Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Briony
"Move. She has a heart condition."
The ambulance doors had barely opened when Varlam's low voice cut through the chaos at the hospital entrance. He carried Brinny like she might shatter at any moment. Water still dripped from his clothes, his expression chilling to the bone.
"Get a doctor to examine her," he ordered the arriving medical staff. "Now."
No one asked who he was. No one told him to calm down. Those words coming from his mouth sounded like a signed order. The stretcher with Brinny was wheeled away, doctors clearing a path, nurses jogging to keep up. He followed Brinny through the automatic doors, his steps quick and steady.
I lay in the ambulance, watching his back disappear. He didn't look back. Again.
God, I hated him. That bastard.
The paramedics had all followed Brinny. The vehicle fell briefly silent except for the rhythmic beeping of the monitor. That sound reminded me I was still alive.
Good news, I guess.
Footsteps approached again. A nurse peered into the ambulance and froze when she saw me still lying there.
"Oh my God, there's another one."
She immediately called for help. The stretcher locks released, and I was slowly wheeled down.
"Don't worry, honey. You're safe now." The nurse gripped my wrist, softening her voice. "We'll get you to a room, start fluids, warm you up, run some tests. Can you tell me your name?"
"Briony... Cox." My voice came out hoarse and unfamiliar.
The stretcher rolled into the hospital. The wheels crossed tile seams, my body swaying slightly with each bump. My lungs still burned, breath couldn't go too deep. The nurse kept asking if I felt dizzy, had chest pain, nausea. I answered yes to everything.
She didn't find me annoying. She just pulled the warming blanket higher, covering my shoulders. A stranger showing me more care than Varlam had.
The room was small, just one bed. The nurse moved me onto it, helped me change out of wet clothes, and brought heated blankets. When the needle pierced my hand, I flinched instinctively. Once the IV started, she took my temperature and drew several vials of blood.
"The doctor will bring your test results soon. Rest for now." She stood and headed for the door.
The door closed. Just me left in the room. I stared at the clear liquid dripping. One drop, then another.
Time crawled maddeningly slow. Through the horizontal glass panel in the wall, I could clearly see figures moving in the corridor. Orderlies pushing equipment, doctors carrying charts.
When that flash of silver-gray hair passed by the glass, my heart tightened before my brain caught up. Varlam had changed out of his soaked shirt. His hair was still damp, his profile exhausted and hard. Several doctors followed behind, explaining something.
He couldn't see me, yet I held my breath. He stopped in front of the room across from mine and pushed through the door. After that, he never came back out.
I'd seen his coldness clearly, yet I couldn't stop focusing on him. He shouldn't affect me like this—at least not after I'd seen him for what he was. He shouldn't occupy any space in my heart anymore.
My IV bag was changed twice. A nurse brought soup. I only managed two sips before setting it down. My stomach was empty, but my chest felt too full to swallow even water.
After everything that happened, I was exhausted, but when I closed my eyes, sleep wouldn't come.
Around midnight, two nurses came to check on me. The older one monitored my blood pressure while the younger changed my medication.
"Is that man still across the hall?" Their voices stayed low.
"He's been there the whole time."
The younger nurse sucked in a breath.
"He's so handsome. The intimidating kind."
"Keep your voice down."
"I'm just stating facts. His girlfriend is beautiful too."
My fingers curled beneath the blanket.
"He treats her so well." The young nurse continued. "After she woke up, she wouldn't eat anything. He fed her himself. Held the water glass too. The doctor said she needed rest, so he wouldn't even let the phone ring at her door."
I opened my eyes, pushing down the sting.
"Rich men being nice to their girlfriends for two days isn't worth getting emotional over."
"But he hasn't left her side once. Earlier she just coughed twice, and he called the doctor immediately."
The older nurse finally noticed my open eyes and nudged her colleague's arm. The younger nurse shut her mouth and smiled awkwardly at me.
"Sorry, did we wake you?"
"No."
My voice came out calmer than I expected. They quickly finished the exam, changed my medication, and left. As the door closed, I looked across the hall. Through two layers of glass, I couldn't see anything except a line of warm light beneath the door.
Varlam was behind that light. Giving her water, feeding her, calling doctors when she coughed.
And I had no one. I bit my lip, refusing to cry. The tears fell anyway. The seawater had left my lungs but seemed to linger deeper in my body, needing to drain through tears.
