I let out a bitter little laugh. “Bit late for that, don’t you think?”
His mouth pulls into the ghost of a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah. It is.”
Another tear slips down, and I don’t bother wiping it this time. “I don’t want to leave,” I repeat, quieter now. “I don’t want to be somewhere you’re not.”
He just holds my hand for a long moment, then presses a kiss to my forehead as he rises from the bed. “I need to make a call. I’ll be right back.” He shuts the door softly on his way into the hallway.
Nikolai comes in a few minutes later, balancing a plastic tray with a metal lid and a couple of water bottles. The smell of hospital food hits first, bland and warm.
“Here,” he says, setting it down on the rolling table beside my bed.
As he straightens, he winces, just a flicker, his hand going to his thigh.
“You okay?” I ask, frowning.
He drops his hand quickly. “Yeah. Fine. I banged my leg on the way down,” he says. “Stairs.”
“Oh. Okay.” I nod, but it barely registers. My eyes have already shifted to the door behind him, half expecting Aleksander to walk back in.
He adjusts the table so the food is in front of me, then steps back. “You should eat,” he says. “You lost blood. And you look like you’re about to pass out.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, lifting the lid without really seeing what’s under it. “Thanks.”
“Hey, Bella,” he says. “Do you have your social security card with you? They’re asking for it downstairs for some of the paperwork.”
I blink, dragged out of my thoughts. “Uh…yeah. It should be in my purse. Inside my coat.”
He nods. “Which one?”
“The black one,” I say. “They put it in the closet thing over there, I think.”
He crosses the room, opens the small built-in wardrobe, and pulls out my coat. My purse is still hooked on the inside button. He winces again when he bends, just a tiny catch in his movement, then straightens and sets the coat on the chair.
“Mind if I…?” he asks, already unzipping the purse.
“Go ahead,” I say.
He rummages through, finds my wallet, flips it open, and pulls out the card. “Got it,” he says. “I’ll bring it back.”
“Okay.”
He slips out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
I stare at the empty chair where my coat was a second ago, a faint prickle at the back of my neck. There’s something I’m supposed to remember. Something important. It presses at the edges of my thoughts, just out of reach.
Gunshot. Cold pavement. Blood.
A knife in my hand. Where did I get the knife? Did I grab it off Elena? She was behind me. Was there someone else? Why can’t I remember?
Someone shouting. A body twisting away, stumbling.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to pull the pieces together, but my head throbs and the memories slide apart again like oil on water.
24
ALEKSANDER
I stepinto an empty family room down the hall and shut the door behind me. It’s the only place on this floor that isn’t full of nurses and crying relatives. I pull out my phone and call the charter agency.
