Chapter 10 - Nadia
Abram told the driver where to go as our doors closed. I loved how, every now and then, his authoritative side stepped out. He was part of a Bratva family and was dangerous.
I knew I had to settle his mind and keep him happy if I was to succeed. Vadik was hammering me for the information. I had told him we were going out and I would send something as soon as I could. The pressure he was placing on me made me nervous.
It felt good being able to talk to Abram, though. He wasn’t as uptight as I imagined Bratva men to be. He seemed to be truly interested to know how I was doing. He was always friendly and kind so far.
I was about to thank him again when the car suddenly stopped. My body jolted, and I slammed into the seat before me, dropping the glass to the floor.
Abram hit his head against the cabinet. He recovered quickly as he glanced around. “What’s going on?” Abram asked the driver. He sounded angry.
“We’re surrounded, boss. We’re being ambushed,” he replied, sounding slightly uptight.
Glancing around, I saw three cars blocking us in. This surely had to be a fluke. There had been no indication that anyone else had been after the Dubow family, and mine didn’t have enough intel to act yet. I felt sure something else was going on.
I heard the gunshots echoing through the air as Abram threw himself over me to cover me. There was a steady stream of bullets for a couple of seconds. Every bullet that hit the car made a hollow clunk sound. I felt my heart beating in my throat, sure that we were going to die.
Suddenly, everything went quiet, and I heard voices coming from outside. Abram slid off me and crawled to the front of the car.
“Shit,” he mumbled as he pushed forward between the front seats. The driver's door opened. Abram pushed the driver out. His body fell out like a bag of potatoes.
The door slammed shut and the car started moving.
“Keep your head down!” Abram screamed as he sped up. “Stay down! I don’t want you to get shot!” he added, glancing at me over his shoulder.
I didn’t want to be a distraction, as I felt he had enough to deal with. Lying flat on the backseat, I replied.
“I won’t.”
I could hear the quivering in my voice and hoped he didn’t notice it. Holding tightly to the seatbelt, I tried steadying my breathing. My throat felt swollen shut, and my heart was racing. It felt like a tornado within me, trying to get out.
The car hit something, slowing down for a split second, then jerked forward. Lifting my head carefully, I peeked over the backseat. I saw one of the shooters lying on the ground. I felt sure we had hit him. The other cars weren’t far behind.
Turning forward, I looked at the road ahead of us as Abram increased his speed. The road appeared to narrow and form a thin line. I shook my head, trying to clear my vision. There were another couple of shots. I felt the car swerve slightly before straightening out again.
There were more obstacles on the road than I expected. Abram swerved and managed to miss hitting anything. I swallowed hard as the ocean in my mouth tried to flood me. We were heading to the edge of town. I didn’t know where we were going. But I felt sure he would get us out of this safely.
He took a sharp turn, and I fell back as something exploded next to the car. There was a horrid screeching sound. Abram slammed the steering wheel as she screamed.
“Shit, shit, shit! Hold on tight, the wheel blew, but I will get us out!”
The car swerved left and then right. I held onto the seatbelt as we spun before coming to a stop. Abram glanced back at me as he spoke.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.” He jumped out and flung open the back door. “We need to move before they find us,” he huffed as I stumbled out of the car.
Abram caught me before I fell to the floor. Once I was stable, he pulled lightly on my hand as he spoke.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded as we started moving towards the tree line.
“Come on, this way, we have to move. I know where we can lay low for a bit,” he added.
Moving into the trees ahead, I noticed it was a forest and not just a tree line.
“We have a cabin not too far from here,” Abram whispered as we moved. After a while, I felt the cold air creeping up my feet and into my joints. I shivered and stopped. Abram looked back at me, stepping closer.
He took hold of my shoulders, rubbing up and down my arm. “You’re cold,” he said softly.
“Yes,” I replied. “We have to get inside before it’s too cold.”
Abram nodded as he replied. “It’s not too far.”
