“Good morning, handsome,” I say to him with a small smile.
“Good morning,” he replies. “It does me good to see your eyes open.”
“How long have a I been here?” I ask.
“Eight days,” Ivan replies. “Do you remember anything from before you woke up?”
“Maybe,” I say. “I remember hiding in the house with your sister, and I remember Callaghan pointing a gun at you.”
“That’s a start,” Ivan tells me.
We are interrupted by a knock on the door and the entry of Doctor Paggan.
“Good morning, Emma and Ivan,” Doctor Paggan says. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“A little,” I answer. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around why I’m here.”
“Let’s check a couple of things first and then we can talk more,” Doctor Paggan says. “I’m going to send you down for a new MRI and get an updated look at your brain now that you’re awake.”
“Sounds good,” I tell him. Ivan gives my hand a squeeze and a look of reassurance that everything will be okay.
Doctor Paggan takes a pen out of his pocket and traces the bottom of each foot with it. “Can you feel this, Emma?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply. I don’t miss the sigh of relief that Ivan lets out.
“What about here?” the doctor asks as he drags the pen up my calf muscles.
“Yes,” I reply again. This time I catch a smile between the doctor and Ivan. This must mean something good.
“It’s good that you have feeling in your lower legs,” Doctor Paggan confirms. “Let’s get that MRI done and make sure everything checks out.”
Within ten minutes, I’m being wheeled downstairs for an MRI. Taylor comes with me to keep me company since Ivan stays behind.
“You’re one lucky girl,” Taylor says to me when we’re on our way back to my room. “Mr. Kiselyov hasn’t left your side since you came out of surgery.”
“He hasn’t?” I ask. A flash of memory comes, but I’m not sure what it means yet.
“Nope. He even made sure you were placed in a private room with the best care available,” Taylor confirms.
“That sounds like something he would do.” I smile at the thought of Ivan protecting me, even in the hospital.
Taylor wheels my bed back into my room and it seems a crowd gathered while I was gone. Ivan’s brothers and sister are waiting for me with smiles on their faces.
“She’s back!” Grigory cheers.
“Hi, Grigory,” I say to him. “I’m gonna I’ll call you the goofy one.”
“I’ll take it,” he says with a smile.
“We won’t stay long,” Lidiya says. “Ivan told us you were awake, and we wanted to see for ourselves. Now that we’ve seen you, we can go and let you rest.”
“We’ll come back soon, but not all at the same time,” Maksim says as he herds everyone out the door.
“I like your brother,” I say to Ivan, referring to Grigory.
“He thinks he’s funny,” Ivan replies, sitting on the edge of my bed.
“Ivan, I don’t remember how I got here,” I tell him. Ivan sighs before taking my hands in his and kissing the tops of my knuckles.
