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Those are signs of life, as are her vitals that beep on the monitor next to her bed Still, I feel a coot her killed It can never happen again The ht sends ht ball
Igor enters with a paper cup that he hands to me “How is she?”
“Stable” At least, that’s what the surgeon said I won’t relax until she opens her eyes and tells me herself
His rugged face softens as he looks at her “I guess we have so in common now Both of us took a bullet for you”
He says it jokingly, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, but my jaw clenches involuntarily As I’ve just told ain I’ll er a threat Stefanov is no longer around to hold a sword over my head And since no one will dare rat e I delivered by blowing up Vladimir’s house, nobody will fuck with me
“Any news on Besov?” I say his name with disdain
The way Igor’s upper lip curls tells me he feels the same about that fucker “The body will probably wash up in the summer when the ice melts”
I take a sip of the hospital coffee, needing the caffeine to keep alert I haven’t slept in two days
“Why don’t you go catch a few hours of sleep?” I tell Igor He’s been on his feet for as long as I have “The staff prepared a room for us Leonid can take over”
Rubbing his eyes, he gives rateful nod “I’ll be back in four hours”
“Take six” He’s no good to me half asleep on his feet
Downing what’s left of the lukewarm coffee, I crumple the cup in a fist and dump it in the trash can
“Do you need anything?” Igor asks on his way to the door “Dinner?”
“The nurse already offered”
He leaves with a nod
I turn my attention back to Katerina She’s lucky The bullet hit her in the fleshy part of her shoulder, and no vital organs were daeon said she’ll be up in a couple of days and back to normal in a feeeks That may be so, but she’ll always carry a scar—a re her I haven’t stopped beating h we had little chance of surviving any other way If I’d allowed Besov to drive us to his destination, overpowering him in my injured state with no weapon would’ve been suicide on e consu about it
Her eyelashes flutter A soft moan escapes her lips
I lean closer “Katyusha? I’m here, my love”