Chapter 37

Once they entered, everyone closed their mouths, watching the four of them walking with greatness. The devil king, the crazy grim reaper, the poisonous butterfly of the Leo family, and finally, the unknown girl who got the three of them on her side. They were all walking while spreading coldness, with a strong aura surrounding them that forced everyone in the hall to shut up.

Taria and Josephine kept talking as if they knew each other for a long time, and after a while of chatting peacefully, indifferent to the looks of the rest of the family members hanging on them, the music started. Tian held Taria's hand and pulled her to the middle of the hall, walking through many dancing people, then he put her hand on his shoulder while he kept holding the other, and started dancing with her.

Swaying back and forth, right and left, just like a dance of an ancient prince with his beloved princess. His eyes were only looking at her, and so were hers. Their breath sounds, their heartbeats, and the sound of their smooth steps matched the sound of the music, giving it a rhythm blended with their memories. However, Taria cut off that symphony with a sudden wrong move.

She hugged him tight, and he could feel her fist pressing on the back of his suit jacket, giving him a heavy feeling. He held her arms, trying to move her away so he would be able to see her face, yet once he did, her legs couldn't hold her anymore and she fell down.

She couldn't hear anything other than the buzzing sound in her ears, yet she could know that Tian was shouting "stay with me, don't close your eyes" just by reading his lips. The adrenaline levels in her body started falling down, and she started feeling the pain of being shot little by little. She gathered all the strength left in her body, and put her hand on his face softly, staining his cheek with her own blood, then she said "I love you, Tian".

She could see his tears even though her vision got blurred. She wanted to hug him and wipe his tears, and she wanted to tell him that she won't leave even though she wasn't really sure about that. "It's ok" she said, but her voice choked from blood, then her hand couldn't stay outstretched, and it fell to the ground beside her as the world got blank.

Tian realized at the moment Taria closed her eyes why did his father suicide. Her body that was losing its temperature while laying in his arms, and her warm blood that covered his legs stopped his brain from working. He stayed silent, not hearing the shouting voices around him, nor feeling his tears running down his chin. However, a strong kick on his head got him back to the world.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? SHE IS NOT DEAD YET, LET'S TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL", Josephine said after she kicked him

Tian carried Taria and ran towards the car, not knowing how his legs could walk as they were shaking crazily, then he sat down on the back seat of the car while holding Taria in his arms, and Josephine drove them to the hospital as fast as the car could move.

When they reached the hospital, Tian wasn't willing to let Taria go, yet Josephine held him so the doctors would be able to do their job. He kept walking outside the operations room, unable to stop his dark thoughts from killing him slowly, and unwilling to sit and calm down. His heartbeats were pressing on his nerves, and with every heartbeat, he got closer to losing his mind.

His habit of hurting himself to calm down his feelings snapped in his body, and he started punching the wall, wishing that his brain would stop calling Taria and focus on his injured hand, however, her name was rooted in his heart deeper than his own

"She is stronger than giving up, Tian. Calm down now, getting injured won't bring her back", Josephine said, but he didn't stop hitting the wall even though his hand was about to be smashed, so she moved her skirt aside, and took out a pistol she was tying to her thigh, then she shot him on his leg coldly

"That bullet is poisoned, you would lose consciousness after three to five minutes. Don't worry, it won't hurt, I'm only getting you to sleep until Taria come back", Josephine said, and Tian fell to the ground

"They don't call you the poisonous butterfly for no reason, ugh, thank you anyway", Tian said while he was struggling to catch his breath, then the poison in his body saved him from being killed by his own thoughts.

The doctors treated Tian's wounded hands as well as the shot in his leg, however, they couldn't bring Taria back before he woke up, so they basically failed to save him. He woke up, lying at the hospital bed, then he took out the needles embedded in his arm and walked out of the room.

"How many hours has it been?" Tian said, looking at the operations room door and ignoring the wall that was still covered with his blood

"Eight", Josefine answered calmly

He sat down beside her as losing a lot of blood lowered his high pressure and calmed him down a bit, and he kept waiting for her to come out of that dreadful room.

After a while, the door finally opened, and a doctor came out of it.

"The surgery is done now, yet it's all up to her to wake up. Her body isn't weak, we suppose that she would open her eyes again during the next twenty four hours", the doctor said, then the nurse told Tian the number of the room Taria was sent to, and he ran towards it even after everyone tried to stop him.

He looked at her from the glass, and saw her laying in bed with many tubes and devices connected to her soft meager body. His heart hurt as if it was being squeezed, so he grabbed his chest and felt the necklace he was wearing.

"You were the one who said you would always stay by my side. You always said that we would be together no matter what as long as I wear this necklace. You promised me you won't leave, so please, please Taria, don't break that promise and come back to me", he said while his tears were falling down, then he wiped them fast as he knew that it was his turn to be the strong one.

After a while, the doctors finally approved that Tian could get into the room. He walked into the room slowly as her condition shot spears into his heart, and he was wishing that she would open her eyes with every step he took. He knelt beside her bed, and held her hand softly to feel how cold she was, then he stayed like that until he finally fell asleep holding her hand.