Mathilda

The Tuscany sunlight streamed down on the walking pedestrians as they all went about their day. Some of them seated outside at the cafes, some of them chatting alongside one another, but all of them enjoying the weather.

Winter was settling in and the first snow hadn't fallen yet, giving people the time to enjoy the last of the pleasant weather before they considered centrally heated isolation. Taking advantage of that fact, people made the most of the time they had.

A girl, with light chestnut brown hair and a beautiful shade of sapphire eyes, grabbed her belongings before making her way to her car. She had just buckled in her seatbelt when her passenger's door burst open; resulting in a startled jump from her accompanied by a shriek when she saw a man sit down beside her.

"Drive!" The man groaned in pain as she stared at him in shock, her eyes wide as she took in his condition.

His dark hair was matted and sticking to his forehead with his cerulean blue eyes looking around rapidly. Both of his hands were smeared with blood, pressing down on a gunshot wound in his abdomen and holding a black gun.

"Fucking drive!" He bellowed again as she jumped into action. Pushing down on the accelerator, driving blindly like a mad woman whose life depended on it.

It just might because the man beside her did have a fully loaded gun with him.

"Highway. Now, " He moaned in pain, throwing back his head, his eyes shut tightly as she could see he was losing a lot of blood. It was seeping through his shirt and pooling onto his lap. Bile rose in the girl's throat and she knew she had to do something before he died in her passenger seat, and then having to explain the presence of a corpse in her car would be whole other matter.

"Let me help you." Her voice trembled as she drove in the direction of the highway, checking her mirrors to see a desolate stretch of road behind them.

"Just get...me-to the highways."

"The highway is thirty minutes away, even at this speed, and you will die of blood loss if you don't allow me to stem the blood flow." She explained as he squinted at her through his haze. "I'm a medical student, please let me help you."

"Why? For all I know...all I know...you might be one of them."

"You're the one with the gun, mister. You tell me who is at a disadvantage."

The stranger fell silent as he closed his eyes against the pain, a groan escaping his lips as she noticed the gun to be trembling.

"Fine! Fine!" He groaned.

Parking to the side of the road, she stepped out of her car and went towards the back where she retrieved a first aid kit. Holding up her hands, she displayed the kit before approaching and opening the door, finding the man to be trembling, on the verge of going into shock as he held the violently shaking gun at her.

"I'm not...not taking... any any chances."

"Okay." She nodded in understanding as she crouched before him, unbuttoning his stained white shirt. Apologizing when he winced in pain. Suddenly his trembling grew worse as she started to clean the wound to get a good look at it, her senses going into hyperdrive as she knew what this meant.

He was going into shock.

"I need you to talk to me to keep you from going into hyperactive shock." She explained as she inspected the wound. "What's your name? I'm Rosalie."

"Arcangelo."

"Arcangelo, can you tell me if anyone is waiting for you at home? Family? Or friends?"

"A nephew and and niece...and my my my sister..."

"Okay, that's good, you have people that are waiting for you to get back to them. Can you tell me about them?"

"My nephew...nephew..." he stammered out as Rosalie gauzed his wound, "I-is 6-years-old...doesn't doesn't have anyone...."

She listened in silence as she looked over the gauze, seeing as she had managed to stem the blood flow for now as Arcangelo's breathing calmed down. "Okay, Arcangelo? I need you tell me where I need to take you."

"Along...along the road...you'll know."

"Alright, " Rosalie nodded at his cryptic speech before she took her shawl from the back and draped it over him. Helping him get settled back in the seat, she reclined it slightly before going back to the wheel and resuming their journey.

They pulled away from the curb before driving in silence as Rosalie glanced at Arcangelo's figure. Watching him seated silently, the gun loosely gripped in his hand and his gaze turned towards the passing scenery.

"Why did you help me?" He spoke hoarsely as Rosalie looked at him for a moment before turning back to the road. "You could have left me to die; after all, I'm threatening you with a gun."

"I know." She affirmed. "But that would mean you would have died in my car, and I don't need something like that on my conscience."

"I still don't think you should have helped me."

"But then I couldn't have left you to die either. I don't want to live with the reality of having the chance to save someone and instead decide to act selfishly and let him die."

Arcangelo didn't respond as Rosalie approached two large black SUVs standing in the middle of the road, men in suits standing with guns clasped in their hands. And that was when she knew this was the end of the line for her.

Stopping her car, she held her hands up as two men walked toward her and more went towards Arcangelo who was attempting to get out before one of them opened the door and the others helped him out.

"Be careful. The gauze won't hold for long." Rosalie called out to the men as she was pulled out of the car. They held her at gunpoint as her knees buckled. Swallowing thickly, she closed her eyes as she heard the unambiguous click of the safety.

"Leave her, " Arcangelo spoke over his shoulder while they were taking him towards the cars.

"Yes, boss." The men nodded, stepping away from her, causing Rosalie's eyes to snap open while she watched them. Arcangelo making eye contact with her once more, conveying his message loud and clear.

'Speak and you're dead.'

She watched as the cars drove away, leaving a trail of smoke in their wake.

Rosalie watched the black vehicles get smaller as her entire being trembled violently, forcing her to collapse to her knees as a terrified sob wracked through her. She stared at her hands, caked with blood and tried to calm down her breathing.

She had no idea how long she sat on the gravel road, but one thing was for certain, her knees were bruised due to the rough surface.

With dried tears on her face and dried blood on her hands, she stumbled to her feet before collapsing into her car seat.