Chapter 10

Dmitri looked at the tabbed screen on the computer.

He had decided to check the missing data on the company's balance sheets, as sleeping at that moment didn't seem to be an option for him. Her eyes filled with terror had been etched in his memory.

"I haven't seen eyes like those in a long time ..." he sighed, running his hands over his face. He pressed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Memories of a past he had decided to bury in the back of his mind were cascading.

Everything was red, only a pair of blue eyes that lost their brightness stood out in the blurred environment. A scream tore through his ears, but it wasn't the boy. Tears streamed down his wide open eyes, but his mouth was firmly closed.

With another long sigh, he lowered the screen of the notebook and stood up.

Who knew that after so long I would almost break the promise I made that day.

He filled a mug of hot coffee in the kitchen and walked to the garden at the back of the house. It wasn’t very large, and sometimes the walls surrounding the house made it seem even smaller.

He sat on the wooden bench under the African tulip tree that was beginning to give its first flowers after almost 4 years that he had planted it there. The sky was clearing with blue tones and a few clouds painted orange and pink as the sun slowly appeared rising through the buildings in the distance, illuminating and warming Dmitri's heart.

He took a deep breath, feeling the steam of the coffee mix with the sweet smell of the lavender that stood out among the flower beds, enjoying the privileged view that he managed to find even in the big city.

Is she okay? Francis hasn't said anything since I went to the hospital to leave her bag that I found in the bushes when I went to see if there was anything behind the flower shop.

After the young woman had passed out and he managed to control himself, he took her in his arms and circled inside the park around the passage that he had left earlier. The guardhouse's camera caught the area after the flower stand, leaving only a small space between the sidewalk and the building across the street.

He done that route before when he needed to leave quickly at dawn and at that moment, as he had eaten, he was very energetic and his senses were refined, although controlling himself with the smell of blood so close to him was being difficult and requiring great concentration.

I just hope that no car passes by. He was going to run down the street and jump through the gate.

It was only 2 meters and a half high, it wouldn't be a problem even carrying someone but he needed to be careful with the line of the cameras’ sight that was out in the street. He would normally jump over the wall, but it was taller. He could hit the electric fence, and he couldn't take that risk by carrying an injured person.

He ran and passed over without much trouble, being careful to land as lightly as possible. He continued, passing through the dark houses of the condominium until he reached his own house. It must have been after midnight by now for the streetlights to be turned off as well.

Entering and closing the door behind him, he took the young woman to his room and laid her on the big bed. She was bruised and scratched, had fingerprints on her neck, and her hand was still bleeding, staining the bedsheets red.

Francis will arrive, but I need to try to stop this first! He went to the wardrobe, and took a sheet, tearing a long strip, and tied it in the girl's hand.

She was pale, her hands cold, it seems that she would take the last breath at any moment. Dmitri was still confused and his mind was not helping to think even more clearly with the smell of blood spread all over the place.

My God, I almost killed her. If I had gone on a little longer, she... she... Heart racing and sweating cold, he was starting to lose my head, because of he, someone could die again!

The sound of an urgent knock on the door woke him.

His friend looked at him with apprehensive eyes.

"What happened??" He hadn’t spoken about the situation when the other called, so Francis had brought his suitcase with various first aid instruments, as he didn’t know what had happened.

Dmitri pulled him inside, slamming the door and taking him to the bedroom “She! Francis, I... I bit a person, help her, please” he asked pleadingly when he stopped at the side of the bed still holding the other's wrist.

Francis was stunned! He was paralyzed for a moment. When he spoke to Dmitri he knew something was wrong, but he didn’t know he had come so far.

"FRANCIS!" Dmitri shouted waking the other to the situation.

"What happened?" Francis pushed Dmitri out of the way, approaching the young woman. "How much did you drink?" He took several instruments out of the medical bag he had brought.

“I lost control when I smelled blood, I think her hand was hurt. We were after the flower shop”

"How much did you drink Dmitri?" Francis spoke loudly over the other as he checked the girl's beats and wounds, taking the band from her hand.

"I don’t know! 1 liter or more? ” Dmitri shouted back. Francis looked at him furiously.

"You don’t know? She can die from blood loss! ”

"I wasn't counting at the time, you know?" Francis took a deep breath to stay calm and think clearly.

“If she passed out, it must have passed 30%. How long has it been since she lost consciousness? "

“15 minutes at most. I stopped when I heard you call” Hearing that, Francis paused for a moment before he understood the meaning of those words

"What if I hadn't called?" Dmitri looked away looking at the floor “Damn it, Dmitri! What were you thinking about?”

"I..."

"No! There is no time. I will take her to the hospital. She needs a blood transfusion. ”

"What? It's too risky!"

"Do you want her to die?" Francis shouted again, looking into Dmitri's eyes as he stared. The room fell into a heavy silence "I thought so" he spoke in a low tone with restrained anger.

“And what are you going to say?? What are you going to do when you get there? ”

"Let me do my job. You call Oliver, ask him to wait for me on Pedro Quintino street, parallel to the hospital in 4 minutes. Say 'I went to leave my friend who was ill at home and I saw the girl passed out on the street in the park. I brought her because I didn't know if she could handle waiting for the ambulance' ” Francis spoke as he picked up the young woman and carried her to the car, laying her in the back seat, closely followed by Dmitri.

"What?" Francis closed the door and stared at him, speaking quickly and seriously.

"This is the story he will tell when he leaves her in the emergency room"

"He will?"

"Yes. And I’m going to come in from the other side and take care of her from inside the hospital”

"But…"

"No time for but" Francis pulled the car around and got in and turned on the ignition when he heard the door open "What are you doing?" He said surprised when Dmitri was getting into the car.

"I will go too!"

"Did you look in the mirror?" He had blood all over his shirt, concentrating mainly on the collar. It would be like pointing out the culprit with lights and neon. "Leaves. Now ”Although resigned, Dmitri left, moving away from the car“ I will take care of this, she will be fine. Call Oliver. 4 min as soon as I get out of the gate ”

Seeing Dmitri nod and take his cell phone out of his pocket to dial, Francis left with the car and headed for the hospital.

Francis took out his cell phone at the red light, quickly dialing the number.

"Doctor? I need a favor." The cars no longer passed the highway ahead when he finished. The light went green and he accelerated.