Sophia

It's over. Finally it's over.

I saw Russo's lifeless body with the iron rod spearing in his heart. Damon had his revenge. The rapist who tattered and killed his little sister is dead. The monster who was the reason of his father's demise is dead.

I couldn't get myself to look at his body but Damon he was staring at it with the splashes of his blood on his face. Sometimes I think how inhuman is he to not flinch at the things he do but the pain he has gone through has killed any tenderness in him. I understand what he would have gone through when he would have seen the lifeless body of his little sister. Ripped not only of her clothes but her future, her family, her dreams, her soul.

I reached Damon and stretched my hands to touch his shoulder. "Where is Ric?" He asked before he turned to me, before I could touch him. Ric, how will I tell him.

He turned to me and held me by my shoulders "Wh-whe-where is my br-brother Doll?" He was too injured to even form a sentence. For the first time I heard Don stuttering. I held his hand at my shoulder "D-Don he-he -" before I could complete I felt his hand slipping from mine as he fell to the ground. "Damon! Damon get up." I said sitting beside him shaking him. God no. No, no no. Please get up. Please babe get up. "You can't leave me. Get up. Damon get up. Please get up. I can't loose you. Please", I was crying constantly when I heard the voice I was so waiting to hear "Soph".

I felt Enzo's hand on my shoulder as he crouched beside me. "Where were you Enzo?" I hid my face in his chest and I felt his hand in my head consoling me "h-he-he is not waking up, he is not-" I was sobbing continuously repeating the same thing. All I want is to see his ocean eyes again. I felt Enzo's rubbing my back "shh...Soph" he kept on stroking my back.

I saw a rush as paramedics came inside with Antonio and took Damon on the stretchers.

Everything seems blur to me. It's like my whole world has fallen apart in one moment as he fell to the ground.

Here I am in hospital waiting for doctors to come out from operation theater and tell that Damon is fine. That Ric is fine.

We are all here, Enzo is with me on first floor where Damon is in surgery and Alysia, Caprice and Antonio are on the second floor where Ric is in surgery. I got to know that all this time when Enzo wasn't around, he was making arrangements for saving Ric.

Even Chuck was there because he too was treated there for his injuries. Chuck had multiple injuries, though none of them severe because the motive was to keep him down and not kill him yet he was too inured and weak to move right now. I cursed myself for taking a sigh of relief back when I saw Zack taking Chuck. I could never imagine that Zack could turn out to be a rat. I could only imagine Damon's shock when that news would have unfolded on him. I have seen the trust in his eyes for Doctor Zack.

Caprice and Alysia, I don't know how they are doing, I am so worried about Ric too and the worst part is I couldn't be with them.

The moment I got to know that Julio turned out to be the rat, my heart ached to be with Alysia, she must be so heartbroken. She is too young to have so many wounds at her delicate heart. I wanted to be with them but I couldn't and not only because Damon is getting operated on a different floor but also somewhere deep down I couldn't bring myself to face Caprice. What will I say to her, that her Ric got shot because I was reckless enough to can't sit around and wait. Had I wouldn't be there, Ric wouldn't be there trying to save me, Damon wouldn't be alone inside to fight. If anything happens to Ric today I don't know if I could ever get past this and face Caprice and Damon. "I promise you every bullet has to go through me before it could reach you or Charles." I remembered Ricardo's words he said to me in the study before all this. He kept his promise and I couldn't keep my word to not let anything happen to him. Oh God, please don't let anything happen to them.

The panic began to rise again and my breathing was becoming shallow when I felt Enzo's hand on my shoulder "Soph-Soph, are you okay? You with me? Hey-hey Soph" "Yea-yeah I am fine" I replied to him as he shook me out of the panic attack about to engulf me. My eyes went to his hand holding Damon's shirt, the nurse must have given to him before the surgery. He had his shirt and a zip lock bag with his watch, wallet and wedding ring. I took the shirt form his hand and there was so much blood on the fabric. I couldn't control the grief standing on the edge to finally sink in.

I hugged his shirt and blood smeared on my clothes and hands. "He will be fine, he is stronger than that, right?" I said feeling Enzo's hand around me to calm me down. "He sure is, Soph" he said but he wasn't looking at me. Is he not sure? "Then why are you not saying it with more conviction? You think he - he will -, do you?" I asked, not able to exactly bring myself to say the words "No Soph, of course not. He will survive this, he will. What I am fearing is, is if Ric survives, because I am not sure if Damon can survive that" he said, almost too low, like talking to himself.

He was right, he cannot take it, if anything happens to Ric, he would feel better off being dead than to wake up to a world where his brother is not there. I know Damon hates the fact that Ric has to join him, he will totally blame himself.

