Chapter 11

It doesn't have a face. It looks like someone took the skin and peeled it away leaving only muscle, bulging eyes, a hole where the nose once used to be, and teeth. His head is completely bald. It looks like he's an escapee from a horror movie. Only this is real. Too real. "Hey yo!" I shout. He looks right at us. Oh dear god! "Why you be standing round like dat?" "Yea...yea man this is a hospital." Bruno's voice is so shaky. He starts walking towards us. "Bruno as soon as I squeeze your hand 3 times start running and talking-to me. Make sure no one tries to hurt it while I'm in the gray time alright." I whisper to him frantically. "Stupid I know who you are!" His voice doesn't even sound human. "Stupid so do we!" I shouted. "Dumb Blonde! Looks like your going to be first!" I wait until the last possible second to start backing away. "Doubt it your too weak, you could never take us!" He lunges and I feel his fingertips brush against my stomach. I squeeze Bruno's hand 3 times and pull him away. I close my eyes and make my way to the gray time. Bruno starts rambling on about random things. Sometimes he talks about his dog Lisa and sometimes he talks about music. When I finally reach the gray time I look to my side and see a faint outline of Bruno. I start running in basically a cloud of gray having no idea exactly where I'm running.                                          

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Shyloe's eyes are closed, she's so pale and I dont think she has any idea where she's going. I can hear the man behind us cursing us up and down. "Cmon shy, stay with it hurry up!" I'm frantically looking around trying to find a green door. "Let's try the basement c'mon let's go." I decide to take the stairs. "I'm gonna carry you down the stairs." I pick her up and make my way down. "Cmon he's still behind us!" I look over my shoulder and sure enough he's still chasing us. "Shy, c'mon hurry up!" We finally hit the basement and it's dimly lit. "I'm putting you down start running again!" She starts running and we go down a narrow hallway and then we see it.

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How am I supposed to find this door? "I'm putting you down start running again!" Bruno shouts. I keep running in this gray fog called the gray time. Then I see it. I start running as fast as my legs can carry me. 'Bruno I'm here at the door don't let go!' I open the door and it almost slips from my grasp. The energy is so strong here it threatens to suck anything up. I put my foot in front of it and use it as a door stop. "No not the door!" He plead's in his un-human voice. I watch as the sprit of the monster is slowly sucked into the door. Right before he slips away in the gray time he manages to get his hands on something sharp and it brazes my cheek. I feel something hot start to run down my cheek. Great. Then I hear it. "Police stop! I'm gonna shoot!" "No stop! Don't shoot!" I screech. "Shyloe pull out quick!" Bruno shouts frantically. "Don't kill him I'm still inside!" *Bam Bam* I pull out and hear another set of rounds fire. *Bam Bam* I see it go down and when it hits it rolls over and stares at me with those glazed over eyes. It's so eerie I want to scream. But I'm too weak. Wait but how could I still be alive if I was in the gray time when the first rounds fired? I pulled out too quickly and I'm loosing a lot of blood. Then I look down by my feet and scream. Laying on the floor is a bloody, pale, Bruno. ******************************************************************************

The next day.

I was admitted for the cut on my cheek with required 15 stitches and for observation. After driving the nurses crazy they finally told me what happened to Bruno. The police shot at the thing but I guess Bruno knew what would happen if they shot at him while I was still in the gray time, so he jumped in front of the bullet that struck him on his side, and basically saved my life. If he wouldn't of jumped in front of that bullet, I would be in a coma and would never come out. While your in the gray time if anything is disturbed it could cost you, a lot. The nurses agree to let me go see him only after I drove them crazy begging. I walk into his room and his mom, dad, and sisters are in there as well as Phil, Phredly, Kenji, Jamareo, Eric, Ari, Marybeth, Mariska, and Reed. Standing alone in a corner is Brooke and Jason. "Has....has he woke up yet?" "No not yet.." I walk over to his bedside and can't help but think this is all my fault. I sit down and grab his hand. "Damn you Bruno.......your supposed to catch a grenade, throw your hand on a blade, or jump in front of a train for me.......not jump in front of a bullet that could of killed you! I owe you my life Bruno, I love you." I kiss his hand and start crying. He starts to stir. "Shyloe......?" "I'm here Bruno." "I love you." He opens his eyes and looks right at me and smiles. "I love you, now marry me before I almost loose you again." "Yes, a thousand times yes." I lean down and kiss him and everyone in the room starts clapping. I look over in the corner and see his dad. "Mr. Hernandez?" He walks out of the corner and smiles. "I'm sorry I couldn't see earlier how much my son loves you, and how much you love him. Can we forget about the past?" He opens his arms and I hug him. "Of course, and I'm sorry for snapping at you, I guess I was really just scared." I walk back over to Bruno's bedside and smile. "I'm glad you made it out alive, but seriously no more jumping in front of bullets." He let's out a little laugh. "Trust me I wont." ******************************************************************************

