Unfortunately, this doesn’t help Melina because James surprisingly kicks the bucket off her hands and backs her into a wall. He wraps his hands around her neck, restricting her airflow.
“Fuck having your body; I’ll just fucking kill you.” He digs his nails into her skin and draws blood as he strangles her. Her face darkens as the veins around her face appear ready to burst at any moment. Melina places her hands above his to free them from her neck. She scratches his hand, drawing blood, but he doesn’t budge. Melina can’t believe this is how she dies. I have to do something.
She checks her surroundings for anything that might be of help. Nothing is within her grasp because everything is on the floor. As he squeezes her neck tighter and presses her head deeper into the wall behind her, the wound behind her head burns. Her eyes become heavy. Melina could feel her soul slipping out of her body. I must act now.
Melina sees something sticking out near his waist as she tries to keep her eyes open. She squares her eyes and checks to see if what she’s seeing is correct. Once she confirms the object, Melina uses all of her remaining energy to stretch her hand to reach it. Her shoulder burns and she fears she will lose a limb if she doesn’t stop, but she doesn’t.
Melina finally gets her hands on the object after what seems like an eternity. She stabs James’s shoulder the moment she gets the blade in her hand. James groans in agony and pulls his hands away from her neck. Melina coughs and tries to inhale air while massaging her neck.
“Fuck, that’s it,” James pulls out his gun to shoot Melina, but someone rushes into the room, causing him to halt.
“We are under attack, sir; Thomas is here,” the man says, panicking.
Melina smiles as James rushes out of the room with the man. Thomas has arrived to save her. She may not have killed James, but she is pleased with herself. She put up a good fight against him.
***
Melina pokes her head out the door and checks if the coast is clear. She just put her jeans back on. She steps out of the room once she sees nobody around. Melina stays close to the wall as she walks down the hallway. She flinches every time she hears gunshots from upstairs and prays that Thomas is safe. She opens every room door she comes across in the basement and whisper-shouts her sister’s name. Melina is hoping they are also keeping Franky down here.
With no luck finding her down here, Melina walks toward the stairs that lead to the main house. She finds the place in a mess. She’s not surprised because she heard a lot of commotion downstairs. Melina does her best not to be seen and carefully walks toward the staircase that leads to where she’s hoping the bedrooms are. She’s about to place her foot on the first step when she notices two people rolling down the stairs. She quickly moves to the side and out of the way. Melina’s heart sinks as she recognizes them from their tattoos.
“Thomas!” Melina screams as he engages Rafael in a fistfight. Thomas delivers a powerful punch to Rafael’s face, and Rafael acts as if he was hit with a pillow. He reacts quickly and headbutts Thomas hard. Melina closes her eyes, cringing as their heads hit one another. They continue to fight in this manner, with neither of them gaining an advantage over the other.
Every time Melina sees Thomas get punched or hears his bone crack, her heart clenches. She decides to help Thomas in gaining the upper hand and begins looking for ways to do so. Melina notices a gun on the floor a few feet away. She dislikes guns, but if it means preventing Thomas from being killed by Rafael, she will gladly use them. Melina quickly grabs the gun and points it at the back of Rafael’s head.
“Get away from him,” Melina says, her hands trembling as she holds the gun. She is terrified that the firearm will slip from her grasp at any moment.
Rafael heeds her warning and moves away from Thomas. Thomas gets up from the ground as soon as Rafael is off him and quickly takes the gun from her. Melina releases a deep breath once the weapon is taken out of her hand.
“Oh, my God! Melina, who fucking did this to you? Are you okay?” Thomas asks, concerned. He runs his eyes all over her body, and they darken with anger as he sees blood and injuries from her fight with James.
“That’s irrelevant right now; Rafael is going to get a gun.” Through her peripheral vision, Melina sees him moving toward a gun on the floor. Thomas quickly pulls her behind him and unlocks the gun’s safety. He fires a blank at Rafael. Thomas checks the round and discovers that it is empty.
“Fuck,” he yells, throwing the gun to the ground.
“Nice try, Costanzo,” Rafael says, checking the gun in his hand for bullets, but Thomas interrupts him by sending a blade his way. The gun falls to the ground.
