Page 105 of Of Lies and Shadows

Then we see the car, crushed against a tree on the side of the road, metal twisted like paper. The front windshield is shattered, and the side door is open.

I don’t remember getting out. I only remember running, screaming her name.

“Francesca!”

A little body crouched by the wreck pulls my focus. Alessio. He’s on the ground, curled up beside her, gripping her hand like a lifeline.

There’s blood on him, blood… on my son.

“Alessio!” I drop beside him. “Are you hurt?”

His little face is streaked with tears and dirt. He shakes his head violently, pointing to her. “Mama saved me,” he sobs. “She pushed me down… she covered me… she saved me.”

My vision blurs.

She’s lying there, still and pale, her blouse soaked in red, her curls dark with blood.

My hands hover over her body, not knowing where to touch, afraid that if I do, I’ll break what’s left.

I cradle Alessio with one arm, the other trembling as I reach for her.

Sirens wail in the distance.

I press my forehead to hers, barely breathing. “Stay with me,” I whisper. “You’re strong, remember? You’re so damn strong. Just… stay with me.”

She doesn’t move.

The blood on my hands isn’t mine. It’s hers. And I’d give every drop of mine to take her place.

Bruno kneels beside me, his face stricken. Someone on the side of the road is already calling it in, or maybe they already did.

The ambulance is getting closer. I can hear it now. But it’s too quiet.

Alessio clutches her hand tighter.

“Mama saved me,” he says again, softer this time. Like he doesn’t understand what it costs.

And all I can think, over and over again, is,Please don’t let her die, not like this, not when I just started to believe she could be mine.

The whine of sirens crescendos until the ambulance screeches to a halt beside us. Doors fly open. Boots hit pavement. Shouts blur together: calls for vitals, for a stretcher, for blood type.

They move her so carefully, and still, it feels too rough.

I stand frozen, torn in half, Alessio’s tiny blood-smeared hand still gripped in mine.

“Sir, we need you to ride with her. There’s no time?—”

I hesitate.

Alessio’s eyes find mine, wide, wet, terrified. His little chest heaves. “Don’t leave me,” he whispers. His voice cracks. “Papa, please…”

Fuck. I can't. I can’t leave him like this, but I can't leave her either.

My heart lurches, splitting down the center.

Bruno steps in, crouching beside Alessio and placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “I’ve got him.”

I stare at him, lost. My fingers tighten around Alessio’s.

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