Page 84 of The Celtic Resolution
No… not like this…
36
SAOIRSE
“Bruno!”
Rocky lands on the ground next to me as he tries to rouse Sarah from her unconscious state. His cry of panic sends pain lancing through my heart just as Bruno’s whimpers of pain reach my ears. He goes down like a rock and lies there unmoving as Domenico turns in what feels like slow motion.
No.
No more.
This can’t go on.
Grabbing the back of Rocky’s jacket, I haul him forward and snatch his handgun from his back holster, then I spin on the spot and face Domenico. Our eyes meet and his widen a fraction as I raise my weapon. He tries to do the same but he’s not fast enough. Not this time.
I fire once. Then twice.
Each bullet thuds into Domenico and sends him stumbling back step by step. Another shot and another step. He roars in anger and tries to lift his gun again, but a bullet lodges in his shoulder and renders his arm useless.
Once I start firing, I don’t stop. I can’t. Something takes over me and I fire every single bullet left in Rocky’s gun into Domenico. He goes down after the sixth hits him and I drag myself up onto unsteady legs, yet my arm remains firm and unmoving as I keep the gun trained on Domenico. And I keep firing.
Shot after shot after shot. They soon turn into clicks as the gun empties and I have nothing left to harm Domenico with. Not that it matters. He’s spread across the tarmac with blood pooling around him, one arm flung wide to the side and his eyes open but unseeing.
Dead.
It’s the least he deserves. I keep pulling the trigger until a sharp, lancing pain stabs through my gut once more and I double over with a cry. With the pain comes the realization that Bruno is down, so I abandon Rocky’s gun and throw myself to where Bruno lies on the ground, choking on all the blood pouring out of his mouth.
“Oh, my God, Bruno!” I slam my hands over the two weeping bullet holes in his chest, but blood immediately floods through the gaps in my fingers and stains my skin with its sticky warmth. “Hold on, oh, fuck. Please hold on! You’re gonna be okay!”
“S–Saoirse?—”
“No, don’t you dare say anything!” Tears flood my eyes and pour down my cheeks without warning. My pounding heart races, and even the agony of my contractions takes a back seat to the sheer panic that Bruno is fading away from me right under my hands.
“I–I’m sorry,” he chokes, trying to lift his head from the ground. He coughs and another surge of blood trickles out the corner of his mouth. “I–I’m so sorry.”
“No, don’t say that. Don’t. Don’t do it!” He’s saying goodbye and he can’t. I’m not finished with him yet. He doesn’t get to bow out on me like this.
“This… Saoirse.” His cool, trembling hand grasps one of my wrists as I try to put my entire body weight behind stemming the flow of blood. “This ‘s’all my fault. All my—I did this. I deserve this?—”
“No!” I sob, pushing down on him. “I get to decide what you deserve! Don’t you dare try and die on me, understand? You can’t leave me, not now! Not after everything. You can’t leave!”
“I’m so sorry I hurt you,” he croaks weakly. “S–So sorry… but know th–that I love you. N–Never stopped.”
“No, shut up!” I yell, then I turn and look over my shoulder. “Rocky!”
Rocky glances up from Sarah, who’s awake and groggy in his arms, and the relief in his eyes immediately turns to concern. I turn back to Bruno and his eyes flutter.
“Don’t you dare leave me, Bruno. I love you too, okay? And I hate you at the same time and it’s complicated, but I need you to stay here with me and work it out. Please stay with me. Please!”
“Live,” he croaks, his voice paper thin. “Have a g–good life. You and y–your baby.”
“Ourbaby,” I sob as his eyes close for the last time. “It’s our baby, Bruno. No! No, no, come back! Come back! Don’t leave me! Bruno, come back! No!”
My world drowns in tears as lights and sounds suddenly explode all around me. Footsteps pound, something loud drums overhead, and a cacophony of voices clash together behind me, but none of it matters.
Not without Bruno.
