Chapter 1: Saving Him

“Go find him! Don’t let him escape!” The sounds of several men echoed in the distance.

Dante was running through the woods, holding on to the side of his stomach that was bleeding while panting and losing his breath. He had lost the vast majority of his energy and knew he would lose if he continued fighting.

He did not expect Sergio’s men to ambush his summer lake house in the middle of the night, just as he was alone and asleep, leaving him barely able to escape.

As he continued running, he felt the strength leaving his body. He was bleeding too much and ended up falling in front of another lake house. He laid on the ground and the sky above him was turning into a blurry spiral.

“Am I going to die here?” He asked himself.

“No, I cannot die here, I don’t want to die here.” He repeated in his head. Just as he was about to lose his consciousness, 19-year-old Victoria appeared in front of him, wearing a worn down sundress. Her face was filled with shock and concern.

“Oh my god, what happened to you?” She gasped as she knelt beside him. She saw the side of his stomach bleeding and almost touched it, but Dante quickly grabbed her hand.

“What are you doing!?” He asked with a tone of pain and skepticism. Victoria looked at him and her own hand. Despite being at a vulnerable state, he was strong.

“I’m trying to help you.” She replied. He was about to say something, but his body gave in and his grip around her hand loosened. He lay down again and took a few sharp breaths before slowly losing his consciousness.

“Sir, sir? Stay with me” Victoria grabbed Dante’s shoulder, trying to keep him awake.

“This is bad, he’s unconscious. I need to stop his bleeding.” She thought to herself. Victoria slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulder, trying to get him up. He was heavy, and it was no easy task; she struggled a lot as she tried to bring him inside the house.

“God, give me strength.” She told herself as she managed to bring him into the living room of her father’s lake house and lay him on the sofa. It was a good thing she was the only person in there at the moment, as the others had left. Otherwise, they would never allow her to bring a stranger man inside, even if he was injured.

“I need to call an ambulance.” She said as she grabbed her phone. However, her phone’s battery was dead. Getting emergency help was impossible. Victoria panicked for a little, but decided to take matters into her own hand.

“Okay, calm down, Victoria. You have learnt first aid before, you can do this.”

Victoria grabbed her first aid kit, a bandage and some clean water. She checked the side of his stomach. Fortunately, none of his vital organs were hit. Looked like the bullet only grazed the fat on his side. She quickly used a clean cloth, dipped it in water and put light pressure on it to stop the bleeding.

Then, she used an antiseptic solution from the first aid kit, cleaning his wound, causing a flinching reaction and lastly she used a bandage and wrapped it around his stomach area.

Once it was done, she noticed that he was sweating profusely and his breathing became shallow. She grabbed another clean towel and wiped away the sweat from his face.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.” She assured him.

Morning arrived and sunlight entered through the window. Dante slowly opened his eyes and turned his head around and saw Victoria sleeping next to him. She was in a sitting position with her head resting on the edge of the sofa and her arms acted as an additional pillow.

“Where am I? Who is she?” Victoria opened her eyes and saw Dante regaining his consciousness. She quickly rose from the ground. Dante was about to move, but Victoria stopped him.

“No, don’t move around yet. Your wound may reopen.” She warned him.

“Who are you?” He asled her with a deep, husky voice.

“I’m Victoria, Victoria Liebert. This is my father’s lake house. I found you in front of the lake house yesterday and brought you here.” She explained.

“Who are you? How did you get injured like that?” She asked him.

“That’s not important. Do you have a phone? I need to call my friends to pick me up.” He told her dismissively.

“Yes, but my phone’s dead and I can’t find my charger.” She replied.

“I guess we’re stuck here until I can find it, but don’t worry. There are enough food here for the two of us for the next few weeks until my father return here to pick me up.” She replied.

“A few weeks? I can’t wait that long, I have stuff to do.” He was going to move his body but a sharp pain appeared on his stomach. Victoria grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to lay down again.

“I already told you not to move.” She sighed.

“Stay here, I’ll make something for the two of us.” She replied before moving away. Dante saw her back with confusion.

“That woman, she really had no survival skill, letting a random man enter her space just because he’s injured.” Dante thought to himself as he touched the bandage covering the side of his stomach.

“Sergio, that bastard! Once I recover, I swear I will make him pay for everything!” He vowed. Not long after, Victoria returned with a glass of water in her hand and a full English breakfast. His hand reached out to touch the breakfast, but she quickly slapped it away.

“What the hell!?” He asked, annoyed.

“Your stomach is injured; you cannot have any solid food yet. Here, drink this instead.” Shel handed over the glass to him.

“What is this?”  He asked.

“Electrolyte water. You need hydration. If you can handle this, I will give you some bone broth later.” She told him. He sighed before taking the glass and drinking it.

“Slowly, there’s no need to rush.” She reminded him. He finished the entire glass within seconds and handed it back to her.

“I’m going to have my breakfast first, then I will make some bone broth for you.” She sat in a side chair, in front of him and started eating her English breakfast.

“Seriously, you’re just going to eat that in front of me, knowing fully well I cannot have it?” He asked her.

“Hm… let me think about it… yes.” She replied before stuffing a sausage onto her mouth.

“You’re such a child… how old are you?” He asked her.

“Nineteen. What about you?” She replied.

“Hah, makes sense. I’m twenty-five.” He replied.

“Oh, you’re younger than I thought. When I first saw you last night, I thought you’re an old man.” She replied casually.

“You-“ Before he could finish his sentence. She rose from her seat.

“I’m done with breakfast, I’ll make you some broth now.” She walked away and he watched her disappear onto the kitchen once again.

“What is wrong with that girl?” He wondered.

“But I have to admit, she’s quite cute and entertaining.” He thought.