Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alex
Dawn had tinged the cloudy sky with streaks of pink and orange, which were quickly being overtaken by even more rain clouds, when I skidded into the waiting room, half expecting to see her.
Instead, I was greeted with the sight of Micah sitting there, eating a stale-looking sandwich.
There was a pile of food in the chair next to him.
Jesus, had it really been that long? I knew I was running late, but I had come as quickly as I could. Panting heavily, I looked around the small, comfortable room, and the first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t comfortable at all.
“Where is she?”
Slowly, he lifted his head and met my eyebrows.
“She said I should eat this,” he said quickly, not answering my question, like I would care that he was eating.
“Before it went to waste. Most of it went to the nursing staff, but she knew I would be hungry, and I knew,” his eyes met mine, and it might have been my imagination, but it looked like he was angry, “that you wouldn’t want me to leave her alone for even a few minutes. ”
I nodded. “You were right, but I am here now, Micah. You can head home.”
Lips pursed, he looked away so quickly that it was impossible not to get the impression he wasn’t just angry at me, he was livid.
“Where is Amy?” I asked again. If he was here, then she hadn’t gone home.
Without meaning to, I glanced at the clock and the world tilted on its axis.
That couldn’t be right. The time must be wrong because if it was right, it had been twenty hours since she had called me, and I had promised her that I would be there.
Had she sat in this room alone for twenty hours? Had she wondered where I was?
“She’s not here, she is—” He shook his head and fell silent.
My stomach flip-flopped. “Did something happen?” I could barely get the word out of my mouth. “Did Alessia?”
“No, Mr. Petrovov.” Gathering up the supplies in his arms, he headed in my direction. “Alessia made it out of surgery several hours ago.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God for that.” Reaching up, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“But—” Micah sighed, “There were some complications. Alessia died on the table several times, and they had to place her in a coma.”
His words rushed through my head, but I didn’t really compute them. “Where is my wife?”
Nothing else mattered but getting to her. She would need me more than ever now.
“ICU on the second floor, but sir,” he paused. “It’s family only.”
At the door, I paused. “I am family.” Rushing from the room, I took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. My footsteps only slowed when I reached that wing. Each door along the corridor was shut, the little windows dark, but I found the right room quickly and pushed my way inside.
The room seemed to be more than three-quarters full of machines, the bed in the middle looked like an island, and next to it, looking tiny was Amy.
She had pulled her chair up as close to the bed as she could get.
Her head was pressed to the edge of it, and she was clinging to her sister’s hand like she would force her to stay alive.
“Amy?” My voice was a whisper. She looked like she was asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her up if she was.
Her head snapped up and around, and she glared at me with eyes that were almost swollen shut from crying. I had never in my life seen someone I cared about look like that. Almost like their whole world had been snatched away from them.
“What are you doing here?” There was no sign of sleepiness in her voice. It was full of anger instead.
“I told you I was going to come to be with you, Amy, and I keep my word.” Even if I am a little late, I added silently.
“That was—” She shook herself with a sigh. Standing up, she lifted her sister’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “I’ll be right back, Alessia. Don’t you dare go anywhere.”
“Where are you going?” I asked as she brushed past me, easily side-stepping my hands when I tried to grab her.
“Follow me.”
I’d never heard Amy order me to do anything, so I reluctantly fell into step next to her. Every time I reached for her hand, she shook it away.
“I know you’re angry at me, my love and—”
We stepped out of the hospital and into the rain. It pelted down on us, instantly soaking her blouse so it stuck to her skin.
“Here.” I tried to give her my jacket, but instead of taking it, she pointed it out into the parking lot.
“Leave.”
I did a double-take. Convinced I hadn’t heard her right. “Amy?”
“I want you to leave, Alexei. You aren’t welcome here.”
“Come on, Amy.” Again, I reached for her, and this time, I caught her by the upper arm. “I know you are mad at me. I know I let you down, but I’m here now for anything you need, and I have a good excuse.”
“Is the excuse Violet?” she asked, and her voice was dripping with some emotion I didn’t understand.
Anger? Yes, there was plenty of that. But it was more than that as well. She sounded like I had let her down in the worst possible way. Like I had ripped her heart out without even a second thought, when the truth was so far from that. I had every intention of being by her side through this.
