Chapter 11 - A NIGHT OF HEALINGWe escaped in a stolen sedan, tearing through the blinding whiteout of the snowstorm until we reached a hidden safe house—a small, isolated cabin deep in the woods of Upstate New York.
Antonio collapsed onto the dusty wooden floor of the cabin, gasping for air. His shirt was soaked with blood from a bullet wound in his shoulder and severe internal bruising.
"Stay with me, Antonio!" I yelled, tearing open his coat.
My nursing instincts kicked in. I found a emergency medical kit under the sink, lit a row of candles for light, and sterilized a pair of tweezers over an open flame. I had never performed emergency surgery on a live human being before, but fear gave me absolute focus.
"This is going to hurt," I whispered, tears dripping down my nose.
Antonio gripped the edge of the wooden table, his knuckles turning white as I carefully dug the lead bullet out of his shoulder muscle. He didn't make a sound, only holding my gaze through the searing pain. Once the bullet clinked into a glass dish, I disinfected the wound and stitched his skin shut with surgical thread.
May you like
Exhausted, I slumped against his chest, listening to his steady, beating heart. Antonio reached up with his uninjured hand, gently pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.
"The journal entry you read..." Antonio rasped softly. "My father ordered me to deliver fake passports to the border guards so your mother could escape to Canada. I was twelve years old, Sophie. I didn't kill her. I helped her run away."
Related Stories
