The Fuentes Family

34

Amelia

Alex's head drops to the ground along with Johnny's gun.

He curses from the pain of the gunshot wound in his leg and starts walking backwards away from the cops that move close to him, their guns pointed at him. I focus on Alex, not knowing whether or not he's still conscious as his chest is barely moving. As soon as Johnny is escorted out in handcuffs, blood gushing from his leg, I run into the warehouse and kneel down beside Alex.

"Oh god, Alex," I put my hands on his chest, feeling his heart beat. His face is covered in blood and his shirt is stained in it. Thank god the police got here when they did. And thank god Alex left his phone in his unlocked car so I could call them.

"Princesa," he mumbles, then coughs, turning his head to the side and spitting out blood.

Two paramedics come down beside us. "We're taking you to hospital, sir. Have you been shot or had any weapons used on you?"

"No, and I don't need to go to hospital," Alex tries to sit up, clutching his stomach and gritting his teeth to stop himself from making any noise.

"You shouldn't-"

"I'm fine!" He snaps and he causes himself a lot of pain by standing up. The paramedics and I get up too, and I take his hand with both of mine, helping him walk to the ambulance. "I'm not going," he says to them.

"Sit here and we'll just give you some ice for your face," the guy medic says and Alex sighs, sitting on the edge of the ambulance.

I sit too, and he puts his arm around me, burying his face into my hair. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't start that. I'm fine thanks to you."

"You weren't fine thanks to me. He could have-" He cuts himself short, pulling back and looking down at the ground.

"Please don't think about this, Alex. It's you i'm worried about. You need checked out."

"So do you," he touches the side of my head.

"I will if you do."

"Alex Fuentes," a cop says, walking towards us holding a note pad. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Shoot."

The guy looks at him weird.

"I mean, sure, yeah. Go ahead."

The medic brings over two ice packs for Alex but he just holds them and doesn't put them anywhere on his body while the officer asks him about what happened, and Alex explains everything.

"And he texted Alex from your phone?" He asks me.

"Yeah, he must have searched me for it because I was knocked out at that point."

Alex tenses. "He knocked you out?.. And searched you?"

"That's all I need for now. You two better get down to the hospital."

I squeeze Alex's hand and stand up, helping him into the ambulance. The blood around his mouth and from cuts is dried in and he seriously looks like he just got attacked by a werewolf or something. At the hospital, we are separated while they do a scan on my head and I clean the blood from me. When they let me go, I go the room Alex is in and see him sitting on the edge of his bed with two bandages on his chest.

"Owe," he winces when I hug him.

"Sorry," I step back, looking down at the bruising that is already showing on his stomach.