“Just say it.”
He took a deep breath and yanked off his surgeon’s hat. “There’s no sign of brain activity and her organs are slowly beginning to shut down.”
“What?” I stared at him, the echo of his voice, keeping the words muffled. “What did you say?”
“It’s okay, son. We’re right here with you.”
Even my father’s voice was tinny, the sound faraway. She’d just been laughing. Teasing me. We were…
“The baby.” My voice was hollow.
“Your baby is fine. There’s no sign of any injuries. However…” Another fucking hesitation.
I wrapped my hand around his scrubs, jerking him forward by a couple of inches. “Talk to me like I’m a goddamn human being.”
“Whoa.” Mikhail flanked my side. I knew what he was doing. Trying to keep me from pounding my fist into the doctor. “What about the baby, Doctor?”
Since I couldn’t put a coherent sentence together, my cousin had taken over for me.
“At almost six months, the baby is considered extremely premature. I’d afraid your wife won’t… Well, she won’t make it much longer even with the ventilator. Now, we can try and deliver the child through Cesarean section, but without it the odds of her survival are slim.”
“Her?” We hadn’t wanted to learn the gender of our baby. She’d insisted we do it the old-fashioned way.
The surgeon’s eyes opened wide. “I thought you knew. I’m sorry. You’ll need to make a decision very soon. If you decide for the surgery, I’ll have the NICU team standing by. I wish I could give you better news, Mr. Dmitriyev. I’m very sorry.”
I watched as the doctor turned and walked down the hall, his footsteps echoing.
Only then did I slowly fall to the floor, dropping my head into my hands. “No!”
CHAPTER 15
Lainey
“No!”
The sound penetrated my eardrums and my eyes immediately flew open. Gasping, raw fear tore through me as the sleepiness faded, a flash of memories from only hours before crowding in.
Where the hell was I?
A skittering of emotions brought a harsh chill.
Breathe. Just breathe.
Darkness.
It was suddenly suffocating. Blinking several times, I tried to figure out what had awakened me.
Movement next to me was followed by a stark moan. Sasha.
I must have fallen asleep. Everything was okay. We were here together.
Just breathe.
The ugliness of the day instantly sent a chill through me. No, I couldn’t go through that again. Cinching my eyes shut, I shiftedmy thoughts to the man sleeping next to me like a giant who’d finally managed to rest.
After the shower, he’d wrapped me in one of the luxurious hotel robes and we’d sat outside on the deck overlooking the city drinking cognac. Just talking.
About anything and nothing.
