Dre's knees buckled and Ellise went down with him, cradling his head in her arms.
"El-"
"Sh, save your strength" she said, tears filling her eyes.
He shook his head, more blood pouring out from his mouth.
"I'm s-sorry. It isn't supposed to end like this" he rasped, tears filling his eyes.
"Stop saying that!" She cried, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Y-you don't understand... I don't think I c-can survive this" he wheezed.
She was sobbing at this point.
Xanthis hurried to Dre's side, his face paling at the sight of his brother.
Valentino had dialled 911.
Dre coughed again, more blood staining his lips and chin.
"B-but I want you to know that- none of this is your fault. I-I might never see my kids again b-but I want you to raise them like the good mother you are-"
He gasped, his eyelids slipping close. "T-tell them that I love them" he croaked, his bloody hand weakly grasping hers.
"Dre, you aren't going to die. You're not going to die now" Xanthis croaked, tears escaping his blood shot eyes.
"You're going to be okay" Ellise said and he sighed.
"I-don't...."
"No, Dre. You still have a lot to live for. Keep fighting, you have to-" Val's voice cracked and he rubbed his face, his cheeks damp.
"I love you, Ellie" Dre whispered, his breathing strained.
"You can't leave me like this. Our kids.... I can't raise them without you...." She sobbed, stroking his hair.
The sirens from an ambulance could be heard not far away.
"We have to get him outside" Val said and Xanthis nodded. They both helped him up and moved him outside as he leaned heavily on them.
"Dre, you'll be okay. You're not leaving me, right?" She said, touching his face.
He opened his eyes, gazing at her sadly. Suddenly, his knees buckled and his eyelids slipping close.
Ellise screamed.
"Dre, please open your eyes" Ellise cried. His brothers had lain him down on the pavement. Ellise checked for a pulse but couldn't find one.
It was scary when she realized that he wasn't breathing either.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Dre, No! No!" She screamed.
She wasn't even aware of the presence of the paramedics. They placed him on a stretcher and they were talking with muffled voices.
All Ellise could think of was that she couldn't loose her husband.
She needed him.
He was everything to her.
'his pulse is dropping. We're loosing him'
That sentence, turned her world upside down.
She felt lightheaded.
'Dre can't leave me. He can't' she thought.
Black spots dotted her vision.
"El?"
Her knees buckled and she fell forward, everything going black.
...
Ellise awoke to the sound of the regular beeping of the heart monitor. She sat up groggily, trying to remember what had happened. Everything came back to her in a flash and panic invaded her heart.
"Dre!" She cried, hurriedly getting out of the bed as she removed the IVs. She rushed out of the hospital ward in search of her husband.
She saw a pale Xanthis talking with a middle aged man who seemed to be the doctor. She hurried towards them, heart thudding madly.
"Xanthis?" she said and his eyes widened when he saw her.
"What the hell are you doing? You should be in bed!" He exclaimed.
"I-I can't. Where is Dre? I need to see him. Please. I can't loose him. Please" she croaked, tears filling her blood shot eyes.
"El, you should get some rest" Xan replied.
"I need to see my husband"
She turned to face the doctor, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"How is he? I want to see him. Take me to him, please"
"Your husband is in critical condition"
"W-what? H-how bad?" She rasped.
"The bullet narrowly missed his heart. A bone in his upper rib section pierced his left lung. He has several knife injuries and he's lost a lot of blood. His system is trying to heal itself and is shutting down. We've managed to keep him stable for the moment but-" the doctor took a deep breath.
"But what?" Ellise said, knowing that she wasn't going to like what he was going to say next.
"We are not sure if he's going to make it. You have to understand that his condition is very critical. He's under life support. We don't know if he'll ever wake up" the doctor said and she felt her vision going black, her strength waning.
....
"El, your children needs you. You've been sulking for three days now but they need you. You have to be strong for them" Amelia said to Ellie who was lying on the bed, facing the wall. She began to sob painfully.
"I want Dre. I only want Dre!" She cried.
"We understand your pain, Honey. But mourning when Dre isn't dead won't help Dre, you or the babies" Jade said, rocking little Jullian in her arms.
"I don't expect you to understand my pain! Your husbands are not hooked to several machines! Your husbands are not looking lifeless! Your husbands are not dying! Just leave me alone! It's my fault anyway. It's my fault that he's dying. If he dies, I'll know that I killed him. You know what it means. It means I killed the love of my life! It means I deprived my children of their father!" She cried, letting out heart wrenching sobs.
"Ellie, stop it. Stop this. It's not your fault" Jade said, tears filling her eyes.
"Just leave me alone. I can't stand to look at them. They remind me of Dre so much, it hurts!" She cried, squeezing her eyes shut.
Gabrielle began to cry and Ellise kept sobbing, feeling like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest. Amelia gently rocked Gabrielle, her crying coming to a halt.
"Please, El. Just look at your babies. Just look at them" Jade whispered.
Ellie squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look at her children.
"Look at them. Look at these innocent children.....see how adorable they are..... how much they don't deserve your rejection" Jade said.
Giovanni started to make little adorable sounds, drawing the attention of his mother.
Ellie slowly turned to look at her son, more tears leaving her eyes as she took Giovanni in her arms. He squirmed a little, bringing his small fist to his mouth. "Gio......" Ellie whispered, leaving her eyes.
He was so adorable.
He looked so much like her husband, it hurt but at the same time she was happy.
She couldn't get mad at her children. She couldn't.
Why would she reject them?
She gazed at her other children, stroking their hair.
She pressed kisses to their heads. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she whispered.
Thereafter, Ellie got dressed in a white dress and went to see her husband. He was lying on the bed, looking so frail.
He couldn't even breathe on his own, they'd hooked him to a ventilator. The machines were the only thing keeping him alive. Ellise fought back tears as she took his limp hand in hers.
"Wake up, please. It's been four days but I miss you. I can't do this without you. I'm not ready to let you go" she whispered, stroking his longer hair.
"I need you. Your family needs you. We are all depressed. Your mother wouldn't leave the hospital. Your brothers are miserable. I'm torn" she croaked.
"I've never seen you like this, maybe that's why it hurts so bad. They are convinced that you won't make it. But I know you're a survivor, Dre. I know you won't give up on us, on your family. We need you"