I knelt down next to Benjamin. Blood stained his shirt on the left side. I applied pressure with a hand towel that someone threw me from the counter.

"I'm dying," he stammered, dazed.

"Shut up," I said. "Breathe with me."

He obeyed, as if the habit of the past still had a secret route to his chest.

Sirens pierced the air. The police arrived. Paramedics arrived. The attacker fell amid a flurry of hands and handcuffs. Benjamin was lifted onto a stretcher, and my towel lay silently on the ground.

"Don't worry," he said to me before they loaded him into the ambulance. "I couldn't..."

"What?"

"I couldn't touch you," he finished and closed his eyes.

I watched him drive away, while an employee handed me wet wipes to clean my hands and a bottle of water, which I appreciated.

After a while, Commissioner Reyes and Deputy Commissioner Rivas came running in.

"Are you okay?" Rivas asked, looking me up and down.

I nodded. I didn't know if I was okay until my body started shaking.

"The detainee was