When the door opened again, I quickly wiped the wetness from my face.
A doctor entered, holding a report, his expression more serious than the nurses'.
"Miss Cox?"
I tried to sit up. He came over and raised the head of the bed.
"Don't strain yourself. How are you feeling?"
"Like a boat ran me over."
He looked at me for two seconds.
"Still joking means your mental state is good."
"That wasn't a joke."
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn't actually smile. He opened the report, his tone dropping.
"You were in serious danger this time. Aspiration, hypoxia, plus severe hypothermia. If rescue had come any later, the consequences would've been more than hospitalization."
My lungs seized with his words.
"But I'm fine now, right?"
"Stable for now. We recommend staying for observation for a few days. And try to avoid high-risk activities in the future—at least for the near term."
"I didn't volunteer for this."
He looked up at me. I quickly corrected myself.
"I mean, I won't be going to any more damn yacht parties."
Probably never again in my life. The doctor didn't press. He pulled one page from the report and placed it on top.
"There's one more thing." His tone grew heavier.
"What?"
"Your blood work shows you're pregnant."
In that instant, my back went inexplicably cold. All sound in the room vanished. I watched his lips move, wondering if oxygen deprivation was causing auditory hallucinations.
"What did you say?"
"You're pregnant. Early stages, about two months."
My hand dropped involuntarily to my abdomen. Still flat. I felt nothing. No heartbeat. No movement. Just my cold palm pressed against skin through the hospital gown.
"That's impossible."
The doctor's expression softened but offered no escape.
"These tests don't make mistakes. You might want to think back to your cycle."
My cycle. His words made me finally realize something was wrong.
My period had been late for a long time, but I'd assumed stress from everything happening had made it irregular. Even a month ago, I'd started experiencing nausea.
My fingertips began to tingle.
"The baby... is it okay?" My voice cracked asking that question.
I'd barely escaped the water myself—how could a baby only a few months along be unharmed?
The doctor pushed the report closer.
"The hypothermia and hypoxia put severe stress on your body. There have been signs of threatened miscarriage. Fortunately, the indicators are stable for now."
Fortunately. I stared at numbers on the page I couldn't understand, my breathing growing shallower.
"So the baby is okay?"
"It looks okay now. But this experience may have effects. We can't give you absolute guarantees. The child might have a weaker immune system than others later. You need to rest properly going forward, avoid emotional stress, and keep up with checkups."
Each word hammered into my skull like a nail. Threatened miscarriage, hypoxia, weak immunity.
When I went under, another life was inside me. While I struggled in the water, so did he. When I sank, he lost oxygen with me. Brinny hadn't pushed just one person overboard. When Varlam swam past me, he'd abandoned not only me but his child too.
My stomach clenched suddenly, and I doubled over. The doctor immediately steadied my shoulder.
"Breathe slowly."
I lifted my head. The pain in my chest had transformed into something else. Hotter, harder, flowing through my veins.
I hated Brinny. I hated Varlam too.
He didn't know I was pregnant. But that didn't reduce my fury one bit. He didn't know because he'd never truly seen me. He saw a similar name. Someone who could temporarily fill a void. Someone healthy enough not to break easily, so he didn't need to look back.
What if he knew about this child? The question had barely formed before my palm pressed protectively over my abdomen.
No. I could never let him find out.
If Varlam knew I carried his child, he'd control me, maybe even imprison me, then wait for me to deliver his baby before taking it from me in the name of fatherhood. He was the bratva Pakhan—doing all that would be child's play.
And Brinny? She'd pushed me into the ocean over a man. If she knew I carried Varlam's child, what would she do?
A chill crawled up my spine to my neck. She'd probably want me and this baby to disappear from the world forever.
The doctor misunderstood my silence.
"You don't need to decide now. If this accident makes you not want to continue the pregnancy, we can arrange counseling."
"No," I answered too quickly, startling even myself.
My palm still felt nothing beneath it. But I couldn't think of this tiny life as a cancellable plan anymore. I'd lost my parents. Rory had lost them too. I knew the hole left when someone suddenly vanishes from your life. This child hadn't truly entered the world yet, but he existed.
I couldn't give him up with my own hands.
"I'm keeping it."
The doctor nodded.
"Then rest. Emotional stability is important for both you and the baby."
Emotional stability. The phrase made my mouth twitch.