He wins all our arguments. I guess that’s why he’s a lawyer and I’m not. “How is that gambling addiction going for you?” I press my lips together. What the heck is wrong with me? I’m not suicidal, so why would I push the man to kill me when I know (I fuckingknow) Sergei doesn’t make empty threats.
The question earns me a death stare.
I keep going. I don’t know why. Maybe the ton of bricks that fell on my head made me more daring. Crazy. Bold. I mean, if he’s going to take me out, why not go out in style? I’m no pushover. I want no pity. I want to walk into heaven like a bad bitch. “You sitting there planning to kill your wife so you can make a grab for our insurance money?”
Sergei lunges out of the chair and cages me with his hands on each side of my body. He leans in, and I turn my face away from him. Cold lips touch my cheek, and he whispers, “You always knew me best.”
A knock on the door makes him back off and answer the door as if he’s at home.
“It’s you again,” he says to whoever wants in.
“Me again,” the nurse says. “I need to check my patient’s vitals.”
“She’s fine.”
“Come in, Nurse.” I still don’t know her name. Her badge is always flipped and facing inside. Maybe it’s for the best that she leaves it that way, so Sergei can’t look her up as easily.
The nurse enters the room, and I hear Sergei’s footsteps before the door closes. She’s wearing purple scrubs, and her hair is partially wet, so she’s showered somewhere. Her eyes look puffy as if she just woke up, and maybe she has.
When Sergei doesn’t follow behind her, I sit up. “Is he gone?”
She nods. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve got a headache.” I accept the meds she’s giving me only because I recognize the pills. Pain meds. “Why did you put me under?”
“There’s an order for you to be medicated if you become hostile or struggle. They’re saying you’re not able to make decisions.”
“Do you think that’s true?”
She shakes her head. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on, but I know I need to stay out of it. I have a baby to think about.”
“I completely understand. Sergei knocked me up and then left the country. I delivered Christina…we call her Chi-chi, and took care of her on my own until he returned and we got married. Marrying him was the biggest mistake of my life. Don’t marry the baby daddy if you don’t love him, if he’s not providing for you, or willing to provide for you, and if he’s not trying hard, and I meanhard, to make you happy.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Welcome.”
“I left him.” She licks her lips. “I took this job and left.” She picks up the tablet hanging by a string from her neck and logs in my vitals. “Your vitals are good.”
“I get to go home?”
She smiles because clearly, I’m joking. “Nobody is going anywhere, Dina. I took a nap and a shower while you were out. In the meantime, they admitted the man you were with, and the whole city rose up. There are riots and fires, and people are talking about outlaw groups entering the city to reclaim lost territory. It’s a damn war zone out there.”
“They what?! Go back. Did they admit the man I was with? They dug him up?” I insisted that they rescue Connor, and they refused. She injected me with downers because I protested, so how come they changed their mind?
“Yes, he’s alive. Sedated.”
“Like me? You have orders to sedate him?”
She nods. “I shouldn’t be telling you this.” She bites her lip.
“I won’t tell anybody. Where is the man now?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
When she tries to leave, I say, “I have thirty-five thousand dollars hidden in my apartment. You can have every penny of it. The man they admitted is important. It is very important that he lives. You don’t know the history of this city, but I grew up here, so here’s quick context. The man they found is Selnoa’s prince, and his twin, his twin…” I start choking up and crying. “Oh my God, I’m a mess.”
The nurse hands me a tissue. “I’m sorry.”
