Chapter 5 Little dude

Maya successfully finished the job and walked home. She did not enjoy killing people for a living, but she had no choice anymore; she was too deep into this life. As these thoughts clouded her head, she walked home at a slower pace than usual. "Help!" she heard. She thought it was just her mind playing games and decided to keep walking ahead. "HELP!" She heard it again; it sounded like a child was in distress. She ran towards the voice of the crying boy.

She was horrified at the sight. There was a man pointing a gun at this 8-year-old child, who cried his eyes out. Before the man could take his shot, she jumped on the kid, and both of them landed on the cold, hard concrete floor. She kept her hand under his head so he wouldn't get hurt, and she could feel the burn on her knuckles as anger started brewing in her. "You b*tch," the man screamed. She knelt and helped the little boy up. She gave him her phone and said, "Little dude, run and call someone you trust to pick you up." The boy didn't want to leave her alone over there. "Trust me," she said. He believed her and ran as fast as he could. When he was out of the alley, he opened the phone, called his older brother, and hastily told him the situation. "I'll be right there." A voice was audible on the other end.

In the alley, Maya got up and pulled her gun out. The gunshot echoed in high pitch, and there was a sudden silence. Maya lay on the floor in a pool of blood. Both shot each other at the same time; the man was dead, while she had a shallow breath. She had been shot before, but never on her chest or from this close. She tried to get up, but she was losing too much blood and slowly fell back down as she felt dizzy.

Outside the alley, the little boy patiently waited for his brother, but he started crying the moment he heard the gunshot. "Buddy! What are you doing here?" Nathan said his little brother Nick didn't give him much detail on the phone, but before he could continue "That man was after me." Nick stammered because he was in shock. "Who was it?" Nathan's expression darkened. "Nate, there was a woman who saved me. I think she got hurt. Please save her." He pleaded. "Okay, take me to her," he said with determination.

Nick ran as fast as he could to show Nathan the alley; he had no time to waste anymore. Nathan walked into a sight filled with blood-something he wasn't used to. There was a man who lay at the far end with a bullet right between his forehead and his eyes wide open, and a woman who was lying on her side facing the other way. She was breathing, but there was too much blood. Nathan didn't want Nick to witness all this; he told Nick to call Myles and asked him to face the other side and make the call. Nick did as he was told.

Nathan knelt to flip the woman, only to realize it was Maya. His heart sank, and he knew he had to do something fast; she was having a hard time breathing. Maya could feel a strong presence lift her up; she had no idea what was going on, but she was feeling slightly comforted. As Nathan waited for Myles to get the car, he looked at her gorgeous face, tilting backwards as she didn't have the strength to keep it up anymore. This was the harsh reality of the Mafia. This is why he had no desire to be a part of this life. He still didn't know her name, but I felt a strong connection with her right away. Her beautiful eyes looked almost lifeless. For a brief moment, her petite form in his arms made him dizzy, but he knew she needed him. He heard the car outside the alley and ran towards it like there was no tomorrow.

"What happened here?" Myles asked, getting more and more worried. "Just drive home as fast as you can." Myles understood that this was not the time for questions and pressed the gas. Maya was sitting on Nathan's lap, resting her head on his chest. "Is she going to be okay?" Nick asked innocently. "I don't know," Nathan replied with concern on his face. "Why can't you drive faster?" He screamed. Myles picked up the pace; he had never seen Nathan so afraid before. In the car itself, he called Alice, their in-house doctor. As a Mafia family, they couldn't always go to the hospital. So, they kept a clinic in their own house. Alice got everything ready before they showed up.

They pulled up on the huge driveway, and Alice was waiting for them over there with a hospital bed. She saw this little woman in Nathan's arms; he carefully placed her on the bed and started wheeling her into the house. He seemed very stressed; Alice ran behind them while Myles took Nick to his room. "I want to check up on her," said Nick. "You can see her in the morning once Alice has fixed her up, okay?" Myles tried to comfort Nick, but the little dude decided to sit and wait.

Alice was with Maya for 4 hours, during which Nathan waited outside the house. He couldn't stop pacing. Alice managed to remove the bullet carefully, as it didn't hit any vital organs. She came out with a tired look on her face. Nathan ran towards her and asked, "Is she going to be okay?" "She lost a lot of blood, but she has a strong body; she will take time to recover but will be fine soon. Hopefully she will be able to wake up tomorrow morning." She took a pause and wondered if she should continue, but decided to go ahead and ask, "May I ask you something?" "Sure," Nathan said without missing a beat. "Do you know her?" "A little, why?" Alice took a deep breath before mentioning this. "She has way too many scars... Which haven't had good enough recovery time, please tell her to be more careful." Nathan felt those words like a knife in his chest. He didn't know how to react. He knew she was an assassin, but he had no idea what kind of life she had led. He let out a sigh. "Don't worry, she will be fine," Alice assured him, and she walked towards her own room.

Nathan just stood there for a while, relieved that she was okay, and decided to go see her. As he walked towards the guest room, Nick caught up with him and asked if she was okay. Nathan explained everything to him, leaving out the part about the scars. He reassured him and told him to see her in the morning when she was feeling better. As Nathan walked into the beautiful guest room, he saw Maya lying on the bed. The color on her face was drained, and she looked weak due to the blood loss. He sat on the edge of the bed. There was so much he wanted to tell her in this moment, so he decided to just go ahead and say, "I know I don't even know your name, but I'm truly sorry that I didn't get there earlier. My brother means everything to me and today you saved my him. I will owe you for life." He said, This was Nathan's childhood bedroom converted into the guest room, and he loved that she was resting there. He decided to go back to his room for a shower and some sleep, as he was drenched in blood.