Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 250: His last breath

Chapter 250: His last breath

With those words, Neil used a sharp object he’d picked up from the floor and placed it against the wire. He didn’t look down as he cut it; he was looking at his wife, who was gazing at him with so much love and trust, smiling at him. Smiling back at her, he cut the wire, and a booming sound erupted throughout the entire warehouse.

At first, Mia thought it was the bomb that exploded and she kept her eyes shut with her hands gripping Neil’s, her fingers digging into his skin. She didn’t dare to move and didn’t even open her eyes as she expected to feel the flames of the fire burning her flesh, but instead she felt Neil’s soothing touch on her cheeks, stroking her skin.

"Open your eyes, querida. I stopped the bomb," he said, his voice filled with relief and tenderness.

Mia opened her eyes. She looked down at the bomb and saw that it had stopped ticking. Then she looked up at Neil in happy disbelief. "You did it. It stopped," she said, smiling and kissing his hand that was stroking her cheek. But he leaned down and covered her mouth with his before she could react. He kissed her like the world was ending and this was their last kiss, and she kissed him back with the same intensity. However, he pulled back before it could get deep and caressed her cheek, then her neck, then he touched her belly and stroked it.

"We did it," he whispered tenderly.

Mia had already accepted her fate a moment ago, but knowing that the bomb had stopped and that they’d live to see their children made her so happy she was left shaky and weak. She’d heard so much about Neil’s skills with defusing bombs, but she’d never seen him in action until now, and she couldn’t be prouder of him than she was now. She laid her hand on his on her belly and smiled into his eyes.

She wished she could hug him right now and kiss him longer with all the love and joy in her heart, but the gallons and chains were in the way. And as if knowing she wanted to be close to him, skin to skin, Neil stood up and began to frantically search for something to use to unlock the chains around her. He ran into the other door and came back holding a fire axe he’d probably picked from the fire axe cabinet. But his expression looked panicked and anxious.

"I have to break you out of the chains immediately. The loud sound a moment ago came from outside. It’s a gunshot. No doubt Owen’s men are back," Neil said as he hurriedly pulled the chain to break it with the axe. He had ignored the sound as he had been too worried about the bomb, but he’d spotted some cars outside when he went to get the axe.

He raised the axe and with one strike, he broke the chains. He quickly removed them from around Mia and also removed the bomb suit from her body and tossed it aside. Then, not wasting time, he pulled her up and pulled her into his embrace. As usual, she melted into his embrace like liquid and hugged him back. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and closed his eyes to inhale the faint jasmine scent on her body and stroked her back lovingly. The hug only lasted a minute before he pulled away reluctantly. Despite the fact that he wanted to bask in her warmth and kiss her longer for all the days he’d went without her, he knew they had to leave before the men outside got in.

"We have to go, my love. I’ll carry you," he said as she began to walk forward, but Mia shook her head as she glanced at his bruised body and bloody bandage. "I’ll walk myself, you..." She broke off, and Neil saw her eyes widen. But before he could do anything or even turn to see what she was looking at behind him, Mia had used her strength to turn him over, and at that moment a gunshot went off.

Mia’s eyes widened at the same time the gunshot went off, and Neil swirled around only to see Owen holding the gun with a murderous expression. When Owen saw he had missed shooting Neil, he was about to pull the trigger again, but Neil was faster this time. He instinctively picked up the fire axe and hurled it toward Owen. Everything happened so quickly, and the axe struck Owen straight in the chest and stuck there before he could dodge. His eyes clouded in disbelief as the gun fell from his grip, he staggered as if trying his best to hold on but his whole body weakened a he fell on his knees and blood began to ooze from his mouth and nose.

Owen struggled to move or even speak, but all he could manage were curses before he felt the life slipping out of him. He choked on his blood, and the world began to blur away as he stared at the dirty ceiling, cursing Mariana and Neil for tricking him. He died before he could reflect on his life’s mistakes and how he had failed to get what he wanted. However, before he took his last breath, he noticed something that made him smile in satisfaction. At last, he wouldn’t be dying alone tonight; his lover would soon join him in the afterlife.

At the same time Owen stopped breathing, Neil heard Mia cry out his name. The moment he turned, she began to fall, and he caught her body before she hit the ground. His arm, which was wrapped around her, came into contact with something sticky and warm. His expression turned to horror as he realized his wife had been shot. She had taken the bullet for him!

"No, no, no, Mia, don’t do this to me. Don’t close your eyes," he cried, attempting to pick her up. But she grabbed his hand and shook her head with a wince as her back burned with any little movement.

"Neil, it hurts... please," she gasped, her voice weak and pained, tears filling her eyes and blurring her vision of him.

