"Episode 60 - The love was never said."  

The door snapped opened, my hands went to the gun I took out right before everything in the clinic went dark. The door creaked and voices floated through the dark corridor.

"Doc, isn't it a bit late for you to be still at work?"

"Yes, I have a sick puppy who just had an emergency operation, it's my job to care for them." It was Ross's voice. Confused, I waited to hear footsteps approaching but none came. Instead, I slowly slid the bags and shoved them under one of the cabinets. Just in case.

"Can we come in?" The same baritone voice questioned.

"To check on the dog?" Humour laced his question. "May I ask why?"

"Okay, we have to go." I whispered. Unhooking the bags of liquid from the stand, placed it on my shoulder. I tucked the hand with the gun under her head and the other one beneath her knee before pulling her off the table without the sheet covering her body.

"MMM." She screamed with her mouth closed. My heart dropped, hating the fact that I was the source of the pain.

"What was that?" The unknown man spoke again with a thump against the steel door.

"There are over 40 animals in this facility and they don't necessarily have the same sleeping schedule like us now do they?" Ross asked. When I exited the room, I couldn't see what was going on due to the wall that was right behind the receptionist desk. 

Everything appeared green but visible only to me. Elena was in enormous pain but she didn't let out even a squeak when I had to manoeuvre her. She flinched but didn't make a peep.

"Stop being so annoying." The front door creaked the minute I got ourselves inside the security room past the staff area. Linda wasn't anywhere to be seen but I hoped she was safe somewhere. 

I sat back against the wall, behind the desk, with Elena between my legs, allowing her to rest her head on my stomach. We waited as footsteps kept moving up and down somewhere else, whispers of conversation floated through the air.

Elena on the other hand, started pulling out the needles from the arms. I tried to stop her but she swatted my hand away. I could clearly see her struggling in the dark, so I decided to help her take them out gently instead of her trying to rip it out of her veins.

 Once they were out, I set the bag aside, replaced the tapes over the little red dot of newly formed blood pool. Her dress was still sticky and had hardened in some places.

"I really wish you could tell me what you're looking for?" Ross's voice suddenly came from nowhere. He was on the other side of the wall. The volume of their footsteps increased, as they neared the door.

 I folded in my leg, making sure we were invisible behind the desk. If Ross didn't do his work, I might have to shoot who ever came in through the door.

The handle on the door twisted, my heart thumped so fast, that it felt like that it was sending too much blood into my brain making my head spin. I sucked a lungful of air and held it there, slowing my heart rate down.

  Sniper Breathing Techniques. Slowing the heart rate down was the key to shoot accurately, in-between heartbeats.

The door opened slightly, forming a long rectangular burst of light against the shadows of the dark room. The staff room light was off when I was there but they must have turned it on. Suddenly, the animals started hissing, barking and chirping. The sound bashed against every wall in the facility, stealing the man's attention away.

"What's that?" He asked, walking away from the door.

"Animals, again, this is an animal shelter slash clinic and I have to suggest that you leave before I call the police because it's clear you're not here to find the missing dog you told me about to gain entry." Ross's voice was still calm and poised.

"No need." The other man replied before leaving quickly. We both sighed in relief.

"Should we go?" She whispered.

"Wait till Nathan comes to get us." I kept stroking her arm until he finally entered, turning the light on. My vision burned, the green effect turned into bright with light that attacked my eyes. Throwing it off my head, I cursed.

It felt like my eyes were being punched by the sun, minus the heat.

"Okay, they are gone." He came down, took Elena's weight off me, giving me some time to adjust. Finally, adjusting to the light, I found Elena standing on her feet. Concerned, I jumped up with the headpiece, the liquid bags and my gun.

"I'm fine. I just want this dress off me." She was back to her bossy self, making me relax. I hated to see her cry. The bossier, the better. Sighing once again, we made our way out of the room, back to the O.R. She needed rest but not on that bloody tray of a table.

