Page 150 of Fractured Ties

The doctor held up the syringe he filled. “And the nurse showed you how to inject this into the IV, yes?”

“She did.”

“If he gets too much to handle, just give him it. It’s the pain making him snappy and moody.”

“No, it isn’t,” Maya countered. “That’s just Kolya.”

Kolya sighed loudly.

But where was the lie?

Once the doctor was gone, Maya still didn’t move from her spot against the wall. She folded her arms over her chest and stared at Kolya where he was resting in the middle of the bed propped up by pillows. His chest was exposed but for the special bandages that were made just for burn victims. He couldn’t even wear a shirt or cover up with a blanket. She sure as hell couldn’t touch him other than to rest beside him at night and throughout the day.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Kolya grumbled.

“Like you’re being a child?”

“I am not. The IV is pointless, no? Pills would work just—”

“No, they won’t. And also, the IV keeps you resting, Kolya. It’s also easier to give you meds this way. Stop behaving like this is news to you.”

He scowled again. “I don’t want the narcotics.”

Maya’s gaze drifted to the prepared syringe the doctor had left on her vanity just in case. “How much pain are you in?”

“Is there a scale?”

“One to ten, say.”

Kolya didn’t even have to think about it. “Fifteen.”

Yikes.

“The narcotics would help a bit,” she pointed out.

“They’ll make me high, Maya. They won’t actually help, yes?”

Another thing she wasn’t supposed to do was upset or argue with him. Which was difficult on a good day because for the most part, that was just how Kolya communicated with those around him. Even her.

“Come here,” he murmured.

Maya didn’t move from her spot. “Not until you agree to drop the IV thing and take the narcotics for the pain.”

Kolya sighed in that way again. “Dushka—”

“Unless your next words are, ‘Yes, Maya, whatever you say, Maya,’ then I don’t want to hear it.”

“You’re impossible,” he muttered.

“No, I love you, even when you make it difficult.”

Kolya made a noise under his breath. “That’s enough of that. Come here now.”

Fine.

She padded softly across the room and came to stand next to the bed. She figured he just wanted her closer because lately, that’s how his moods flipped. He wanted no one near him, and then sometimes, all he wanted was her.

This time, he grabbed her wrist with one hand, and yanked her into the bed. Maya tried her hardest not to land on him, but her hand still came dangerously close to his large bandages.