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“Yeah! Now you can feel like the oxygen is trying to pick your nose. That’s so much better!”
He spoke to me in Russian, so the nurses wouldn’t understand. “Thank you. For staying with me. You’re what pulled me through that.”
I smiled at him, answering him in Russian, “I’m not leaving you until they let you out of here. For their safety.” I winked at him.
The nurses were looking at us curiously, but remained silent. “We’re going to move him to the room with the other guy that came in ahead of him.” I nodded, standing up. I suddenly felt very tired. I looked down at Ivan, knowing he wasn’t feeling anything, and said, “Stop hogging the bed, asshole. I want to ride along to the room.”
He sat up and moved over for me sit beside him on the bed before laying back down. Both nurses just stood there, mouths hanging open. “That’s incredible,” one of them said.
I acted like I was discreetly pointing at him, but made it overly obvious. “Superhuman. He also has x-ray vision, in case you were wondering what we were talking about earlier.” I couldn’t help but laugh at their shocked faces. “I’m just fucking with you. Inappropriate humor is how I deal with trauma. It’s been a long day.” Another nurse showed up to wheel us to the room where Andrei was, and I assumed everyone else was too.
Once we left the recovery room, Ivan pulled me over toward his face. “You’re a little bit evil, princess,” he said, quietly.
I laughed. “Maybe just a little, but it’s so fun. Save me from myself,” I begged. He quietly wrapped his giant arm around my shoulders as they wheeled us down the hallway.
We were still laughing when we were wheeled into the room with Andrei. Everyone turned to look at us. Misha’s wide smile across this face. “Ivan, you’re the only one I know that would be laughing after coming out of that long a surgery.”
He sat up farther and the nurse adjusted the bed to support him. “It’s not me. It’s her. She’s evil in the best way possible.”
Adrik looked at me sternly, his hands on his hips. “Persephone, what have you done now?” He cracked a smile, opening his arms for me. I hopped off the bed and went to him, laughing.
“I did nothing except save their lives. They should be thanking me.”
Ivan laughed. “She’s not kidding there. I traumatized that one doctor, I’m sure of it. But then she showed up and started cracking jokes. Those two nurses in the recovery room didn’t know what to think.”
“It’s a gift,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I walked to Andrei, who didn’t look too bad considering he was shot earlier. I leaned down and kissed his cheek. “How you doin’, Bubba?”
“I’ve had worse. This wasn’t so bad. They just had to dig the bullet out,” he said.
I made a motion like I was going to vomit. “It sounds so pleasant when you say it like that.”
He chuckled. “Don’t puke on the guy that got shot trying to run to save you.” He laughed, then added, “Although it turns out I didn’t need to. You took care of it like a boss, spider monkey.”
“I took care of it like a goddamn princess,” I said, laughing.
Everyone laughed and for a moment, we had all forgotten what had happened that day. I knew it was going to hit us all later, but for now, we were alive, we were together, and I was grateful for each one of them.
The doctor came in later to check on the patients. He told them both he saw no reason why they couldn’t go home the next morning. He wanted to monitor both of them through the night, but as long as everything went well overnight, they could go home in the morning. He asked to speak to me in the hallway once he was satisfied with both Ivan and Andrei.
Adrik looked concerned and got up to come with me, but I motioned for him to stay. I said, “I’ll be okay,” as I followed the doctor into the hallway.
“Young lady, I don’t know what kind of special powers you have over that man, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’ve never had a patient that resistant to heavy sedatives before. We gave him enough to sedate a horse and it barely touched him. But you walked in, whispered something to him, and he was perfectly still. I don’t understand it, but I’m in awe of it. I was just about to call it and let him bleed to death on the table when you walked in. I wasn’t going to let him kill one of my nurses or me.”
“Oh, he would’ve killed all of you,” I said, sincerely.
“I believe you.” He offered me his hand. “Thank you. For helping me save his life today and for saving mine and those of my nurses.”
I shook his hand, smiling at him. “He’s not a monster, but doctors are the reason he is like he is, so he’s not exactly a fan of your profession. I’m glad he had an experience with a doctor that he can store in the good column for once.”
He looked surprised at my words, the gravity of the situation fully hitting him. Without thinking, I hugged him. He needed it.
“What’s your name?” I asked him, as I stepped back from him.
“Charlie. Charlie Williams.”
“If we’re ever in this situation again, and there’s a solid chance we will be, Dr. Williams, can I have them call you in to take care of him? It’ll help him to know who’s working on him.”
He smiled nervously at me. “As long as you’re there, of course.”
