Page 194 of Make Us Yours
I try to shake my head, telling him to stop, but end up cutting myself deeper with the sudden movement. I cry out beneath his hand, sobbing at the pain. Noah quickly takes a step closer and stops when Victor turns his gaze on him. But Gabe takes advantage of his distraction and gets closer from the opposite side.
“Oh yeah? You think you can kill me? I’d like to see you try, blondie.” He throws his head back and laughs, clearly not believing Gabe would be capable of such a thing.
Clearly, he’s been following us around long enough to know my Pretty Boy isn’t a fighter; that’s why he doesn’t feel threatened by his words.
Gabe and Noah jump on the moment, coming in from each end. Victor catches on quickly, and everything happens in the blink of an eye. One second, Victor has his arms around me, the next, I’m being thrown to the side, crashing into Gabe’s body as we both tumble down against the bottom kitchen cabinets.
When I manage to climb off Gabe, I scramble to my feet and find Noah and Victor wrestling each other. I look around quickly for a weapon, something to hit him with, but I’m too late. Victor manages to get his hand free, still holding on to his knife, and plunges it deep inside Noah’s gut.
“NOOO!!!” I scream frantically.
Noah’s eyes widen on impact, his mouth parting as his hold on Victor loosens. Victor pulls his hand back with an evil twinkle in his eyes and a chuckle, the blade sliding out covered in blood.
A gutting sound leaves Noah’s parted lips as his hands come down to clutch his stomach, red blood seeping through his fingers. He takes a wobbly step back, then another, until his back hits the wall behind him and he drops to the ground, still holding on to his wound.
I don’t think twice as I run over to him, not caring about Victor, not caring that he still has the knife and could turn it on me as I pass by. The only thing I care about in this instant, the only thing that matters, is to get to Noah.
I fall to my knees beside him with a loud sob and quickly press my shaky hands to his stomach as he groans, applying as much pressure as I can to stop the bleeding.
Just then, a loud thumping sound echoes behind us, seconds before a thud vibrates the wooden floor beneath me as a heavy body collides with the ground. The head smacks against my foot, and when I look back, I find Victor face down against the wooden planks, dark red blood spilling out from the back of his head and pooling around him and onto my feet.
My gaze travels up to Gabe standing behind him with his glass blender in hand. A red blotch along the side from where he must have hit Victor in the head with it. “I told you I’d fucking kill you,” he mutters. His eyes widen as his words register in his own head. “Holy shit… I… I killed him.” He releases his hold on the blender, letting it drop to the ground.
Noah suddenly coughs, bringing my attention back to him. “You’re okay, babe. You’re going to be okay. Just hold on,” I tell him with a weak smile as tears continue to spill from my eyes.
He removes his hands from beneath mine, leaving a gap between my palms and his stomach. “No! No, don’t do that.” I push down harder against his wound, but the blood keeps spilling. My hands are now covered in blood, and I don’t know if this is normal.He was stabbed just once, is it normal to bleed this much?
“I… I can’t stop it! It won’t stop! Gabe! Call 9-1-1, please! I can’t stop it!” I’m panicking, growing more and more frantic by the second.
Blood pumps through my ears and my heart feels like it’s about to burst through my chest with how hard it’s beating.This is not the time to have a panic attack, Veronica! Pull yourself together!
I shake my head, trying to focus as Noah’s bloody hand reaches my cheek. My eyes fall to his, those beautiful deep brown eyes that seem to have lost their light. He wipes at my tear-stained cheek and offers me a wobbly smile.
“I love you, Veronica,” he croaks out, the color slowly draining from his face as his skin turns an ashy white tone.
“No… no, don’t say it like that. Don’t say it like you’ll never get to say it again. You’re going to get through this, help is coming. I promise, Noah…” I sob louder, gasping for air. “You can’t leave me… you can’t. You promised me forever. This isn’t forever, Noah… It’s just the beginning, we still have so much to see, so much to live…”
His head starts tipping to the side, body sliding sideways down the wall until he hits the ground. I quickly lay him on his back and climb over him, putting all my weight into my hands against his stomach. His eyes are still open, but I can tell he’s quickly losing focus, about to go unconscious from all the blood loss.
“Why is no one here?! Why is no one coming?!” I look around the empty room, then up at Gabe, who hasn’t moved an inch. Frozen in shock as he continues to stare down at Victor.
“Gabriel!! Why aren’t they here yet?!” Ricky said they were watching the feed, so they must have seen what happened.Why aren’t they coming?
Just then, the lights flicker back to life throughout the penthouse. Fifteen seconds later, the elevator dings, and in rushes Marcos and Ricky, along with Agent Callahan and two paramedics.
“Why did it take you so long?!?” I shout as Marcos comes down beside me, pressing his hands over mine. Ricky wraps his arms around my midsection, lifting me off the ground and away from Noah.
“NO! Don’t take me away from him! Please don’t take me away!” I scream and cry, kicking my feet and trying to break free from his grasp.
“It’s okay! It’s okay. I’m not taking you away, but they need room to help him,” Ricky tells me as he tries to calm me down.
“Why did it take you so long…” I weep, losing my strength and feeling my body turn numb. I know it most likely all happened pretty fast, but at this moment, it feels like it’s been hours.
“The explosion caused a fire and spread to the stairwell. We couldn’t make it past the 18thfloor. Luckily, it wasn’t too big, and they’re shutting it down as we speak, but we can’t stay here any longer. We need to go.”
He brings me over to the couch, taking a throw blanket and wrapping it around my body as he looks over my cuts quickly to make sure they aren’t deep. He then lifts me back into his arms and carries me toward the elevator.
Marcos stands as the paramedics take over, controlling the situation as best as possible and getting Noah on the stretcher. He goes over to Agent Callahan, whokneels beside Victor’s dead body, confirming he is in fact dead.
