Daniel Simmons, better known by his clients as Dr. Diggy, makes his living as a sex therapist with high profile clientele. He works in Los Angeles, the city of angels and the city of stars. He takes his job very seriously, and he's very good at it...
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BANG. BANG.
It's not a lie when they say you see your life flash before your eyes right before you die. Mine rushes back to me, a series of quick, cloudy images—dreamlike in appearance...my sweetest memories.
I see my mother, smiling at me as she sings lullabies to me. Uncle Darnell teaching me how to ride a bike, he and my mother cheering as I pedal off on my own. I see Fiona, her laughing in the car next to me, as we sing along to some song. Next, I see Isaiah on stage singing to me, and then the two of us kissing on my couch. Then I see Diggy, the first time I ever laid eyes on him, that day in the elevator. Then I see him in his office, sitting in the chair and looking at me, smiling. Then we're in the hallway of my apartment the night he almost kissed me. Then he's sitting on my couch, the night he told me he had feelings for me. Then we're in his penthouse, kissing for the first time. Then he's telling me he loves me for the first time, and I say it back, and then we're making love, his body against mine, so sweet and tender.
Despite dying young, I know I lived a complete life, because I had Diggy in it.
The screams draw me back into the moment, and it seems like everything slows down, so much so that I can see the two bullets hurtling towards me, on a trajectory right for my chest.
My mother screams from the corner, Diggy lets out a strangled cry of agony, Fiona covers her mouth, Hakeem stares dumbfounded, and Seven and Justine both wear triumphant smirks.
Then, I see him, moving in front of me, the bullets penetrating his skin, sending splashes of red blood outwards as they push inwards.
Everything moves back to normal speed as Isaiah's body collides with my own, and we both crumble to the ground, though I manage to catch him in my arms as I collapse to my knees.
The next moments happen fast and at the same time. I hear a third gunshot, this one from a different gun, one my mother is holding. She's free, not tied up anymore, and I briefly wonder how she got undone. She shoots a distracted Seven in the leg, and he collapses, his gun sliding across the floor.
At the same time, Fiona attacks Justine, grabbing her arm and pointing the gun upwards as she pulls the trigger again, the bullet flying through the ceiling. Hakeem rushes forward to help, kicking Justine in the stomach, her body bending forward as she drops the gun.
Fiona scoops it up, pointing it at her. My mother quickly moves to free Diggy, who leaps forward just as his father starts to reach for the gun.
Meanwhile, I hold Isaiah in my arms, who, despite bleeding out, smiles up at me. I press my hand to the wounds on his chest, trying to stop the bleeding but failing miserably, his warm wet blood tricking through my fingers and staining his shirt.
"Are you stupid?" I ask, hearing tears in my voice, and realizing for the first time that I'm crying, tears streaming down my cheeks like flowing river.