“I don’t even need a gun to kill you,” Rafael charges toward Thomas but stops as someone speaks.
“Don’t worry, boss, I got you covered,” James says, moving his hand behind his pants to grab something. Melina knows what he is about to do, so she instinctively picks up the gun on the floor and pulls the trigger. Her body freezes as the loud gunshot causes ringing in her ears. I shot him. I fucking shot him. Her eyes well up with tears as she watches blood ooze from a spot on James’ chest.
“You fucking bitch, you shot me,” James says, looking at his wound.
Melina ignores him as she tries to control her breathing and trembling hand. I killed him. The gun slips from her grip, and she stares at it, searching her heart for any remorse for what she has just done, but she finds none. On the contrary, she finds inner peace. Tears begin to stream down her cheeks. This time, they are tears of joy. Melina is relieved to have finally put an end to the source of all her pain and suffering over the years, but her joy is short-lived. Melina’s eyes widen in terror as she lifts her head from the ground. James is still standing even though she shot him.
“Goodbye, Melina, I never fucking loved you,” James pulls the trigger of his gun.
Melian holds her breath, expecting the bullet to strike her, but instead, she is knocked out by something heavy, like a bulldozer.
“Thomas!” Melina screams as warm liquid drips onto her hands. Her heartbeat quickens as his blood warms her bones.
“Melina,” he rasps as his weight on her pulls them to the ground. Melina places his head on her lap as she observes him struggling to keep his eyes open.
“Thomas, Thomas!” Melina lightly slaps him across the face to wake him up. Fear grips her soul like a vice. Thomas has been shot and is bleeding profusely.
“You did it, mi amore; I’m fucking proud of you,” Thomas says, raising his hand to touch her face but failing as he chokes on his blood. Melina quickly takes his hand in hers and places it on her face.
“Why, Thomas, why did you get in front of me?” Melina asks, tears streaming down her cheeks. This is what she feared, and it still happened differently.
“I had to; I couldn’t let you die.”
“But I can’t live without you, Thomas.” Melina’s heart clenches as she sees blood everywhere around them. She applies pressure on his wound and tries to stop the bleeding, but more blood just gushes out.
“You can, Melina, you will,” Thomas coughs out more blood.
“No, you are the love of my life; how will I survive without you?” Melina has recently realized that she is still in love with Thomas. She thought she was only attracted to him, but she was mistaken. She was hurt, but it didn’t stop her from loving him.
“You will learn, Melina. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me when I’m gone, goodbye” Thomas says, closing his eyes forever. His hand against Melina’s face falls lifelessly to her lap. Her heart sinks to the pit of her stomach as she stares at his closed eyes.
“Thomas, Thomas!” Melina keeps calling his name, unable to believe he’s truly gone. Her hands tremble as she shakes his body in an attempt to revive him.
“No!” Melina screams in agony, throwing her head back and her heart fracturing.
“You can’t die, you can’t fucking die,” she sobs, tears streaming down her cheeks like a waterfall.
“Thomas, wake up; you need to wake up and hear me say this. I forgive you, Thomas; I forgive you for everything you did. Please do not leave me, please,” Melina begs, clutching Thomas’ now-cold body to her chest. She had planned to tell him tonight at dinner that she had forgiven him. She has been thinking about it a lot over the last few days. Thomas may have caused her great pain, but he had a reason. There is no reason why Thomas would have been so cruel to her if she hadn’t betrayed him. She knows it isn’t enough to forgive him, but with him also willing to surrender himself to save her sister, Melina is more than willing to forgive. Also, Kat’s words made her realize that she shouldn’t focus solely on the bad things he’s done but also on the good ones, which is also good for her because she can only move on from the past once she’s put it behind her.
“I don’t know why I waited so long to tell you, but please wake up and hear me say it. Please, Thomas, I forgive you. I can’t fucking live if you are dead. I love and forgive you. Wake up!” Melina’s heart tightens as her clothes become soiled with Thomas’ blood. She shakes his body, pleading with him to open his eyes.
“Thomas, please, I’m begging you, wake up!” she screams, her heart close to ripping out of her chest. She has never felt more pained in her life than she does at this moment. She hits her chest to stop the pain as her heart is dying. She cries for him to wake up, but Thomas doesn’t heed to her call.