Sorry if this chapter wasn't the best and that it's so short. The orginal chapter magically disappeared and I tried my best to get it back but unfortunately I had to rewrite it 🤦🏽♂️☹ so thank you all for being patient and baring with me. Also thank you for all the congratulations last chapter but I haven't gotten a ring yet 😂😂😂 I still appreciate the love!!!
-Abby ❤
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Third person
Max shook his head as he rubbed his left eye making sure the alcohol wasn't making him hallucinate. Olivia gripped at his tuxedo jacket making his attention fall on her. Her mouth opened and a sobering scream rolled out.
Yeah this was definitely real.
The scene before him was ripped straight out of a nightmare. All the guest were running out of each exit they could find. Max looked ahead to find the running line of his siblings headed straight to their mother. Amelia making clear eye contact with him as she fell to her knees holding her chest and abdomen. Everything in a instant seemed to be moving in slow motion.
Olivia's mom grabbed the kids who Miguel had tucked behind the alter and ran to the emergency exit. Olivia fell to the floor watching in horror as all her months of planning fall to shit in seconds.
Guest screamed in fear as they ran out every door in the room possible, not one person looking back.
Bernardo grabbed Max's other arm urging him to move from his spot. The harsh tug sent the snail's pace of his vision him back into reality.
Max snatched his arm from the bride's grip on and take off towards the small huddle of bodies over his mother in the middle of the aisle.
"Liv I need to get you out of here." Olivia's dad said trying to pull her from her spot. "I knew letting you get involved with this family would end up horribly."
Max tuned Olivia's cries out as his movements came to an abrupt stop as his mother came fully into his view.
"Does someone have their phone on them?" Estabon asked as he took his jacket off and used it to put pressure on her chest. "Daniel keep her awake for me." He'd spent 4 months in nursing school before dropping out. Luckily he stuck around long enough for the emergency preparedness class.
"No Yolonda made us keep them in the room!" Miguel said pacing back and forth with his hands in his hair. "Oh dios mio ayúdanos!"
Ivan looked around seeing some purses had been left behind. "Find a phone. We gotta call 911!"
"I'm sure someone did already! It was hella people in here! Somebody had to of called the cops by now!" Antonio shouted feeling anxiety spike through him.
"It doesn't fucking matter! The more people that call I'm sure the quicker they'll come-"
"Hey cut that shit out! Are you two seriously arguing right now? Now it's not the time- Miguel sit down somewhere and somebody find a phone!" Estabon redirected keeping his focus on the task at hand. Everyone was stuck standing in place. "Not everyone move a once."
The group scrambled around the room dumping out the contents of the few purses that had been dropped on the floor.
"I got one!" Andrés said swiping up on the phone's screen to get to the dialing pad.
Max couldn't help but stand there feeling helpless. His feet might as well have been glued to the floor how stuck he felt. Amelia looked up him with glazed over eyes. His eyes instantly shifted away from hers to the crimson pool that started to stain the pastel pink fabric of the runway he had just walked down moments before.
Tears ran down her face as she tried to make out words but they came out as breathless whispers.
"Yes! Yes! We're at the Salle de Mariage in downtown LA- I don't know what fucking street it's on we just need an ambulance. My moms been shot-"
If shit couldn't get any worse, suddenly the double doors to the ceremony hall flew open.
"Amelia! You thought you were gonna kill me Mi amor?" Emiliano stumbled through, gun pointed forward, blood visibly staining the shoulders of the all white attire he wore.
"Whoa! Hey! Dad put the gun down!" Daniel shot up from his crouched position to step in his path.
"Get out of my way Danny. I just want to talk to her." He tried placing a smile on his face but it faltered quickly.
"Hey! Hey, stay with me!" Amelia's eyes began to roll to the back of her head. "God, I think she losing to much blood."
Emilia's head lolled to the side letting her body go lax. "Hey-hey stay with me." Miguel took Daniel's place and patted her face firmly. "You gotta keep your eyes on open."
Max's breaths paused. His eyes became fixated on the crimson pool that began to swarm under his feet. Something unexpectedly... Snapped. He mindlessly began to walk until he was standing next to Daniel. "You did this?" Rage filled tears welled in his eyes. "What did you do?!" Max kept walking no fear in his heart. Daniel tried to stop him but Max gave him a strong push away. "Get the fuck off me."
Emiliano held the back of his head as blood still flowed from the gash on the back of his neck. "I'm not afraid to shoot you Max-"
"Do it." He took two more steps forward. "You did a whole lotta shit during the build up for this wedding and you go and ruin it? You shot my mom? Your wife? For what? For WHAT?!" Daniel put his hand on his elbow but Max shook him off once again. "Answer me!" His voice bounced through the room with a strong reverberation.
"Oh? Someone is feeling a little brave, eh?" If Max eyes weren't blurred from the rush of emotion he would've sworn he saw his father's lips raise in smirk. "She said she was going to leave me. And she knows I couldn't- no I can't let that happen. She got the upper hand on me for a second, as you can see. But she sat there crying thinking she killed me-"
"You should've let her leave you. You've done nothing but mistreat her- mistreat us- mistreat me! If you gone kill her for leaving you, you might as well kill me too. You ruined my life, you made me move the mother of my child and my son away. My brothers... I barely know them now, they all moved away with their families to get away from you! I have a drinking problem because of you, I let you walk all over me, ruining everything that makes me happy, just like you did mom, so I wanna leave you too." Tears burned his eyes as the hysteria of all he's been through weighed heavier the more he spoke. He walked towards his father and grabbed the gun and put the mouth of the barrel over his heart.
"Max, don't do this. You're talking crazy." Andrés called out.
He ignored the warning. "Then after you shoot me..." He placed his finger over Emilano's on the trigger. "Turn it on yourself."
"Mom, mom, mamá..." Miguel cried out as he noticed she wasn't breathing any more. "No, no, no. Wake up!"
A lone tear fell down Max's face. "DO IT!"
"NOO!" Olivia hollered watching from the alter as her dad tried his best to drag her away from the scene.
Emilliano cut his eyes to the wailing bride leaving a small window for Max. In a split second decision he grabbed the gun from him swiftly without hesitation squeezing the trigger.
Emiliano stumbled with confusion hanging from his brow. He touched his torso with his hand to pull it back into view. Clutching at his chest blood soaked through the spaces of his fingers. Tripping over his own feet he fell back on the ground groaning in agony.
Max held the gun in the air, hand shaking, eyes closed.
An unnatural soundlessness overflowed in the room. All movement ceased. The unthinkable had happened. Maxwell "the punching bag" Thompson, Emiliano had called him, had done the unthinkable. He stood there arm out stretched, elbow locked, gun still smoking. He stood there waiting for a feeling... Self-condemnation, contrition, penitence, remorse, guilt.
...It never came.
But relief did.
"Sir?" Max opened his eyes and the worried face of woman in a navy blue uniform was in front of him, hand raised. "Sir, I'm going to take this gun from you. Is that alright?"
He nodded and let the officer take the gun.
"Very good. I need you to step aside with me so my team can help your family." She spoke in a soft voice as she handed off the weapon to another cop.
"Okay."
She sat him down in one of the chairs as the medical team ran in. Max eyes flew over to the EMT going over to Amilia.
"Is she okay?" Brandon asked as the medic felt around the carotid space of her neck.
"We still have a pulse let's get her out of here."
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Sorry this was so short ☹ thank you guys for your patients. ❤