3 Days later.

After Bruno was released from the hospital he insisted on taking me out to a fancy dinner to celebrate the death of a monster and the start of a new life. We drive to my place and everyone crashes. Marybeth kept it nice and changed a few things but it still looks good. Everyone picks a room and Presley and Tahiti help me get ready. They curl my hair and pin the sides back. "Thank you guys!" "No problem." I slide on my sliver flats when I hear someone knock on the door. Phil. "Hey doll face you ready?" I open the door and he whistles. I let out a giggle and say. "Better not let Bruno hear that!" He laughs and runs down the steps. I start walking down the stairs and when I get to the bottom I look around the corner. "Bruno?" He sees me at the same time I see him and we both just stare. "Wow." He both say at the same time. He's wearing a white suit that's outlined with black, black pants and black shoes, his hair is combed back, and he has a fake pair of square black rimmed glasses. I'm speechless. He looks absolutely stunning. We rode to the restaurant in a Hummer stretch limo that Bruno rented us for the night. The dinner was amazing! We talked and laughed and had a really good time. After dinner we walked around this park and started talking about our wedding. "So Bruno, when do you see us getting married, like, when do you see us having our wedding." He thinks about it for a minute. "Well I was thinking we could start planing now, I don't want to wait longer than I have too, I don't want to risk loosing you again, and besides everyone's already here." "So like around December? For our honeymoon we should go to Florida, to the Keys, it's always warm there." "Yeah, that sounds good, but before we start making any arrangements, I want to give you this." He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a black box. "Bruno I...." He opens the box and it's a silver band and it has a small diamond. He takes my hand and slides the old ring off and puts the new one on. "It sure beats the old one." He let's out a little laugh. "Yeah maybe this one won't bring as much bad luck." "No, it won't, because it will bring good luck." He kisses me long and hard. We start walking back towards the limo when we hear music start to pour out of a club. Bruno looks at me and smiles and then looks back at the club. Then I get it. "Don't you dare." He bites his lip and looks around. "Bruno!" He starts dancing like crazy. He can barely dance though because he's smiling and laughing so hard. Finally I can't help but laugh along. I mean he's in a white suit with these square glasses dancing and laughing his butt off in front of a club! He finally stops to catch his breath and we just can't stop laughing. We manage to stop and finish making our way to the limo. When we get home we quietly make our way inside and upstairs. When I open my bedroom door I flip on the bedside lamp and I'm expecting to see a basically empty room, but I'm surprised to see that there are pictures on the wall and it looks like Marybeth replaced everything for me. Hanging up on the wall by the balcony is a collage. Me and Bruno walk over to it and I can't help but smile. My amazing sister found pictures of me and Bruno and framed them. Some of them are of us singing on stage together and some of them are us just messing around and having a good time there's a couple of us when Bruno first proposed, then beside that frame is a mostly empty one. It has one picture in it. Its a picture of me and Bruno just hours ago walking out of the house together. On top of the old frame is a stenciled message that reads. 'Memories of the past.' Above the almost empty one reads, 'New Beginnings.' "Wow, these are amazing!" Bruno says. "Yeah they really are." He takes his suit jacket off and puts it on my desk chair. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower Bruno." I start rifling through my drawers until I finally find some underwear and pajamas. "Can I join you." Yes! Of course! But no because one thing will lead to another and their are people sleeping in the next room."No I'm good." WTF! That sounded real smooth Shyloe! I look at Bruno and he crosses his arms and sticks his lip out and starts to pout. I cant help but laugh, and he's trying not to laugh but it's not working so well. "Bruno c'mon seriously." He just turns away from me and I can see him start to shake. "Bruno I know your laughing!" I walk around so I can see his face and it's so red and he has tears streaming down his cheeks. "Really?" He can't hold it in anymore. His laugh is so explosive, so rich. "Why don't you start unpacking your things, that dresser over there is empty." "But I don't want to!" I put my hand on my hip. "Well then what do you want to do?" He looks at me and gets a devilish smile. "Bruno!" He walks over to me and starts kissing me. Soon the kisses become harder, filled with need. He starts kissing my neck and it sends chills down my spine. "Bruno..." I whisper hoarsely. He does some amazing thing and manages some how to push me up against the wall. He pushes himself up against me, and even through the thick material of my dress, I can feel every inch of him pressed against my stomach. He comes back up to my lips and pushes himself even harder against me. "Oh my god..." It comes out more like a moan than a word. I can feel his smile against my lips and he starts to pull the zipper for my dress down. "Wait Bruno, stop, not now, there's too many people here, I want it too, but there's too many people." He puts his hand on my cheek and looks at me with those amazing, mesmerizing brown eyes. "Yeah your right, it's going to be a long couple of months isn't it?" "Yeah, but it'll be worth the wait." I give him a sly wink, and kiss him one last time before I regather my things and head into the bathroom. I get into the shower and dry off in record time. I put on a baby blue spaghetti strap shirt and a pair of fuzzy pink butt shorts. I walk out of the bathroom and Bruno's standing on the balcony. As I get closer I hear him humming a tune I've never heard before. "Hey babe." "Hey Shy." I stand beside him and let the sea breeze wash over me. "Shy, your cheek! It's bleeding!" I feel something hot hit my arm. "Crap!" Bruno takes me inside into my bathroom. "Here." He gives me a cold washcloth. I wipe my cheek off and sigh. "Shyloe, I'm so-" "No it's not your fault! It's my fault! I should have known he was going to do that, but I didn't and now this happened. I should be the one saying sorry because I couldn't pull out in time and you took a bullet that almost killed you." "Well I'm just glad he's dead because if he wasn't I would hunt him down and kill him for doing this to you." I smile. "Yeah I know, now c'mon let's get to bed." I grab his hand and walk him over to my bed. I take the left side and he takes the right. I flip the light off and lay on my side so I can see him and he can see me. "I love you Bruno." "I love you too Shyloe Hernandez." He scoots closer and kisses me goodnight.

