CHAPTER FORTY SIX

           THE DEAFENING SILENCE LINGERED AND WRAPPED ITSELF AROUND HER ALMOST SO THAT SHE COULD NOT BREATH. Her mind struggled to catch up with the madness that had just occurred. For a moment, she didn't even feel the pain - just numbness and confusion, but then it hit her. A dull ache spreading through her right shoulder, quickly intensifying until it became a searing white hot pain. Lucy gasped, her body sliding to the floor with the realisation.

Her hand flew to her shoulder, feeling the warm, sticky wetness of blood. It slid down her fingers and then her wrist and she lowered her hand to look at the damage in shock. The bullet had torn through her flesh, but something else stole her focus, a low, strained groan that had come from behind her.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

"Chris?" she choked out, her voice trembling. She turned just in time to see him stumbling, his hand clutching his chest.

Time seemed to slow down again as the horrifying scene played out before her eyes. His dark brown eyes met hers for a fleeting second, filled with pain, horror and something that resembled regret. His legs buckled beneath him and he collapsed to the floor with a harsh thud. His body crumbled and he gasped as he laid on his back.

"No ... no, no, no." she breathed, scrambling towards him despite the agony shooting through her shoulder. The brunette could barely register the blood that began to pool through his clothes, the crimson staining his skin and spreading like wildfire from his entry wounds. 

All of those shots were meant for him, Lucy was just in the way. 

Lucy reached Rio's side her hands trembling as they hovered over him, unsure where to touch. There was too much blood, too much damage. "Chris, please... hang on." she whispered, her voice barely holding together, the raw fear in it so unfamiliar.

There was a commotion behind her but she couldn't care less as she assessed the damage done to the man in front of her. He had a bullet to the stomach and one to the chest and she panicked. Lucy didn't have any equipment here and the fear she had felt was so severe that she momentarily forgot what to do to safe him.

He grimaced, his breathing shallow and laboured. "Lucy..." he rasped, the word barely audible, his lips stained with blood.

Tears welled in her eyes as she leaned closer, her hand pressing against his chest as she try to stem the flow of blood. It was useless as it bubbled up between her fingers and slid down her hand. "No, no, no. Don't talk. Just hold on. We'll get help."

But deep down, she knew. The look in his eyes told her everything. His gaze softened, as if he was already halfway gone, the fight draining out of him as his breaths became shallower, more ragged.

"Stay with me." Lucy whispered again, her voice breaking. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the blood on her hands. She pressed harder, as if sheer will alone could stop the inevitable. Blood bubbled up from his mouth, filling his lungs and then slid down the sides of his lips. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to stop the bleeding. Oh, god."

Her fingers barely grazed the edge of her phone when it was suddenly snatched from her grasp.

Startled, Lucy's eyes snapped up.

Turner stood over her, his face battered and bloodied but free, glaring down at her with a deadly calm. His hand clenched the phone in a white knuckled grip, but it wasn't the phone that sent a chill through her veins. It was the gun in his other hand. Beth was gone, vanished like a ghost, but she had left behind the gun, now in Turner's possession.

"You don't look so good, buddy." Turner crouched down beside them and tilted his head as he looked at Rio who was trying his hardest to breathe. He held the phone to his face and said, "What do they say? One is the loneliest number? It ain't gotta be."

He had pressed nine and one on the phone, almost teasing Rio.

Rio weakly lifted his arm, fingers trembling as he tried to reach for the phone, but Turner easily held it out of his reach with a cold smile.

"Tsk, tsk." Turner tutted, his eyes never leaving the wounded gang leader with the gun still tightly in his grip.

Lucy's voice cracked as she turned to the agent, her desperation clear. "Please... I'll do anything. Just save him." she begged, her words barely more than a whisper as tears streaked down her cheeks.

Turner didn't even glance at her. He kept his focus locked on Rio, his lips curling into a twisted smirk. "You know this means you're gonna owe me, right?" His voice dripped with smug satisfaction as he tilted his head, ignoring Lucy's pleas entirely. "What do you say? I call them now... get you an ambulance. You still got odds. We got a deal?"

Lucy's heart pounded in her chest, her gaze darting between Turner and Rio. Her stomach twisted as Rio, despite the blood pouring from his wounds, began to chuckle, soft at first then louder, a dark, rasping laugh that seemed to fill the room.

"You think... I'm making deals... with you?" Rio rasped, his voice hoarse but filled with defiance. His eyes gleamed with something wild, something dangerous, even as he lay there bleeding out. "I'd rather bleed out... than owe you a goddamn thing."

Turner's face tightened, but Rio's laughter only grew, despite the pain that must have been wracking his body. Lucy's breath hitched as she watched, horrified, as the man she loved chose defiance over survival.

Love.

It hit her like a tidal wave, crashing through her body, an undeniable truth she had pushed aside for so long. She loved him. The thought twisted her heart painfully, knowing he was slipping away right in front of her. And she couldn't let it happen. She wouldn't let it happen.

Her eyes darted to Turner, her voice trembling as she spoke. "Please, Turner. You can have whatever you want. Just, just save him, please! I'll do anything you ask. I'll owe you, I'll make it right, but don't let him die."

Turner looked down at her, amusement flickering in his cold, calculating eyes as he considered her words. "Anything, huh?" he mused, tilting his head slightly, as if savouring the moment. "You're willing to go that far for him?"

Lucy nodded frantically, her tears falling freely as she met Turner's gaze. "Yes, anything! Just call for help, please!"

Turner's cruel smile widened as he shook his head slowly. "Nah, I don't want your word. I need to hear it from him." He nodded toward Rio, his voice oozing with sadistic satisfaction. "If he wants to live, he's gonna have to beg. Not you."

