Chapter 7 - The Desperate Measure
I pressed my fingers against Gabriel's neck, praying to find a pulse.
There was absolutely nothing.
Panic seized my throat as I stared down at the lifeless mafia boss.
"No, you don't get to die on me now," I sobbed, placing my hands over the center of his chest.
I locked my elbows and began pressing down hard, using my entire body weight.
One, two, three, four.
I pushed past the exhaustion burning in my arms.
His chest felt like a wall of solid muscle and bone, but I refused to stop.
After thirty chest compressions, I pinched his nose and breathed twice into his mouth.
I went back to compressions, tears streaming down my face and mixing with the dirt on my cheeks.
Minutes felt like agonizing hours in that dark, abandoned subway station.
"Please, Gabriel," I begged aloud between breaths.
Suddenly, his massive chest heaved violently beneath my hands.
Gabriel gasped for air, coughing up a small amount of dark blood.
His dark eyes fluttered open, wildly searching the shadows before locking onto my face.
"You brought me back," he rasped, his voice incredibly weak but alive.
I collapsed back onto my heels, crying uncontrollably from sheer relief.
"Don't ever do that again," I scolded him through my tears.
Gabriel managed a weak, genuine smile that completely transformed his dangerous face.
"I will try my best to avoid it," he promised softly.
I helped him sit up, wrapping his bleeding shoulder tightly with a clean strip torn from my apron.
We slowly made our way up a crumbling set of concrete stairs toward the street level.
We pushed through a rusted grate, stepping out into a deserted alleyway in the Bronx.
The freezing night air bit through my thin maid's uniform.
"We need a safe place to hide," Gabriel said, leaning heavily against a brick wall.
"My apartment is only two blocks from here," I offered nervously.
Gabriel nodded, and we limped through the shadows until we reached my run-down building.
I unlocked the deadbolt and helped him inside my tiny, one-bedroom apartment.
I turned on the lights, feeling a wave of safety wash over me.
May you like
But that safety shattered instantly.
Sitting at my small kitchen table, casually smoking a cigarette, was Carmine.
