Ride or Die

VINCE POV

“What happened?!” I shout, running into the room and seeing Emilia on a bed, blood covering the sheets and towels on the floor next to it.

“We were ambushed as we pulled down the alley to the safe house.” The Portuguese man who had been with Emilia tells me.

I notice the bandage on his head and wonder if it was from the accident, and then I notice his arm in a sling and a bandage around his shoulder with blood seeping through. I feel a lump in my throat as I turn to Emilia again, noticing how peaceful she looks despite all the blood.

“The doctor will be back soon, and I promise you he is the best in the whole country.”

I nod my head, barely registering his words as I sit on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in my own. I frown at how cool it feels, but feel better seeing her chest rising and falling with every breath she takes.

“She is a brave woman Vince, you’re lucky to have her; she saved our lives.” Juan tells me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I look up at him and take a deep breath, “what about the baby?”

“We won’t know until the doctor comes back, he had to take the baby. How far was she?”

I shrug while trying to figure out a timeline in my head, “maybe six months?”
He nods his head and starts pacing the room, his head down and his lips moving in a silent prayer. After what feels like hours of waiting, a man I assume to be the doctor walks in, a grave look on his face. Juan stops pacing and my heart stops beating as he looks at me.

“I’m sorry, but the girl… I did everything I could, but she too was hit by the bullet. It was a through and through shot.”

The words pierce me like an arrow through the heart and my breath catches in my throat. I feel Emilia’s hand grasp mine tighter, which startles me into looking at her.

“Is……. Isabella?”

I shake my head, whispering a quiet, “I’m sorry Em.”

The pain in my chest grows as tears begin to fall from her closed eyes and the grip on my hand loosens. Juan once again puts a hand on my shoulder before leaving the room with his head down. The doctor gestures for me to move as he moves forward, moving the blankets and checking on her stomach. After a while he steps back and looks over at me, “she’s going to be in pain for a while, and I don’t suggest moving her. This is the safest place, there are men guarding the entire building. Mr. Ricardo will be in shortly to see you. I’m sorry for your loss.”

I nod my head as he walks out of the room, leaving me alone with Emilia. When I turn to look at her, I notice her sitting up, her hands in her lap and her eyes on me. I sit on the side of her bed again and open my mouth to say something but she shakes her head.

“Mateo is going to hate me,” she whispers with more tears leaking from her eyes.

“No he won’t, he’ll hate me,” I argue, reaching out to take her hand.

She pulls away from me and crosses her arms, “I’m leaving here as soon as I can.”

“You can’t go anywhere. You’re in danger and it’s not safe for you physically.”

“I’m fine Vince,” she mutters.

The door opens and Mr. Ricardo walks in, his eyes falling on Emilia before traveling to me, “my sincerest apologies.”

Emilia nods her head and looks up at him, “I need to leave.”

He nods his head and waves his hand at the door, two men with large guns walk into the door, “they can escort you anywhere you need to go.”

“Thank you, but I need to disappear, I don’t need babysitters.”

He shakes his head, “not babysitters; Bodyguards.”

I watch Emilia hesitate before nodding her head and then looking at me, “Vince, you can go.”

My heart drops but I nod my head, not wanting to argue with her here. Standing up I walk out of the room with no one stopping me, and when I get outside, my phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Where is she?”

“Dom, you’re out brother.”

“WHERE IS EMILIA!”

I swallow hard and look around, “I uh.. can’t really say man.”

“I don’t care if they kill you for it. Where is my sister?”

“She’s not staying. She’s leaving and I don’t know where she’s going.”

“When I find you Vince, you’re a dead man.”

I hear the click of the phone call ending, leaving me to take a breath and get into my car. I sit and watch the movement in the house through the windows before taking off and leaving Emilia behind.

EMILIA’S POV

“Do either of you speak English?” I ask as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and start pulling on the sweat pants they had given me to wear.

“Yeah, I do. He speaks only Portuguese, I can translate if you feel the need.”

I shake my head, “I’ll speak to you. Do we have any bandaging that I can wrap around my abdomen?”
He nods his head and moves to one of the tall cabinets on the other side of the room, moving stuff around before finally coming up with a roll and handing it to me. I lift my shirt up and grit my teeth, slowly and tightly winding the roll around my stomach before tucking it in and dropping my shirt.

“What’s your name?” I ask the English speaking one.

“I’m Carlos, he’s Ricky.”

“Alright then Carlos, let’s hit the road.”

He chuckles and walks over, helping me up and leading the way out of the room and through the house, Ricky following behind us in silence. When we get to the garage, Carlos walks me over to a red Evo and helps me into the passenger side, while Ricky climbs into the back and Carlos moves around the car, getting into the driver’s side.

“Where to?”

“Far away from here.” I mutter, chuckling.

Carlos pulls out of the driveway and starts driving with no destination in mind. I watch the streets as we drive aimlessly through Brazil. After a few hours, Carlos pulls into a gas station so I pull my phone out, dialing Mia’s number.

“Hello?”

“Mia.”

“Em? Is that really you?”

I feel my throat closing up as my eyes fill with tears, “Mia, I need you.”

“Oh Emily…” She trails off, her voice wavering, “where are you?”

“I’m in Rio.”

“Where?”

I look around, trying to figure out where I am before realizing that I really don’t know, “I don’t know. Where are you? I’ll come to you.”

Mia gives me an address, so I promise to be there as soon as I can before hanging up and leaning my seat back. As Carlos gets back into the car, I pass him the slip of paper with the address on it. He takes the paper, looks at the address before looking back at me.

“Is this where we are going?” He asks.

I nod my head, closing my eyes against a rush of pain in my stomach, “I need to buy some Tylenol, or Advil,” I tell him, tears pooling in my eyes.

Carlos shakes his head and reaches into his pocket, bringing out a prescription bottle. I raise an eyebrow until he hands me the bottle, my name on the label along with the dosage and basic instructions for the pain killer. With a small smile I hand the bottle back to him, “will you open that for me?”

He nods his head and takes the recommended dose out, handing it to me along with a shopping bag that I hadn’t noticed before. I look into the bag and find a bottle of water, some candy bars, and a few bags of chips. I smile and open up the bottle of water, taking the medicine with a swig of water before putting the cap back on and putting the bag on the floor.

“It will take a few hours to get there,” he tells me, indicating the slip of paper.

I nod my head and close my eyes, resting my head against the seat of the car before quickly falling asleep as Carlos pulls away from the gas station.

Blood, blood everywhere. The face of a beautiful baby girl. Dominic. Mia. Jesse. Letty. Faces flasing one after the other. Dad. Mom. Vince. Again the blood, and shouting, searing pain and needles; knives; nausea. Suddenly my head begins pounding to the sound of a woman screaming and a man shouting her name.