"Why the hell did you jump to meet the bullet?" Neil asked, his voice slightly breaking. For a moment, he’d believed she’d pulled him out of harm’s way and had missed the bullet as well, only to realize the bullet hadn’t missed. No wonder that bastard Owen was smiling before his death. "Why did you take the bullet..." he muttered brokenly as he lifted her head onto his lap.

Mia’s back was burning so badly she wanted it to stop. Through her pain, she managed to raise her hand and cup his cheek. "I love you, and I would take a bullet for you a hundred times more," she whispered, her voice filled with determination and love for him. She swallowed convulsively to stop herself from crying and to keep him from panicking more than he already was. She wanted to survive; she wanted to live, but the pain was so intense she wished she could close her eyes and make it stop.

"Neil... I think I will die. It hurts so much..." she whispered softly.

Tears filled Neil’s gray eyes as he looked into hers, but they didn’t fall. "Don’t say that. You’re not going to die. Not now, not ever. I won’t let you," he said, his voice firm. "I’m taking you to the hospital, and the doctors will nurse you back to health. They won’t dare let you die."

Without wasting any more time, he picked her up effortlessly and began to walk towards the exit in long strides. Mia, fighting to stay awake, called his name again, but he hushed her and told her to save her strength and not speak. Neil’s heart and emotions were a complete mess. He didn’t care if he had to kneel before anybody out there to help his wife; he was willing to do anything. He didn’t want to lose her, not today, not ever.

As he was approaching the exit, he realized the commotion and gunshots from earlier were the soldiers and Owen’s men fighting outside. He had never been so relieved to see his men as he was at that moment. He spotted Liam the moment he stepped out, beating a man as if he’d kill him. But noticing the look in Neil’s eyes, Liam pushed the man to another soldier and ran towards his friend, who looked like he was about to break down in tears.

"Liam, get the car! Hurry, we need to take her to the hospital!" Neil yelled panickingly, not caring how they got to track his whereabouts for now. All he wanted was to get Mia out of danger before anything else.

Noticing the blood trailing behind Neil, Liam wasted no time. He turned around, got the car, and stopped in front of Neil. Neil got inside with Mia on his lap.

"Mia?" he called her name as he noticed she’d closed her eyes. "Mia?" he called again, shaking her. He began to beg her to wake up. "Damnit, Mia, wake up!"

He looked towards Liam and yelled, "Why isn’t she opening her eyes? Liam, tell her to open her eyes!" He called her name again, his voice shaking, and the tears he had been fighting back for twenty years came streaming down his face like a dam breaking. He shook her, not stopping his tears, letting them flow freely, choking on his emotions as he begged her to open her eyes.

Liam glanced back at him from the rearview mirror, shocked to see Neil crying. The sight of his friend breaking down was a gut-wrenching blow. He’d never seen Neil this broken or in tears before. He was the kind who hated being vulnerable to his emotions. Watching him like this made Liam’s own throat burn, and he stepped on the gas and drove like the hounds of hell were after him. *Mia, hold on. Please,* he silently prayed, knowing his friend would never overcome it if something were to happen to her, or if she were to die.

Neil was shaking her so much that Mia groaned as her eyes slowly flew open. "That hurts," she whispered weakly.

Relief washed over Neil, and he hugged her tightly. "Never do that to me again. Keep your eyes open, my love. Keep them open," he said, his voice a mix of relief and desperation. He yelled at Liam to hurry up and break the speed limit.

Mia looked at her husband’s tear-streaked face. She’d never seen him cry or look this broken. He looked so fragile and scared. He was now singing to her to keep her from closing her eyes. "If you die, I will never forgive you. You better keep your eyes open," he told her again as she began to fall into the tempting sleep that was pulling her in.

Mia managed a smile and said, "I will never die and leave you... but if something were to happen to me, save our children..."

Neil shook his head and told her, "Nothing will happen to you. You will live and so will the babies. We will go on that vacation island we planned to go after you give birth. We’ll have that dream wedding of yours. Nothing will ever happen to you. Nothing." At that moment, the car screeched to a stop in front of Silverbrook First Hospital. Liam rushed out and hurried to get the nurses to bring an emergency stretcher.

As the nurses arrived and lifted Mia onto the stretcher, Neil held her hand tightly. "You’re going to be okay, Mia. I’m right here with you."

Mia looked up at him, her vision already blurring. She held on to his hand tightly as she stared up at the hospital’s white ceiling while they wheeled her into the emergency room. She heard the nurses yelling for Neil to stay out, but she didn’t want to let go of him, and he didn’t seem to want that either. They held on to each other tightly until Liam came forward and pulled Neil back.

Mia felt the world begin to turn dark at the same time Neil’s hand was forced away from hers. Before she could fall into the darkness, she whispered, "I love you..."

"I love you too, Mia. More than anything," he whispered as they wheeled her away from him, with Liam holding him back or he would have forced his way into the emergency operation room.