Chapter 13 #5
“I promise. I promise you,” my brother finally sobbed and mom smiled, her beautiful white teeth stained red, her whole mouth was red, her lips too.
“I love you. I love you with all my heart,” she breathed as she gently closed her blue eyes.
Her hand slipped from mine, her chest fell and did not rise again.
“Elif!” Roman’s voice snapped me out of my stupor as he dropped to his knees beside her, shrugging off his jacket and pressing it against her abdomen.
His denim jacket was turning red, far too quickly.
“Stay with us,” he pleaded. “You promised me you’d make pancakes tomorrow morning, remember?
” he said, and Elif grimaced. “Mom!” Ivan and Dimitri cried from the car when they saw what was happening.
“No…” Elif breathed, clutching the sleeve of her husband as he brushed the hair away from her face.
“Don’t let them… don’t let them see me like this,” she begged, her breathing growing ragged, while Sienna’s voice behind me tried to calm the children.
Sirens wailed in the distance, probably the police while cries and sobs of pain rose all around us.
Others had been hit too, but my eyes couldn’t leave Elif.
Selina knelt beside her, her skilled fingers probing beneath my brother’s jacket. Elif groaned again as Grigori kissed her forehead, murmuring softly to her. Selina froze and lifted her gaze to us. “There are two wounds,” she whispered.
The world seemed to shrink around us, as if a trap with no exit were closing in. “Quick, she has to get to the hospital now, she’s losing too much blood,” Selina gasped, her hands pressing the second wound as I unlocked my phone to call an ambulance.
But Roman suddenly sprang to his feet, his crazed gaze sweeping the area, “David! My car!” he shouted, and the bodyguard bolted. “Elif, hold on,” Nikolai begged, gripping her hand as nausea surged through me. She couldn’t die. Elif couldn’t die.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to focus. I had to keep control. I turned toward Marcus, who was bent over Samy’s motionless body. He lifted his head, met my gaze and slowly shook his head. Samy was gone.
Roman straightened, pulling his bloodied phone from his pocket as his sports car screeched into view, “Vadim! I want all the guys on the street!” he barked, his Karatel voice ringing out.
“We were attacked in front of Le Four. Elif… she’s been hit,” he informed his right-hand man as I helped Grigori to his feet.
Grigori tried to lift Elif, but he couldn’t.
It was as if all his strength had drained away, as if his body no longer obeyed him.
“I’ll carry her. Get to the car to receive her,” I said, bending down to hoist my sister-in-law into my arms while Nikolai steadied Grigori, who staggered.
“Nikolai, take the kids home,” Roman ordered as he opened the rear door, then circled the car to slide behind the wheel. His years in the army made him a cold-blooded soldier, he was the best one to react in a crisis.
Nikolai hesitated, his gaze flicking first to our eldest brother, who stumbled toward the car, then to Elif in my arms. Finally, he nodded, guiding his wife toward the minivan.
My eyes met Sienna’s as I carried Elif to Roman’s car, where Grigori climbed in.
Sienna looked at me, her eyes shining with tears, and I clenched my jaw.
Whoever had done this would pay. Elif would survive and those who had dared attack us would pay for it.
Roman ran yet another red light as my fingers curled around Elif’s wrist, checking her pulse.
It was weak, but still there. “Look at me, my love. Look at me,” Grigori begged, brushing the damp strands from his wife’s forehead with one hand while the other held Roman’s jacket and Sienna’s cardigan tight against her wounds.
Elif opened her eyes and locked her gaze onto my brother’s, panting.
“Grigori,” she whispered as I felt her shudder beneath my fingers, my throat tightened at the sight of her like this, she who was always joyful, who shone even in the darkest moments, lighting our way.
But the sun had vanished behind thick, dark clouds. The road home felt impossible to find.
“I’m here. It’s going to be okay,” Grigori told her, and told himself.
I didn’t know. My mind struggled to process anything.
I couldn’t think anymore. “Grigori…” Elif repeated, the color draining further from her face, leaving a grayish pallor that made me want to vomit.
This wasn’t her. Damn it, this wasn’t her.
“It looks like… Maria needs help crossing the bridge,” she smiled softly, lifting her trembling hand to rest it against her husband’s cheek.
“And Elena is waiting for me…” I felt myself falter as I shook my head.
“No,” Grigori cut in, grabbing his wife’s wrist and kissing her palm again and again.
“Maria can ask one of the angels or whatever damn things up there for help,” he refused, frowning.
“And our daughter is strong, moy lyubov, but we aren’t.
You can’t leave. We need you. I need you, Elif.
I need you,” he sobbed, pressing his forehead to hers and I looked away, unable to bear the sight of my brother like that.
“Grigori…” Elif cried and my gaze slid to Roman’s profile, his face twisted with rage, his eyes bright with pain.
“I’m so cold,” Elif murmured and I reached for the heater, but Roman was faster.
His blood-soaked fingers smeared the white leather dashboard as he turned it on, Elif’s blood staining it.
Staining the leather of the back seat. “We’re almost there, Elif.
Hold on,” Roman sniffed as he honked at a car that swerved aside, yes, we were almost there.
“Take care of each other,” Elif suddenly murmured and I froze, my gaze locking onto Grigori’s as we both thought of the same thing of similar words once spoken by another woman. Our mother.
“You know perfectly well we’ll kill each other without you,” I said, my fingers tightening around her wrist as it became harder and harder to feel her pulse. It felt like she was slipping through my fingers. Damn it.
The hospital sign appeared in the distance.
“For the family,” Elif breathed, a faint smile on her lips as her eyes slowly closed.
“No, no, no, Elif! Elif! Open your eyes, look at me! Elif!” my brother called as Roman sped into the hospital parking lot, slamming the brakes in front of the emergency entrance.
We threw ourselves out of the car. Roman rushed inside while I opened the back door to retrieve my sister-in-law’s limp body. I ran toward the entrance, Grigori right on my heels, as Roman reappeared with nurses and a stretcher. I laid Elif onto it, and they rushed her away.