The sirens become louder as I cradle Enzo in my arms, praying for the ambulance to get here in time. His pulse is low, and I can barely feel his breath on my cheek as I rock back and forth, kissing him repeatedly, and telling him I love him. A small crowd of my coworkers has formed, which includes, Gavin, the owner of Penthouse. He's on the phone, yelling at someone to hurry the fuck up and get here already. I'm assuming it's the police. 

"Where is my sister!" 

My brother's familiar voice draws my attention as he pushes through the small crowd. He runs to me and slides onto his knees, his hands searching my body for wounds.

"You're bleeding..." he gasps.

"I'm fine, but Enzo is not," I say through tears.

"You're not fine, Mara!" He lifts my shirt, and there is a sudden sting as his fingertips graze my side. "Fuuuuuck. You were stabbed." 

"I what?" I blink rapidly as if coming out of a haze.

Then, I see it. 

I see the blood oozing through Lucas's fingers as he puts pressure on the wound. Our eyes meet, and his are deadly with fury.

"Who did this?"

"I... I don't know." I shake my head, and everything in my brain swirls, and there's a whoosh of pressure that shoots through my limbs with a tingle. "I couldn't see his face."

"What about his voice?"

I shake my head again.

Lucas skyrockets to his feet and begins rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. "I'm going after this prick. He couldn't have gotten far."

"No! You'll get hurt."

"The hell I will." Lucas walks up to Gavin and reaches for something on his belt. "I need your gun."

"What?" Gavin pauses from barking orders into his phone, and he grabs my brother's hand. "I don't think so, Bud. I've got Mario on the line. Let the police handle it. They're on their way."

"Fuck, Mario," Lucas huffs, and rips his hand out of Gavin's. "He's a dirty cop, and I don't want him anywhere near my sister."

"Lucas. You're not taking my gun."

"We both know you're not going to actually stop me." Lucas checks the bullets, slaps the clip back into place, and pulls the slide to load the chamber. "I'm going to find who did this."

"Lucas..." Gavin warns, but my brother takes off running down the dark alleyway to hunt for the asshole who attacked Enzo and me.

I should have yelled for him to stop, but my head is like a bowl of soup, and I can't think straight. I barely even feel my fingers as I stroke Enzo's head and repeat, "It's going to be ok. Help is coming."

"Mara..." Enzo stirs.

"Shh, save your energy."

"If I don't make it—"

"Don't say that!"

"If I don't make it," he says again. "I need you to know how much I love you."

"I know. You already told me."

"I did?" He blinks in confusion.

"Yes. At least five times now," I laugh softly with a sniffle.

"And I've meant it every time."

"And you'll mean it just as much when we get you to the hospital and stitched up. Now please, save your energy." I kiss him.

However, when I raise my head, my vision is hazy, so I close my eyes tight and then open them, but things are still fuzzy, and my brain is still like soup. At least now I can see the flashing lights of the ambulance approaching...

Then everything goes black.

◇◇◇

Someone or something is squeezing my hand. It's faint at first, then slowly intensifies as my eyes flutter, and light returns. There is a steady tempo of beeps and it takes a few blinks before I realize where I am. 

It's the hospital.

"Mara, you're awake!" Lydia stares down at me, tears accumulating across her lower lids.

"Where's Enzo?" I attempt to sit upright, but my elbows collapse.

"Easy," Lydia says. "They have you on painkillers."

"Where is he!"

"In surgery." She looks down, her brows furrowed like she's thinking of how to gently break my heart.

"Lydia..." I narrow my eyes at her. "What are you not telling me."

"Nothing." She looks back up. "That's all I know. They said his wounds were severe and to pray for him."

My blood pressure drops. "Who said this?" 

"One of the nurses when I asked about him. I... knew you would want to know what's going on with him."

"Oh... How long ago was that?"

"Over an hour ago. Maybe two."

"Then there should be an update." I try sitting upright again. 

"You just worry about resting. You're lucky your organs were missed. The doctor said the stabs were this close." She pinches her index finger and thumb together. "I'll go see if there's an update."

"Lyd—"

"Rest!" She demands, then kisses my forehead. "I'll be back."

"Lyd..."

She pauses in the doorway and looks over her shoulder. "What?"

"Thank you," I say.

"Of course." She shrugs.

Now that I'm awake and she's gone, I take in my surroundings. I'm not the only patient in this room and it's a very large one, with rows of beds separated by curtains. Nurses tend to other patients, and an old TV hangs on the wall with infomercials playing. What time is it? It must be super late if commercials for Cindy Crawford's skincare line is being advertised. The dusty clock in the corner says it's past four AM. My eyes widen. How have we been here this long? And what time did Enzo go in for surgery? There has to be an update.

I grimace and hold my stomach.

Pain is starting to kick in and radiating in the spots where I was likely stabbed. The machine next to me beeps, drawing my attention to it, and I notice two IV drips with hoses attached to me. One appears to be a steady stream feeding into my arm, probably to keep me hydrated, but the other one I'm not so sure. Then, it releases a liquid, and I watch it travel down the tube and into my skin. I furrow my brows. What is that one for? After a minute, my head becomes lighter, my eyes heavier, and the sharp pain subsides. The room fades.

When I open my eyes again, Lydia has returned and her palms are curled around the railing of my emergency room bed. I suddenly have the strength to sit upright.

"What is it? Tell me!"

"Enzo's surgery went well," she says, and my lungs expel a long breath of relief. "But he lost a lot of blood and flatlined during surgery. They obviously resuscitated him, but his body has been through a lot and he's going to need a lot of time to recover. So, you can't see him yet."

"What floor is he on?"

