Get up, I thought to myself.

Every part of my body ached.

My head pounded as my eyes trailed around the room I was in.

While my vision was still partly blurry, I could make out that I was in some high-rolling hotel in Italy anymore.

I couldn't remember why I was here or what happened, but I knew I wasn't alone.

And, by the pain that was screeching from my torso, I knew I wasn't okay.

With all the strength I had, I lifted my arm to feel the area surrounding me.

The floor was cold. My fingers traced over what I could only assume was pebbles and tiny specks of dirt.

I tried sitting up but was quickly pushed back down by the weight of my pain. I felt useless.

As I searched, my hand grazed over what felt like skin. Resting my palm flat, I softly grabbed onto whatever was next to me and lifted myself up.

My head throbbed as I sat upright, slightly waving back and forth due to dizziness.

I began to tremble when my eyes landed upon something... someone.

Vinnie laid there, cold and lifeless. His face drained of color with fresh cuts and scrapes in various spots.

As I examined him, all the memories came flooding back. My head began to pound and tears poured out of my eyes.

My body was warped with weakness.

The gunshot wound in my stomach ached, but the pain it exudes was numbing to me.

Everything that surrounded me suddenly became dark and blurry again. This room— this awful, sin-filled room— felt like a nightmare to me.

But I knew that it wasn't just a feeling, it was real.

Everything that had happened was real.

I glued my knees to my body, clenching my arms around them to keep warm.

My eyes found their way to Vinnie's. He stared blankly at the ceiling, but not an inch of him moved.

I couldn't believe Vinnie had chosen to die. For me, nonetheless.

He wasn't ready to die. He was an incredible man, one with dreams and aspirations. He had high hopes, ones he knew he was worthy of exceeding.

"Why, Vinnie? W-Why on earth would you give this life up for me?" I said as I held his cold cheeks, silently pleading with god to bring him back.

Every bone in my body regretted not making him mine when I had the chance.

The games we played were nothing short of childish. We held onto eachother like leeches, yet never labeled ourselves as anything.

As much as I hated the way we expressed our love towards one another, nothing could ever break my heart more than seeing the love of my life dead.

His body was void of any life it ever possessed. His skin was pale and dry, other than the fresh blood.

And, on his chest, was the bullet that took him from me.

Blood seeped from the hole, draining him of life second by second. I wanted to help, but I didn't know how.

I was in a room with nothing but dust and little oxygen. It wasn't long before I wouldn't be able to save myself, either.

The only thing keeping me warm was my tears.

I was hopeless and delusional. But, if anything, more so in confusion as to why I was brought back.

What quality of life would I have after this?

Without Vinnie, without memory loss, I was warped by death and pain. My brain would never be able to let this go.

"My love," I said as my thumb caressed Vinnie's cheek, memories of him and I flooding into my brain.

I laid back down on the floor, counting down the seconds until I take my second last breath.

My body was slowly giving up again. The sound of my heartbeat became less rapid while my headache eased itself, telling me my body was shutting down.

These are my last moments.

As I lay there in silence, staring into the utter darkness of this cold room, I couldn't help but talk to Vinnie, even if he couldn't hear me.

"Dream as if you will live forever, live as you will die today," I began, "that's something I wish I could've told you, Vin."

With my hand, I intertwined Vinnie's in mine.

It didn't feel like it normally did— warm and loving. Rather, it felt numb.

Everything felt numb.

"I'll never forget the first time I saw you," I said, giggling at the thought, "you were dressed in all black, and those cute curls fell over your forehead like they always did."

I squeezed his hand as my eyes slowly began to shut, tears still streaming out of them.

"You were so intimidating. You always put up a front, but beyond that was someone so incredible, so capable of love."

I took a deep breath, "and for what it's worth, my love, I'm glad I was the first to experience that."

My breath hitched as my vision began to become starry.

I didn't know if this was the moment I was meant to go, but I knew I'd be okay with it. All that mattered was Vinnie.

But, my breath bitched when I felt a tiny squeeze against my palm.

I jolted up, ignoring the pain that scorched through my stomach.

My eyes fell upon Vinnie's chest. Slowly, it rose up and down. I placed my free hand against it, feeling his heart pound.

He was alive.

Vinnie was alive.

"V-Vinnie?" I anxiously said, cupping my hands over his cheeks.

His eyes fixated on mine as his hand gripped my arm. I didn't believe what I was seeing, because for all I knew I was dead.

"Y-you made me capable of loving, Luna Rayne."

I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from screaming.

"Please tell me this is r-real." I pleaded as I felt the pain of my wound suddenly come back to life.

Vinnie turned his head to me, a slight smile creaking on the corner of his lip.

It was real.

But I knew this wouldn't last long if I sat here in disbelief. I knew I had to do my best to find help, and fast.

With the strength I had left, I slowly pushed myself up from the floor.

The darkness of the room made it that much harder to navigate. I didn't know where in the room I was, or if there was even a door to let myself out of.

I felt around feeling nothing but concrete and dirt.

My hope was slowly dwindling. Deep down I knew there was nothing I could do, but I needed to try.

"H-help!" I yelled as loud as I could, forcing myself to bang on the wall with my fists.

To say I felt useless would be an understatement. I felt like I was nothing, like I deserved to die here.

Using the wall as a guide, I made my way back to the corner where Vinnie was.

Through all of the darkness, he was the one thing I was able to see.

