Chapter Twenty-Nine - EMMA
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
EMMA
“EMMA, I MISS you. Please come back to me.”
The voice in my head sounds so far away.
“Ya tebya lyublu. I love you. There hasn’t been enough time to tell you that. Please wake up,” the voice begs.
It sounds like Ivan’s voice and also not Ivan’s voice, all at the same time. Maybe it’s my mom’s voice or even Gran’s. Either way, it’s so far away and I just want to sleep.
I feel something grab onto my hand and squeeze it. It’s a nice feeling. The hand is strong and warm. Safe. I try opening my eyes to see whoever is squeezing my hand, but my eyes want to stay closed.
Instead, I let out a small whimper and give the hand holding mine a weak squeeze in return. It’s not much, but it’s all the energy I have right now.
“Lyubimaya, are you still in there? Squeeze my hand, if you can hear me.” Now I’m positive it’s Ivan’s voice that I hear. He’s the only one who calls me lyubimaya.
I let out another whimper and squeeze his hand again. I hear him let out a heavy sigh.
“Mikhail, get the doctor in here now. She’s waking up!” he yells. Is there someone else here with us, wherever we are?
“Emma, try to open your eyes for me,” I hear Ivan say. I can also feel him brushing my hair away from my forehead. “Please.”
I have to concentrate harder than usual for my eyes to open. When they finally do, my favorite pair of blue eyes is staring back at me, rimmed in red like he’s been crying or not sleeping.
“Don’t…cry…” I say slowly. My mouth feels so completely dry and scratchy. I hear a door open and someone comes in. I assume it’s the doctor that Ivan was yelling for.
“She’s awake,” Ivan says.
“Let’s take a look,” the second voice says. “Emma, my name is Doctor Paggan. Do you know where you are?”
“Hospital,” I say weakly. The beeping of machines gives it away.
“Good,” the doctor replies as he uses a stethoscope to check my lungs. “Do you know why you’re in the hospital?”
“Thirsty,” I squeak. Ivan holds a straw to my lips so I can take a drink of water.
“Your family brought you in with some pretty serious injuries. Do you remember getting them?” Doctor Paggan asks.
“Not… sure…” I reply.
“That’s okay for now. I’m going to send the nurse in to record your vitals and check your meds. Tomorrow we’ll do an evaluation and see where we go from there.” Doctor Paggan pats my arm before leaving the room.
“You came back to me,” Ivan says as he takes my hand in his and laces our fingers together. “I was ready to make a deal with the devil to bring you back.”
“No deals. Just love,” I tell him. I don’t think my brain is fully understanding why he’s so emotional.
“Knock, knock,” a cheery voice says. “May I come in?” A nurse pokes her head into my room. “My name is Taylor. How are you feeling, Emma?”
“Like I was hit by a truck,” I tell her, chuckling. Ivan gives me a small smile at my laughter.
“I’m going to check your vitals, and then we’ll get you something for the pain,” Taylor says.
“Thank you,” I reply.
It doesn’t take long for Taylor to check my vitals and ensure that I’m still connected to everything I’m supposed to be. She gives me meds through my IV before telling me she’ll be back in the morning and leaving the room.
“Will you hold me?” I ask Ivan.
Ivan doesn’t hesitate. He kicks off his shoes and slowly climbs into the hospital bed next to me. He pulls me close to cradle me in his arms, being careful to mind the wires and cords I’m attached to.
“Thank you for coming back to me,” I hear Ivan say before my eyelids flutter closed.
“How long have I been gone?” I ask him. I’m not awake long enough to hear Ivan’s answer.
The next morning, I wake up when Taylor comes in to check my vitals. Ivan is still in my hospital bed, holding me in his arms. I nudge him awake, and he lets me go so Taylor can do her job.
“Good morning, Emma. Good morning, Mr. Kiselyov. Emma, how are you feeling today?” Taylor asks.
“Tired and sore,” I tell her.
“That’s to be expected. Your body has been through a lot in the last week or so,” she replies. She takes my temperature and listens to my lungs while a machine takes my blood pressure. “Everything looks good. I’ll make sure the doctor sees this, and he should be in shortly.”
“Okay,” I tell her before she leaves. Ivan pulls up a chair next to me and holds my hand.
“Good morning, handsome,” I say to him with a small smile.
“Good morning,” he replies. “It does me good to see your eyes open.”
“How long have a I been here?” I ask.
“Eight days,” Ivan replies. “Do you remember anything from before you woke up?”
“Maybe,” I say. “I remember hiding in the house with your sister, and I remember Callaghan pointing a gun at you.”
“That’s a start,” Ivan tells me.
We are interrupted by a knock on the door and the entry of Doctor Paggan.
“Good morning, Emma and Ivan,” Doctor Paggan says. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“A little,” I answer. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around why I’m here.”
