20. Ben
20
BEN
“ E asy. Just breathe,” I coached. Holding on to Sonya, I guided her toward a chair.
Her cringes and winces couldn’t be a good sign. Yes, she was strong. But she was also pregnant and had been pushing it a lot. I was no expert at pregnant women, but I was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to engage in combat.
“Just a pulled muscle,” she protested weakly as she walked with me toward a chair.
“But that’s blood.” I looked down again at her. “And that woman didn’t have anything like a blade.”
“I think…” She faltered in her step, closing her eyes as she winced again.
“Too bad,” I growled. I was taking charge. This was our baby she was carrying. A new life neither of us had expected but one I would protect. I didn’t care what she thought or wanted at this moment. She needed to be checked out. “Hold on to me.”
Before she could protest again, I leaned down to pick her up. As strong as she was, both physically and mentally, it seemed that she’d finally reached the point of trusting me and leaning on me. Tucking her face against me, she clung to me as I carried her out of the room.
I paused only long enough to check that the door to Oleg’s room closed behind us. As soon as it was shut, I hurried down the hall to the elevator. “Where is the maternity ward?” I asked the first person I spotted in scrubs and wearing a medical ID.
“What? Hey— Are you all?—”
“Where is the maternity ward?” I demanded again.
“Fourth. Fourth floor,” the young man said before I rushed by.
I carried Sonya into the elevator, and that was where she fidgeted to be set down. “Settle down. I’m making sure you two are okay.”
“I know. But the room. Those bodies…”
She wasn’t just talking the talk when she said she was devoted to her family. This brilliant, sharp woman worried about Oleg. And she had a point. With Baranov guards down, that Petrov soldier, and the nurse the Ilyins paid off, there was a lot of cause for concern. Any staff member could walk in and freak out. Lev had to be updated.
I didn’t want to call him to gain favor in case I wanted to join the family. I only had to follow through with this cleanup for Sonya’s sake. Her worry had to be that spotting of blood, not her uncle.
Adjusting my hold on her as we rode down to the fourth floor, I got my phone out and called him.
“What is it?” he answered.
“I came to see Oleg just now and the guards had been taken down. They’re inside his room. I also found a Petrov soldier trying to smother him and a nurse the Ilyins paid off to drug him until he died so it’d look like a natural death.”
All the while I spat out that rushed explanation, he tried to splutter and cut in. “What?” he demanded, incredulous after I stopped to draw in a breath.
I didn’t have time to check what he’d heard. “Get to Oleg’s room now. It needs to be cleaned up.”
“Wait. What? Where— How— Where are you going? Just wait there for my men. Why were you there at all?”
“Get to his room now,” I said again, then hung up. I couldn’t answer his questions. Not until I knew that Sonya and our baby were okay.
The elevator arrived on the fourth floor and I carried Sonya off. My initial conversation with the first nurse we found wasn’t smooth. I was panicky, but I was direct, impatient, and stern that Sonya be seen. Led to a room, I laid her down and stepped back so she could be assessed.
“Help my wife,” I said.
Sonya shot me a look, but I ignored it. If she was nervous about her return, then she could “hide” as my wife. Plus, she couldn’t give her name just yet. She’d been missing for eleven years, and I didn’t want her personal details shared to the point it could cause an issue. Without a driver’s license or insurance or money, she’d stand out. She had nothing—except me, and I had faith she’d play along with my spontaneous lie.
Watching over the nurses and the doctor as they assessed Sonya, I stepped further from the bed and worried. It wasn’t much blood, but with my limited knowledge about pregnancies, I feared any blood had to be a bad sign. I didn’t know what they could be finding, but I wouldn’t leave. So far, I had been her only help. She was so independent, running on her own, but now that she had opened up to trust me, I found that I couldn’t let anyone else handle her security or comfort.
While I stayed in the background of her room, telling one nurse my personal info for them to admit her here as “my wife”, my phone buzzed. And buzzed.
Lev. And Vik. The Baranov men were relentless in wanting answers. They were no doubt rushing here to handle the situation in Oleg’s room. Each time my phone buzzed and I glanced at the screen, I caught Sonya watching me, still worried.
