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Ivan pulled his phone out of his pocket, called a number, let it ring once then ended the call. Within two minutes, Viktor and Stephen were back in the room with us. Ivan looked at the doctor. “Give us the information for the police unit you’re working with. We’ll make sure she gives the description of him, but we need to get that x-ray, so we can get out of here. If she goes, I go and nobody wants that.” He had a sense of urgency to his voice that made it clear to Dr. Williams that we needed to move fast.
He nodded his head. He stood up, “Follow me.”
As we walked to the x-ray room, Ivan explained what was happening to Viktor and Stephen. I still had a hold of Ivan’s hand, but Viktor reached down and grabbed my other hand as we walked down the hallway. Dr. Williams set Ivan up in front of the x-ray machine. He had a lead vest that he gave me to put on, so I could stand next to Ivan. He took a few x-rays, then walked back and adjusted Ivan’s arm to get a different perspective. The entire process was over in just a few minutes.
“It takes around ten minutes to get the films, but I’ll hurry it along as much as I can,” Dr. Williams said as he led us back to the original room we were in. He left us, telling us he would be back as quickly as he could be.
I still had a hold of Ivan’s hand, both of our hands in my lap. He could feel the shaking in my legs starting to get worse the longer we stayed. He looked to Stephen, asking, “Any tricks to help make this better until we get out of here?”
Stephen thought for a moment. “Boss is the only thing I’ve seen stop it for her. His touch seems to calm it down.”
I looked at both of them. “I’ll be okay. It goes away after a while, but I never know how bad it will get first. Sometimes I lose control of my body when it gets really bad. That’s what I’m trying to avoid.”
Viktor moved behind me, his giant hands on my shoulders. He didn’t say a word, he just calmly stood there like he was willing my trauma to calm down. I took a deep breath. It did actually help.
Dr. Williams walked back into the room with the x-ray films in his hand. He handed Stephen a card as well. “That’s the police unit I’m working with. Each time I hear of a new person who’s come in contact with that doctor, I send them there,” he said as he clipped the films on the wall to look at them. He looked at them, looked at Ivan, then looked at the films again. He scratched his head, then turned to look at Ivan. “Your break is completely healed. Not only that but I also can’t tell where it was to start with. That’s virtually unheard of except in very young children.” He looked to me, grabbing scissors from a drawer at the side of the room. He sat on a stool and rolled himself to Ivan. “Let’s get the stitches out, so you can leave.”
He worked quickly, telling Ivan that he still needed to be careful with his arm. “Have you had any pain in your arm lately?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I looked at Ivan, asking in Russian, “Have you had any pain in your arm ever?” Viktor squeezed my shoulders as he laughed quietly behind me. Ivan grinned at me, but looked at the doctor completely straight-faced, “Nope, Doc. It’s felt great. You do great work.”
As he pulled out the last of Ivan’s stitches, he said, “Okay, well, take it easy for another week or so and then you can start to use it more. It’s healed. It’s healed better than I’ve ever seen an injury like that heal in such a short time, so I think you’ll be fine.” He looked to me. “And please, give the police unit a call. You’re the only one that knows what he looks like. We’ve been trying to get him for over ten years now.”
I nodded my head. I went to say something, but Viktor answered for me. “We’ll make sure it’s taken care of, Doc.” His giant hands were still gently resting on my shoulders. He was the calming presence I needed to keep the shaking from getting too bad. Ivan squeezed my hand as he pulled us both up.
“Thanks, Doc,” Ivan said as we all quickly walked out of the room. In the hallway, Ivan looked down at me, “You okay, princess?”
I nodded my head. “Papa Bear helped in there. He kept the shaking from getting worse.” I felt Viktor silently grab my other hand as we walked quickly down the hallway to the exit.
We were back to the penthouse in record time. Once in the elevator, Viktor told me he was taking me to Adrik’s office. I looked to Ivan, still worried about him. “No, Papa Bear, I’m okay. I promise. I screwed up his schedule yesterday. I don’t want to screw it up two days in a row. We can go to the penthouse. I’ll be okay, it’s getting better. I promise,” I said, trying to convince him not to interrupt Adrik.
He looked at me skeptically, but relented. “Then you’re stuck with us for a little longer until I’m sure you’re okay. You’ve had a rough couple of days, sestrichka.”
“I’m surprisingly okay with what happened yesterday. Like, I might be a psychopath I’m so okay with it,” I said. I looked at all of them, gauging their reactions to what I said.
Stephen started to say something, but the doors dinged and started to open. He was waiting until we were in the penthouse before he said anything. Before he could speak, I said, “Wait a minute, there’s something I need to do.” I still had a hold of Ivan’s hand. I stopped him and opened my arms for him to give me a real, two-armed hug. “I freaking need this,” I said quietly as I wrapped my arms around his waist. He wrapped both of his giant arms around me and held me tightly as I rested my head on his chest. I inhaled deeply, feeling my body relax a little more.
I stepped back from him, unexpected tears in my eyes. “I can’t tell you guys how nice it is to feel safe with you. Like life-changing and that’s not just me being overly dramatic, even though I do enjoy that,” I said, trying to laugh to keep the tears from falling. I felt Viktor’s giant arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. Once again, he said nothing. He just held me tightly for a moment.
Stephen said, “Sephie, you realize you do the same for us, right?” I tried to peek over Viktor’s shoulder at Stephen, who was still behind Viktor, but he was too tall. I turned him, so I could see Stephen without letting go of Viktor.
“I do not realize that, Yoden. What do you mean?” I asked.
“Yoden?” he said, looking at me skeptically.
“Yoda and Stephen. Yoden. Come on, not all nicknames stick the first time. Give me a break here. I’m just throwing things out there, seeing what sticks,” I said, laughing.
He just shook his head as he said, “We give you physical security, but you give us emotional security. It’s the classic masculine/feminine dynamic. We give you a space where you feel safe physically which allows you to give us a space where we feel secure emotionally. So, while you’re grateful to us for making you feel safe, we feel exactly the same toward you.”
My eyes went a little wide as he was talking. I stepped back from Viktor to look at him and Ivan. They both nodded in agreement with what Stephen said. I thought for a moment, chewing on my bottom lip, not knowing how to respond. I looked at Stephen sideways, “So you’re telling me, this whole time, it wasn’t my sexual charms?”
He laughed. “You know those things don’t work on me, right? I have immunity.”
I looked at him, in feigned disbelief. “My milkshake does not bringeth all the boys to the yard?”
That got a loud laugh out of all of them. Stephen walked to me, pulling me into a hug. “Seph, you’re just the best.”
Viktor and Stephen stayed with me and Ivan in the penthouse for a while longer. I think they were enjoying the break. Eventually, Viktor’s phone pulled them away, leaving Ivan and I alone. He looked at me, a serious look on his face.
