Andrusha looked at me. Resignation made his voice heavy. “You tried.”
“Wait!” I whispered.
Thirty more seconds, and suddenly there were a dozen people running toward Viktor’s room.
“Hold those doors open! Why the hell hasn’t he been taken down?”
“Surgeon didn’t show, he was busy.”
“Heads are going to roll on this one. Let’s make sure they aren’t ours.”
“Where are we taking him, people?”
“Surgery number four.”
“Hold the elevator, coming through.”
“Call down and ask for three more bags of O negative.”
“Who are we meeting down there?”
“Cleats, McKaw and Davids have all been pulled off other surgeries.”
“If they can’t save him, no one can.”
“This guy is off to a rough start. Let’s hope he’s tough.”
And then the elevator doors shut, leaving us standing in their wake.
Andrusha looked at me with solemn respect. “That was better than my way.”
My phone started ringing. It was Jason Blakely. I let it go to voice mail. “What was your way?”
“I was going to start shooting the place up.”
Laughter bubbled out of me for a hot second, and then I dissolved into tears.
He put one strong hand on my shoulder, and he looked into my eyes. “He’s going to make it.”
“Okay.” But I wasn’t sure I believed it anymore. How much could one man endure? I had never seen someone consistently abuse their body near to death like Viktor did. And I had no idea how I would live the rest of my life without him in it.
He held my gaze. “No, you have to believe, Blaire. He’s going to make it. Say it with me.”
“He’s going to make it.”
He nodded. “Good. Now let’s finish getting you patched up, and then we can go wait for him.”
“Okay.”
I sat curled up on the chair in the waiting room. Andrusha sat beside me, and the detective sat across from me. My cuts and scratches had been bandaged up, and Andrusha had gone to the gift shop and bought me a dry sweatshirt, which I wore with the hospital scrub pants they had lent me.
Viktor was still in surgery. My eyes were glued to the large clock on the wall behind the detective’s head. I was counting the seconds until I could be by his side.
“Just bear with me.” The detective checked his notes. “You said Viktor texted you.”
“No, that’s not what I said.” I glanced at Andrusha. “Do I need my lawyer here?”
“Stop with your games,” Andrusha growled at the detective.
He cleared his throat. “You said someone texted you, but you thought it was Viktor.”
“That is correct.”
“Then what happened?”
“The person texted me and told me to meet him at the aquarium. While I was there, Viktor phoned me. I felt a prick in my neck, and then I woke up tied to a chair.”
“In the mine.”
“Yes.”
“And can you describe your captor?”
“He was tall and muscular. He was wearing a toque, and his face was covered in dark paint. He said that either he was going to shoot Viktor when he tried to save me or the ropes would burn and I would fall to my death.”
“What you’re telling me is that you never saw his face.”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“He left, and, about fifteen minutes later, I heard Viktor come down the path.”
“After Viktor showed up, did you see the sniper?”
“No, but he shot some flaming arrows at me.”
“You said Viktor fired a shot at him.”
“I think he might have gotten one shot off.”
He stood up. “We’ll keep you posted. They are searching the crevice for any sign of a body. We’ll know more in a couple of hours.”
Behind him, I saw two surgeons walking down the hall toward me. My mouth went completely dry. I stood up, but my legs were so shaky I had to sit back down again.
“Are you family of Viktor Mikhailov?” one of them said solemnly.
Both my hands covered my face. I wasn’t sure I could handle the truth if Viktor hadn’t made it.
“We’re his family,” Andrusha said beside me.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
VIKTOR
My entire body hurt, so much that I wondered if I had died and gone to hell. I could hear a beep above my head. It took me a moment to realize that I was in a hospital. I heard people murmuring from outside the room. And a distant beep from another bed.
I worked to open my eyes. Raising my head took an inhuman effort. Andrusha sat in the chair beside me.
“Blaire,” I rasped. Was she okay? Was she here? What happened?
He stood up beside me. “She’s sleeping in the waiting room.”
As long as she was safe. I thought back to my last conscious moments. I remembered the moment I had gotten shot. I had managed to get one round off before I had done my damn best to throw Blaire to safety. “Did I hit him?”
“One shot through his heart. They recovered his body yesterday. Since he was a wanted terrorist, and Blaire has the best lawyers in the city, the police won’t be pressing charges. They consider this self-defense.”
I tried to sit up. “I need to find Blaire.”
He pushed me back onto the bed with ease. “The best thing you can do for her is get back on your feet. She’s been worried sick.”
“I want to see her.” I was struggling to form my words.
I could feel myself sinking back into the darkness.
“Just shut your eyes, and when you wake up, she’ll be here.”
“Feed my cat.” My eyelids drifted shut. “Bea likes to be scratched under the chin.”
“Bullshit you got a cat—you hate cats.”
And then everything went dark.
The next time I woke up, I was being prodded by a doctor.
“Welcome back, Viktor. I’m Dr. Jane Sexton, the chief of general surgery. How are you feeling?”
My eyes moved around the room. “Where’s Blaire?”
“I think her grandmother dragged her down to the cafeteria. Your surgery went well. The bullet fragmented off your plated vest, but a large chunk of bullet found its way into your abdomen. Miraculously, it hit no major organs. We had some complications finding it and three other small pieces, but we removed all the pieces laparoscopically. You’re on strong antibiotics, but so far, no sign of infection. Are you in any pain?”
My body felt like it had been run over by a truck. “No more than usual.” I tried to sit up but failed. “When can I get out of here?”
She moved to adjust my IV line. “If you can manage not to get an infection, and if you’re able to walk, eat and do all the things we need you to do, you should be able to go home within three to five days. You’re going to need to take it easy for a few weeks, but you’re making a remarkable recovery so far. I’m going to give you something for the pain.”
The pain meds would help me walk. I needed to go find Blaire. “You said Blaire is in the cafeteria?”