65. Zola

Chapter 65

Zola

“ I f you don't get up right now and cross the road, I'm going to shoot you through the head,” came the threat in my ears through the Air Pods.

“One,” the counting began, and I was forced to get up.

Tears poured from my eyes, but I blinked them away and kept a sharp lookout for Dante. I wasn't under any circumstances going to let Ugo use me to hurt Dante. Instead, I was going to save him even if it meant my death. As soon as I spotted Dante I was going to scream at him and warn him to stay away.

The only thing I was grateful for was that Dante had not yet shown up. Maybe he wouldn’t and that would be the best-case scenario. There was still a distance to get to the other end of the street. Ignoring the curses flying all around me I kept going forward. I was surprised no one had tackled me to the ground yet.

Trembling with nerves and fear, I kept walking.

Suddenly, I heard a woman scream from across the street. Then, other shouts. It didn't take me long to figure out what the panic was about. I looked to my left and saw a truck coming my way. There was absolutely no way he was going to be able to stop despite the fact that I could hear the screech of his brakes.

"Get the fuck out of the way,” I heard multiple people yelling.

Instinct took over. I turned to run, but suddenly everything started happening in slow motion. All the sounds were magnified, I felt the air brush my face, as I turned, the colors were brighter, and my thoughts seemed crystal clear. I love you, Dante. Always did and always will. There was no surviving this. Death seemed so close. I could see the horrified expression on the truck driver’s face. A whiff of someone’s perfume filled my nostrils. I could feel the stitches in my head pulling. My jeans rubbed against a wound in my leg.

It didn't seem as if I was moving at all. Then something big and heavy smashed into me and knocked me to the ground.

I lay flat on the asphalt. All the pain was gone. Was I dead?

"Get up! Get up!" I heard a familiar voice, and in a flash, my eyes shot open. I saw Dante in a baseball cap on top of me. The truck zoomed past, its tires screeching and burning rubber.

The entire scene was unfolding so quickly that I couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. I heard the hail of bullets. The air was filled with screams and the sound of metal slamming as vehicles crashed into each other. A few seconds of disorientation passed, and then I was pulled up again.

"You have to run, Zola,” Dante yelled. “You must run. I can't put you on my back because they will shoot you."

That was all I needed to hear. I took his hand and with every bit of strength I had left, I ran. I ran like the wind, until I was being thrown into a vehicle. I rolled and landed on the floor. The door closed, and the car swerved and sped away as gunshots rained down on us.

"Dante!" I croaked and tried to sit up.

"Keep her down! Keep her down!" someone yelled.

A rough hand forced me down. Someone threw himself over me, but it wasn't Dante. I began to panic because if it wasn't him, then maybe he hadn't made it into the car before we drove off.

“Dante. Where is Dante? Dante? Where is he?” I began to scream maniacally. I was beside myself with terror. Everything I had suffered would have been for nothing if Ugo had managed to kill him.

“Shhh … Shhhh … I’m here. Just relax,” Dante said from somewhere to my right, and I felt all the strength flow out of me. I lay still and let the world turn around me. Evil had not won. At least for now. Ugo had not won.

It was a long time before anything akin to normalcy returned to the car. I could hear voices, low but urgent, and through them, I heard the word "hospital."

"No, home, came the counter instruction. Dr. Muzio will be there."

Eventually, the other body moved off mine and I was pulled up from the floor and settled down on the seat.

I felt dizzy and my vision was blurry, but when it cleared, I saw Dante. His face was white as a sheet. He was clearly in immense pain and he had his hand pressed to his chest. Or rather, he had a cloth pressed to his chest, and copious amounts of blood was flowing out.

My God! Dante had been shot and he was bleeding out.

“Hospital,” I said over and over again in my head, but it took a while before the words would come out.

He met my gaze and shook his head. “They’ll take care of me at home. It's safer.”

I could feel the nervousness and urgency of the other passengers in the vehicle, but I never once took my eyes off Dante. I couldn’t hold him, but what I could do was watch him and pray. After what seemed like forever, we were back at the estate. There was a medical team already waiting for him. I stood back and watched as he was put on a stretcher and taken straight up to his room. They tried to close me out of his room, but I began crying loudly.

“Let her in,” I heard him say weakly.

And I was allowed in. The doors to his bedroom were shut with only the needed personnel in it. There was a doctor and two assistants on hand. Together they began to work on him. They checked his vitals.

“You were lucky the bullet didn’t hit any major organs,” the doctor said.

I slumped with relief. I could see just how close the bullet had been to his heart. One centimeter closer, and it would have been over for the both of us.

The doctor gave instructions to the two nurses present, one male and one female. Then he got up and looked at us. Then he turned to me. “Now you must go. We need to operate on him.”

I couldn’t stop myself from walking over to Dante. His breathing was shallow and he appeared to have lost consciousness. I bent down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“I love you, Dante. I love you,” I whispered.

He didn't respond and I stepped back. I knew not to linger.