Dinner at my parents' house went as well as could be expected. Erik handled the language pretty well and won over the rest of my family without breaking a sweat. Part of me felt like I was living a dream, everything was "easy" and precisely because of that, I felt a bit uneasy, as if I was about to wake up from that lovely dream and face harsh reality.

On the 25th, we did some sightseeing and I showed Erik how beautiful Madrid was at Christmas, the decorations, lights, shops, and the main square, packed with Christmas stalls. We had a waffle with chocolate and whipped cream in the afternoon, and on the 26th, we were meeting my friends for a drink in the afternoon.

We were strolling down Gran Vía, one of the busiest streets in central Madrid, when Erik bent down to tie his boot, which had come undone. He let go of my hand for a second, and it was like my dream started to unravel.

I'm not exactly sure when it started to fall apart, but time seemed to stretch like chewing gum, and I almost felt like I could see in slow motion, like a spectator, the disaster that was my life.

"You've got no shame!" I heard, turning my face to the left to find myself staring at the face that could turn my dream into a nightmare.

I felt a slight push that made me take a couple of steps back, tripping over a shop sign, but the fall didn't hurt, I barely noticed it. However, seeing Erik spring to his feet as Oliver pushed him too, was what sent chills down my spine.

Erik was by the kerb, and having been bent down, he lost his balance and took a step back, misstepping on the kerb just as a horn blared, warning of what I had feared the most. The end of my idyllic dream.

"ERIK!" I screamed, trying to grab his hand but with no chance of success.

He was too far away from me, and it all happened so fast. A motorbike, the one that had honked, hit him and made his head crash against the kerb.

"No, no, no... ERIK!" I screamed, scrambling to my feet and running towards him. A car screeched to a halt beside us, preventing the ones behind from running him over, and the motorcyclist, who was also on the ground, although luckily okay, rushed over.

Someone said they were calling an ambulance, and then time, which had slowed down just seconds before, sped up, overwhelming me with the noise and people around us.

I looked up, searching for Oliver, but I couldn't see him. The motorcyclist apologised for not seeing him step off the pavement, but despite understanding his words, I wasn't really listening.

"Erik, please wake up," I sobbed, stroking his head. I felt something warm and when I looked at my hand, I saw it was bleeding. "No, please, no..." I felt the lump in my throat start to choke me, and I instinctively covered the wound with my hand, as if that could do something for him.

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But his eyes wouldn't open. They didn't look at me with that loving expression they had just a couple of minutes ago. His lips didn't curve into that mischievous smile that could make even the grey Pierowall sky seem pleasant.

Time sped up and slowed down, making me lose all sense of it, I didn't know if minutes or hours had passed, but suddenly there was an ambulance beside us and paramedics asked me to give them some space. I stepped back, feeling my body tremble all over, without taking my eyes off them.

"Why isn't he reacting?" I asked, completely terrified as they checked his eyes with a flashlight.

"What happened?" one of the paramedics asked.

"We were... we were walking and... " I swallowed hard, looking around at the crowd, without seeing Oliver's face. "My ex... appeared and pushed him into the road." I noticed a hand on my shoulder and turned around, startled, to find a man in a police uniform.

He said something I couldn't process, because they were putting Erik on a stretcher.

"Are you a relative?" the paramedics asked.

"His girlfriend," I said in a barely audible voice, and they gestured for me to get into the ambulance with them and go to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, Erik still wasn't reacting, and although I wanted to go in with him, they wouldn't let me, forcing me to stay in a waiting room where my legs were shaking so much I couldn't stand. I sat down, feeling the lump in my throat making it hard to breathe, and then the police, who had followed the ambulance, came over to ask me what had happened.

I tried to explain it as best I could, obviously giving them Oliver's contact details, the address where we had lived, the office address, his parents' address... everything that came to mind so they could find him and clearly, I was going to report him, as well as inform them of the previous complaint and the restraining order.

They left, and I still had no information about Erik. They were attending to him, which was all the girl at the reception desk in front of me could tell me.

I took out my phone, my hands shaking as I dialled my mother's number. After assuring her I was okay, she said they were on their way. Then, I called Vir.

"Are you guys already there?" she asked with a cheerful voice.

"Vir..." I didn't need to say more for her to know something was wrong.

"Andy, what's going on?" she asked with a worried tone.

"I'm at hospital, Oliver pushed Erik into the road and he got hit." I sobbed, wiping my face with my hand, feeling my tears welling up again.

"I'm on my way," she said, hanging up.

A doctor came out asking for Erik's relatives, and I stood up immediately, following him to the small room where Erik was, still unconscious.

"Is he okay? Is he going to be okay?" I asked, really worried.

"He's had a pretty strong blow to the head, and we've had to give him several stitches," he informed me. "But he's not in any danger." He smiled, and that made me relax significantly.

"When is he going to wake up?" I looked at his face, which seemed to be at peace.

"I'm sure it won't be long. You can stay with him. If anything happens, just press the button," the doctor said, and I nodded, sitting down beside him and taking his hand.