Chapter 20

I suddenly woke up when I thought I heard a door close. I had fallen asleep, waiting for Alejandro. Darkness filled the room. I turned on my lamp, but it didn't work. That was weird. I got up, guided by the moonlight, to turn on the bedroom light, but still nothing. I knocked and opened the door to Alejandro's room. He wasn't there, and his lights were not working either.

Great, a power outage, I guessed, and Dolores was not home. Wariness seized my chest. I didn't know who else was in the house, and I was hesitant to peek outside. The hairs on my arms were up—something was off.

But I figured if Alejandro was home, he could be in his office. I looked around for matches in the dresser. Thankfully, I found some and lit the candle on top of the dresser to carry with me. I slowly and silently walked down the stairs. It seemed like there was no one in the house.

As I started walking toward the hallway where Alejandro's office was, I heard two very loud bangs.

Startled, I lowered myself to the ground. Those sounded like gunshots, and they sounded very close to me! I felt needles of panic invade me. I didn't know where to go. Where was Alejandro? Was he okay? I heard more gunshots and heard a lot of movement and things breaking. It sounded like the noise was coming from the kitchen.

Shit!

I quickly turned around, trying to look for cover, my eyes getting more familiar with the darkness. I had no idea where to go, so I quietly started heading away from the kitchen, leaving the lit candle on the floor. As I was getting closer to the front door, a man entered, obstructing the exit. It looked like he was armed. I couldn't see him well but was hoping that it was Alejandro. The closer I got to him, I noticed that he was wearing a cop uniform. I took a couple more steps. There was someone here to help keep me safe. As I walked toward him, he started to look more familiar.

I recognized him as the cop who had been talking to Karina. I tried to hide by the stairs, but he had seen me already. I was frozen, just watching him close the distance between us at full speed.

"La tengo," he said with a frightening smile on his face. He lifted his gun and pointed it at me.

As I was trying to cover my head in a futile effort to avoid what seemed inevitable, I heard two gunshots, and I screamed as I felt some blood splatter over me. I looked up only to see the cop lying on the floor. Someone had shot at him from the other end of the stairs.

"Amelia!"

I knew who had just called my name, and I proceeded to run in his direction with the little bit of courage I had left.

Alejandro was standing there, gun in hand, covering for me so I could get to him. I heard a noise behind me, and I turned around and saw more shadows holding guns coming through the front door. I finally got to Alejandro, instinctively covering him with my body to protect him, but he realized what I was up to.

Alejandro looked behind him. He fired a few shots but quickly realized we were surrounded.

He violently turned around, never letting go of his grip on me, hiding me and firmly holding me behind him. I immediately heard the shot and felt him shake as it hit him. I screamed as we were both falling to the ground. Suddenly, I heard more men rush into the room. Thankfully, they came from our side of the fight. Running past us, they opened fire on the assailants, allowing us a path to get to safety.

We had to get out of the way. I put his arm on my shoulder as I looked for cover, my heart pounding. He got shot. Alejandro was hurt and bleeding. What the hell was going on?

"Kitchen," he said, eyes closing, jaw tight, grunting from the pain.

I grabbed the other gun he was carrying at his hip as we went toward the hallway to the kitchen. I had never shot a gun, but it might become necessary.

One of the men Alejandro's guards had shot was lying on the ground. One more second and he would have shot at us, and who knew what would have happened? Adrenaline was rushing through my veins, but I couldn't let panic invade me. One of Alejandro's men joined us and helped me carry him.

"Get us to my car," ordered Alejandro. "We need to leave."

We left through the kitchen and walked around the house until we got to the garage. We met up with another one of Alejandro's men. They helped him get into a white Range Rover.

"Let me drive," I said. "You"re hurt."

Alejandro refused.

"Trust me," I begged.

Reluctantly, he gave me the keys.

The men helped him sit in the back of the car. Alejandro took his shirt off and tied it around the part of his stomach that got hit with the bullet. He was losing a lot of blood, but I could not panic right now. I had to get him somewhere safe and seek help. Our survival depended on it.

