After this phone call, Evelyn immediately called Aurelia.
"You and Sir need to come here as soon as possible, with the cops. I don't have much time to explain, but it's an emergency…"
Aurelia agreed and ended the call. She immediately told Vincent about the emergency Evelyn had mentioned.
Without wasting any time, Vincent ordered Mr. Sanchez to quickly bring the car and pick them up.
After a few minutes, all three arrived at the company with the officers.
They saw that a few thugs were trying to harm the employees, specifically targeting the ones who had handled the murder case—Aurelia's team members.
When the thugs saw the police, they immediately armed themselves.
The police officers ordered them to drop their guns and weapons, but they refused.
Instead, they aimed directly at Evelyn.
They pulled the trigger.
The officers rushed toward them without any delay to arrest them, but they had already fired.
And Evelyn wasn't the one who was hurt.
It was Austin.
He had taken the bullet in his shoulder in order to save her.
As soon as the firing took place, the police fired at the thugs and took them away without any delay.
Vincent went to the Sub-Inspector to discuss the formalities and file a complaint.
On the other hand, Austin was bleeding heavily, but his face showed no sign of pain in front of Evelyn.
Aurelia quickly called an ambulance.
Evelyn's POV:-
Seeing Austin covered in blood, I couldn't control myself. I held onto him and pulled him into my arms.
Seeing him lying there made my heart ache more than anything.
"Are you stupid for taking the bullet, Austin? Did you really need to play hero here??" I cried out loud.
This—this little dummy had taken a bullet for me.
I broke down even more than he did.
He said, "It doesn't hurt, Evelyn. Stop crying. It will be okay soon…"
I wiped away my tears.
"Does it hurt too much? Don't worry, the ambulance should be here any moment."
Austin wiped the tears from my face and said, "Stop crying. It's nothing. It doesn't hurt; it's just bleeding. I won't go anywhere, leaving you alone…"
At that moment, all I could notice was him, and my heart was racing with fear.
Nothing else mattered.
Soon, the ambulance came, and we reached the hospital.
I rushed with him toward the operation theatre.
Before going inside, he said, "I will come back."
As if I was going to let him go anywhere.
I collapsed into Aurelia's arms, crying loudly.
She calmed me down, and we sat on the bench.
Vincent came toward us and said, "The thugs were most probably sent by the culprit—maybe the CEO or the one who was threatening you, Aurelia."
"But why did they target Evelyn?"
"Maybe hurting her can make you mentally weak and make you give up on the case in this situation."
"Where were the bodyguards outside the company doing?" Evelyn looked at Vincent with red eyes, tears flowing down her face.
"The bodyguards were bribed a day earlier. They are now under custody for interrogation."
Soon, the doctor walked out.
Evelyn immediately rushed toward him and asked, "How is he, Doctor?"
"He is stable. I must say, he has a very strong will to live, considering his previous condition…"
"Previous condition?" Aurelia questioned.
"He has a past history of cervical stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal in the neck. This can cause pressure on the nerves and lead to weakness or other neurological problems. Because of that history, a gunshot wound near the collarbone could have caused serious nerve damage. Fortunately, the bullet missed the main nerve bundle by a very small margin."
The doctor paused before continuing.
"I knew about his previous condition because of the old, healed surgical scar on the back of his neck and the narrowing visible in his baseline neck X-rays."
"So there won't be any problem, right?" Vincent questioned.
"Not really. But for a week or two, he should avoid any vigorous work. I'll prescribe some painkillers. You can get them from the counter."
Evelyn then asked, her voice full of sadness and fear, "Can I meet him?"
Her voice trembled slightly as she said it.
The doctor nodded.
"You can meet him once he is shifted to the general ward."
The doctor left.
The only thing that remained was Evelyn's reckless shedding of tears, while Aurelia and Vincent sat with faces full of questions, fear, and worry.
After a few minutes, when Evelyn finally met Austin, she wiped away her tears beforehand.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt? Should I bring you some warm water? Or food? Or…"
Before she could continue, Austin stopped her.
"Are you okay? You look like a puffed fish!"
Evelyn couldn't hold her tears anymore.
She started crying loudly.
"You devil! I will kill you for this… Why did you take the bullet when you knew you had a past condition with your shoulder?"
"It was ten years ago, dear. It's nothing serious… Stop crying, or I'll feel bad…"
As soon as he finished the sentence, Evelyn carefully hugged him.
"Never ever risk your life for me. Promise me?"
"How could I promise that? This would break the first promise I made to you on the streets—that I would protect you no matter what. I will always stay beside you…"
Evelyn gently pulled away from the hug, and Austin kissed her as a sign of affirmation.
"What the fuckk?"
Aurelia dropped the fruit bag.
Behind her, Vincent stood still, covering Aurelia's eyes after she saw this.