CHAPTER 14:
They remained paralyzed for whole minutes before Julia heard William's breathing getting weaker and weaker.
"William…William, please…" the young woman felt herself start to sob.
He was very seriously injured, and she was well aware of it. She absolutely had to get up and draw on her last strength to drag him to the city. The town that was at least two or three kilometers from here...
She had no choice. He had to. She had to take him to the hospital. Julia lifted her head from William's shoulder and pushed hard on his arms. She got up with difficulty, feeling the bottom of her dress torn apart. She was a doctor. She had to do something. With her left hand, she tore off a huge part of her dress which now came above her knees.
She leaned over William and held out her unbroken left hand.
"I'm sorry, William. It will surely hurt you… Try not to shout, we must not be spotted."
She heard a weak response from the young man, and she finally put her hand on the wound. William groaned and Julia felt tears rolling down her cheeks as they were both still in the bushes. She anxiously tried to pinpoint whether the bullet had come out of the wound or not. Luckily, she found no trace of the latter when she had completely crossed the side. Julia picked up the fabric of her dress that she had placed by her side and forced William to sit down. Which he did with difficulty, his eyes half-closed.
The young woman then began to bandage William's wound by passing her arms around his chest. Unfortunately, one-handed, the task turned out to be much more difficult than she thought. She could see that William would be unable to help her as the blood continued to spill and they both found themselves more and more stained.
Eventually, after what felt like hours, she managed to wrap him in a decent bandage with a few bush leaves to stop the bleeding. She looked at William, who was now completely pale and sweaty, and put her left hand on his cheek. She leaned her forehead against his and whispered his name.
"William… you need to get up… We're going back to town. We need to take you to the hospital…"
While William did not react, still seated and eyes closed, the young woman began to despair.
"I beg you…" she sobbed before kissing him on the cheek and starting to cry softly. "I beg you…"
The detective opened his eyes with difficulty, sensing Julia completely in distress. He felt like he was traveling between consciousness and unconsciousness. He felt like he was having the longest night of his entire life. He looked up at the sky and saw the very beginning of dawn breaking. They were almost there. It was enough to walk to the city, in the forest. The mansion was so secluded… That was one of the things about it and what made people always envy the Weston life so much. They lived in a wonderful place. Wonderful until that fateful evening.
William tried to open his eyes wide and moved. He folded his legs, an excruciating pain shooting through his side. He grimaced, but Julia's hopeful gaze gave him a strength he had not suspected. He got up with difficulty with the help of Julia who held him with her left hand. He noticed, with a heavy heart, that Julia's right wrist was at an abnormal angle...
"Thank you... Thank you..." Julia cried a little more, supporting William.
They slowly, and with difficulty, emerged from the bushes. The bushes that scratched Julia's legs and tore William's pants.
They passed slowly on the road, between the bushes, near the property and the forest. They tried to hurry so that the killers would not notice them on the road from one of the mansion's windows. If they saw them, they would never get out of it. They would be unable to run and escape.
Luckily, they managed to enter the forest without incident. They walked again and again through the trees and the burning foliage. They were getting closer and closer to the city and further and further away from the manor to their delight. They were exhausted, on the verge of collapsing. Despite the bandage, William continued to bleed and grew weaker and weaker. They held each other strong, not saying a word. They were physically and physiologically incapable of it.
Julia looked up after what felt like another thirty minutes and saw the city of Toronto appear before her eyes. She could not help but smile. Morning had finally arrived, and the sun was out. The barely heated light gently caressed their faces. They suddenly entered the road, their feet finally touching something other than ferns.
When they were finally in the middle of a road, in the middle of lots of different buildings and businesses, they saw all the inhabitants and passers-by froze in horror at seeing them bloody, disheveled, dirty, and disheveled. All those people who had just gone out early in the morning after a good night's sleep and were about to go to work or go for a coffee in the area. They were simply present in this neighborhood like every morning. It was routine. However, what was their amazement and terror when they saw these two young people support each other in the middle of their street.
Suddenly, the forces of William and Julia left them at the same time and they both collapsed on the sidewalk, under the eyes of passersby who rushed to help them. They both passed out, clinging to each other as if their lives still depended on it.
Note: They made it to town… Finally… Thanks for reading !