Lucy's stomach twisted painfully as the weight of Turner's demand settled in. She turned to Rio, her hands still trembling over his chest.

"Chris, please." Lucy's voice trembled her heart pounding in her chest. His eyes, barely open, were glazed with pain, his breath shallow and laboured. "Don't let your pride kill you. Not like this."

Rio's lips twitched into the faintest ghost of a smile, but the fire in his gaze hadn't dimmed. "No... begging." he rasped, every word strained yet filled with defiance. Even on the brink, Rio was Rio, unyielding.

Tears continued to well in her eyes and spill onto her cheeks as her desperation grew. The brunette leaned closer and rested her forehead against his. "I can't lose you," she pleaded, her fingers digging into the blood-soaked fabric of his shirt as if holding him tighter might keep him here. "Marcus can't lose you. Please, I need you. He needs you. You promised everything was going to be okay."

Rio stared up at her, his breaths coming in shallow gasps each one more ragged than the last. For a moment, he didn't say anything as he just watched her. His dark eyes, still clouded with pain, searched her face. He saw the raw anguish in her tear streaked features, the desperation in her eyes, the way her hands clutched at his shirt, as if holding him would somehow anchor him to this world.

I need you. Marcus needs you.

Rio's chest tightened, not just from the pain of his injuries but from something deeper, something that twisted at the walls he'd built so high. He thought of Marcus, his son, the boy who looked up to him and who still believed he could fix everything. He thought of Lucy, the woman in front of him, breaking her heart to keep him alive.

Finally, his resistance faltered. His pride, the thing that had driven him through a lifetime of survival, began to waver. He could see it now, the unbearable reality of leaving her, leaving Marcus, to face this world without him.

Rio swallowed hard, his voice barely more than a rasp but there was a softness in it that hadn't been there before. "Alright." he whispered, the word barely audible, but it was there. He locked eyes with her, his defiance slipping away. "I'll do it. For you... for him."

The relief that washed over Lucy was instant, though the tears continued to fall. She pressed her forehead harder against his, her body shaking and the pain in her shoulder only getting worse. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Thank you."

Now, she just had to make sure Turner kept his word.

Turner stared down at the scene, his face impassive, as if weighing the moment. With a slow exhale, he finally dialled 911 with a flick of his thumb. The tension in the room eased ever so slightly as the call connected.

"Yeah, I need an ambulance." Turner said coolly, his eyes never leaving Rio and Lucy. "Two gunshot victims. Industrial area, fifth floor. Send them quick."

Lucy's heart thudded in her chest as she heard the operator on the other end of the line. It was happening. They had a chance.

But as she shifted to glance back down at Rio, the world around her began to tilt. Her vision blurred for a moment, and she had to blink several times to focus. Her shoulder throbbed, the pain like a white-hot poker digging deeper into her flesh. She tried to push it aside, telling herself it was just a graze, nothing serious. Just a stupid wound.

Still, the room seemed to sway. Her breath came in shorter bursts now, her chest tightening with every inhale. The blood, her blood had soaked into her shirt and staining it a deep crimson. It was more blood than she should have lost and as she looked down her stomach twisted.

Turner glanced at Lucy, his eyes widening slightly as he finally registered the extent of her injury. The cold professionalism in his demeanor faltered as he saw the deep crimson spreading across her shirt.

"Jesus, you're bleeding out." he muttered, the alarm clear in his voice though he tried to hide it behind his usual dry tone. He had been so focused on Rio, so absorbed in manipulating the situation, that Lucy's injury had gone unnoticed by all of them.

"I'm fine." she whispered, though the words came out weak as her strength rapidly faded. The pain that she had managed to ignore was now clawing at her, threatening to take over, but she couldn't let it.

Turner, usually cold and detached, knelt down closer, his expression shifting into something almost resembling concern. "No, you're not fine." he snapped, his voice sharper now. "You've lost a lot of blood. It seems the bullet nicked one of your major arteries."

Rio, despite his own injuries, reached weakly for her hand, his brow furrowing as he tried to catch her eyes. "Lucy..." he rasped.

Her vision blurred once more but she shook her head, refusing to let herself go. "Just... save him." she begged hoarsely, not caring about herself. Everything inside her was focused on Rio, on keeping him alive.

Turner shot a glance at the door, as if timing how long it would take for the paramedics to arrive. For the first time in a long while, he seemed rattled, unsure of what to do. He hadn't planned on this.

Lucy's hearing started to fade, the sound of Rio's voice becoming distant like it was underwater. Her vision blurred further, the edges of the room melting into a foggy haze. She could see Rio's mouth moving, his lips forming her name but she couldn't hear him anymore. Even Turner's sharp words were lost in the increasing void around her.

Her hands, slick with Rio's blood, began to slip away from his chest. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep the pressure there. The strength was draining out of her, leaving her helpless. Slowly, her body gave in as the adrenaline no longer was enough to fight the blood loss.

She felt dumb. He was much more hurt than she was.

She blinked sluggishly, fighting to stay conscious as she watched Turner move closer toward her, his mouth still moving and his expression tense.

But everything was slipping away. The world around her dimmed, each heartbeat echoing like a distant drum as her body grew heavier, weighed down by the darkness closing in. 

She could feel the warmth of her blood pooling beneath her, a stark reminder of her fragile state. The last image etched into her fading consciousness was Rio's face, pale as a ghost from his own blood loss. The fear he portrayed was so raw and desperate that it pierced through the fog that enveloped her before she faded like a light.

the reason i'm getting these chapters out so quickly is because i've been home for four days with nothing but time and honestly haven't left my bed since friday.