Page 145 of Winterveil

Dr. Li smiled slightly. “Well, that’s probably the best we can hope for at the moment.”

With no small amount of difficulty, Nadiya pushed herself into a sitting position. Her memories felt swampy, dissonant. “What happened to me?”

“You were hemorrhaging from a gunshot wound when you came in. We were able to stop the blood loss and remove the bullet, so you should heal up just fine with plenty of rest and some rehab.”

“Where am I?”

“St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, on the Upper West Side.” Dr. Li walked to the window and inched the curtains open, letting in a stream of sunlight. “You can see the Columbia University campus from here.”

Columbia. Something surfaced from the murk of her mind. The completely unnecessary painkillers must have been dulling her good sense, because Nadiya found herself mumbling out, “My father used to work here.”

“Your father?” Dr. Li cocked his head. “Should we call him?”

She wondered what story Chane’s guards had given when they brought her in. Had they just deposited her on the curb and then fled? Nadiya looked down at her hospital bracelet. It read Unknown female, GSW upper thigh. And what had happened to Giselle?

Panic seeping in, Nadiya tried to rise from the bed. Her leg was still elevated in the sling, so she tugged at the restraints, but within moments Dr. Li was at her side again, pressing her arms to the mattress.

“Hey, hey,” he said. “It’s going to be okay. But you need to stay calm and rest. I can have a nurse come in and sit with you, if you like.”

His voice was so gentle that it made her stomach clench. Nadiya realized what he must be seeing, when he looked at her: a young girl, wounded and fragile and alone. Not a soldier.

She stopped struggling.

“There you go.” Dr. Li eased his grip on her arms. “Now . . . there is something I need to ask you. During surgery we noticed significant scarring on your abdomen. An old wound. Can you tell me what happened?”

Nadiya shook her head.

Dr. Li frowned. “And there were some abnormalities in your blood test results—”

Just as panic rose in her again, a figure appeared in the threshold.

Bewildered, Dr. Li turned. “Excuse me, sir,” he said, striding toward the door. “This is a locked ward. I can have someone show you back downstairs. . . .”

Dr. Iver didn’t move. He reached into his pocket and held something up—an ID badge? Nadiya couldn’t quite make it out from a distance. But as soon as Dr. Li saw it, he shrank back. With one last glance at Nadiya, he exited the room.

In a careful but assured stride, Dr. Iver came to her bedside. His hair shone under the fluorescents like a slick of ice, and his face was stony.

At first. Then the facade seemed to crack. His pale eyes brightened and dampened at the corners. Nadiya was so alarmed at the sight of it that she flinched.

“Oh, my sweet girl,” he whispered. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Are you?” Nadiya’s voice was hoarse. “You were conspiring with Chane and Deckard to send me to my death.”

“Is that really what you believe?”

“I don’t know.” Her head felt heavy. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

With a sigh, Dr. Iver perched on the edge of her bed. The sheets crumpled under the weight of his body. “I’ve kept you in the dark for too long, and I’m sorry. I thought you would be safer there.”

“I haven’t been safe since I was nine years old.”

“Yes.” Dr. Iver bowed his head. “I know that.”

Slowly, and against her will, Nadiya’s anger began to drain out of her. He looked so dismayed, so mollified, that it eased the tension in her chest. All she wanted was for him to hold her and tell her it was going to be all right. She wanted everything to be easy again. No more nightmares, and no more dreams.

But it was too late for that. Her dreams had taken her far away. She couldn’t go back to who she had been before she knew the feeling of Giselle’s lips on hers.

Tears leaped to her eyes. “Tell me the truth,” she said. “Tell me everything. About the mission. About my father.”