"When did you turn into a doctor?" I took in the white lab coat he wearing over his jeans and his boots. How the men didn't decode that, was beyond my imagination.

"Linda came up with the idea when I refused to let her go out." The minute her name came out of his mouth, she appeared from behind us.

"I was with the animals." She confirmed my suspicion. "She needs to rest otherwise her stiches might come apart. I haven't even had the time to check the scans." She immediately went to the computer, typing in her login and password. "She really needs to lie down."

My eyes went to the bloodied table with the green sheet on it. Using the dry side of it, I started to wipe away the blood, leaving long streaks of dried liquid. One thing I knew about blood was that it was one of the most difficult stain to get rid of. 

Even my hands were still marred with her blood. Nathan helped but once we were done, we splayed a couple of layers of the paper over before I turned to Elena.

She looked in absolute pain. The colour had left her body again and deep down I knew she was bleeding internally. When I pulled her off the table, I might have torn her stitches open but she wasn't even complaining. Who the fuck doesn't say anything when someone was in pain. Me. Of course, I'd find someone as stubborn and strong willed as me.

"For fucks sake, if you're in pain just say it, goddammit." I hooked my arm under her shoulder, asked Nathan to grab her ankles and help me put her back on the table. She didn't even look pissed at my outburst, even though Linda and Nathan looked murderous.

Elena, on the other hand, laughed.

"Trust me, I've had worse." Her words sobered them both, spurring them into actions to scrub up immediately. She reached out, wanting me to go to her but I needed to sedate her so I turned, tried not to look at her because my eyes burned and blurred, every time I did. When I found the sedative, I grabbed an unopened syringe and finally turned to her, passing them to Linda.

"Gabriel. Look at me you bastard." She was still fucking feisty as ever. "If something happens to me-"

"Aww, it's cute you think that I'd let something happen to you." I fell back into the comfort of our relationship. It kept me sane, talking to her normally even though I was dying inside.

"Just listen."

"No, you listen." I took her head in my palms, hovered straight over her. "I know we are having a shitty start to a new life but I as long as I'm with you, I don't care where I am. But I desperately need you to be okay. Because there's no point in this if you're not with me Elena. You have to fight, baby."

She blinked sleepily, with a tiny tilt to one side of her lip, she nodded. Linda had already struck her with the needle, Nathan pulling the surgical gloves on before turning the heart motor on and placing the pads on her chest. I waited for her to fall asleep.

"Don't leave me alone in this god forsaken world. Please Elena." I begged, just as she closed her eyes but remained conscious. Placing a loud kiss on her forehead, I started to put the scrubs on when Linda removed the stitches, allowing her wound to flick open. Seeing her still like that gutted. My stomach flipped.

Horror struck me, halting me mid moment from trying the gown behind me. Bright crimson liquid gushed out of her wound. A never ending flowing river of thick red blood. Her heart monitor started shrieking immediately. Her BP plummeted just like my heart sunk to the bottom of my stomach.

"Shit. Shit. SHIT." Nathan looked frazzled, trying to give her CPR whereas Linda tried to contain the blood. I stood there, watching the blood pour out of her body, her soul tittering between the edge of life and death. My stomach flipped. No.

Suddenly, the crazy mountain lines on the monitor flattened. The beeping turned into one long constant one.

Her heart had stopped.

"No." I whispered, my body weakened, knees threatened to buckle under me.

"ELENA." I screamed. 

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Please don't kill me. I hope you guys would stick around through Elena's journey. I'm looking forward to posting her side of the story. So, yes, she's not dead. You'll find out in the book called Retaliation on my profile. 

I thought about finishing the book here. With them running away but the person who hurt her would still be alive. So the story follows the couple getting here revenge in Retaliation. 

Thank you for all the reads and votes. I hope I can continue to make more worlds for you to read. Take care and I hope you like Retaliation. 
It's up now. xx