AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“After what those motherfuckers pulled tonight?” My voice rises, the machines in my room bleeping loudly at my spiked heart rate. I pull the electrodes off my chest and toss them aside. “They came after me and ended up almost killing Mom. I’m not gonna sit around on my ass, giving them time to plot out their next attack.”
“You need to stand the fuck down. There are cops swarming this place right now. If you manage to stumble out of here without keeling over, they’ll be on you like maggots on rotting meat. And if you go after Moroz’s crew, they’ll follow you and haul your ass off to the county jail.”
Luka’s eyes darken. “I’ve been there before. And I know what happens behind those steel bars. The Moroz crew will expect a quick retaliation from this attack. Don’t give in to the temptation to hit them harder…yet. We wait until the time is right.”
I grit my teeth. “I want to see Mom.”
Luka nods. “I’ll get one of the orderlies I just paid off to get you a wheelchair. Don’t move.”
A few minutes later, the orderly pushes me down the hall outside of the Emergency wing toward the operating room where my mother is being prepped for surgery.
Once we get to the doorway the orderly leaves and Luka wheels me inside. Taras, Zak, Tori, and Nik huddle around her bed.
“Let me in.” I kick Zak’s legs aside to clear a spot for me next to Mom. I lean forward and grab her hand. Her flesh is cold, like all the life has been sucked out of her extremities leaving them weak and listless. I squeeze.
Mom turns her head toward me. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried.”
I manage a half-smile even though my heart clenches at the pain in her weak voice. “Takes more than a bullet to keep me down.”
“I wish your father was here. I miss him so much. And I’m scared.”
I squeeze her hand harder. “There’s nothing to be scared about. The doctors pinpointed where the bullet is and they’re going to remove it and fix anything it might have nicked. You’ll be in recovery before you know it.”
She reaches out and grazes the sling. “Does it hurt?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Don’t worry about me.” I stroke her hand with the tip of my thumb, my heart clenching.
A nurse and an orderly come into the room. “It’s time.”
Tori rubs her hand over my shoulder. I look up at her, black streaks on her cheeks from crying through the wedding makeup.
I look at my brothers standing across the bed, then back at Mom. Her lips quirk upward, trembling slightly.
“Stay with me for a second, Danil.”
I nod and wait for my family to leave the room.
The nurse busies herself with charts and wires and monitor readings. I wheel myself as close as I can get to the bed.
“Promise me you’ll find a nice girl. This life your father created for you won’t make you happy. It will make you angry and vengeful and unfulfilled. I saw it happen with Luka before he met Natasha. And I see it happening with you. Don’t let hatred rule your life. It will destroy you. Be open to the possibility of love. It’s out there. It gave me all of you.”
A lump swells in my throat. “I’ve got an idea. Once you’re back on your feet, you can screen some girls for me, okay? If you find someone you like, I’ll consider her. Deal?”
She smiles, her blue eyes watery. “Deal. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I bring her hand to my lips. “I’m sorry, Mom. So fucking sorry.”
Mom shakes her head, a tear slipping down one cheek. “You did what you had to do. It was the right thing. Don’t ever question yourself.”
The orderly guides her out the door. My shoulders slump as I collapse against the back of the wheelchair.
I finally maneuver myself out the door of her room. My brothers and sister wait against the wall of the hallway and together, we visit the chapel where we sit in deafening silence for the next hour.
The door of the chapel finally creaks open, a sliver of fluorescent light from the hallway creeping into the otherwise darkened room. My family forms a tight circle around the doctor who slowly walks toward us.
He pulls down the surgical mask, his lips frowning as hard as his eyebrows.
“When we opened her up, we found more damage to her heart than we’d anticipated. While we were working to repair a rupture in her aorta, she went into cardiac arrest.” The doctor sighs, his shoulders heaving forward like a lead albatross is strung around his neck. “I’m sorry. We tried to revive her but her heart was too weak from the trauma. We lost her.”