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I yawn and stretch. That's the best sleep I've had in a really really long time. I look at the clock. 7am. Bruno's still sleeping so I quietly get up and throw on a pair of black skinny jeans, my favorite pink v-neck and then I look for a sweatshirt and see my wonderful sister bought me a black sweat shirt that says hooligans across the front and has the number 85 on the back. Finally I put on a pair of neon yellow socks and throw my hair up into a braid. I walk out of my closet and open my bedroom door and almost kill myself. I tripped over Martha and a dog I've never seen before. "Good grief Martha!" She walks over to me and starts whining. "Aww I missed you too girl, but you almost killed me! Now who's your friend." The black and white husky walks over to me and licks my hand. His eyes are an icy blue. "Hi buddy. What's your name?" I look at his dog tag. "Meeko." He let's out a little bark. "Shh, c'mon let's get you some food." I make my way down stairs and feed the dogs. I look through the fridge and pantry and start making breakfast. Good grief how much should I make? There's 14 people here so I guess I need to make a lot. I decide to make 20 pancakes, 3 pounds of bacon, a dozen scrambled eggs, and tons of biscuits and gravy. I do the biscuits and bacon first. When that gets done I put them into the microwave to stay warm. I turn around to get the eggs and bacon out of the fridge and standing right there is Bruno. "Bruno! God you scared me!" He's wearing a yellow plaid shirt, and black skinny jeans, his converse and his hair is all curly. Looks like he just got out of the shower. "Sorry, can I help?" "Yeah sure can you cook?" He opens his mouth but then quickly closes it and reconsiders his reply. "No, but can you teach me?" I smile. "Of course but fist can you set the table for me? Set it for 14 people please." "Can I have a good morning kiss first?" I put my hand on my hip. "Depends, I won't end up pushed against the wall like last night will I?" He laughs and walks over and grabs me by the waist. "Now thats something I can't promise." He kisses me long and hard. I could really get used to this. "Go set the table and then I'll teach you how to cook." He starts setting the table and I get out the things to make scrambled eggs and pancakes. "Ok I'm ready to start cooking!" "Ok we'll start out with something simple, scrambled eggs." I show him how to do the first one and leave him to do the rest. He does really good. I finish up the last of the pancakes and Bruno finishes with the eggs. People slowly start coming down, as soon as the last person comes down I finish the gravy. Everyone sits down and starts eating. I turn the radio on so we can listen to some music and I sit down beside Bruno. We start talking about the wedding and we all agree that is should be pink and white. We start making arrangements when it gets really quiet and then I hear it. "Bruno Mars in the studio today, Hey man how's it going?" "Good, good." "So everyone's wondering where you got your inspiration for the song Talking to the Moon." I stop eating and listen. "Well man there's this lady, and she's really special to me, she's far away right now and I just wanted to let her know that I still love her and when she hears this song she'll know that I'm still thinking about her and I miss her a lot." "When you first released it and sang it at a concert people said that you were actually crying? Is that true? And people say you still do to this day." "Yeah man this lady she meant a lot to me and she's not with me and it's just really hard for me." "Alright well here it is Bruno Mars Talking to the Moon." I look at Bruno and he just shrugs his shoulder. "Were you talking about me? You wrote this song for me?" He nods his head and I hear him start to sing on the radio. After the song finishes I can feel the tears burning in my eyes. "Aww that was so sweet!" I look at Bruno and he's just smiling. "That was amazing Bruno." He kisses me and I feel the tears start to fall. "You really liked it?" "I loved it!" We finish breakfast and everything is gone. Marybeth let's Mariska out of her highchair and she comes running over "Aunnie Lie-low! Un-key Boo!" She's too cute. I pick her up and kiss her cheek. "Hey baby girl!" "Un-key Boo!" She holds her hands out and claps them. "You want me to hold you?" "Yeah!" He takes her from me and it's just too cute. "Dora! Dora! Sing! Sing!" "She wants you to watch Dora with her and sing." Marybeth explains. Bruno takes Mariska over to the couch and turns on Dora. They start singing and he's such a clown. He's dancing with her and singing and she's just laughing and laughing. Me and Marybeth sit down at the table and decided when we're going to have the wedding. Well it looks like my new life has finally begun.

But no one knew they still had a bumpy path ahead of them that would be filled with many unwanted surprises.