The doctor arrives in a record of time and treats Thomas’ shoulder. Melina’s heart raced the entire time and only stopped when the doctor said Thomas would be fine.
She holds Thomas’ hand right now as he sleeps on his office couch. She needs to feel the warmth of his hand against her skin to remind her that he’s alive. Thomas refused to go home and rest, saying an hour nap was all he needed. Melina wishes she could drag him home and put him in bed to sleep.
“What the fuck happened?” someone says as they storm into the office. Melina lets go of Thomas’ hands and shh the person.
“He’s sleeping,” she tells Stefano, who walked in with his mother. Leo must have informed them about what happened.
“Mel, dear, what happened?” Kat asks, sniffing. Melina could tell she had just finished crying as her face was red and her cheeks were stained with tears.
“James shot Thomas.”
“James shot him?” Stefano asks, shocked.
“Yes.”
“Fuck! He must have sent him with the date,” he curses, running his hand through his hair.
“What are you talking about?” Melina asks, confused.
“Rafael has set a date for when…”
“Don’t fucking tell her,” Thomas says, cutting Stefano off.
“Thomas, you’re awake.” “How are you feeling?” Melina inquires, rushing to his side as he stands. He walks over to where his brother and mother are standing.
“I’m feeling better, principessa,” Thomas assures her with a smile. “Hi, mama; it’s nothing serious; it’s just a bullet to the arm,” Thomas assures Kat as he shows her his bandaged arm.
“Thank you, God! I hope it doesn’t hurt too much, honey,” Kat inquires as she examines the wound.
“It doesn’t. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”
“That’s good to hear. Now care to explain to me why you fucking let that bastard shoot you and walk out of here alive?” Stefano inquires.
“I punched him for calling Melina a slut. He did it to get back at me.”
“And you let him go? How is that possible?” Kat asks in disbelief.
“Rafael sent him to inform me of an important matter. He warned me not to mess with his messenger or Franky would suffer the consequences. I told Rafael to leave Franky alone and let me deal with the consequences. The asshole fucking provoked me, and I took the bait.”
Melina couldn’t believe he was shot, and he let it go so her sister wouldn’t have to pay the price. If James had decided to shoot him in the heart or head, he could have died. Why would Thomas take such a risk for me? Does he love me that much?
“What’s the important information?” Melina asks.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Are you sure?” Melina has a gut feeling that it does.
“Believe me, principessa, it doesn’t.”
“How come I don’t believe you?” Her heart tells her it does, and she has no idea why.
“I’m telling you it doesn’t,” Thomas claims, but Melina feels he’s lying.
“It does. Please tell me.”
“No!”
“I want to know.”
“I’m not telling you, regardless.”
“I think you should tell her,” Stefano says suddenly.
“No, I shouldn’t.” Thomas’ eyes harden as he stares at his brother. Melina turns to face Stefano.
“Please tell me.” Her heart tells her it’s something she must know.
“Thomas is going to….”
“Fucking shut up, Stefano,” Thomas barks, warning his brother. Melina turns to look at Thomas, his eyes plead with her to drop it, but she doesn’t. Thomas isn’t the type to keep things from her, so why is he doing it this time?
“Please, tell me.” Melina shifts her eyes away from Thomas and back to Stefano.
“James came to tell Thomas when he would swap places with Franky.”
Melina’s mind freezes as she wishes she heard wrong.
“No! Thomas will not do that,” Melina says as tears well up in her eyes. She turns to face Thomas, who has his eyes shooting daggers at his brother. He probably wants to kill him for telling Melina.
“Please tell me he’s lying, please,” Melina begs as her voice begins to crack. She refuses to believe it. No!
“Remember what I said about this being my fault, not yours,” Thomas tries to reassure Melina.
“That doesn’t mean you should die in place of my sister,” Melina screams as tears roll down her face.
“Then should she die because of me?”
“No,” Melina says, her voice clogged with emotion. Her heart is pounding in her chest. This is way too much for me. Thomas will die because of me. I have no beef with Rafael, as his primary target is Thomas, but I can’t ignore the fact that Rafael will get Thomas because of me. Rafael would have no sway over him if he didn’t love me, and Thomas won’t have to take Franky’s place and sign his death warrant.
“Then you understand why I must do it.”
“No, there has to be another way, Thomas. Please, there has to be.” Melina didn’t want to lose her sister, but she couldn’t afford to lose Thomas either. How will I live in a world without Thomas?
“There is no other way, mi amore,” Thomas says as he wraps his arms around Melina. She sobs, her eyeballs clutching his shirt as if it were a lifeline. Melina has never been more pained than she is right now. Thomas will die, and my hands will be stained with his blood.