93

Avrora
I look around frantically, not knowing what the hell to do but thinking this is an opening. A possible chance to escape, just like the one Dad told me to find. I just have to summon courage and look for my chance.
We tear down the road off the building site, and then we’re on a country road with the woods on either side.
The sound of a motorcycle rips through the air. A sound I will never forget.
The lazy day I remember at Raventhorn fills my head with the image of me sitting next to Lorelai by the tree, watching the motorcyclist rebel drive onto the campus.
He’s here again.
I look behind me and see Anatoli on his motorcycle tearing down the road. He’s fought death to come and save me. I also spot Malik’s car not far behind.
Anatoli shoots the wheels of the car. The tires blow, making Mikhail lose control of the vehicle.
We run off the road, fly through the air for a few seconds, then land with a heavy thud on the ground. The car still has a lot of speed on it though, so it keeps going straight into the woods. Mikhail tries to swerve through the trees while I hold on, screaming as I know we’re going to crash. I just manage to get my seat belt on when we do.
We smash right into a large, formidable oak tree. Despite the seat belt holding me in place, I still go flying into the back of Mikhail’s seat. My body feels like it’s broken in several places.
Mikhail is hurt, really hurt. But he’s still moving. His airbags have blown out against him, but I can see blood on his head through the rearview window.
This is it, though. The opening I was waiting for. And come hell or high water, I’m fucking taking it. I can hear Anatoli’s bike not far away, so all I need to do is get to him.
While Mikhail groans, I try to open my door. It takes me a few tries to push it open, but when I do, I don’t hesitate to get out.
My legs are weak, but I will myself forward with my mind on my baby and my love.
I move as fast as I can, following the sound of the bike. Anatoli can’t be too far now. I don’t think he came the way we did, or he would have been just behind us.
“Stop!” Mikhail calls out. Damn it, he managed to get out of the car, too.
I try to run but trip over a vine and go tumbling forward down the path.
Anatoli’s bike approaches, so I decide to do the only thing I can.
“I’m here, Anatoli!” I scream. “Over here!”
Mikhail may be badly hurt, but he can still move fast. Faster than me.
My ankle feels twisted, so I start backing away.
“If I can’t have you, he can’t either!” Mikhail yells, pointing his gun at me.
He stops and cocks the hammer. I look at the gun in his hands, and fright unlike any I’ve known seizes me. My brain can’t focus to get me to either keep crawling away or try to get up and run, no matter what’s going on with my ankle and the pain in my head from the beating he gave me.
Mikhail laughs, and just then, Anatoli’s bike launches out from the thicket of trees.
He shoots Mikhail, but I know I hear two shots fired at the same time.
Mikhail goes down, his gun still in his hands and blood coloring his white shirt. Anatoli doesn’t give him a chance to recover before he whirls his bike around and shoots him again in his head.
Mikhail flops down to the ground, but Anatoli doesn’t stop there. He parks his bike by the tree, jumps off, and stalks up to Mikhail to shoot him again in the same place.
It’s only when his hand falls limp at his side and he drops to his knees beside Mikhail that I know something is wrong with him.
That moves me. My energy returns, and I get up, rushing forward on my ankle that feels like fire is burning me, but I don’t care.
When I reach him, he falls onto his back, and I can see he was shot with the bullet that was meant for me.
“My Valkyrie,” he mumbles.
I gather his head in my lap and look over the blood seeping through his shirt. It’s right near his heart.
God, no, this can’t be happening.
“Anatoli, we have to get out of here. We have to get you to the hospital.”
He grabs my hand and squeezes it. “No, I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
My heart doubles over on hearing that, but still, I refuse to give up. “Anatoli, please, don’t you dare leave me.”
In typical Anatoli style, he smiles and reaches up to touch my face with his free hand.
“I’ll find you in the next life. I’ll be waiting for… you. Always you. Always, always you. I have loved you since first I saw you.”
“I love you, too. That’s why you can’t go anywhere.”
“I’m sorry, baby girl. I think I’m going to Valhalla now, to the halls of my father and uncle and all those who have gone before me.”
