Chapter 79

Luka

The wait to have Anna seen by the doctor feels like an eternity. The contrast of needing to know that she's alright and not knowing why she hid the pregnancy from me is killing me inside. Obviously, the waiting room of an Emergency Department isn't the place to have a serious conversation about a hidden pregnancy, but my head practically spins as I consider the vast possibilities as to why she would keep it from me.

I doubt she was cheating, as she never left the house, and the only men she could have cheated with were men who have seen me shoot a man in the face for questioning my authority. Even if they weren't my best friends and closest confidants, they would be ridiculously stupid to try anything with my woman.

When we finally arrive at the front of the line again, I feel too proud to apologize to the nurse at the desk. Anna decides to take over, and it's easy to see that the nurse is relieved to avoid speaking with me again.

"So, your husband here said you were in an attempted homicide situation, is that correct? We'll need to contact the police so they can take a statement from you," the nurse says.

My stomach drops. We'll have to formulate a story that makes sense, tying Leo's gunshot wound with a dangerous situation involving Anna. A robbery gone wrong, maybe? He could have been there to try and save her. How would the cops know the difference?

We would have to relay the story to Leo, but he's likely to go to surgery, which means that the cops might take a statement from Anna first and then come back when Leo is well enough to give his own statement.

That buys us time.

"Um, that's fine. I just need to make sure that my baby is okay. I'm fine, personally," Anna replies in her aggressively polite way. She's remained calm through almost this entire ordeal, and Leo would likely be dead if not for her ability to stay level and drive us here.

If he survives, I'll never be able to repay her.

The nurse looks up at Anna with warmth and empathy, a total change from how I was treated. "Okay, I'm going to go ahead and give you this bracelet with your medical information on it, and you can go ahead and sit to the left-hand side of the waiting area," she says as she points toward a cluster of chairs near the double doors that lead to the treatment area.

I direct Pavel to take Rachel down to the cafeteria and get her something to eat, both to distract her and make sure that Anna has less to worry about while she waits for the doctor.

I'm dying to ask her why she kept the baby from me. Was she worried I wouldn't want it?

I guess that's a conversation we've never had, and even established couples who try to get pregnant are often unprepared for the true reality of children. But she has to know that I would fight tooth and nail to make sure that our baby had absolutely everything they could possibly need.

Of course, I would want the baby. I've just never expressed that to her. How could she know?

For now, the police are a more pressing matter, and I need Anna's full attention in order to formulate a story that doesn't implicate us in Dmitri's murder that also makes sense.

"Okay, I need you to listen to me. I don't know if you've lied to the cops before, but we need to make sure we have a credible explanation for your condition as well as Leo's without them figuring out that we were at Blue Silk," I whisper to Anna.

Her face grows concerned. "What kind of story?" she asks, and I can see her getting nervous as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat. Having to come up with a lie to sell to the police is the last thing she needs right now.

"You were walking together, someone apprehended you, telling you to give them everything you had, and they were threatening you with a gun. Leo stood up for you and got shot. That's what I'm going to tell him as soon as I see him. It's a long shot since he'll probably be drugged up, but that could give us an advantage," I explain.

She glances out the window nervously as a hospital security vehicle circles the front parking area.

"Don't worry about them. They aren't going to ask you anything. They're just here to make sure nobody gets out of hand," I reassure her.

"What if I can't sell the story? What if they don't believe me?" she asks, her voice wavering.

"Honestly, as long as you're vague enough with your answers while still sharing a story with Leo, they probably won't even pursue anything. You'll tell them that you were almost shot by a guy with a mask. They won't even look into it."

"Okay," she says, her voice a bit more confident now.

I take her hand in mine, stroking her forearm with my other hand as she breathes deeply to calm herself. "Once that's over, we need to focus on you and the baby, okay?" I say.

She fights to hold back tears. "I'm so, so sorry Luka," she stammers, unable to hold her tears back as they fall from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and landing on her chest.

"I know. Please don't worry about it. We don't have to have that conversation right now. All that matters is that you and the baby are okay and that we keep the cops off our backs," I reassure her.

"Is there some way that I can opt-out of a police report?" she asks hopefully.

"It'll look suspicious if you do. Please just trust me. We're going to get through this," I say.

She inhales deeply, regaining control over her emotions as the tears stop. "Okay, I can do that. But I think I'm going to throw up."