Page 95 of The Arrangement

How would he react if someone came out and said she was … was … gone?

Oh God, he couldn’t breathe again.

Ivan’s hushed voice brought him out of the panic attack. “Tell me what we know.”

“What?”

“Come on, Anton. We’ve seen this kind of crap before. Tell me what we know.”

The lump in his throat ached. “Superficial wounds. A possible head injury. Bad cut above her eye. A lot of fucking blood.”

He’d seen more, caused a lot of others to bleed, but he didn’t ever want to see hers.

“What else?”

“Heartbeat went crazy in the ambulance and then her blood pressure suddenly dropped.”

“What’d they give her?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t they say?”

“Probably.”

“You weren’t paying attention?”

Anton shook his head. “I couldn’t, not well enough. She was … she was … fuck.”

“Mr. Avdonin?” The sound of his last name caused Anton’s head to jerk up. A tired nurse with a clipboard waved a single gloved hand with a faint smile. “Hi. I just received confirmation from the family that you are Miss Carducci’s fiancé and they’ve given me permission to divulge her current state, so we can speak now, if you’re ready.”

Anton’s mouth went dry. “Okay. Yes, sure. Here is fine.”

The nurse gave a short nod before she went over the charts in her hand. Anton barely heard anything over the thrum of his heart and the anger that surged through his soul.

Several lacerations and wounds, and contrary to what the bulls had thought, Rocco didn’t take all of the hit, as Viviana had also sustained a few minor burns on her left arm. The dog bite where Rocco had taken her down before the blast was minor compared to everything else. Only one transfusion of blood had been needed, her heart was stabilized, and the lung that nearly collapsed was doing fine. They were going to keep her sedated for a while longer until all the wounds were cleaned and they were positive the glass shards were removed. No unnecessary pain that way. If she woke up and showed no visible signs of head trauma, she could be out within a couple of days with the understanding she needed vigilant care for her wounds.

Despite all the good news, there was one more thing he wanted to know about.

Again, Anton felt like the pressure in his chest was making it hard to breathe.

“What about … her blood work?”

One would have been done, he knew.

“I don’t understand what you mean specifically.”

He was all too aware of Ivan sitting beside him.

“Did anything show up in her blood work pregnancy-wise?”

Ivan coughed and sat back in his chair. Anton ignored the surprise that flitted through his best friend’s eyes as the man met his gaze. What did he expect him to say?

“I’m sorry, that’s related directly to the patient and not her current state of injury due to the accident. Confidentiality laws state—”

“Yeah, we know the law,” Ivan interrupted shortly. “When can he see her?”

“Once she’s set up in her private room and they’re ready to wake her up, it’ll be great if Mr. Avdonin can be in there. Someone she’ll recognize. So far, everything is going remarkably well. She’s a very strong, lucky young woman.”