“No.” Despite my belief that I didn’t have any tears left, they pour out of me. “I need you. Anatoli, I need you. I’m pregnant.”
His brows rise, but it looks like it hurts him to do that. “Baby?”
“We’re having a baby. We need you. Don’t leave us. I need you.”
His gaze intensifies, locking with mine. “Then we’re not done yet.”
The determination in his eyes almost makes me believe he’s going to get up and walk, or fly to get help.
But his eyes flutter closed, and there’s a deathly look about his face, as if he’s already crossed over to the other side.
When I feel for his pulse, there’s none.
——————
I keep my eyes on the door ahead of me. The one next to the snack machine the hospital’s other visitors have been using.
The nurse came through it earlier to let us know the surgeons had started surgery on Anatoli. That was over two hours ago. It’s night now, but time has been messed up since I started this day.
Malik is the reason we even made it here and hopefully have a chance.
I lost Anatoli in the woods. Actually lost him. There was no sign of life in him by the time Malik reached us. He had to start CPR straightaway and was able to bring Anatoli back. Then there was no time to wait for an ambulance. Malik got Anatoli into his car, and we drove to the hospital. I sat in the back holding Anatoli while he basically bled out.
Now we’re here in the hospital’s waiting room. Lorelai and Ehlga are on either side of me. Malik is sitting opposite us next to Jayce, and Zane and Gytha are standing by the corner near the window.
Everyone looks crushed, but the most broken person who feels the same pain I do is Ehlga.
She hasn’t stopped crying since she arrived. First, it was sobs, then the sobs turned to the sort of quiet crying you do when you have no energy left in you.
I’m feeling a different sort of numbness now, and aside from the pain in my heart, my ankle and head are throbbing. I have twisted it.
When I arrived with my face and body battered and told the doctors I was pregnant, they checked me over to make sure the baby was fine.
The baby is okay, but I have a broken rib. I was given medication that was okay to take with the baby, and my ankle was bandaged, but that agonizing feeling is still there.
It’s no worse than this waiting game. The waiting and wondering if this really is the end.
Another hour passes by. My head is on Ehlga’s shoulder while Lorelai holds my hand.
I almost fall asleep, but when a hand with perfectly manicured fingers holds a small cup of water in front of me, my focus snaps back and I lift my head.
It’s Gytha. She has three Styrofoam cups in her hand. One for each of us, and what feels like a peace offering to me.
“Thank you.” I take it.
“He’d want to make sure someone is taking care of you.”
I nod, and she gives me a polite smile before handing Ehlga and Lorelai their cups.
I watch her walk back to the wall and resume staring out the window. I look back at Ehlga, who seems appreciative of Gytha’s turnaround. In a time like this, we need each other’s strength.
I drink the water and savor the cold feeling soothing my throat.
Not two minutes after, the surgeon walks through the door.
I’m the first on my feet and hobble toward him.
“Easy, there,” he says, putting out his hands to steady me when I stumble.
Lorelai and Ehlga rush to my side, trying to hold me up, but all I’m concerned with is hearing that Anatoli will be okay.
“Please, tell me he’s okay. Please.” My voice is shaking as desperation ripples through every word.
The surgeon’s eyes cloud, and sympathy takes over his face. “The surgery went well, but he’s in a coma. The bullet hit just a few inches away from his heart, so his injury was quite extensive. He’s lucky to be alive, but the next forty-eight hours are crucial.”
“Forty-eight hours?” Malik asks.
“Yes. We’ll be monitoring him during that time and running various tests, so it’s best you go home and come back in the morning.”
“What happens after forty-eight hours?” I ask in a low voice.
“We’ll know if he’ll come back. Or not.”
The last bit of energy I was using to hold on slips from me, and my knees turn to water, giving out.
Lorelai and Ehlga hold me up, but I have no strength left and I can’t breathe.
“I’m sorry.” I hear the surgeon say, but his voice is so far away he could be on the other side of the world.
The tears come again and I’m lost. It’s Malik who picks me up and carries me out. After that, I don’t know anything. I hear people talking, but I can’t distinguish between who’s speaking or even what they’re saying.
Grief has hold of me now.