Page 148 of Healing Eleanor

“Is everything alr—”

His fist meets my face. Pain detonates through my jaw, white-hot and blinding, the metallic taste of blood blooming across my tongue before I even hit the flat rock I’ve been using as a seat.

When I catch myself, I stagger upright, my breath ripping out of me, red and ragged. I raise a trembling thumb to my lip, warm blood coating my skin. My father stands over me, fists balled, chest heaving like an animal’s.

“What the hell was that for?” I hiss, forcing my voice steady, fighting the urge to hit back.

“Do you not answer your phone!” he barks in Russian.

“You punched me over not answering my phone?” I spit, blood flecking the snow. “You’ve reached a new low, old man.” I say in English.

A cold, calculating smile spreads across his face. “Talk to me like a real man, Nikolai,” he snaps in Russian.

I want to needle him, to push until he snaps. But another part tells me to hold back. “My phone was turned off,” I reply in Russian.

His grin curdles into something nastier, like victory is his. “Well, how sad for you to find out this way then.”

I wipe my lip again, my jacket streaked in blood. “Find out what?”

“Your mother is dead. The hospital called you a hundred times!” he roars, spittle flying. “You selfish—” He stops himself, the word a hiss.

The world narrows. For a moment it feels like the sky’s been ripped away. “What?” I manage. “I was just with her a few hours ago.”

“She died an hour ago,” he spits. “Everyone’s been trying to reach you.”

The ground tilts. The air goes thin. My knees fold beneath me and I sink down into the snow, cold seeping through my pants. Scorching shock spreads through my chest, until the only thing I can feel is nothing.

28

Wake-Up Call

Eleanor

The buzzing on my nightstand is relentless. It drones over and over until I can’t take it anymore.

Half-buried in blankets, I fumble for my phone, desperate to silence the noise. The screen glares bright against the darkness. It’s 2:14 in the morning, and Lily’s name is lit up. The buzzing begins all over again.

“Hello?” My voice is rough with sleep.

“Oh thank goodness.” Lily sobs, her voice breaking apart on the other end. “I didn’t think you were going to answer.”

I bolt upright, wide awake now. Panic prickles through me at the sound of her tears. “Lily, what’s wrong?”

She tries to hold back, but the sniffles keep spilling through the line.

I hold my breath, waiting.

“Irina,” she chokes, the name alone twisting my stomach. “She—she’s gone. She passed away.”

My hand flies to my chest, pressing against the frantic thud of my heart. “What?” The word comes out raw, stunned.

“She passed about four hours ago,” Lily hiccups.

“No,” I whisper, my ears ringing with the heavy, awful silence between her words.

The sound of her blowing her nose cuts through the line before she speaks again. “I’m calling—” Her voice cracks. “I’m calling because we can’t find Nik. Have you heard from him?”

A sinking feeling settles in my gut. “You can’t find him?”