POV: Aletta

"I thought Alex was supposed to be here for 4th period?" I question Bella as we walk through the hall to the canteen for lunch.

"He wasn't in GD (graphic design) earlier." Bella scrunches her eyebrows together at my statement and seems confused and perhaps even slightly angry.

"Alex should be here by now, but I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll ring him now." Bella reaches into her black and gold Chanel purse to retrieve her phone.
She rings her brother twice but it goes straight to voice mail.

After that, she tries ringing Angelo. He doesn't pick up either but instead her phone makes a 'ping' sound indicating that she has received a message.

Her face turns pale and she seems to grow very anxious all of a sudden. Her expression then turns blank leaving no trace of any emotion and it's rather worrying.

I don't know what to do but upon seeing my curious expression, she tells me that Alex can't make it in today.

I know that she is really worried, despite the dull look plastered across her face so I don't push the matter any further and so I change the topic to lunch.

We sit at the table in the far corner of the canteen - where we always sit - but Bella is still acting strange.
I try talking about class, teachers, shopping, food, and more but she just gives one word answers and hardly pays any attention.

I shuffle from across the table to sit next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, indicating how I'm there for her.

"If you want to talk, I'm always here. I mean, you don't have to- it's up to you." I say gently and she lifts her gaze from her panini up to my eyes.

She smiles gratefully at me and thanks me. She says nothing upon the matter but she appreciates the gesture.
We share a warm smile when her phone blares some sort of punk rock music from inside her purse.

"Alex you idiot! I told you not to change my ring tone." She shouts down the phone and this merits hundreds of eyes swivelling in our direction.

"W-what." Her tone becomes shaky and she looks as if she's going to burst into tears.
"I'll be right there!"she says and swiftly collects her stuff from the back of her chair and runs off.

I grab all of my belongings and follow her into the car park.
She gets into her car and I follow.

"What's the matter?" I question. Concern and worry is obvious in my tone and expression.

"I-it's A-Alex..." She trails off a sob escaping her lips and she frantically reverses from the car park.
We speed along the roads at almost 70 miles per hour and I swear I nearly wet myself. It must be pretty serious.

We pull up outside her house and Angelo comes sprinting out, a deadly serious look on his face. His eyes are furious and his fists are clenched in tight balls at his sides. His knuckles are turning white they look as if they're about to pop out of their sockets.

"He's in here!" He hollers at is and the three o us run into a room near the kitchen. There are medical supplies scattered across the room and it smells sterile- exactly like at a hospital.

What could they possibly need all of this for?

After scanning the room I hear Bella screech and look up to see Alex, upon a metal table, bloody and battered lying on his back clenching his stomach. He groans in pain as Bella starts to hyperventilate.

"Chill, Bee. I-it's only a gunshot." Alex coughs at Bella, clearly struggling.

A gunshot?!

"Don't be stupid Alessandro Luigi DeLorento!" She screams at him and he attempts to chuckle, but flinches.

"Bella I need you to continue to apply pressure to the wound, he's losing a lot of blood and will end up passing out soon if we don't intervene." Angelo orders from behind us. He is searching for something quickly amongst the medical equipment.

"Aletta I need you to help me find some surgical spirit, it should be around here somewhere..." He sternly tells me.

"I already called the doctor. He should be here soon." He adds calmly.

I search for disinfectant hurriedly. Panic is rising in me.

I've never dealt with someone being shot before. What if he dies?! Ohmygosh, I can't handle this.

"Over there!" Bella shouts, pointing at a bottle of clear liquid and Alex let's out an agonising cry as she accidentally leans too hard onto the wound.

I reach for the bottle of disinfectant and lob it at Angelo who is already stood beside Alex. He catches it in one hand and with the other, reaches for a pair of scissors and cuts open Alex's shirt to assess the wound.

He grabs a cloth from beside him and wipes his blood-smothered stomach to see the hole clearly.

"This will sting a little, you'll probably want to hold onto something" Angelo warns.

Alex grabs Bella's hand and Angelo begins to pour the liquid onto the wound.

Alex let's out a roar of agony and I can see him crushing Bella's hand.

Bella then let's out a cry of pain as well and the both of them are screaming their lungs dry.

Angelo then goes to wipe the wound again, and a short man comes rushing in.
Everyone takes a step back allowing him to take over.

He grabs some plastic gloves, stretches them over his hands and the puts a paper mask over the lower half of his face.

He reaches under the metal table which Alex still remains howling on, and grabs more medical supplies.

"Sterilise these." He says and hands a scalpel and pair of long tweezer/scissor things to Angelo.

Angelo drenches them in the disinfectant, while the short man assesses Alex's gunshot through a magnifying glass.

"Hold this please." He says to me signalling for me to hold the magnifying glass in place and I rush over.

With trembling hands I keep the magnifying glass in place and take long, deep breaths.

Angelo hands the equipment to the doctor and he holds it in one hand.

He reaches under the table once again and retreats with a mask, with a long,clear tube attached. He places it on Alex's face and he falls asleep almost immediately.

Bella sobs a little but at least her and Alex are no longer piercing our eardrums. The doctor begins to operate but I turn away as I am extremely squeamish.

After about half an hour or something, the doctor is finished.

He removes his gloves and pulls his mask down to rest beneath his chin.

"Luckily the bullet missed all of his vital organs and it wasn't in too deep. There weren't any complications, and you saw how easily I was able to retrieve the bullet. He requires plenty of rest over the next week or so and should be on bed rest for the next 24 hours." The man says.

"This isn't his first time being shot, so he already knows how to cope, but I suggest he doesn't do anything drastic within the rest of the month and certainly not over the next week otherwise his stitches will come undone. I'll leave some strong painkillers for him but try reducing the quantity gradually over time."

He's been shot before?!

"Thanks doc" Angelo says calmly.

"No problem boss," the man replies and him and Angelo walk over to the corner of the room.

Boss?

"Between me and you boss, whoever shot him either has extremely terrible aim or, they were trying to send you a message. There is no way that he could have been that lucky." The man whispers, but loud enough for me to hear. The two of them then both walk off.

I have so many questions now.

How is Angelo the 'boss'? Boss of what/who? Who shot Alex? What is the message they want to send? Why do they want to send the message?

What is this all about.

"I'm so confused!" I groan in frustration as Angelo walks back in.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to say that aloud." I then say, embarrassed.

"No, your right." Angelo buts in.

"I need answers." He says more to himself than anyone else.

Bella sighs a long deep breath. She then replies,

"guess we've got some explaining to do..."