All the color from my face fade away when I hear those words coming from Damiano's mouth.
Everyone in the room looked at each other, no one dared to make a sound, everyone is too stunned to speak.
I feel like my legs are going to give up anytime soon, I hold the desk with both hands for support and then I hear Damiano say through the intercom, "He is still alive, but he needs a doctor as soon as possible or he won't make it".
That sentence makes me breathe again, it gives me hope and I recover from the shock.
"Damiano, when the back up arrives get my dad out of there. I am going to meet him halfway with an ambulance to save him." I instruct him, "Roger that, DN." he answers me.
"Someone call Dr. Cheong now! Tell him we need an ambulance, right now!" I order to no one in particular.
I turn to Isabella, "Stay here and keep me updated. I will drive behind the ambulance to were they are." I say to her.
"Lea, you cannot go alone. We need you." she says quietly. I know what she means by that, if something happens to my dad and also to me, there will be no leader for the organization anymore, which will cause chaos, but at the moment all I want to do is to save my dad's life, I cannot live without him.
"I have Enzo with me and I will take some bodyguards to protect the ambulance. Don't worry, I'll be safe." I say giving her a brief hug before I walk out of the room, Enzo trailing behind me.
"Enzo, call Alonzo and tell him to bring two cars full of bodyguards, send him our live location so they can meet us halfway." I order him, he immediately calls Alonzo to tell him my instructions.
We both run to the entrance of the building to get to the car, when Max arrives with his bodyguards.
"Lea, where are you going?" he says running towards me.
"My dad was shot and he needs a doctor." I explain to him. Max doesn't hesitate to get inside the car with us, instructing his men to follow us in his car.
"Are you bring back up?" Max asks me, "Back up has been sent to my dad's team and I just called back up for myself." I tell him. Meanwhile, Enzo doesn't hesitate to drive as fast as possible to reach the hospital.
"Okay, I am calling my men, that way the ambulance is well guarded." he calls his men and sends them his live location so they can meet us halfway, as well.
We arrived at the hospital in no longer than 10 minutes, the ambulance is already ready for us. Dr. Cheong is beside the ambulance waiting for me.
"Ms. Cattani, we are ready and at your service." he tells me, "Okay, trail behind us, we will lead you there." I say to him.
All of us head out to the road that will lead us to the location were my dad's team is at.
I receive a call from Isabella when we were on the road, "Hello?" I answer the phone, "Lea, the back up arrived at the warehouse. Your dad is in one of the cars heading your way. Damiano and the others stayed behind to finish Morozov's men." she updates me.
"Okay, send me a live location of the car that is bringing my dad." I order her "On it, boss." she says and hangs up the phone. Seconds later I receive a text with their live location.
"Enzo, can you speed a little bit. My dad is 30 minutes away from us, can we reduce that time?" I ask him and he doesn't hesitates to hit the gas pedal, the ambulance and Max's bodyguards (the once that are driving his car) keeping up the speed with us.
A few minutes later Max's and my back up arrive, 2 cars join Max's bodyguards behind the ambulance and 2 more cars joining us in front of the ambulance. My car leading everyone.
There is no traffic on the road, so that takes away the stress of a car intervening with our mission.
Fifteen minutes later, I see my dad's car coming our way, "Enzo, it is them, park the car." Enzo turns on the hazard lights so the others can get the signal that we are about to stop.
All of us park on the side of the road, all of our bodyguards step out of the car, Enzo opens my door and I run to my dad's car.
When a bodyguard opens the backseat door of my dad's car I am met with my dad bleeding from his abdomen, he is barely conscious, a bodyguard is pressing on the wound trying to stop the bleeding, but there is too much blood.
Dr. Cheong and the paramedics rush to the car to aid my dad, once he is on the ambulance cot, they rush him inside the ambulance to tend to his bullet wound.
I get inside the ambulance with them, the others rush to their respective cars and in the speed of light we are once again on the road and heading to the hospital.
Dr. Cheong and the paramedics inspect my dad, they tore apart his shirt to have a better look at the wound, and also to stop the bleeding.
"Lea?" my dad whispers in the middle of the hassle, "I am here, dad." I take his hand and squeeze it to let him know that I am here with him.
"Mr. Cattani, we are taking you to the hospital, the bullet is still inside you and we need to do a surgery to get it out. Hold on tight." the doctor says to him trying to keep him awake.
"Thank you for your service, Dr. Cheong." my dad whispers to him, "It is an honor to serve you, sir." the doctor says to him, trying his best to stop the bleeding.
"Princess, I don't think I can make it to the hospital." my dad whispers to me, looking into my eyes, his beautiful green eyes losing his light with every passing second.
"You will make it, dad. You are a fighter." my voice cracks, I try my best to hold in my tears, trying to stay strong for both of us.
"I want to tell you that I am proud of the woman that you've become," he smiles at me, his eyes filling with tears, "I remember when you were a baby and I held you in my arms. In that moment I knew that you were going to be an amazing leader and the reason for my life to have a purpose, again." he whispers to me and at that I couldn't hold back my tears, they kept streaming down my face one by one, without stopping.
"We have always been together and I am truly sorry that I am leaving you at such an early stage in your life. But you have to be strong and carry on with your life, my beautiful princess." his tears streaming down his face and at those words I couldn't hold back a sob, "I hope one day you found the love of your life, the way that I found it with your mom." tears kept streaming down his face and I wipe them with my hand, "I love you, my baby." I sob at that, "I love you so much more, dad. Please don't leave me." I cry at him, "I will be protecting you from above..." he whispers, the light in his eyes almost gone, I kiss his temple several times and when I retrieve from him, his eyes are closed and a small smile is on his face.
In that moment all I could hear is the sound of the heart monitor going off, signaling that my dad's heart is no longer beating, that his veins are no longer bumping blood, that his lungs are no longer receiving oxygen, that his hand will no longer hold mine, that his beautiful eyes will no longer stare into mine, that his voice will no longer be heard and I won't ever hear him say that he loves me. In that moment a piece of my soul dies with him.
I feel numb, tears keep running down my face but I don't make a sound, I cannot hear the commotion going around me, I cannot hear Dr. Cheong and the paramedics trying their best to give my dad an electrical shock to bring him back to life, I didn't even noticed that we arrived at the hospital.
Max is inside the ambulance now, my dad's lifeless body is being rushed inside the hospital. Max is shaking me, trying to get a response out of me, but all I seem to do is stare back at him, numb, with tears in my eyes.
Enzo carries me out of the ambulance bridal style, he sets me down on the sidewalk, he ties my hair in a messy ponytail, and he waves his hands in front of my face to give me air. It is only then, that I come back to my senses.
Tears kept streaming down my face, Max comes to me and scrunches down to my level, Enzo took a step back to give Max and I space. Max hugs me tight and I hug him back just as tight, burying my face on his chest and sobbing uncontrollably.
"He is gone, Max..." my voice cracks along with my heart.
My heart is breaking with every passing second and this time my dad is not here to comfort me.
YOU ARE READING
Deadly Nightshade
ActionDN stands for Deadly Nightshade. Someone dear to me once said that I was filled with poison but that I was blessed with beauty and rage, whatever he meant by that. Then I met him, and he couldn't tear his eyes off of me. He thought that I wore stren...