“It was an emergency.” Even to my ears, it sounded like a lame excuse.
Amy’s eyes flashed. Her lips thinned until they disappeared into her face. “No,” she spat, her voice pure venom. “My sister having a heart transplant was an emergency. And you”, her voice rose to a shout, “decided your girlfriend was more important.”
My girlfriend? My eyebrows shot up. “Lower your voice, Amy.”
“I will not. Just leave, Alexei.”
Shifting my grip, I pulled her into my arms. “Let me be here for you both, Amy. When you know why I couldn’t come straight away, you will understand why.
” My hand roved up and down her back. And for a second, she relaxed against me.
Her hands slipped inside my coat and clawed at my shirt.
Her sharp little nails leave trails of fire even through the shirt.
I didn’t push her away. All I could do was let her cling to me and get all of that frustration and fear out.
“It’s going to be OK,” I said softly. “Alessia is fine. She and you are made of strong stuff. Violet is—” It was the wrong thing to say. She stiffened in my arms. Quickly, I tried to back-peddle. “I just meant she isn’t as strong as you are. She’s not a survivor like you, and she needed me.”
“I needed you as well,” she whispered.
“Not in the same way, Amy. You’re used to looking after yourself.
It’s one of the things I like so much about you.
” As gently as I could, I tilted her chin up so I could meet her eyes.
Raindrops landed on her face, but she didn’t blink them away.
So they gathered on her eyelashes and fell down her cheeks.
Or maybe they were tears that were falling from her eyes. It was impossible to tell.
“But Violet is fine now,” I continued. “She and the baby are safe.”
She blinked, rapidly sending more water cascading down her face, but she didn’t say a word.
“You understand why I have to look after her, don’t you? She doesn’t have anyone else, and I swore to protect her. We have been friends for most of our lives. I owe her that much. You have to understand that?”
She nodded her head, and I let out a sigh of relief. “I knew you would. You’re such a good person, Amy. I knew you would want me to look after her. After all she is—”
“Carrying your baby.”
I did a double take. “What?”
Instead of answering, she pressed her tear-soaked face against my chest and clung to me. “I understand, Alexei. I understand that in this relationship there are three people, soon to be four, and I will always come last to you.”
I gripped the tops of her arms. “You are my wife, Amy.”
“But not by choice, Alexei,” she reminded me, and I did not like the tone of her voice.
“Stop this jealousy, Amy, it’s not attractive. It’s not—”
“Violet-like?” she retorted, and it was my turn to freeze.
“That is not what I was going to say. I don’t want to fight with you. I am here and—” My voice trailed away.
“You should go back to Violet and the baby,” she said in a completely emotionless voice. “They need you.”
Her tone was clearly sarcastic.
For one last minute, she clung to me like I was her life raft in a stormy sea, and then she pushed away from me, her head down and her wild curls hiding her face from me. Amy’s body shuddered as she took a deep, rain-soaked breath.
“Amy.” She was less than a foot away from me, but it felt like a chasm had opened up between us. Why did she have to be like this? So jealous for no reason? It didn’t matter how many times I told her there was nothing between Violet and me, she seemed adamant to think the worst.
Maybe it was an age thing? I was her first everything after all. Not that I valued that excuse. Amy was my wife. These little outbursts should be beneath her.
“You made your decision, Alexei,” she said in a small voice that was already audible. “And I would like you to leave now.”
“Is that really what you want Amy?”
Slowly, she lowered her eyes. The light from a nearby ambulance flashed across her face, and the blare of a siren droned at her words.
I didn’t need to hear her words, though.
She turned on her heels and stalked back into the hospital without looking back, leaving me standing there and watching her.
My shoulders straightened. She was being ridiculous and acting like a jealous child that wouldn’t listen, and if she wanted to act like a child, then I would treat her like one.
“Fine, Amy,” I called out after her retreating back. “If you are too selfish to think of others and don’t want to listen to me, then I will leave you.”
She paused for just a second, and I saw her shoulder slump before she continued walking again.
“I’ll talk to you when you are in a better frame of mind. When you are ready to listen like an adult,” I continued, but she had already stepped onto the elevator, and the doors had closed. I had no way of knowing whether she had heard me or not.
I didn’t even think it mattered if she did or not. Amy would make up the truth in her own head. She didn’t listen to a word I said.