You Broke Me First

Finally, Face to Face

*Luciano's point of view*

My heart was pounding in my ears, and sweat dripped from every inch of my body. My mind has automatically blurred all the noise around me. The loud blades of the helicopter, Milo screaming on the phone, and the doctor packing Elio's chest with gauze. I couldn't do anything but watch him bleed. I sat in front of him, squeezing his hand, watching as dark red seeped through the white gauze every second after he placed a new one on his chest. I was shaking, but not in pain from my own injuries, clearly, due to the shock I was enduring. I couldn't bear to look at my brother's face. I focused on his hand, which with every second, loosened its grip around mine. I was snapped out of my trance when I felt the doctor start to place gauze on my shoulder, which was also seeping blood. I hissed through my teeth; the pain of my bullet hole finally becoming evident.

"Boss, I need you to keep him awake," said the doctor. I didn't respond. I just stared at him. He looked back at Elio, removing the blood-soaked gauze, and replacing it with new ones. "BOSS! If you wanna see your brother alive, KEEP HIM AWAKE!" I shook my head, returning to reality. I squeezed Elio's hand, causing him to flinch. He squeezed It back, before coughing rapidly. I watched as blood dripped out from the side of his mouth. It brought my attention to the pile of gauze on the ground, which was surrounded by a pool of my brother's blood. I could feel my insides twisting. I felt sick. I can't think about myself right now though, I need to be strong for Elio.

"You're gonna be okay El, just keep your eyes open for me alright?" I said, my voice raspy; I tapped the side of his face when he started to doze off. He opened his eyes back up; his eyelids heavy. He gulped, followed by more coughs. I grabbed a piece of fresh gauze and dabbed the dripping blood off his face. I kept tapping his head and his cheek, keeping him awake, as per the doctor's orders.

We landed at a hospital about five minutes later. Dozens of doctors and other healthcare professionals were waiting on the helipad when we touched the ground, all of them rushing towards us as fast as they could. Milo and the doctor stepped off first, pulling Elio off the helicopter and onto the gurney, with the help of the doctors. They took him away instantly, making my heart race the further away from me he got. I sat on the helicopter, still in shock. Milo was standing on the ground, yelling for me to get off. A group of doctors were waiting for me with another gurney. Milo must have told them that I was shot as well. When I finally stepped off the chopper, they all encouraged me to lay down, but I refused. I jogged as fast as my energy-less body would allow me; doing my best to get to wherever they were taking my brother. I made it to the doors, but all I remember after that is feeling really dizzy. Squeezing the last bits of my energy out of my body. As the shock finally wore off, the extent of my own injuries caused my eyes to roll back as I fell to the ground.

*several hours later*

I woke up to the noise of hospital machines beeping around me. Otherwise, the room was completely silent. As my eyes slowly fluttered open, I browsed the room to see Ella laying on a bed beside mine, reading. I groaned, followed by a cough, catching her attention. She slammed her book shut and shot up off the bed, running to my side. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Elio?" I whispered under my breath. I couldn't manage to use my actual voice, since I was too weak. I saw tears well up in her eyes, which made my heart fall to my feet. The machine behind me started beeping faster, probably because of my heart pounding.