Maybe we could sell the house and find another after all this was over. I wasn’t sure that the horrible memories of this day would fade at all.
Oleg led me up the stairs and to my bedroom, where Jon’s body had also been removed, and someone had thoughtfully covered the bloodstains on the carpet with some throw rugs, even cleaning out the broken furniture so that the room looked almost like it had before all hell had broken loose.
A tall, striking man crossed the room just as I entered the doorway, a stethoscope around his neck. “I’m Dr. Carter,” he answered, a warm smile on his face. “Mrs. Kirilenko, your husband is a very strong man, a fighter.”
I swallowed back the emotion that threatened. “I know.”
“I’ve treated him countless times,” he continued, his eyes sweeping over me. “But this should have killed him.”
My heart froze in my chest. I had known that his injury had been very serious and that he had hovered on the edge of death even before I had been sent out of the room.
“He’s still unconscious,” Dr. Carter finished gently. “A precaution so that we can keep him calm. He’s breathing on his own, which is good, and I’ve been able to give him a few pints of blood to replace what he has lost. It will take some time, but I think he’s going to fully recover.”
I was grateful that Oleg reached out and grabbed my arm at that moment, because my knees buckled and I nearly went down to the floor in relief. “Thank you,” I breathed. “You have no idea.”
Dr. Carter smiled. “Oh, I believe I do. I need for you to take care of yourself as well, Mrs. Kirilenko. You have a child to think about.”
“I will,” I told him. “I promise.”
He gave me a nod and then stepped out of the way so I could approach the bed, all sorts of machines and IV poles surrounding the place that I had slept since my first day here. Gavril lay in the middle of the bed, his tanned skin unnaturally pale against the white sheets. There were lines going everywhere, but I was relieved to see the gentle rise and fall of his chest, letting me know that the doctor was telling the truth.
He was going to make it.
Somehow I managed to get into the chair that had been placed by the bed and reached out, finding Gavril’s hand under the comforter. His skin was still cool to the touch, but I didn’t care.
Gavril was going to live. “Hello, my love,” I said softly, reaching up with my free hand to brush the hair off his forehead. “I’m right here, Gavril. You hear me? I’m not going anywhere until you show me those gorgeous eyes of yours.”
He didn’t so much as flinch, but I was okay with it. He was alive, and that was what mattered most. “I love you,” I whispered softly, hoping he could hear my words through the fog. “You mean everything to me.” No matter what he had done, what we had gone through, he was what I needed for my future.
He was what mattered in my life. “Come back to me,” I urged, tightening my grip on his hand. “Tell me that you love me as well.”
I wouldn’t leave his side until he did.