"Kevin? What the hell are you doing here?" Annie yelled, seeing he was
the one who grabbed her.
"Shit," Kevin said to shocked to move.
"What?" she turned around. It all seemed to go in slow motion. "Brian,
oh my God..." she trailed off seeing him on the floor. When her common sense
kicked in she ran over to him and kneeled next to him on the floor. She held
his hand and with her other picked his cell phone out of his pocket, she
dialed 911 her best since her hand was shaking.
"Hello, um, someone's been shot. They're at West 55 Ocean Road, please
hurry," and with that she hung up the phone and placed it next to Brian. She
crawled up to his face and leaned over him, letting her tears fall on his
cheek mixing with his own.
"Oh God, Brian I'm so sorry, Kevin scared me and I didn't mean to. I'm
so sorry, I love you," she whispered and felt him squeeze her hand.
"I l-love you t-too and d-don't you ever f-forget it," he struggled to
say.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't want it to happen this way," she looked in his
eyes and they locked gazes, "don't die on me Brian. I called the paramedics
they should be here soon."
"I'm trying.... For you."
"I'm sorry," she said and ever so lightly kissed his lips and pulled
back, "I'm so sorry and I love you," she whispered one last time and got up,
she looked at Kevin, who was still in shock.
"I can't do this," she said to herself and ran out the door. Kevin
didn't even notice she was gone, he walked over and picked up the gun, he
rubbed the fingerprints off with his shirt and hurried out the back door. He
ran down to the shore and tossed it in the ocean, he made sure it was gone
before running back to the house. When he reached Brian, he was slowly
loosing consciousness and Kevin could hear faint sounds of a siren.
"Hold on, Brian, they're coming. Just hang in there, Ok?" Kevin said
wiping away his tears with the back of his hand.
"I'm going to make it Kev...I'm a fighter...remember that," Brian cracked
a small smile, despite the pain that shot through his entire body.
Kevin was about to say something when he was pushed out of the way by a
police officer. He watched from afar as they hooked his cousin up to all
kinds of machines and wheeled him in the back of the ambulance. It took him
a minute to collect his thoughts before he could realize what was going on.
"Can I go with him?" Kevin asked a paramedic passing by.
"You're family?"
"Yeah, I'm his cousin."
"Ok, come on," the guy said motioning for the truck to wait for one last
person. Kevin got in and instantly held Brian's hand. 'Just let him be Ok,'
he prayed silently.
~Annie's view~
I looked at my surroundings, trying to see where I was. I didn't want to
leave Brian, but I knew the police were going to arrest me for sure. I
spotted a sign on a gate and realized where I had walked to, the cemetery. I
scaled the fence, they didn't have a security system so it was easy to get
in. I walked around in the night only lit by moonlight. I remembered
exactly where it was walked all the way to the back and there was a large
headstone that read, "Christopher James Millano, Brother, Father, Son. You
will be forever in our hearts. 1980-1998"
Even though my Mom was in New York and my brother was in Massachusetts,
my other brother, Chris, was buried in Florida. He had died in a gang
related shooting, too many details to go into right now. My Mom decided to
bury him in Florida since he had moved down here to be with me. We were
really close, I guess when Colby went away to school it was just me and him
so we bonded. I came to visit him every so often, but now was a time I
needed him more than ever. He always told me never to get myself into the
kind of trouble he was in or any period. I had listened to him, until now.
I squatted down in front of the headstone and dropped my head, "I'm so
sorry, Chris. I'm going to your old ways, you always told me not to get
myself in trouble. Looks like I didn't listen," I paused.
"And look where it got me, I killed my son and my love. I wish you were
here to help me. I really don't know what to do, my life is over and I'm
probably already wanted in all 50 states. Damn, I had to screw up!" she
cursed.
"Annie, it wasn't your fault. You're only twenty-one you have your whole
life ahead of you, don't give up now," a voice that sounded far away said.
I looked around, "What the...." I trailed off and felt a chill up my
spine, I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself and heard the wind
howling.
"I'm hearing things now, great," I muttered standing up and rubbing my
arms, I only had on a tank top. I walked through the cemetery, I knew what I
had to do. And if I was going to do it I had to do it now, before I changed
my mind. Something told me to run as fast as I can and I did. I ran right
into the arms of my destiny.