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We were interrupted by the doctor coming in to check on me. “Oh, good. You’re awake now,” he said as he walked into the room. The guys took a small step back from the bed, but didn’t leave. They gave the doctor just enough space to do what was needed, but they were making sure to stay close to me while he was in the room. Adrik pulled me closer to him as the doctor approached the bed. Even though it hurt, I was grateful for him doing so. “How are you feeling?” Dr. Williams asked as he looked over my chart.
“Like shit,” I said quietly. Dr. Williams chuckled.
“How’s your breathing? Can you take a deep breath in?” I did as instructed. My ribs were still incredibly painful, so I couldn’t breathe as deeply as I wanted to. “Good.” He looked at Adrik, asking, “Have you heard her wheezing at all?” Adrik shook his head no. “What about coughing?”
“Only when she tries to talk too much,” Ivan said.
“That’s to be expected,” Dr. Williams said. “You’re probably going to have a harder time talking and doing normal, everyday things for a few days. Take everything very slowly. It’ll make it easier on your lungs to keep up. I’d like to take the chest tube out and see how you do.” I nodded my head eagerly. If me staying in the hospital was dependent on that thing coming out, then I wanted it out as soon as possible.
“Can I get out of bed?” I asked quietly.
“After your chest tube comes out, you can walk for short distances. You’ll need to take your IV stand with you, but a little bit of movement will be good for the rest of your body. You’re going to be sore though. How much pain are you in?”
“I’m okay,” I said. I was worried about him giving me pain meds that would knock me out for days at a time. I would rather suffer through it. Ivan caught my eye. I looked at him sternly, trying to silently tell him to keep his mouth closed.
“Why do I feel like you’re lying?” Dr. Williams asked.
“I’ve had worse, Doc. I’ll be fine,” I said. My tone was short enough that I was hoping he would let the matter drop. I was trying not to maintain eye contact with him, as I didn’t want him to notice if my eyes turned dark. I glanced at the guys, who all had sympathetic looks on their faces. They knew why I was refusing pain meds.
Dr. Williams just sighed. “I’ll get a nurse to get your chest tube out shortly. Then you can try going for a short walk in the hallway. I don’t want you to overdo it though. How’s your appetite? Are you nauseous?” I shook my head no. “Good. We can give you a few snacks and see how you do with those, then you can have more substantial food.” He looked to Viktor. “Or would you rather get food for her too?”
“We’ll take care of it,” Viktor said. I was curious as to what that conversation had been like, but I would wait to ask about that later.
Dr. Williams nodded at Viktor, then said, “I’ll have a nurse come in shortly. I’ll be back in the morning to see how you’re doing.” He smiled at me before leaving the room.
Once the doctor was out of the room, Ivan looked at me, his broad smile across his face. “Princess, do you know what you’re doing with your eyes now?” I looked at him, completely confused. “Your eyes were totally normal when you were talking to the doctor, then you said you were okay and looked at me. Your eyes went dark as ever when you looked at me, then back to normal the next time you looked at the doctor. If you’re doing it on purpose, I’m impressed as hell. If you’re not doing it on purpose, then your eyes are telling you that you should be.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, I don’t think. I didn’t want you to tell him I’d told you how much pain I’m in. He’s going to give me pain meds that make me sick or knock me out. I don’t want that. We can’t afford to stay in here for a week just so I can wake up pain-free like Sleeping Beauty.” I stopped to breathe, but then added, “I also didn’t want him to notice my eyes changing. You guys don’t need another reason to want to hurt him.”
The chest tube came out quickly. The nurse made me stay in bed for half an hour after it came out, just to make sure my lung would stay inflated and functioning properly. Once the half hour was up, she came in and told me I could get out of bed. I wanted to get out of bed as much for Adrik as I did for me. I still felt guilty for keeping him trapped with me. I knew a short walk would do him good too.
I’d had bruised ribs before, but never broken ribs. Both were not something I wished to ever have to deal with again. Every single movement caused pain in my ribs. Andrei and Viktor were there to help me sit up on the edge of the bed. My hospital gown wasn’t secured, so they all got a full view of the bruises down my left side. I heard collective cursing.
“If you won’t take pain meds from the doctor, will you let me go get you some superprofen?” Viktor asked. “I can get snacks too,” he added, grinning at me.
“I’m more excited about the snacks, if I’m being honest,” I said, trying to pull the stupid hospital gown around me. “Can you get me some clothes too? This thing makes me want to murder people.”
“You got it,” Viktor said, laughing at me.
Adrik stood in front of me. “Hold on to me,” he said as he helped me stand. Once I was standing, he wrapped the hospital gown around me, tying it so it would stay in place. His hand brushed against my skin. “Grab her a pair of my sweatpants and a hoodie. She’s freezing,” he told Viktor.
“She’s going to be living in your hoodies until her arm comes out of this cast,” Ivan said as he thumped the cast with his finger. “I can’t imagine your tiny little shirts being able to fit over that thing.”
“My shirts are not that tiny. Your shirts are just giant in comparison,” I said grumpily.
“Okay, she needs snacks. I’ll be back as quickly as possible,” Viktor said, laughing. He left the hospital room quickly.
Adrik offered me his arm as I walked slowly to the door. My legs felt fine. Sore, but fine. That’s a good sign. Being able to walk around always made me feel better, no matter how much pain I was in. Misha and Ivan walked out of the room ahead of us, with Andrei and Stephen behind us. It was still early enough in the evening that people were still visiting friends and family that were in the hospital, so the hallway wasn’t empty. We got plenty of strange looks as I walked at a snail’s pace down the hallway with my giants.
“Can I tell them I’m the goddamn princess? Will it make them stop staring at me?” I asked Adrik quietly, speaking Russian so we wouldn’t be understood. He laughed at me, leaning over to kiss my cheek. “You can tell them whatever you like, solnishko. Or I can have them all killed for looking at you. Say the word,” he said, grinning at me.
“Don’t tempt me,” I said.
Viktor was back shortly after my excursion into the hallway. “I lied. I’m more excited about the sweatpants than anything,” I said as he handed Adrik a bag with clothes for me in it.
Ivan and Stephen were the closest ones this time, so they helped pick me up and move me to the edge of the bed. I was impressed with how gentle they all were, given their massive size. Adrik helped me put his sweatpants on. They were a few sizes too big for me, so he rolled the waistband and tied them tight enough they would stay up. He glanced at the guys, the sweatshirt in his hand. They all turned their backs to me, so as not to see all of me. Adrik carefully took the hospital gown off and replaced it with the sweatshirt, leaving my left arm out of the sleeve.
“Sweet, now it looks like I only have one arm,” I said, playing with the empty sleeve. I smacked Adrik with it as he helped me sit back on the edge of the bed. “Oh, this is going to get me in trouble.”
