Seconds *COMPLETED*

Chapter 20

Raymond Caruso

"Critical condition... life support... profuse blood loss... unconscious... may be in a coma... bullet removed... only 5 percent survive such gunshots. That doctor was saying a whole bunch of nonsense to me, Tiara! I don't believe him; I know you're going to live. You'll wake up and talk to me like normal. You'll wake up for me, won't you?"

I asked Tiara for the umpteenth time but she still didn't respond. Seeing her in the hospital bed with wires and plugs attached to her, was distressing.

I retrieved Tiara's wristwatch from the pocket in my coat; the nurse had given it to me earlier. It was a simple yet beautiful bronze coloured wristwatch with a leather strap. It's beautiful just like her. I held it around my wrist, feeling bored. The time on her wristwatch was right but the look and feel of it on my wrist was not right. It would suit only her hand; her beautiful hand.

I smiled and was about to slip the watch back into the pocket in my coat when something caught my eye. A word was engraved on the strap of her wristwatch.

D. A. R. I. E. N.

At the thought of him, my blood began to boil. I flung the watch onto the floor. Even that beautiful watch was polluted with his name. And that polluted watch had been on her hand! Urgh!

I banged my fist into my palm before turning away. My eyes narrowed as realization dawned on me. I had been searching for Tiara everywhere all these days while she had been in his new house here. She knew that I was here in San Diego but she hadn't tried to see or meet me even once. What does that mean? She chose him over me. Again!

Again and again, she is choosing him over me. She is crazy! She doesn't realize my love but keeps choosing the man who stood like a rock when she fell to the floor bleeding with the bullet in her forehead!

Even if she wakes up now, she will definitely choose him again. And that will hurt me more than it hurts now. Why should I let her keep hurting me again and again? No! I will never let her hurt me again. There is no need for her to live anymore! She is not my Tiara, not the pure soul I loved but a soul polluted by that so-called brother of mine!

"Polluted?" I looked up to see Tiara standing on my right, speaking to me. "If that's what you would call it, then fine. My heart is polluted with his love. My mind is polluted with his memories. My body is polluted with his touch. And I love that pollution, for it is the most beautiful."

"No! Shut up! How dare you say that to me? I will kill you!" I stood up and stepped over to her in my anger. All of a sudden, Tiara vanished into thin air. I frowned in confusion.

"You tried to kill Darien that day, didn't you?" Tiara was now standing near the entrance of the ICU room, facing me. "Still he's alive now. Do you know why? It's for me and our daughter Mila."

"I'll kill you and that Darien together! I'll go to jail if I have to but I won't let him live!" I stormed over to her and tried to pin her against the wall. Again, Tiara disappeared into nothing. I looked around in confusion.

"Kill me if you wish, Rats. Kill Darien if you wish." Her voice came from behind. I turned to find Tiara standing near the bed in the ICU room. "But you can't kill our love. For our love is beyond life and death. What is keeping both of us alive today despite your attempts to finish us? Nothing but our love."

"You!" I lunged towards her, in fury. I was really going to kill her this time.

My hand went right through her neck, in my attempt to strangle her. I realized that there was no one before me. I turned to see Tiara was still lying on the bed, unconscious.