“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s nice to see you.”
“Katya, I need you to stay conscious,” Vitali said, then snapped his head at Misha. “Who did this?”
“I said I’m fine,” I insisted, and tried to shift the frozen meat, but it wasn’t in my hand anymore. Where did it go?
“Which hospital?” Misha’s voice.
“Can someone tell Mama she can come home? She was worried,” I asked politely. “She doesn’t know the neighbors, and it might be awkward.”
“…Get in the car, she needs someone to support her head,” Vitali said…
“—Medical Center is closer…”
…
“—blyadis in my way—”
“…Kotik, you need to stay awake. Please…pleasestay awake…”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” I insisted, but the lights were very bright, and it made it hardto speak.
“What’s your name?” said a strange woman, and I didn’t like that very much.
“…can you spell her name?”
…
…..
And then something was beeping. A chill vibrated through me, and I reached to pull up the blankets, but there was only a thin sheet. When I tried to sit up and find something warmer, a sharp pain tugged at my arm, and I turned my lead-filled head to see Vitali’s handsome face with the background of pale blue and white plaster walls. An unbelievable amount of pain drummed through me as I tried to smile.
A thick blanket was draped over the back of his chair, and a dinky pillow hid underneath it at his back. The gray tinge of his skin said he hadn’t slept—and if he did, it was here.
“Kotik,” he said hoarsely, and squeezed my hand. I blinked, and it hurt. When I tried to touch my face, he guided my arm back down. “Just relax. You’re alright.” He looked past me and said, “Did you tell them she’s awake?”
“Yeah,” Misha said and circled the hospital bed. He scanned my face with a frown, as if he were a looker and had room to talk.
Just past him, two more men I didn’t recognize waited on the inside of the door. Big men. Scary men.
“Would you like something to eat?” Vitali asked, gently rubbing the sensitive skin between my thumb and index finger.
“Is Mama home?” The words whispered like wind through my parched throat.
“She’s safe. Maxim is safe,” he assured me. “She’ll be by to see you later. Kotik, I want you to eat something.”
“Tea… and cheese…” I mumbled.
“Cheese,” Vitali repeated. “How about something substantial?”
“Sometimes you get up in the middle of the night and just want something specific, you know?” I said, smiling weakly.
“It’s morning,” he told me, grinning, then nodded at a guy by the door. “Room temperature tea, no sugar. Soft cheeses only.”
The man nodded and slipped out.
Vitali helped me sip some water. I kept the glass clasped, comforted by its shape if not its temperature. He and Misha met at the foot of the bed and spoke in tones too low to hear, then both redirected their attention to me.
“Kotik,” Vitali said, “do you remember the men who came to the apartment?”
