Blood spread fast across his shirt, bright against the white. Loriana screamed like she was the one stabbed.
“Dominic! No, please!” she sobbed, holding his face, crying so hard it almost looked real.
He tried to smile, weak and shaking. “Don’t cry… I promised I’d protect you. I’ll keep that promise…”
I stood there, frozen at the mouth of the alley, my hands trembling. It felt like someone had ripped out my heart and left me hollow.
.....
Outside the operating room, Loriana cried so hard she could barely talk. “He’s always like this,” she told anyone who’d listen. “Once, he risked his life in a car race just to win me a necklace. When I was in an accident, he gave so much blood he passed out…”
I leaned against the cold wall, listening in silence.
And suddenly, the memory came back.
That night months ago. The empty street. The sound of footsteps behind me that wouldn’t stop.
A man’s shadow followed me from the train station, closer and closer until I could hear his breathing. I’d called Dominic, terrified, my voice breaking.
“Dom, someone’s following me. Please—”
He’d cut me off with a sigh. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m really busy right now. Stay calm, okay? I’ll send some cops to your location.”