CHAPTER 66

“Get down”

“what?”

“I said get down”

Arman's hand moved to his right pocket, and he grabbed a gun

“We're being tailed”

Claire stile a quick glance to the back. He wasn't lying. But probably they were friendly

The sound of a bullet piercing through the glass of the car echoed, making her ears sting. Claire gasped in shock.

The bullet was so close to hitting her skull

“Fuck! are you hurt?”

“N— no”

“Close your ears, and stay down”

She complied, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was dangerously close to losing her life a few seconds ago

Arman fired a bullet, while he expertly manoeuvered the car

They were outnumbered

The shooter in the attacker's car was hell bent on killing one of them, her

And he was doing his best to protect her

She felt her head make contact with the car window as he drove, and she felt like she was going to black out

But she wasn't, because Arman had placed her head on his lap shortly after

Claire looked up at him, and felt a wave of sadness wash through her.

Because she knew that she was in love

She noticed his left arm was bleeding, when did he get hit?

Then it dawned on her, he blocked the bullet, the one that was supposed to kill her—

She didn't know how long it all lasted, but she knew that at some point, she stopped hearing gunshots, and the men were gone.

And once again, he was driving to his house

“Arman”

He was silent, but she knew he heard her

Claire gently touched his arm

“You're hurt”

“I'm aware”

“I can help”

“It's fine”

He pulled into his driveway, a grunt escaping his mouth as he pulled off his seatbelt.

He placed his left wrist on his bleeding arm

Still, he acted like it didn't matter, acted like he wasn't the least bit bothered

Claire slipped her hand into Arman's, earning a quizzical look from him

Claire didn't mind, she led him into his house like it was the most normal thing to do

The door was shut, and suddenly, the atmosphere was tense.

Claire could feel his awkward stare on her, she could tell he was weirded out by her actions, that he was one step away from throwing her out of his house, but that was her only way of expressing how she felt

She looked up at the pair of eyes she had been trying to avoid for as long as possible

Arman—

I want you to take off your shirt

******************

“You’re ridiculous”

“I wasn't asking”

Arman stared at Claire in shock, trying to figure out where she got her confidence from

It was so out of the ordinary, and besides he could do it himself—

But Claire went ahead to tug at his bloody suit, before slowly pulling it off

Their eyes never left each other.

“Do you have a first aid kit?”

She undid his tie, before her finger landed on the button of his shirt

Do you have towels also?

“Medicine cabinet”

Claire left, and returned shortly after with a white box, and a bunch of towels.

She placed two towels firmly on his bleeding arm,

“You need to be taken to a hospital”

“Too risky”

“Fuck! You're going to bleed to death”

Arman sighed

“I could take out the bullet for you, stitch it up”

“I can handle myself”

Arman grabbed a small metal tool from the box, pulled out a lighter from his pocket and burned to sterilise it

She watched him, his strained movements showed that he was willing to go through lengths to avoid her help.

And just before he brought the tool to his skin, they made eye contact. They rarely ever did, he never looked her direction. But he let his eyes linger long enough to realise that she was hurt

“Make a three centimetre incision with the blade in the box, sterilise it first

Claire hands moved quickly. Arman was trusting her with a part of his body! That wasn't something strangers did, Arman was no stranger.

She brought the blade to his skin, and made a small cut

“I'm sorry”

“Focus”

She got to work, and began to search for the bullet through the cut

Every time she felt like she had caused him more pain, she apologized. But he didn't seem to care

“I think I have it”

“Pull it out”

“I got it—”

Arman groaned silently. She had pulled something else

“I— I'm so sorry Arman”

A tear slipped down her right cheek

“Look at me Claire”

She raised her eyes to meet his reluctantly, guilt ridden and scared. He used his other hand to cup her cheek

“You're doing great, let's do this again”

Claire slowly picked up the tool once more, and in less than a minute, she popped the bullet out.

But she knew she didn't have time to celebrate. Arman was losing blood

She picked up a needle and began to stitch him up, but this time she wasn't as clumsy. Infact she did it like it was something she was familiar with

“You do this a lot?”

“My mum never had health insurance, and she was always getting hurt—”

“I see where you get it from”

“What do you mea—”

“Focus”

Claire pricked him extra hard, on purpose

But he smiled

“The men that shot you, who are they?”

“They work for the man I blinded”

“The one that tried to rape you—”