Stop it. Focus on yourself. And the baby. I could run interference, and I did. Each time the doctor or nurse commented that Sonya was stable, I could relax and text back Lev that I’d be there soon to help. All while they hooked Sonya up to monitors, then did an ultrasound on the baby, I did my best to pay attention and also relay the Baranovs’ concerns.
“Almost four months,” the ultrasound technician reported as she moved the gel-covered wand over Sonya’s belly. “And measuring just fine.”
The fast thumps of a heartbeat filled the air. In that precious moment of time, hearing our child’s heart for the first time, Sonya and I looked at each other and smiled.
That’s it. That’s my son or daughter.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that I would be a father! I’d be in charge of protecting this sweet baby for the rest of his or her life. And I couldn’t wait. I’d already started worrying about Sonya while she carried our child. From the bottom of my heart, I knew I would worry about our baby until my last breath.
Was that what it meant to embrace parenthood? It was happening suddenly for me, but I wouldn’t fight it. This felt like the sign I had been waiting for, the catalyst to settling down and being a solitary loner. And I welcomed the thrill of it.
Lev called, again and again, and Sonya couldn’t act like she didn’t notice.
“Go on.” She nodded once as they continued to check the baby.
I shook my head.
“Go see and come back,” she added, furrowing her brow as if she wondered if I’d listen.
I sighed, hating to be torn away from her.
“But please…” She licked her lips, glancing at the technician.
The young woman smiled politely. “You know what? I need more gel.” She held up the gel container as she placed the ultrasound wand aside on the cart she’d wheeled in. She’d guessed that Sonya and I needed to speak privately. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as she was gone, Sonya cleared her throat. “Just please don’t tell them about me yet. I want to be reunited with them all, but I’m cautious. With two attempts on Oleg’s life, everything is chaotic at the moment. I think they’re saying the baby is okay and I’m okay, but I’m nervous about spotting and just—” She exhaled a deep whoosh of a breath.
“I hear you.” I leaned in to kiss her brow.
“I mean, that’s our baby.” She smiled, in awe, at the steady heartbeat. “I want to be able to bring him or her into this world safely.”
“Me too.”
“And I’m just not ready for them to know I’m alive and here and having your baby and?—”
I chuckled, kissing her again. “I get it.” And I did. It was a handful.
“I’m just worried about too many people knowing where I am yet. I want control over my return.”
I nodded, handing her my phone. “I agree. And with that Petrov man in his room and that nurse being paid off, I’m not certain this fucking hospital is even that secure anymore. It would be better for you to remain hidden.”
“As Mrs. Ben Warner?” She smiled slyly.
“Are you insinuating I’m not the only one between us who’s daydreaming about my being more than just a sperm donor?”
She barked out a single incredulous laugh, but the following smile was so bright and sexy. “I can’t even think about that right now. I can’t look that far into the future yet.”
My heart expanded, filling with hope and excitement at the yet .
“And my uncle is in a more dangerous state than I am. The doctor doesn’t seem worried—about my health or the baby’s.”
“True, but?—”
“Uncle Oleg can’t claim the same. Help Lev and the others. I’ll be okay here until you’re back.”
“Oh, I will be back. You’re never getting rid of me now.”
Again, she smiled.
“But I won’t be able to relax being away from you. I don’t trust this hospital. I won’t trust anyone with your safety.”
She sobered, losing the grin. “Not until Benson is dead. I will not rest easy until the man that family took me to marry is killed.”
“Like I said, consider it done.”
“I won’t risk our child being taken someday either.”
“I won’t risk you or our baby at all. Ever.” Taking out my phone, I watched her closely and told her the PIN to unlock the screen. “I’ll go, but you keep this. If anything happens, call Lev. His number is in the contacts. I’ll be with him upstairs until I come back here.”
She nodded, accepting the device. After she licked her lips, she gazed up at me with a careful smile. “Be safe.”
“Always.”
I would—because I had her and our baby to come back to.