"Julian, call Marcos," he ordered. "I will be in touch."

"But, sir, you are bleeding," pointed out the man.

"I have to get her out of here."

Alejandro did not wait and closed the door.

"Drive," he ordered. "I will tell you where to go."

I obeyed, and when the garage door opened, I sped out. A man was running toward us at an alarming speed, but the car was faster. He stopped running and shot at the car. I screamed but hit the gas even harder.

"It's bulletproof," reassured Alejandro. "Just drive, and don't stop!"

I followed the pathway, noticing a pickup truck following us. It was Julian, Alejandro's employee. He passed in front of us, heading toward the house gate where some of the intruders were keeping guard. They tried to stop him, but he hit the front gate without stopping, opening it for us to go through.

I drove for a few more minutes before reaching the property line. This land was much bigger than I had imagined. We finally made it to the street, where Alejandro told me to turn left. When I felt like we were at a safe distance, I stopped and parked the car on the side of the road.

Alejandro's gaze was furious. "What do you think you're doing?"

I got out of the car, opened the right back door, and got in next to him. Alejandro looked really bad, pale, and was clearly in pain. He was holding the left side of his stomach. There was blood everywhere.

"We have to get you to the hospital."

"No," he said between heavy breaths. "It"s not safe."

"You can"t—"

"I said no! They will find us. They are here to hurt you, Amelia. I can"t take that risk."

"I don't care. You're bleeding."

Alejandro bent himself in my direction and put his right hand on my face.

"I can't let anything happen to you." One look in his eyes, and I knew I wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise.

"Ok, then," I said, resigned. "Where are we going?"

"My other home. No one knows about it. We should be safe there."

"How long of a drive?"

"A little over an hour."

"You won"t make it that long!" I said, feeling pressure starting to build behind my eyes.

"I will. Please, drive." Alejandro winced in pain.

"No, you are not dying for me. I won"t allow it!" I screamed, unable to stop the tears coming down my face. I looked away from his questioning gaze.

Think, think. What could I do?

"Where is Doctor Rodriguez?" I asked. "I can drive you to him."

"I don't think that's a good idea. It"s possible they would find us there."

"If you want me to drive, that is where we are going," I said in a finite tone. "Don't argue with me," I warned. "It will be of no use. Where is your phone? Call him."

Alejandro looked like he was going to object, but something in the way I looked at him must have made him back up.

"My right pocket."

I grabbed the phone from his pocket.

"Code?" I asked.

"3547. Look for Rodriguez," he added.

I found the number and dialed.

"Hi, Doctor, this is Amelia, calling you from Alejandro's phone. He has been shot, and we need to find you," I explained, trying to skip the pleasantries.

"His home," I said to Alejandro, "do you know how to get there?"

"Yes," he answered, closing his eyes a little.

"Doctor, we are driving to you now."

I hung up the phone, gave it back to Alejandro, and hurried back to the driver's seat.

"Let me know when I should turn," I ordered, looking at Alejandro in the rearview mirror.

"You can go straight for now," he said, a faint smile on his face.

"What?"

"It's very hot seeing you in charge," he teased.

I rolled my eyes but felt my heart grow a little. He must be fine if that was what he was thinking about. I followed his instructions and tried to keep him awake with incessant chatter. I talked about everything from my favorite ice cream flavor to my dislike of violent sports.

Finally, we got to a nice, gated house. Doctor Rodriguez was waiting for us at the entrance, and I stopped the car as close to the door as I could. Doctor Rodriguez helped me get Alejandro inside. He took us to the living room closest to the door.

"I don't have much time, Rodriguez. We have to leave," he explained as the doctor laid him on his back.

"What happened?" asked Doctor Rodriguez as he grabbed his tools.

"Got shot," said Alejandro, lifting his hands from his stomach.

I took a few steps back to give the doctor space to do his work. He had everything ready on the table.

"You are going to need this," he said, giving Alejandro a bottle of scotch.

Alejandro did not wait to be told twice. He grabbed the bottle and took a couple of gigantic gulps, wincing.

