AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Anna” A soft voice calls to me through the fog but I can’t seem to find it.
I push my way through the fog, but it only grows thicker. My heart is racing and feels like it is going to burst any second through my ribcage and take off. Sweat beads trickle down the back of my neck as I keep searching through my suffocating surroundings.
“Anna, come back to me, little angel.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to focus on the low, calm tone as hard as I can. I follow it to the edges of my mind, finally opening my eyes to the bright light shining above me.
I groan as the sound of beeping reaches me, squinting against the blinding lamp.
“There you are, angel. I was starting to think that you weren’t going to come back to me.” Sergey’s voice is warm as he leans over the edge of my bed.
I reach up, dusting my fingers over the deep purple bruise on his cheek. “You’re hurt. Where are we?”
Sergey takes my hand and kisses my knuckles in a gesture that surprises me. I didn’t think he was capable of affection, and yet he showed it to me despite everything he had done.
“We’re in the hospital. Don’t worry about my bruise. It’s nothing.” He holds my hand tighter, his fingers wrapping around mine like a vise. “How do you feel?”
It’s only once he asks that I feel the pain radiating through all corners of my body. I cough, feeling like there is a noose around my neck and a fire burning in my lungs. The taste of smoke coats my tongue as I glance around for a glass of water.
Sergey pours a cup from the pitcher beside the bed and holds it to my lips.
The irony. Only a couple of months ago I was doing this for Dad and now here I am, the invalid in bed with lung problems.
As the water clears some of the smoke from my throat I catch sight of my stomach.
Terror rips through me, forcing what little air there is from my lungs. “Oh God! The baby. How is the baby doing?”
Sergey’s blue eyes are the color of a lake at midnight as he looks down at my stomach. “The doctor is running a couple of tests, but they should be back soon.”
The tears start immediately, pouring down my cheeks like a monsoon. I can’t stop crying as I wrap my arms around my torso, ignoring the pain racing through my body that protests any sort of movement.
“What happens if the baby isn’t okay?”
“We will figure it out.” His voice is thick as if he is holding back his own emotions.
“What you mean is that you’re going to kill me because without our baby there is no reason to keep me alive anymore, right?”
His eyes widen and he shakes his head. “For fuck’s sake, Anna! I’m not going to kill you.”
“But you were going to, that’s all you wanted to do when you found me. If I wasn’t pregnant, you ...oh God …I can’t think …” My thoughts are racing at a hundred miles an hour and I can’t see through the clutter in my brain.
His mouth is pressed closed as he keeps holding my hand. A million different micro expressions cross his face.
My body is shaking, from shock or fear, I don’t know.
Finally, he stands and slides into the bed beside me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. “Stop overthinking. I have caused you too much trauma. I can see this now.”
“No kidding!” I bark out a laugh though I know I sound hysterical. “How can you say that?”
“I didn't realize how much this would affect you. I thought you would learn in the last few days how much you mean to me, but I realize now that I didn't make our lives clear to you.”
“What do you mean?”
He kisses my temple and hugs me tighter. “This is what I wanted to tell you before the ambush. It means that you are my wife. You belong to the Bratva, you will be protected. Nothing in the world will ever be able to hurt you again. That is a promise.”
“I’m so freaking scared …, the baby …, my life …, you …, everything!” The floodgates open and a new wave of tears pours down my face. I curl closer to him, my body jerks under the force of my sobs.
“Shh, everything will be fine. You need to stay calm and rest.” Sergey’s arms are like a cage around me, protecting me from anything that could hurt me, but we still don’t know if the baby will be okay.
