Chapter 124 Nikolai
For what felt like eternity, everywhere was dark, cold and silent.
It felt like I was floating in nothing.
This must be death, I thought.
But then something changed.
I heard voices. Loud and distant.
I tried to focus.
But the darkness pulled at me.
The sound grew louder and clearer.
"Papa! Papa, there is someone in the water!" A voice shouted. Like a little girl’s.
"Katya, get back in the boat. It is dangerous." A man's voice said.
"But Papa, look! It is a person! We have to help!"
"Katya, no. We do not know who..."
"Please, Papa! We cannot just leave him!"
I felt rough hands touch me. Checking my body.
"He is still breathing," an older woman's voice said. She sounded shocked. "Papa, he is still alive. We have to save him."
"We should call the authorities," the man said.
"There is no time!" The child screamed. "Look at him! He is dying! We have to help now!"
"It could be dangerous," the man argued. "He could be a criminal. He could..."
"I do not care!" the child sobbed. "We cannot let him die! Please, Papa! Please!"
Then everywhere became silent.
I felt myself sinking again. The darkness pulling me back.
"Alright," the man said finally. "Alright. We will take him. But if this goes wrong, Katya..."
"Thank you, Papa! Thank you!"
More hands grabbed me, pulled me from the water and laid me on something hard.
A boat deck, I realized dimly.
"Cut the ropes," the woman said. "Quickly."
I felt pressure release from my wrists and my ankles.
"He is hypothermic," the woman said. "We need to get him warm."
Something heavy covered me. Blankets maybe.
"His pulse is weak," the man said. "Very weak. I do not know if he will make it."
"He will make it," the child said fiercely. "He has to."
The boat engine roared to life. We moved.
I tried to open my eyes. I tried to speak.
But my body would not respond.
I was trapped. Conscious but unable to move.
"Stay with us," the woman's voice said near my ear. "Stay with us. We are taking you home. You are going to be okay."
But I did not want to be okay. I wanted to die. I wanted the darkness to take me. Because if I lived, I had to face what I had lost.
Everything I had fought for. Everything I loved. All of it had been destroyed.
Death was better.
"We are almost there," the man said. "Marina, prepare the guest room. We need hot water and blankets. Everything."
"I already called Dr. Petrov," the woman said. "He is on his way."
"Good," the man replied.
The boat stopped. And I felt hands carry me again.
"Put him on the bed carefully." the woman ordered.
They laid me down.
"His clothes are soaked," the woman said. "We need to get them off. Get him dry."
Hands moved over me. Removing my wet clothes. Replacing them with dry fabric.
"There is so much blood," the child whispered. "Papa, he is hurt badly."
"I know, sweetheart," the man said gently. "That is why Dr. Petrov is coming."
"Will he be okay?" The child asked.
"I do not know," the man admitted. "We can only hope."
More time passed. I could not tell how much.
Then I heard new voices. The doctor maybe.
"How long has he been like this?" The new voice asked.
"We pulled him from the water maybe twenty minutes ago," the first man said. "He was barely breathing."
"His temperature is dangerously low," the doctor said. "And these wounds... He has been beaten badly. Possibly internal bleeding."
"Can you help him?" The woman asked.
"I can try," the doctor said. "But he needs a hospital."
"No hospitals," the first man said firmly. "If someone tried to kill him, the hospital is the first place they will look."
"Then I do what I can here," the doctor said. "But I am not making any promises."
Hands examined me. Probed my wounds. I felt needles.
"I am giving him fluids," the doctor said. "But what he needs most is time. His body needs to heal on its own."
"Will he wake up?" the child asked quietly.
"I do not know," the doctor admitted. "His brain activity seems normal. But he is not responding to external stimuli. It is like he is trapped inside himself."
"A coma?" The woman asked.
"Possibly," the doctor said. "Or something psychological. Sometimes trauma can cause the mind to shut down. To protect itself."
They left me alone after that.
I could hear the child. Katya, they called her. She sat beside the bed and talked to me.
"My name is Katya," she said. "I am eight years old. I found you in the water. Papa did not want to save you. But I made him. He said you said you might be dangerous. But I hope you wake up and you are good. Because I want to be right about you. I want Papa to see that I made the right choice."
She paused.
"You can wake up now," she said. "Whenever you are ready. We are not scary. We are good people. So wake up. Please."
But I could not wake up. I could not move. C
I was trapped.
Days passed.
People came and went. The doctor returned, checked me and changed my bandages.
"His wounds are healing," he said. "His temperature is normal now. His vitals are stable."
"Is he getting better or worse?" The woman asked.
"Neither," the doctor said. "He is just... suspended. Caught between consciousness and unconsciousness."
"Will he ever wake up?" The man asked.
"I do not know," the doctor said. "Sometimes people in this state wake up after days. Sometimes weeks. Sometimes never."
"We should contact the authorities," the man said. "Family. Friends. Someone must be looking for him."
"No," the woman said firmly. "Someone tried to kill him. Until we know who and why, we keep this quiet."
"Marina is right," the doctor agreed. "If word gets out that he survived, whoever tried to kill him will come back to finish the job."
"So we just keep him here?" The man asked.
"For now," Marina said. "Until he wakes up and can tell us what happened."
If I wake up, I thought.
But part of me did not want to. Part of me wanted to stay in this darkness forever.
Because waking up meant facing reality.
Facing a world without Anya.
"Mama," Katya's voice said. "Can I talk to him?"
"Of course, sweetheart," Marina replied.
Small footsteps approached. The bed dipped as Katya climbed up beside me.
"Hi," she said. "It is me again. Katya. I have been talking to you every day. I do not know if you can hear me. But Mama says maybe you can. She says maybe somewhere inside you are listening. So I will keep talking. I will tell you about my day. About school. About my cat, Misha. About everything. Because maybe my voice helps. Maybe it reminds you that there are good things. That life is worth living. That you should wake up."
She was quiet for a moment.
"I hope you wake up soon," she said softly. "Because I want to meet you. I want to know your name. I want to hear your story. Whatever happened to you, whatever made someone hurt you so bad, I want to help make it better."
Tears burned behind my closed eyelids. This innocent, kind child. Believing in me. Hoping for me. When I did not deserve any of it.
Funny how she has the same name as my dead half sister.
"Please wake up,"
Katya whispered.
And for the first time since the darkness took me, I tried.
I tried with everything I had to open my eyes. To speak. To move.
But nothing happened.
I was still trapped.