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My heart welled up with gratitude and relief, and I peeked over to make sure Leo was still out before planting a kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss, slow and gentle, before letting his head drop back against the seat, his eyes closed.
“We’ll be at a safe house of mine soon,” he said. “I’m just going to take a little rest. You Morozovs wear me the hell out.”
“You earned a nap,” I said, squeezing his hand.
By the time we were back on the highway, he was asleep. If only everything was right with the world, but Leo was badly injured and not out of the woods despite his courageous display. He looked so ragged and pitiful that I let go of Mikhail’s hand and climbed into the back to make sure he didn’t roll off onto the floor and hurt himself worse.
I was overjoyed to have Leo back, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this marked the end of my dream time with Mikhail.
Chapter 20 - Mikhail
I woke up with a start as the car pulled down the winding drive to the small cottage in Hialeah that I kept for emergencies. The faded pink stucco facade wasn’t much to look at. Still, it was always well stocked with food and medical supplies. The birds of paradise and hibiscus were in full bloom, making it seem more welcoming and homier.
I reached for Evelina’s hand, but she had moved to the backseat to stare at her brother. It was like she thought she could keep him alive if she never took her eyes off of him. I had to admit I’d had similar feelings when Kristina was a baby, and I was always worried when she was out of my sight. I didn’t begrudge Evelina’s love for her twin, but it did seem that now that he was with us, it had to finally mark the end of our little… whatever it was we had.
The thought made me inexplicably sad, and I shrugged it off as a rough day. I never did like getting shot at.
When we got out, the driver informed me the rest of my team had set up at the beginning of the tree-lined lane leading to the house. No one would bother us while we were there. He helped me lug Leo past the fake flamingos in the yard and through the front door, all with Evelina complaining we were being too rough. He waited for his next instructions, and I told him he could go get something to eat if he wanted.
The most important thing was to get Leo patched up enough to get him back to the Everglades. He was in no shape to make the trip without some kind of medical intervention, especially since his feat of valor at the office building had stolen the last of his energy. I had to admit I was still impressed by his aim.
Speaking of being impressed, Evelina had wowed me with her quick action in both taking out the guy on the roof and alerting me to the other one so I wouldn’t get shot. Even after seeing Leo in such a bad spot as dangling off a roof while unconscious, she’d kept it together.
And now she was busy gathering first aid supplies to help her brother. A trip to the hospital would have been ideal, but we couldn’t risk it. Once he was stable enough to get him back to the island, I’d call in a favor from one of the doctors I knew.
“What can I do?” I asked when she had her tray full of supplies picked out.
She tossed me a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some gauze and cotton balls, and a tube of antiseptic cream. “Strip him down to his underwear so we don’t miss anything. Don’t worry, he’ll only be pissed at me, and I can handle him. Start cleaning up the smaller cuts and wrap them in the gauze. If you think something needs stitches, just clean it and leave it, and I’ll get to it. I’m going to start on his poor face.”
I kept an eye on her as she worked, afraid seeing her twin in such a condition would be too much for her. But her hands were steady, and her gaze never wavered from what she was doing. Once she thought his face was cleaned up enough, she deftly threaded a needle with a long thread and ruthlessly plunged it through a gaping wound above his eyebrow.
“Can you just grab him if he wakes up,” she said. “Nobody likes getting their face sewn up without anesthesia.”
He was down for the count, though, so I went back to assess his other wounds. His shoulder might not have been broken after all, but a couple of ribs most certainly were. He had slash marks across his lower chest as if he’d been whipped, and I grew angrier as I kept finding new, gruesome injuries. I swabbed a couple of burns on his upper thighs and plastered gauze over them, then got to his calf, where I stopped and turned to Evelina in dismay.
“Shit,” I said.
She didn’t look up from her careful stitching. “What is it?”
“Those bastards shot him.”
She swore. “I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
My mouth hung open. “Looks like the bullet’s still in there,” I repeated her curses. It was dangerous to leave it in there to possibly get infected. “I’m really sorry, but we can’t risk taking him to the ER. It’ll have to wait.”
She shook her head, tying off the last tiny knot in his eyebrow. “I can get it out.”
“You can? Since when?”
“Leo and I both took emergency first aid a couple years back. It comes in handy every now and then.”
She moved down to stand beside me, nudging me out of the way. Pouring half the bottle of alcohol over the hole, she grabbed a pair of forceps from the tray and, without blinking, began to dig around in her brother’s leg. I wasn’t a squeamish man by any means, but the sight and sound of it made my stomach heave.
“Be prepared to hold him down,” she said, leaning closer to get a better view. “People really don’t like getting bullets taken out without anesthesia.”
She chuckled humorlessly at her little joke, and I stayed ready to throw myself over Leo if he woke up. After what seemed like hours but was probably barely a minute, she straightened up with the small slug of lead brandished between the surgical pincers. As soon as she dropped it on the tray, she pressed a handful of gauze into the wound, now leaking blood.
“I’ll just stitch this up now,” she said, voice and eyes like ice, her hands steady as she threaded a fresh needle.
