Sergei smirks. “Call them.” He sits back down, clearly feeling smug.
The nurse helps me onto the bed. “I can walk out, can’t I?”
The nurse tucks me in.
She looks at me the way I would look at my daughter when she is being unreasonable. “Technically, you could, but there are so many police here that I’m unsure what’s going on. If your husband is the problem, I can have him escorted out.”
“He’s my ex-husband.”
“We’re still married,” Sergei says.
“What he means by that is that I’m still trapped with him so he can torture me and drag me through courts because he’s a sadistic bastard who has no mercy for anyone.”
Sergei shakes his head. “A divorce after so many years of marriage is painful. My wife hit her head, that’s all.”
I can tell the nurse doesn’t appreciate him talking down to me that way, but she smiles politely (or pityingly) and leaves.
Sergei kicks the bed.
My brain rattles, intensifying my throbbing headache.
He kicks the bed again. “You stupid cunt. If the chief hadn’t asked me to babysit you until the other Crossbow twin comes, I’d put a fucking pillow over your face and make it look like you died in your sleep.”
“Oh my God.”
“God won’t save you when you fucked the devil.”
I swallow my smart-ass response because I’m terrified he might not be able to keep the promise he made to the chief of police. I’m also scared that after they get whatever they want (the deaths of both Connor and Declan), they’ll let Sergei snuffme out. I bet I can’t leave the hospital room. I bet the nurse would come back and tell me I needed to rest or something.
The nurse returns. She takes one look at me and asks, “Are you still doing okay? Do you have any pain now?”
I shake my head. Fear chokes me, but I manage to ask, “Can you stay with me?”
She glances at Sergei. “I have other patients.”
“Did you talk to your supervisor?” I ask.
A slight nod. “I would like you to rest now.”
“I will. But I have the right to be alone. I don’t want him here. Get him out of here.”
“She hit her head. She is talking nonsense,” Sergei says,
“Where is security?” I ask, trying to rise.
The nurse places a hand on my shoulder. “Please lie down.”
“Call security. Tell them to walk him out. He’s threatening me.”
The nurse looks from Sergei to me, her face paling. “Okay, ma’am, I’ll call security.”
Sergei jumps out of the chair, and the nurse backs herself against the wall, where he grabs her by her throat and puts his face close to hers. “Listen here, bitch?—”
My wobbly feet can’t hold me well, but I manage to stand up and throw myself at his back. “Leave her alone!”
He throws me off, and I fall to the ground, hitting my hip against the bedrail. My headache explodes so much that I think I just might spill my brains out.
Sergei throws up his hands. “For fuck’s sake.” He kicks me in the butt, then hovers over me. “I’m not going anywhere.”
