca.

Her lips were closed, and eyes shut giving them hope that her weak heart might still be beating.

So time only returned to normal pace when Luca picked her lifeless body up, bridal style. Her ruby blood seeps into his clothes and floods his arms. She was light, like a feather. He only needed one arm but wanted two hands because he was afraid, any slight movement would be the end of her. But it was already the end.

She felt colder than the last time he touched her. She was too cold. His ears went silent to the frantic please around him with Dr. Salib on the phone. He went silent and concentrated on a heartbeat.

Nothing.

He didn't even know that Dr. Salib arrived in a black van, disguised as an ambulance.

Matteo, Antonio, Starr, Ida, Blade, and Oscar rode in a separate car, giving Dr. Salib her space to work but Luca didn't move away from her.

His eyes stayed trained on her lifeless figure. Where the blood had been spotted on her mouth, Dr. Salib placed a breathing mask on her frantically.

She desperately tried to stabilize her, but nothing was working. She had to stay calm or nothing good would come out of the chaos.

When they reached the private hospital, a team of doctors, surgeons, and nurses rushed to her. Everyone was ready to go with her and to stay by her side, but Dr. Salib prevented from them following, saying they could watch the operation from the observation room.