“Let’s check a couple of things first and then we can talk more,” Doctor Paggan says. “I’m going to send you down for a new MRI and get an updated look at your brain now that you’re awake.”
“Sounds good,” I tell him. Ivan gives my hand a squeeze and a look of reassurance that everything will be okay.
Doctor Paggan takes a pen out of his pocket and traces the bottom of each foot with it. “Can you feel this, Emma?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply. I don’t miss the sigh of relief that Ivan lets out.
“What about here?” the doctor asks as he drags the pen up my calf muscles.
“Yes,” I reply again. This time I catch a smile between the doctor and Ivan. This must mean something good.
“It’s good that you have feeling in your lower legs,” Doctor Paggan confirms. “Let’s get that MRI done and make sure everything checks out.”
Within ten minutes, I’m being wheeled downstairs for an MRI. Taylor comes with me to keep me company since Ivan stays behind.
“You’re one lucky girl,” Taylor says to me when we’re on our way back to my room. “Mr. Kiselyov hasn’t left your side since you came out of surgery.”
“He hasn’t?” I ask. A flash of memory comes, but I’m not sure what it means yet.
“Nope. He even made sure you were placed in a private room with the best care available,” Taylor confirms.
“That sounds like something he would do.” I smile at the thought of Ivan protecting me, even in the hospital.
Taylor wheels my bed back into my room and it seems a crowd gathered while I was gone. Ivan’s brothers and sister are waiting for me with smiles on their faces.
“She’s back!” Grigory cheers.
“Hi, Grigory,” I say to him. “I’m gonna I’ll call you the goofy one.”
“I’ll take it,” he says with a smile.
“We won’t stay long,” Lidiya says. “Ivan told us you were awake, and we wanted to see for ourselves. Now that we’ve seen you, we can go and let you rest.”
“We’ll come back soon, but not all at the same time,” Maksim says as he herds everyone out the door.
“I like your brother,” I say to Ivan, referring to Grigory.
“He thinks he’s funny,” Ivan replies, sitting on the edge of my bed.
“Ivan, I don’t remember how I got here,” I tell him. Ivan sighs before taking my hands in his and kissing the tops of my knuckles.
“Callaghan and his organization ambushed the house earlier than we were expecting them to,” Ivan starts to explain. “Callaghan found us in the living room with guns drawn. He fired, and you pushed me out of the way. The bullet meant for me ended up hurting you instead.”
I feel the warm tears start falling down my cheeks as Ivan gets choked up.
“You took a bullet to your abdomen and got a concussion when you dropped to the floor and hit your head,” Ivan continues. “You briefly woke up and said you couldn’t feel your legs. Yesterday was the first time you woke up since we brought you here.”
I sigh heavily at the information Ivan is sharing.
“You saved my life, lyubimaya, so I brought you here to save yours,” Ivan says as he kisses me softly. Our moment is interrupted by Doctor Paggan entering my room again.
“I have some very good news, Emma,” he says. “Your MRI doesn’t show any permanent tissue damage. Waking up and feeling your legs is further proof of that.”
“So what does that mean?” I ask him.
“That means you’re on your way to a full recovery,” Doctor Paggan replies. “Your bullet wound is healing nicely, and it doesn’t look like there’s any risk of permanent paralysis.”
“Great,” I say with a smile. “So when can I go home?”
Doctor Paggan laughs. “We’re going to keep you here for a few more days for observation and to start weaning you off the pain meds. If things keep improving, I’ll say you could be home by the end of the weekend.”
“Thanks, Doc,” I reply. He turns to leave, and Ivan and I are finally alone again.
“I need to go make some phone calls,” Ivan tells me. “I’m going to step in the hallway and you are going to rest.”
“Yes, sir,” I tell him.
Ivan gives me another kiss before stepping in the hallway. I settle into my hospital bed and closes my eyes, hopeful that I’ll be home sooner rather than later.
I’m stuck in the hospital for five more days. Ivan doesn’t leave my side once except to step in the hallway to take the occasional phone call. When the doctor signs my discharge paperwork, Taylor helps me get dressed and disconnected from everything.
“I really appreciate you taking care of me, Taylor,” I tell her as she wheels me to the elevator. Ivan carries my bag in one hand, and holds one of my hands with the other.
“It was my pleasure, Emma,” she replies. “You have my number, and we’re definitely getting that drink when you’re fully recovered.
“Looking forward to it,” I tell her.
Mikhail and Lidiya are waiting by the car when Taylor wheels me outside the hospital.
Apparently, my hospital escape is a family affair because a second SUV sits behind the first one, and has Ivan’s brothers sitting inside it.
I give them a small wave before Ivan helps me into the first car, then climbs in behind me.