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In returning to the kitchen, I was grateful to have a few things to clean up to keep my mind off what had to be done. Including wrapping the cake.
I had to admit that the creation was a work of art. Seeing the talented little girl having fun decorating alongside her father, who had absolutely no artistic talent, had kept me laughing. And it had felt so good to laugh.
After finding the plastic wrap, I stood in front of the sheet cake, trying to remember the last birthday Callista had been able to enjoy. She’d been much like Mina that afternoon.
The memories must have blocked out some time because I felt his presence behind me. There was no reason for me to stiffen, but I did and had a feeling he’d noticed.
When he was right behind me, he did nothing more than brush hair from my shoulder, softly rolling his finger down my arm. “You’re thinking about your sister.”
His quiet, reverent voice sent chills down my spine. “Yes. Her last birthday was a wonderful day. We decorated her cake together. There was music and food. Callista was feeling very good that day. She looked so cute in her bright pink scarf she liked to wear on her head. We played games much like the ones you bought Mina.”
“You mean the birthday fairy. Right?”
I half laughed. “Of course.”
He lowered his head and his heated whispers of breath cascading down my neck and across my throat brought a slight moan to my lips. “Thank you for making Mina’s second birthday so special.”
I cinched my eyes closed, struggling with keeping my breathing even as with exposing my emotions. “I adore Mina. She deserves everything.”
“I’m so sorry about your sister, my sweet angel. She knew you loved her very much. As my mother would say, her spirit is right here guiding you always.”
“Since when do you believe in the afterlife?”
“Oh, I don’t. But many people do.”
“That was also the last decent day I can remember my mother having. Life just isn’t fair.”
“No, moy angel-khranitel', it is not. All we can do is hold onto the present.”
“Maxsim. I need to tell you something.”
Now I couldn’t move and couldn’t breathe. I’d felt helpless before, but this was gutting me. Absolutely gutting me. There was no disguising the sorrow and fear in my voice. No way of hiding my emotions any longer.
As soon as he turned me around and realized something was drastically wrong, he gripped my face with so much pressure I whimpered. “Talk to me. What happened?”
I gripped his arm, digging my fingers into his skin to try to anchor myself. “The doctor dropped by with test results.”
“Okay. What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?’
A slight smile curled on my lips. “No, I’m not sick. But Mina’s blood levels…”
“What? Tell me.” The tone of his voice was completely different, the anger returning as I knew it would. “Tell me, Isabel.”
“Her white cell count is off. He wants her to have testing done in the hospital, testing he can’t provide in his office. He’s worried her cancer has returned or another form of cancer.”
As expected, he appeared stunned. His grip loosened, his hand falling away. “Cancer.”
His whisper was harsh, full of disbelief.
“Obviously, he doesn’t know for certain, but he just wants to rule out the obvious. I didn’t want to spoil her party. She was so happy and… you were so happy.”
He moved away from me, placing both hands in the counter and staring down at the cake, although I knew he wasn’t seeing anything. The man was lost in his own world.
I placed my hand on his shoulder, just trying everything I knew to keep him calm. “Things have changed medically. The doctor on the trust team is wonderful. Remember? But don’t jump to any conclusions. Dr. Isatov did mention she might have an infection and nothing more.”
With him remaining still, I was even more terrified of how he’d react. He was a ticking timebomb and that was easy to see.
I should have known what to expect. He was a man who could only find comfort through an act of violence. He raked his arm across the counter to the right of the cake, sending several dishes to the wall.