Again and again Damon's voice is coming to me "Wh-whe-where is my br-brother Doll?" His voice is echoing in my head and my mind drifted to the moment I saw those bastards coming towards me tied to our car.

I knew they aren't Don's men. I knew almost all of them by now. So I sat inside and locked the door. "Donna, don't be a tease and open the door." said one of them and I hear a gunshot. I saw Ric jumping in front of my car and five other men who stood there surrounding me. Where did he come from? I wondered but then I smiled knowing he will take care of it. They were fighting for what seems like forever. Ric killed almost most of them. He came and opened my door "Sophia, c'mon you need to leave" he said putting his hand forward for me to hold. "I-I can't" I showed him my tied hand to the steering. "Ugghh brother" He let out a grunt shaking his head he reached to untie me and a gunshot echoed in the air and I saw Ric falling to the ground "NO!!!! RICARDO!! RICARDO!!!!" I screamed and jumped to the ground next to him. "Ric get up...Ric, Ric" I was shaking him with my free hand continuously when a pair of black leather shoes came into my vision.

I looked up and I saw him. Russo. That heinous monster. "You, You scoundrel, how could you??? I will kill you!" I screamed getting up and he laughed. The same maniac laughter that I hate more than anything in this world.

I took a step back and tried to reach the gun but to my bad luck the gun fell near the breaks and before I could bend down, Russo pulled me by my hair "Enough Donna, you did enough." He said and his fist connect my face making my head bang on the hood of the car. "You are coming with me, it's time to tame your husband in there" he opened the knot I was trying to open since hours in a minute but before I could even feel it he tied both my wrists together with the same tie. He dragged me and I was screaming for Ric. He needs help. Zack? Where is Zack? He can help him, save him.

In few long strides Ric faded from my eyesight and I was dragged inside the old and broken factory. The gunshots were flying like scary bats. Then Russo shot a bullet in the air silencing his men. He called for Damon in his creepy voice and then made me call for him. He gripped my elbow so hard when I didn't call Don, that a scream escaped me. It shouldn't have. He will come out. I know Damon can't see me getting hurt. He will come out. All I wanted him to not come out but he did. Alone. Where the hell is Enzo? I thought

I looked at him and I can see the helplessness no matter how much he veil it with courage. It's all my fault, my fault, I shouldn't have come. I should have listened to him. I am his weakness and now Russo is taking the advantage.

Seeing him here my heart urged to go in his arms but the hand holding me stopped and I see seething rage in Damon's eyes when that filthy man touched me. I know how his temper rises on something like this. He is too possessive to handle it, even in a situation like this and he couldn't. He shot that man. I lunged to reach him but Russo was ahead of me. The moment his bullet hit Damon it felt like someone choked my windpipe. Though he composed himself and Russo too surprisingly left my hand instead of pushing his buttons.

I saw Damon's futile efforts to get Russo fight him alone. Russo has really pulled up a damn good job. I am glad that I told Damon about him. There wasn't a chance Enzo would have walked out alive had I brought him here following Russo's instructions. But where is he? I was thinking about him again and again, how can he leave Damon to fight alone or if this bastard has shot him too like Ric. Ric, God do some miracle and save him please. Damon will shatter if anything happens to him

Russo's demand broke my train of thoughts. What shocked me was not Russo demanding to be the Don but Damon agreeing to let him in a heartbeat. I know what it means to him. Being the Don. He is so perfect at being the king of his world. I have seen him being the Don. He is proud of it and he offered it to him in a platter like it was nothing. I looked at him and his eyes were telling me he would give anything for me to be safe. Nothing matters more to him than that, I understand that. I know how much he loves me but then something happened that I can never would have imagined in my dreams, Russo asked Damon to kneel and surrender. That can't happen. I mean that would mean Russo will kill him, but the alternative means that he will kill me, Damon couldn't let that happen I know that but he can't surrender, not to the man who tattered his sixteen year old sister, just because he was getting bored. But he dropped his gun, no he can't but he did. He cut off my protest and bent his knee and knelt in front of Russo.

In that moment I fell to the ground, I couldn't imagine him kneeling in front of anyone let alone Russo. I remembered the night of our wedding reception, I have seen even the FBI chief stutter in front of him, I have seen him working, and not once had anyone has the audacity to talk back to him. He had hundreds of people living off his whims and desire. He is not only feared but respected. The respect he earned and was not given to him as a lineage. I have seen people submit to him before he even speaks and that Don is kneeling here in front of the man who basically ruined him and his family because of me.

I hated myself in that moment for coming here, for not listening to him, for not understanding what he meant when he said he can't give Russo anymore leverage. I hated the fact that I am the reason that he let go of his pride, I hated that he loved me too much.

Russo kept on hitting him and he didn't retaliate because a pathetic mobster is holding a gun at my head. Why? How? I came here so that I can be with him, somehow I thought I will be here to protect him, how did I make him so weak.

