Alessia's scream echoed through the grasses like a requiem for the damned.
She clutched Luca's face in her trembling hands, his skin burning cold beneath her touch, his pulse faint and flickering like the last ember of a dying fire.
"No, no, no…" her sobs broke the silence. "Stay with me, Luca. Please, stay."
Blood seeped between her fingers as she pressed her palms desperately against his chest wound.
The crimson warmth stained her gown, her skin, her soul. Each second dragged with cruel finality, every breath he took sounded like it could be his last.
Luca's eyes fluttered open, shards of molten brown meeting hers, glazed with pain yet still carrying that unyielding love.
His lips moved faintly, voice barely a whisper.
"Alessia… My amore… don't… cry." he said to her.
"Don't you dare tell me not to cry... " she snapped through the flood of tears, her voice cracking, breaking. "You promised me forever, Luca! You swore… you swore I wouldn't lose you. Not like this."
