*Adrik*
“Jefe, any word?” He picked up on the first ring. He sounded worried.
“She’s fine, Trino. She’s going to need to stay in the hospital a few days though. Armando beat the shit out of her before we could get to her,” I said.
“I hope he’s already dead.”
“He wishes he was, I can tell you that. He’s still alive though. I plan on drawing it out as long as possible. I want him to suffer.”
“I love this line of thinking, Jefe.”
“That being said, Sal is still at large and I’m a little worried about what he’s going to do once he finds out about Anthony and Lorenzo. I’m not leaving her until she can leave the hospital.”
“Say no more, Jefe. I have the perfect solution. I’ll take care of everything. Sal won’t find out until I’m sure that Sephie is okay and can leave the hospital. No matter how long it takes.”
“Thanks, Trino. And thanks again for sending Oscar. He’s been an integral part of our fireworks show.”
Trino laughed. “I love that guy. I’ve never met anyone who gets as excited to blow shit up as that dude. He’s great.”
“He’s good at his job, I will definitely give him that,” I said.
“Keep me updated on Sephie’s condition. How bad is it?” he asked.
“He dislocated her shoulder and broke her arm. She also has five broken ribs and a punctured lung. She’s more blue and purple than anything right now, but she got more information out of both Sal and Armando despite everything that was happening to her. There’s another player behind Armando that we don’t know much about.”
“Fuck, Jefe. How did you not kill him?”
“I was well on my way to doing so, but she stopped me. She was having trouble breathing,” I said.
“She’s even more special than I thought if she could stop you in the middle of that,” Trino said.
“You have no idea, Trino. I’ll keep you updated and let you know when she can leave. Thank you again for everything, Trino.”
“De nada, Jefe.”
Viktor ran to one of the vehicles to get a charger for Misha’s phone so we could plug it in for Ivan. Nobody had slept in over two days, so nobody wanted to be woken up to him fighting his past. I didn’t want to put Sephie in danger either. Knowing her, she would wake up just to help him, knowing he was struggling.
I had to admit that listening to her play helped me relax and be able to sleep better, given the situation. Because of her arm in a sling and cast, I couldn’t hold her as close as I wanted to. Because of her chest tube, she needed to be partially sitting up. She was as close to me as her arm in a cast strapped to her waist would allow, but I still managed to pull her legs over mine partially so she would feel even closer. It was frustrating and not ideal, but I found myself drifting off to sleep despite everything.
We were all woken up periodically by nurses coming in to check on her. One nurse clearly wasn’t happy with me being in bed with her, but she didn’t say anything. Perhaps it was the gun on my hip that she didn’t like. Dr. Williams came in that evening to check on her before he left for the day. He chuckled, “one of my nurses went on a rant about you being in bed with her. I told her I could send her home for the day if she had that much of a problem with it. She decided to let it go.”
“She doesn’t know I basically pay her salary. She’ll be out of a job if she doesn’t let it go,” I said sternly.
“I’ll make sure she takes care of everyone else on the floor instead,” he said. “How is she?” he asked pointing at Sephie.
“She’s been mostly quiet. Like Ivan, she has demons that resurface anytime she gets hurt. She started fighting, but as long as she can feel me next to her, she stays calm.” As I said that, she struggled to snuggle closer to me.
“Let’s make sure you stay next to her, then. She needs to stay quiet so she can breathe easily until her lung has a chance to heal a little more,” he said. He looked toward Ivan, who was still sleeping. “How’s he doing?”
“Good so far. As long as he can hear her playing, he stays calm. I assume he was okay when you checked him out earlier?”
“He was as calm as he was when she was with him. You were right, too. She is incredibly talented.”
I smiled, feeling that familiar pull in my chest. I loved it when other people saw the greatness in her too.
“I’ll be back in the morning to check on her again. If something happens overnight, the nurses know to call me,” he said.
“Thank you, Dr. Williams. For both of them. I understand it’s a bit of a unique situation we’ve put you in. I appreciate everything you’ve done,” I said. He nodded his head and left quietly.
Sephie stayed quiet for the entire night, as long as her head was resting on my shoulder. She would periodically try to get closer to me, but would struggle to do so each time. Her ribs made it difficult to move without severe pain and her arm in a cast and sling made it awkward for her to lay against me. I tried to hold her as close as possible without hurting her.
Dr. Williams came back the next morning to check on her. He looked at everyone in the room. “You’re all looking slightly more refreshed this morning. I take it you all got a little sleep, at least?” he asked. One of the nurses had brought in an extra bed the night before, so the guys rotated through the beds during the night. Each time a nurse came in to check on Sephie, they would rotate. It wasn’t ideal, but they weren’t going to complain if it meant staying close to her.
There were quiet grunts in response to Dr. Williams’ question. He chuckled. “I’m guessing you guys likely haven’t eaten, either. I can have food sent up. You’ll feel better once you can eat, as well.” He turned to me. “How did she do last night?”
“She was quiet. She’s tried to move closer to me a few times, but struggles to do so. It makes her frustrated, even in her sleep,” I said.
“She’s going to be in a good bit of pain for a while. Her bruising is deep. And I know I don’t have to tell you how painful broken ribs are.” He walked to the side of the bed opposite from me. He put his hands up, looking at me. “I need to check her,” he said, before he touched her, like he was asking my permission.
I tried to sit up so I wouldn’t be in the way. He lifted the blanket off her, then lifted the hospital gown she was wearing to look at her chest tube. I heard the guys cursing quietly as they saw the bruises that covered her body. Dr. Williams checked everything, then said, “I need to roll her onto her back. She has so much bruising that I want to be sure I didn’t miss something that’s causing her to bleed internally.”
Andrei and Misha stood up immediately to help shift her onto her back. They gently lifted her and turned her so the doctor could have access. As he palpated her abdomen, she started mumbling. He heard her and took note of it, but continued his exam. I could see her body start to shake the longer she was away from me. Dr. Williams felt it too. “That’s concerning,” he said.
“That’s what happens when she’s away from him,” Ivan said.
“It’ll stop once we put her back on him,” Misha said.
“Intriguing,” he said as he continued his exam. When he was satisfied that there was nothing going on internally that he needed to worry about, he stepped back to let Andrei and Misha move her back closer to me. Dr. Williams stood and watched as the mumbling quieted and her body relaxed as soon as her head was on my chest once again. “That’s not something I see, ever,” he said as he stared at Sephie, like he was completely lost in thought over what he’d just witnessed.
Ivan didn’t say a word, but he stood up and walked silently to the bed, standing in between Sephie and the doctor, his arms crossed across his chest. It was enough to break whatever thought pattern was going on in his head. “I’ll come back in a few hours to check on her again. From what I can see, she’s doing well. She might be able to get the chest tube out earlier than I thought, but she’ll still need to stay here for observation for a day once it comes out. We want to make sure it won’t need to go back in,” he said as he walked toward the door. “I’ll have food sent up, as well.” He closed the door quietly behind him.
We all looked at Ivan, somewhat puzzled. “Doctors are all the same. As soon as they find something that can’t be explained with their science, they want to study it. I’ll die before I let that happen to her,” he said, clearly bristled. “I’ve seen that look way too many times before.”
“Let’s hope she continues to make improvements quickly so we can get her out of here,” Andrei said. “I’d also rather get my own food than rely on what he sends up.”
“Fair point. I’ll tell the doctor it’s not needed,” Viktor said. We could hear the edge to his voice as he stood to leave the room. I smiled, as I kissed the top of Sephie’s head. Viktor rarely got angry, but when it came to her, he would destroy whatever he perceived to be a threat, no questions asked.