VINCENZO
Why would someone take their life in the place of mine? Especially when I’ve just been so cold and calculating towards them. I’m completely perplexed and stunned speechless when I feel the blood all over my hands because I feel no pain, and I know it’s not mine.
“Jessica?” She’s not making a noise when I slide out from under her. She’s blankly looking at the sky, slowly blinking as tears roll from her face to the tips of her blood-soaked hair.
“Hey. Jess.” I hold her face and slink to my knees. “Look at me.” Her eyes glaze over, and even though they’re looking in my direction, her stare is vacant. Tears begin to drop from my eyes, and I’m yelling, but I can’t hear myself, only the overwhelming ringing in my ears as I dial 911.
“Someone’s been shot outside of Neptune Holdings in uptown LA.” I think I’m yelling into the phone and answering her questions coherently enough. Still, when she offers to stay on the phone with me, I just set my phone on the sidewalk and lower my head closer to Jessica’s.
“Come on. Stay with me.” I’m speaking to her wandering eyes that seem to become more distant the wider her puddle of blood becomes around us. I think I’m screaming now, begging her to stay here with me and making promises I have every intention of fulfilling. The sound of sirens breaks up the ringing in my ears, and when I see the lights, I instinctively scoop her up, carrying her to the edge of the sidewalk.
The siren continues to whoop as three medic jumps from the back of the vehicle with a gurney. They take her from my arms, and I follow them as they strap her in and begin wheeling her to the ambulance. As I walk up the ramp after them, a medic stops me.
“Sir, you should follow we need space to-“
“I’m coming along,” I tell her, and she glances back to the group of people vigilantly working on hooking up an IV and testing vitals. She looks back and nods before tilting her head for me to hurry in. I squeeze against the side, making myself as small as possible, and notice how pale Jessica has become. Her frozen eyes slowly close, and I feel a tug that gives me a feeling that something is very wrong. When the group goes frantic and begins crowding my view of her, I know my anxious gut is right.
“What’s wrong?!” I’m trying to see around them, but their encirclement is too tight, and the ringing in my ears slowly starts to return.
“Got a pulse back!” One of them yells. My heart sinks into my stomach as the back doors are close and the ambulance speeds forward. I’m feeling lightheaded, replaying the moment in my head— the way she jumped in front of me without any hesitation, the amount of blood rushing from her chest and arm, her eyes glazing over as if she was already gone. I try to take steady breaths as we come to a stop, and I’m told I can’t go to the ICU.
“You need to wait. We’ll take the best care of her that we possibly can.” The nurse assures me as they rush Jessica into the hospital. She leaves me to stand alone in the drop-off area, and it’s dark out now. I feel lost, as if everything that mattered to me up to this point is absolutely useless, pointless, meaningless without Jessica Lee.
My legs carry me inside because my brain has no ability to focus on anything else but playing back every moment I could have to show her how much I truly care. I walk through the doors like a zombie and plop down in the waiting room.
“Excuse me, sir.” I look up to see that a receptionist is slowly approaching me.
“You’re with Jessica Lee?”
“Yes.” I stand to my feet as she comes to a stop in front of me.
“She’s stable now, but they asked me to have you return in the morning. She’ll be in the ICU for the night, so we can observe her. She lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion. They want to make sure that her hemoglobin levels are normal before we move her to her room.” Her small hands fold together as she speaks cautiously to me, as if saying it any other way will result in my hospitalization. I look down at my bloodied clothes and hands, remembering everything as if it were happening all over again.
“Sir?”
“Okay.” I nod and reach into my pocket to grab my personal phone to call Lee.
“Lee, I require you to pick me up from the LA hospital by Lincoln Park.”
“Right away, Sir.” He quickly intones, and I hang up a second after. The nurse gives me a sympathetic smile that I hate because of its implication, and I sit back down to wait for Lee.
Some of theboys come in to bring me to the car, and I’m thankful I’m not alone anymore. The car is full, and I know they’re just being respectful of my distress. However, I wish they’d act normal, so I can stop replaying my horrific evening over and over in my head. When we arrive at our building, Lee and I go up to my room alone. In a daze, I manage to shower and change into my cream Louis Vuitton knit sweater, black tailored slacks, and my gray Gucci loafers. As a child, when I was in a depressive state, I’d put on my best clothes to feel a bit better. I don’t know why, but it helps, so that’s what I do.
When I slide on my watch, I see that it’s 7 p.m., and I have an idea.
“Lee, bring the car around,” I order when I step into the kitchen. He doesn’t protest, but I can tell by the look on his face he is concerned about the state of my brain when he sees the clothes I’ve chosen to relax in. But I haven’t chosen to relax. Not while whoever shot my Jessica is still walking around with a beating heart in their wretched chest.
The only lead I have is the jail she visited over the weekend, and something in my gut tells me it has to be connected. My gut is seldom wrong, so I jump into the car, and we’re off to Chinatown, zipping through the last of rush hour traffic before coming to a halt just outside in a matter of minutes.
“Want me to come with you, Sir?”
“That won’t be necessary, Lee. I’ll be back. Circle the block.” I leap out of the car and head inside, walking straight to the front desk and pulling out a thick stack worth a thousand bucks. I slide it on top of the counter, keeping my middle and index over it.
“Can I help you?” The man punches loudly on his computer keys, still not looking in my direction.
“Yes. I need to know who Jessica Lee went to see on Saturday afternoon.” He scrunches his face and jolts his head up at me. When his eyes trail to the money, I push it closer and raise an impatient eyebrow.
“One sec.” He fiddles with the keys and mouse a little more before saying, “Luca Haan.” and reaching for my money.