Page 2 of Kiss of Ruin (Brutal Empire)

Images start to fill my mind. The same ones I remembered when I first woke up. A cold, dark room. This time, I remember the glass cell surrounding me. It’s hard to see in the room, there’s no lights on. I don’t know how long I’m there before a small light on the side comes on.

A woman steps into the light.

Elena.

Elena is alive.

My gaze focuses back on the room. Sofia and the nurse are still talking. I remember her taunting me about Luis. About how he only married me to keep me away from Nico.

I force myself to keep remembering. The medication is making it hard to concentrate, but I don’t let that stop me.

Elena leaves, plunging the room into darkness once more. I wait, searching for a way out of the room. There’s a small window near the ceiling. Somehow, I manage to pick the lock of the cell and stack a bunch of boxes to help me climb out the window.

That’s when I see Nico on a motorcycle, waiting for me. I run to him, the ground cold on my bare feet. I have so much to tell him. But a gunshot rings out into the night, and I feel myself falling into his arms. I try to speak, but not much comes out before I blackout from the pain radiating through my back.

“Breathe,” Sofia commands.

My gaze moves to her, and I see the worry lines creasing her brow.

“You need to calm down, Mrs. Romero. Your heart rate being this high is not good considering all the trauma you’ve endured.”

“Shot. They shot me.”

“Yes. You were brought in with a gunshot wound.” The beeping that been fast a few moments slowed as my breathing did. “The doctor should be in in a moment to explain everything.”

The nurse leaves and I move my head to face Sofia. At this point it’s the only part of my body I can move without making the pain worse. “Where’s Nico?”

“Shh…we can talk about that later. Everything is going to be okay.”

I want to demand that she tell me where Nico is, but before I can ask her more, the door opens again and the male nurse from earlier enters the room with a doctor directly behind him. She’s tall, but not nearly as tall as when I’m standing. Although she could be. Lying flat on my back gives me a skewed perspective on everything in the room.

“Hello, Mrs. Romero. I’m the surgeon who removed the bullet from your back.” She steps to the computer I hadn’t noticed before on the side of the room. She types in a few things, then turns to me, checking the machines near my head.

“Everything seems to be improving. A few days ago, you were brought in with a bullet wound to your back with no exit wound. Once your vitals were stable enough, we brought you to surgery to remove the bullet and repair any damage that had been done.”

She stops and turns, entering more information into the computer. She continues to talk. “At that time, we noticed the damaged the bullet had done to one of your vertebrae.”

A picture appears on the monitor, and she turns it in my direction. It’s hard to decipher what she is showing me. I follow the movement of her finger as she points to different things on the X-ray. “This is the vertebrae that was damaged. Unfortunately, it caused some swelling in your spinal cord. We’ve kept you under light sedation waiting for the swelling to go down. Once it did, we were able to wean you off the sedation and allow you to wake up on your own.”

My hand begins to tremble. Damage to my spinal cord? Is the damage bad enough to cost me the use of my legs? My heart begins to race. If there was ever a moment I needed Nico, it’s right now. Admitting it to myself is hard, but he’s become my rock. The one I count on. Yet, when I need him, he’s not there.

She turns the monitor back to her and closes the image. “While we checked your ability to move your extremities, I’d like to recheck now that you’re awake and can articulate any issues you might be having.”

“Okay,” I whisper doing the best to keep the fear out of my voice. I know better than to show anyone fear, even the doctors in charge of my care.

The thought of not being able to walk again hadn’t even crossed my mind. My eyes dart to Sofia, who is looking away from me. I see the tear trail down her cheek. I can feel her fear through the grip she has on my hand. The same as I’m sure she can feel my fear. Being best friends for years can put you in tune with another person.

The doctor removes the blankets from the end of the bed. The red polish on my toes standing out in the stark white room. She picks up what looks like a spur.

“Let me know if you feel anything.”

I brace myself and watch as she presses it to the bottom of my foot. My feet jerk the moment she runs the device down my foot. The weight that settled on my chest when she mentioned the injury to my spinal cord begins to dissipate. I have feeling in at least one foot.

“That’s a great sign Mrs. Romero. Let’s check the other foot.” When I have the same reaction the second time, a smile breaks out over the faces in the room.

“Oh Scar,” Sofia cries. This time the tears continue to make their journey down her cheeks, but she doesn’t hide them from me.

The doctor sets the tool down and replaces the blanket over my toes. “It doesn’t seem as if the bullet caused any permanent damage.”

---