I followed close behind him as we moved forward. My feet were aching and burning when we stepped into a small clearing. I was relieved to see the small cabin looming before us. The grass surrounding the cabin was extremely high. It was obvious that no one had been here in a long time.
We pressed on through the thick grass. Now and then, Abram would stop and ruffle the grass behind us, making our trail less obvious. As we reached the couple of steps leading to the front door, Abram collapsed.
I was filled with fear as I tried to grab him. He just fell to the floor; I was too weak to hold him up. Mentally slapping myself, I moved around him to try and see what was wrong. Leaning forward, I pulled him towards me.
My fingers felt hot and sticky as I grabbed his shoulder. Looking down, I saw the hole. He had been shot in the shoulder. The blood was slowly gashing out. Having seen this before with my cousins, I knew I had to get the wound cleaned and closed. I wondered how much blood he had lost and why he didn’t say anything.
Patting him down, I found a set of keys in his pocket. I fumbled at them in the dark, hoping one of them would fit. I found a key that went in and turned the lock. Breathing out hard, I pushed the door open. Now I had to get Abram inside. I was confused and shocked. He had taken a bullet for me and said nothing.
I felt on the inside of the door for a light switch. Moving my hand up, I felt a cable hanging down and pulled it. The inside light made a clicking sound and slowly came on. It wasn’t very bright, but I could see.
Moving back to Abram, I grabbed him under the shoulders and pulled with all my might. I managed to get him halfway in the door, but then he fell back, heaving. He was a lot heavier than he looked. Getting up, I went to the bathroom and collected a towel. I managed to get it around his back and under his arms.
Heaving, I finally succeeded in getting him inside. There was a small table on one side of us and a single couch on the other side. Against the back wall was a fireplace. It was a small place with basically one room and a bathroom. Scanning the area, I noticed there was a single bed as well.
I knew I would never get him onto the bed, so I pulled the mattress to the floor. Feeling flushed and out of breath, I sat back, wondering what to do. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I went into the bathroom. My emotions were up and down; I wasn’t sure what was going on. I wanted to scream, cry, and fight with him.
Searching through the cabinets, I found a medical kit. It barely had anything in it. But I would make do with what I had. I filled a bucket with clean water and placed it along with the medical kit on the floor next to Abram.
I found a pair of scissors in a drawer and cut open his shirt. Using a cloth, I discovered in a drawer; I cleaned the wound and his chest as best I could. As I cleaned, I couldn’t help but trace a line down his chest with my fingers. His muscles were so firm I had to feel them.
Once I packed his wound, I wrapped it as best I could. Staring down at him, angry and confused, I shook my head. My mind was having difficulty in processing everything. Why did he take the bullet for me? What was I going to do if he didn’t wake up? Should I be calling someone?
I had so many questions and no answers. Looking at him, I hoped he would be okay. He appeared as white as a sheet. I knew that was due to blood loss. But he was shivering as well and that wasn’t good. Biting my nails, I was consumed with worry. I couldn’t afford to have a Dubow’s blood on my hands.
Getting up, I searched through the place but only found a light sheet to cover him with. After covering him, I sat watching. The shivering didn’t stop; it appeared to be getting worse. I had to find a way to heat him. He had to survive until morning.
The only other way I knew of was to use my body heat. Taking off my damp dress, I got in next to him. Moving his uninjured arm, I tried to lay as close to him as I could. Snuggling him in nothing but my underwear, I hoped I was able to give him enough heat.
His skin was cold as I placed my head on his chest. Listening to his heart, I could barely hear it. After a while, it became clearer, and I felt slightly relieved. It was working, his skin wasn’t as cold, either.
After another while, the shivering seemed to ease as well. Laying there in his arms, I felt safe and comfortable. I slid my fingers over his abs feeling calmness entering my mind. “Thank you for saving me,” I whispered.
Closing my eyes, I felt sleep crawling closer. I hadn’t realized how tired I was from keeping up the act. I had to constantly have my guard up and watch every step I took. I hated this mission as it was getting harder by the day. I had to constantly remind myself that the Dubows were bad people even though I hadn’t seen it.