"I don't want to say."

"Lydia, tell me!"

"No, because then you're going to go looking for him, and you need to rest just as much as he does. Don't forget you came close to losing your life too."

"I really hate you sometimes." I fold my arms and lean back against the pillows, pouting. 

"I hate you sometimes, too." Lydia shrugs. 

"I need to see him."

"No. You want to see him. There's a difference. But what you need is more sleep."

The machine next to me beeps, capturing our attention. It dispenses some liquid again and travels down the clear hose into my vein. 

"Right on time." Lydia walks over, smiling a satisfied grin. "The nurse said it pumps out pain medicine every two hours. This ought to put you right to sleep."

"I don't..." It starts kicking in and my tongue is like gum bouncing around my mouth. "I don't... want sleep... Lyd."

"Like I said, there is a difference between what you want and what you need. Now sleep, sweet girl." She brushes the sweat off my brow and kisses my forehead. 

"I'm not..." My eyes flutter, fighting to stay awake. "A child, Lyd."

"Oh, Mar," she sighs, tucking the blankets around me. "It doesn't matter how old you get. You'll always be my baby sister." 

I drift off into a slumber again, and usually, I dream of Enzo at night, but in this pain medicine-induced nap, there is nothing. It's just a deep sleep, where everything is dark and silent. However, the great thing is that it makes time pass so much quicker, and it seems like I go through several rounds of waking up and falling asleep. Somewhere between there, I get moved to a different room with two beds. One for me, and one for another patient. Lydia, my mom, and my friends visit, but I'm not much company considering I keep falling back to sleep.

When my eyes finally open again, the room is dark and empty, aside from the gentle snoring of my roommate. I have no idea how much time has passed.

"Hi."

My eyes widen as I register the warmth of the body pressed next to me, and realize someone is in bed with me, but that voice only belongs to one person! 

"Enz—"

"Shhh..." He presses his finger to my lips. "I snuck down here. I had to make sure you're ok."

"I'm fine, but are you ok?" I touch his torso. "You just got out of surgery." 

"About twenty-four hours ago."

"It's been an entire day?"

"Yeah." He nods.

"But how are you here? How are you not drugged up on paid medicine like I am?" 

"I unplugged myself before the next dose hit. I wanted to see you."

"You shouldn't have done that." 

"I needed to know that you're ok." 

"Stubborn man..." I sigh. The bed is too small for two people, so I scoot closer to the edge to give him more space. "You should lay flat."

"I'm fine." He cups the sides of my face, and I close my eyes to savor the feeling of his hands. 

There was a moment, as I held him in the alleyway, where I thought I'd never get to feel his touch again, but here we are. Together, reunited, and mostly ok.

"They said you flatlined during surgery." Tears gather in my eyes, so he kisses the ones that begin rolling down my cheeks.

"Not even death can keep me away from you, Mara."

"That's not funny. You lost a lot of blood. I was so scared. You almost died."

"You almost did, too."

I shake my head. "Not even close."

"Yes, very close, Mara. If I didn't show up when I did..." He closes his eyes and blows out a breath. "I don't even want to imagine it. And it's my fault. I should have never told Noelle she could have the night off."

"This isn't your fault." I furrow my brows. "It's whoever attacked us." 

"I know, but—"

"Shhh..." I press my fingers to his lips, copying him. "None of that matters now."

"I was really looking forward to riding scooters with you in Mallorca."

I laugh softly, "What?" 

"And all the yummy food..." he groans.

"I forgot all about it honestly." I thread my fingers through his and squeeze. "And as strange as it sounds, I've never been happier, lying here in this tiny hospital bed with you. I came so close to losing you."

"Hey." Enzo turns my chin to him, his eyes searching mine. "From here on out, I am never letting you go, and I will always keep you safe." He kisses me. "I made something for you."

"You did?" I chuckle.

"Yeah." 

He dips his hand into the pocket of his hospital gown, then pulls out what looks like a small circle made from an IV hose. I furrow my brows when he takes my finger.

"What are you doing?"

Enzo simply smiles and slides it on, then kisses it. When he pulls away, I notice the makeshift ring has a little heart shape on top. As if he twisted the IV hose around and around until he got it just right. 

"Marry me, Mara."

"What..." My eyes widen.

"Marry me." He cups my face. "After what happened last night, I don't want to waste anymore time. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

I officially lose it as tears cascade down my cheeks, blurring my vision and a bloom of warmth spreads inside my chest. I pepper Enzo with kisses, repeating yes, yes, a thousand times yes! 

"I love you, Mara Santiago." He says through kisses.

"I love you, Enzo Esposito. So, so much." I pull back so we can catch our breath, and he's all smiles now, with little fine wrinkled creasing the corners of his eyes. 

We gaze at each other in the silence, digesting that we're going to get married. I came so close to never seeing his handsome face again, and I want to start planning the wedding as soon as we get out of the hospital.

He caresses my face. "I can't wait for the rest of our lives to begin."

"Me neither." The machine next to us beeps, and my heart sinks. "It's about to pump me with pain meds again and it's going to knock me out."

"Then I'll hold you as you fall asleep." Enzo slides his arm around me, and kisses the top of my head. "I probably won't be here when you wake up since I'll have to sneak back to my room, but I love you, and sweet dreams, my tiny dancer."

My eyes close, and this time, I dream of a cathedral made of pine with glass panels stretching toward the ceiling. It's deep in a forest, where deer like to scamper, and the sun pierces through tree branches. Enzo is inside waiting for me in a black tuxedo, and I'm walking toward him to say our vows. He's all smiles, and so handsome, and full of love for me.

I am ready to be Mara Esposito.