He fell on the ground and I remembered when he fell in his ring fighting Chuck. He didn't fight him back because he didn't want to hurt me. He didn't want to hurt Chuck too much because of his rage so he held back, because he was my brother, and today too he is here to save him and he did, I knew when Rafe saved Chuck from Julio and took him from there. He kept his promise to save my brother, and I - I don't even know if his brother is alive or not. I don't know if I could live with the fact that Ric died saving me. I was drowned in these waves of thoughts when I saw Damon's eyes closed.

NO, This can't happen, he can't loose. He always wins. I crawled a step trying to reach him when I felt someone stopping me. I shifted my gaze from Damon to the hand that was holding me, Russo. "Where do you think you are going slut?" he spitted out his venom bringing me back on my knees as I was quite for sometime now, but I was too distracted to reply him, Damon is dying- no. I ignored him and tried to move towards Damon. "Not so soon honey" he said crouching beside me "I told you I will kill your Don and make you mine, I told you what will happen if you defy me and go to him. You should have came alone with that weasel Lorenzo, now you saved your friend but see you lost your husband." he said digging his fingers hard in my flesh. He gripped my hair too tightly in an attempt to make me face him instead of Damon but he couldn't. Even I couldn't. I wanted to look at him, I wanted to reply to him, hell I wanted to kill him but I couldn't do anything. Its like the only thing mattered right now was to reach Damon, I want to touch him again, I want him to touch me again even if it is to punish me for disobeying him and coming here. I want him to kiss me like I am his life, I want to see his blue eyes again. The eyes that are my anchor, my solace, my home. He can't close them like this. After all this that we went through. I never asked for Damon Caprio, he came in my life like a storm and flew me with him, he made every possible threat a reality that made sure that I am his, he made me go crazy in love with him and now when he has become my world, when he has became as necessary as air itself for me to breathe, now when I don't know how to live without him, he decided to close his eyes. He can't leave me, he has to come back to me. He has to get up.

I kept my attempts on to reach him but Russo's hold was getting tighter, he is not letting me reach him "Slow down Donna, I kept my end of the bargain, its time for you to keep yours" he said laughing as he pulled me up. "Oh Caprio, how much I wish that you were still alive to see how I make your queen my whore", he said maliciously addressing to Damon and I could finally make myself to turn to him. The only thing I felt was anger, anger that I never felt before. The excruciating rage that emitted my body made me slap Russo hard. Hard enough for his skin to break "HE IS NOT DEAD" I said making each word loud and clear, how could he say that my Damon is dead. "Really then ask him to get up and save you bitch" he said as his fist connected my face and I dropped on the ground. "What say buddies, we celebrate our victory now, and she is a gift from your new Don" he said as he gripped my elbow and dragged me.

"Damon!!" I screamed for him to wake up. I stretched my hand to reach as I was dragged farther away from him. Damon!!! I kept screaming for him to wake up but he didn't. He is not waking up. I felt them threw me on a surface I was too out of my senses to actually realize if it is a table or anything else. "Damon!!!" I screamed and then I felt Russo's hand on my throat cutting off my voice. They were holding me down, I couldn't count how many but there were many hands on my body. I felt Russo's hand tear my top and then a gunshot rang in the air and Russo fell off the table on the floor.

I saw Damon, standing with the gun in his hand in all his fury. I could see his eyes turning red but for me that didn't matter. In that moment I didn't see him killing people one by one, I didn't see him shooting Russo with multiple bullets all I saw that he is alive.

But then, they came at him together. They held him back, I saw his gun fall. He is too injured to fight everyone together. The bullet is still inside him. He was still fighting them, no I can't let him fall down again. I jumped from the table and picked his gun. They were too busy with holding Damon back that they didn't notice me getting up. I saw one them about to hit Damon when others held him back and I shot before I could think. I saw the shock in Damon's eyes when he saw me shooting, but I didn't let it register. I was too caught up with my anger and when I saw someone about to attack him from behind I killed him too. I couldn't let anything apart from my anger to sink in right now.

I was done being weak, I can't let him down by being his weakness. I cannot be the reason that he has to kneel ever again. I came here to be his strength and that's what I will be. I threw the gun to him and bend down to pick another so that no one can reach him when he finishes that heinous ghoul and he did.

He shot him, hit him and when Russo took his last breath I saw the relief in his eyes. He was crying. I saw his tear rolled down his cheeks and those tears were for his sister. In that moment it may look like he was staring at that bastard he wasn't , he was looking at his freedom. Freedom from this vengeance he was trapped in all these years. In that moment I can feel him hearing Laeila's laughter and not her screams.

The doctor opened the operation theater's door grabbing my and Enzo's attention.