Chapter 29 Waiting
Jordan's P.O.V.
I don't know how long Dakota and I are sitting on the floor when one of Todd's men helps me to my feet and leads me to a chair in the waiting room. I feel like I can't breathe. I can't believe Anushka was shot. I replay everything in my head to see if there was anything I could have done differently. The one thing that sticks in my mind is that I should have contacted Todd sooner. I just never expected all of this to happen. We're not in a movie or characters in a book. We're real people. This stuff doesn't happen to real people.
"When is Mommy going to be done with the doctor?" Dakota asks. I swear if I didn't have this little girl to think about, I would have already broken completely.
"I don't know, sweetheart. Hopefully, they come out and tell us something soon. Are you hungry?" I smooth her hair away from her face. She looks so much like her mom that it makes my heart ache even more.
"No. That bad guy won't come back, will he?" Dakota looks up at me, and I shake my head. That is one thing I can be sure of.
"He will never come back." When my phone starts ringing, it startles me. I pull it out and see it's Raymond. I honestly don't want to talk to him right now, but I need to know what he has found out. I also want him to look into the man who shot Anushka.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Jordan, I have some news for you. Are you okay?" I look out of the waiting room toward the door they took Anushka through. I am definitely not okay.
"The man who said he was the new security in my building broke in and tried to kidnap Anushka. Todd's men came as he was leaving with her, and they had a shootout in the hallway. Anushka was shot, and now she's fighting for her life." My voice cracks by the time I finish. I just need her to be alright.
"I'm so sorry. For the record, the man who said he was security wasn't. It looks like the crew that was assigned there just stopped coming. Their company wasn't aware that the men weren't showing up for work. My guess is that this guy paid them to be away for a while." Raymond replies.
"Can you see what you can find on him? He said that someone had paid him to take her. He's dead now, so we can't get anything from him." I look down at Dakota, reminding myself to be careful what I say.
"Will do. Also, Gregory and Cora have been corresponding for a long time. Even before you and she started dating. I haven't uncovered what they said in their texts or where they actually met, but I'll let you know as soon as I have something more. Take care, and I wish Anushka all the best." I disconnect the call and slide my phone into my pocket. Now, we just have to wait.
Several hours later, Dakota is lying across my lap, sleeping. I have no idea how much time has passed when a doctor finally walks into the waiting room. I hold my breath, hoping he has news about Anushka.
"For Anushka?" He asks. I jump up and startle Dakota awake.
"Yes. I'm Jordan Holt, her fiancé, and this is our daughter, Dakota. Please tell me she's okay." I say.
"Let's go somewhere we can talk privately." Why does he want to talk in private? Is he scared of how we'll react? I can't even think about him telling us anything other than she's going to be okay. He leads us to a consultation room off the waiting room. Once we all take our seats, I see the new security guard standing outside the door.
"First of all, she's alive." I let out the breath I'd been holding in relief, and my heart began beating again.
"Thank goodness. Can we see her?" I ask as tears start running down my cheeks.
"When we transfer her from recovery to the ICU, then you can see her. I want to be honest. Anushka's a fighter, but we lost her twice and didn't think we could bring her back. She's still touch-and-go. If the bullet had been an inch more to the left, it would have hit her heart. It still did a lot of damage. If she pulls through, it's going to take a long time for her to recover, but right now, the prognosis looks good. We had to give her a couple of units of blood due to how much she had lost. One of her lungs was also partially collapsed. She's not breathing on her own, but it's my hope that she'll be able to come off the machine soon. She's strong, young, and healthy, so she should recover. We'll know more once she wakes up. Do you have any questions?" Before I can speak, Dakota does.
"Can we please see my mommy? The bad guy can't get her anymore." Her little lip pokes out as it quivers, and her eyes fill with tears. The surgeon, who looks exhausted and has been working on Anushka for hours, smiles.
"Yes, you can see your mommy. I want you to talk to her a lot because when she hears your voice, it might help her wake up. Okay?" he asks.
"Okay." She puts her head on my shoulder.
"How soon do you think she'll wake up?" I ask him.
"That's hard to say. The soonest could be within the next hour, but it could take days. Hopefully, not weeks." I nod and hug Dakota.
"Thank you. Please let us know as soon as we can go back." I shake his hand when we return to the waiting room. Not more than twenty minutes later, a nurse comes to get us. She frowns at the security guy whose name I don't know yet.
"He has to go with us. Anushka was shot after someone came after us, and the killer is dead, but the person who hired him is still unknown. Having him here is for everyone's protection." I explain.
"The surgeon got the okay for you and your daughter, but didn't say anything about anyone else. I guess it will be okay until someone tells us it's not. I would feel much better with him here." She replies as she leads us down the hall.
She scans her badge to open the doors of the ICU, and we follow her. When she stops and points, I look into the room and can't believe it. I can barely tell it's Anushka. She has a tube coming out of her mouth and wires everywhere. She's covered, but I can tell that her chest has a bandage wrapped around it. I walk in and sit beside her bed with Dakota on my lap. I'm surprised seeing her mom like this isn't scaring her because it terrifies me.
"We're here now, Mommy. You can wake up. What's fiancé?" She asks, looking at me.
"That's what people are called when they're going to get married," I answer her. Dakota smiles and nods.
"You have to wake up, Mommy, because you're Daddy's fiancée, so we can wear pretty dresses." I kiss her head and take Anushka's hand. I can only say one thing before I start crying.
"I love you."