Under him, a pool of blood stained his skin all while growing larger by the minute. I squeezed my eyes shut, somehow hoping this was all a dream, but I knew we'll that it wasn't.

"What are we going to do, Vinnie?" I questioned, expecting to be left in silence.

I knew he was in pain.

I didn't want to make him speak, but hell, the only thing that could calm me right now is his sweet, deep voice; the one that sounded like caramel oozing out of chocolate.

He always had a way of calming me. He always knew exactly what to say, always having the right words.

"L-luna," he spoke up, but his voice was almost too faint to hear, "this has to be the end." Vinnie said before letting go of my hand and holding his to his wound, trying to stop the blood from oozing out.

I didn't want to believe his words.

Every part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him it'd be okay, but I knew I couldn't.

I rested my hand on his cheek, caressing my thumb back and forth against his soft skin.

With his free hand, he grabbed my waist and nudged me toward him. My wound stung like hell, but all I could think about was how lucky I'd been to see and talk to Vinnie one last time.

My head leaned next to his. The only sound in the room was our faint breathing that slowed by the minute.

"If we can't make it in this life," I began, but was quickly cut off.

"I'll be with you in all of my lives, Luna."

I sighed as tears strolled down my cheek.

There was nothing that hurt more than knowing I wouldn't be able to love him in this life.

We wouldn't get married, we wouldn't build a future together. There was no future for us anymore.

"I w-wish we figured ourselves out earlier." I said, thinking of the silly games we played.

Those silly games that seemed so harmless. They hurt like hell, but maybe it was our way of showing love towards one another— even if it was pathetic and shallow.

"Marry me." Vinnie said as he took his hand in mine and squeezed it.

"What?" I questioned.

"I want to leave this world knowing you were my wife, whether or n-not it be official." He said, his voice becoming shaky.

Turning my head, my eyes met his. Our lips distantly touched, but the warmth our kisses normally had was nowhere to be found.

Vinnie's lips were cold and dry, his cheeks stained with tears.

"I do." I said, bringing myself as close as possible to Vinnie's body.

He smiled and leaned his head on my shoulder. His body trembled, but I did my best to ignore the fact we were both dying.

Dying.

The end of life. Something that wasn't supposed to happen for years.

I felt my body giving out more and more by the second. The feeling of detachment riddled through my bones, and in seconds I was void of all feeling.

My eyes closed, and the only thing I was capable of was hearing.

The room was silent until I heard banging.

"V-vinnie, did you hear that?" I questioned as I nudged him, but was left with silence.

With all the strength I had left, I propped my eyes open. He was in the same position as before, but his eyes were closed and his smile was gone.

Please, no. I thought to myself as I began poking him, hoping and praying for any sign of life.

I rested my hand on his chest and was met with immediate relief when I felt it move up and down.

As I lifted my body up, my hands never left his chest.

He was unconscious, but his soul wasn't gone. He was still here.

As seconds passed by, the banging grew louder. And, before I knew it, it reached the room Vinnie and I were in.

"H-help!" I yelled with everything I had left in me.

My vision was beginning to turn blurry as I kept screaming for help. I didn't know how I did it, but I knew part of it was for Vinnie. For our future. For us.

Suddenly, a door busted open on the opposite end of the room.

In came Vinnie's men, armed and ready to help us.

"Ms. Rayne, are you okay?" One of them asked me as they shined flashlights on Vinnie and I.

I took a deep breath. "D-don't worry about me. Take care of V-vinnie."

I reached my hand out to the man and attempted to grab his wrist. He propped himself on his knees, taking out what I could only assume was medical equipment.

"P-please don't let him die." I whimpered.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. "I'm gonna need you to brace yourself."

Before I knew it, my wound stung like a wildfire as the man tended to it.

The pain seethed through my bones. My vision, once again, began to turn blurry.

And that's when everything turned black.

__________________________________

"Ms. Rayne?" A beautiful voice with a strong Italian accent said as Luna's eyes fluttered open.

Her face was pale, but a hint of life still glimmered in her eyes. She looked around, dazed and confused.

A few doctors surrounded her bed, chatting about how it was near-impossible for both her and Vinnie to survive that long with wounds.

It had been a long 36 hours of complications, surgeries, and doubts.

But with the grace of god, Vinnie and Luna were given the gift of life, the gift of a future. The gift to finally be with one another.

"Where's Vinnie?" Luna asked, concern laced in her voice.

The doctor checked her vitals and sighed in relief. "Vinnie is in the room over, alive and well."

Luna smiled as a single tear escaped her eye. She finally knew that all of her praying had worked.

"Is there any chance I can see him?" She asked as she fiddled with her fingers, nervous to see the love of her life, games aside this time around.

The doctor nodded and released the lock shift on the hospital bed. A nurse ran over, taking the lead to roll Luna to Vinnie's room.

Luna bit her lip as she thought about seeing Vinnie again.

As they entered Vinnie's room, his eyes immediately shifted to Luna, who was already sobbing on sight.

The nurse rolled Luna's bed directly next to Vinnie's, shortly after leaving to give them privacy.

"You're alive..." Luna said, taking Vinnie's weak hand into hers.

She studied his face and noticed scars that she'd never seen before. But, the light and hope in his eyes never changed.

"My beautiful wife." Vinnie said as he squeezed Luna's hand, a smile tugging on his lips.

Luna sighed and leaned her head back, still facing it towards Vinnie,

"I love you, Vinnie."

"I love you too. Forever and always."