"Vivienne! Call an ambulance! Now!"
I dropped to my knees beside Nikolai, cupping his face, tears streaming down unchecked.
His face was terrifyingly pale, lips drained of color, blood still pulsing from the wound on his left arm, staining the ground red.
"You don't get to die! You hear me?" I tore off my sleeve with shaking hands, pressing it desperately against his wound. "You haven't even met our baby yet—you don't get to die—"
Nikolai looked at me weakly, his lips pulling into the faintest smile.
"Don't cry... You look... ugly when you cry..."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" I sobbed harder. "You bastard, you goddamn bastard!"
Ambulance sirens wailed in the distance, growing closer.
Kostya crouched beside me, applying professional first aid to stopNikolai's bleeding. "He won't die. This bastard's tough as nails. Got hurt way worse in Moscow years back, still pulled through."
I looked up at him through blurred tears. "Really?"
"Yeah." Kostya patted my shoulder with rare gentleness. "You gotta trust him. He risked his life for you—no way he's gonna die now."
The ambulance finally arrived.
Paramedics rushed over, quickly loading Nikolai and Sasha onto stretchers.
"Are you family?" a nurse asked.
"Yes!" I said without hesitation. "I'm his fiancée!"
"Then please come with us."
I climbed into the ambulance, gripping Nikolai's hand tight.
He'd already slipped into unconsciousness, but his fingers twitched slightly, like he was responding to me.
"Don't be scared, Nikolai." I pressed his hand to my cheek, tears splashing onto his knuckles. "I'm here. I'm not leaving you. You promised to meet our baby. You can't break that promise."
The hospital's disinfectant mixed with lingering gunpowder smoke, stinging my nose.
The surgical light blazed overhead. I stared at that cold glow, nails digging unconsciously into my palms. Kostya leaned against the opposite wall, forehead wrapped in bandages, twisting Sasha's blood-stained beret in his hands.
"Doc said shrapnel grazed the brachial artery. Two millimeters more and he'd be dead." A nurse hurried past with blood bags. He suddenly looked up at me, voice raw. "Lucky bastard. Sasha too—intracranial bleeding but stable for now."
I nodded, throat stuffed with cotton. Rapid footsteps echoed from down the hall. Mia appeared breathless, clutching my coat, dark circles under her eyes.
"Mia..."
The moment I said her name, I lost it completely.
Mia rushed over and pulled me into a fierce hug. "It's okay, it'sokay, I'm here..."
"It's all my fault..." I choked out. "If I hadn't been so stubborn, if I wasn't so selfish, Nikolai wouldn't be hurt, and Sasha wouldn't—"
"Stop it!" Mia cut me off, gripping my shoulders hard, forcing me to meet her eyes. "Listen, Vivienne Cole, this is NOT your fault! Those assholes tried to kill you both! You don't get to take responsibility for this, you hear me?"
I opened my mouth but couldn't speak.
"And," Mia wiped the tears from my face, her tone softening slightly, "Nikolai made his choice. He loves you, so he'd do anything for you. This isn't your fault. It's his choice."