I was so scared I felt cold seep though my bones. I could not stand seeing blood. I could barely stand the smell, but I had to be brave for Alejandro. I brought a chair next to him and sat there. The doctor was at work, probing and cleaning. Alejandro seemed to be in terrible pain. He was wincing, growling, his eyes closed shut, his hands in fists. I would have given anything to take his pain away.

Doctor Rodriguez let me help with disinfecting the wound.

"I need you to go to the other room," Alejandro said to me.

"I'm not going anywhere."

How did he think I could just leave him there? I could barely move, terrified that something would happen to him, that he wouldn't make it. I erased that thought immediately, my heart falling to my stomach just at the possibility of losing him. I didn't think I could handle it. That realization was overwhelming—ridiculous, but very eye opening.

"I need you to go," he insisted, his jaw tense, his pain intensifying as the doctor proceeded to remove the bullet.

Doctor Rodriguez eventually insisted that I go into the other room, per Alejandro's request. I went out and pushed the door behind me, keeping it slightly open so I could still see.

I couldn't move. He was suffering, grunting, knuckles white from the lack of blood. I stood there in tears, hearing him scream, unable to make his pain go away, feeling completely useless. Eventually, the bullet was out. I still stood there, watching over him from a distance, for as long as I could stand.

The doctor was still in there with him. It had been over an hour, and the anguish was killing me. I was realizing that if Alejandro died, a part of me would too. I needed him to survive as much as I needed air to breathe. He needed to be okay.

After an eternity, the doctor finally came to get me and take me back to the room. I rushed to Alejandro's side, scanning him and desperately wanting to make sure he was okay. I tried my best to hide it, but I couldn't, my emotions raw on the surface.

"I gave him some mild sedatives. He wouldn't let me give him anything stronger, but he needs to rest," explained Doctor Rodriguez.

I sat next to Alejandro, holding his hand in mine, unable to keep my eyes off him.

A few hours later, Alejandro finally opened his eyes. Seeing those dark eyes immediately released some stress off my shoulders. The confusion on his face didn't last long as he fought me to sit up.

"You are lucky," stated Doctor Rodriguez, rushing to his side. "No organs were touched. I disinfected and sewed your wound, but you will need a lot of care and rest. Normally, you would have to be in a hospital, but I understand that is not possible under the…circumstances."

"Thank you, Rodriguez," said Alejandro, trying to get up. I jumped to his side to hold his arm.

"You really should stay here, Alejandro," said Rodriguez. "You are in no state to be on the road. You lost a lot of blood—"

Doctor Rodriguez stopped talking when Alejandro lifted his hand, clearly indicating that it wasn't an option.

"Thank you, Rodriguez, but I'd be putting your life in danger as well. I already stayed here for way too long."

I begged him for us to stay longer, but I knew better. "Doctor, what can I do? How can I help him in the coming days?"

Alejandro couldn't stop looking at me, as if he was seeing me for the first time.

"Let me write you some instructions," he said. "You will have to change his bandages a few times a day and watch his temperature. I have some painkillers I am going to give you and some bandage material. I don't have a lot on hand, but it should be enough for the first couple of days or so. You will need to go to a pharmacy to get antibiotics."

"Thank you."

Doctor Rodriguez gave me a bag with all the medicine and equipment he could, as well as some water for the road. He also gave me a list of recommended foods I was going to have to find to help with the loss of blood.

He helped Alejandro back in the car, in the front seat this time. I got in the driver's seat, thanked the doctor profusely, and started driving under Alejandro's instructions.

Alejandro took out his phone and plugged it in the car charger. He made countless calls, trying to figure out who had attacked us and how his men were doing.

From what I could hear of the exchanges, it sounded like Alejandro's men had regained control of the house, the intruders had left, and some were dead. There were no fatal casualties on Alejandro's end, thankfully, but a few of his men did get shot, and some of them were in the hospital. Alejandro mostly talked to a man named Marcus, who was going to help him investigate who had attacked and why they had clearly tried to shoot me.

I had a million questions, but I had to bite my lip—for now. All that really mattered in this moment was getting Alejandro somewhere where he could rest, where we would be safe.