ARAWN
I don’t like this feeling.
I’m kneading my hands impatiently as I’m sitting next to Nerthus’ bed. They finally got her to sleep, even if she had to be sedated for it.
I don’t like to feel so powerless. I hate not being able to do more than just sit here and watch her sleep, praying that she will get better and not hate me because it is all my fault that she got into this kind of situation.
My chest squeezes as I think that she might hate me for not having intervened in this critical situation sooner, allowing my arch-enemy to hurt her and the boy she loves so dearly.
And I hate myself for nearly praying more for his salvation out of fear that she could blame me for his death, rather than for his precious life’s sake.
The worst thing is that the bugging feeling didn’t leave me after she told me to go check on him. And so, as I finally went to take a look and inquire about the status of the surgery, one of the doctors told me that his heart had stopped beating for a few seconds, but they were able to recover it.
I sigh, passing my hands over my face as I hear a small whimper and I look up.
“Hey babe,” I jerk out of my chair to caress her sweaty forehead before rubbing my thumb onto her cheek soothingly. “Everything is alright. Just get back to sleep.”
Visibly calming down at the sensation of my touch, she inhales a shaky breath, clutching my arm with her hands. She blinks up at me, her throat too raspy to speak as I caress her again. “Danny is still in surgery, it is looking good. But sleep another bit for me, okay?”
Her face distorts as a few tears roll down her cheeks, and she lifts her hand to wipe her eyes.
“You certainly want him to see you well-rested and with a happy expression, right?”
She crunches up her face, closing her eyes as she sobs, nodding lightly. “I’ll fetch you something to drink, okay?”
Leaving the hospital room with fast steps, I reach the next nurses’ station as quickly as possible, not wanting to leave her alone for too long. “Hey, would it be possible to get my girlfriend something to drink?”
“Of course, Mr. Rodberg,” a young nurse answers right away, hurrying towards Nerthus’ room. I ignore the murmuring behind me as I follow her, my heart relieved as I see Nerthus sitting up, finally accepting something to drink.
“If you want, I can bring you something to eat as well,” she offers, but Nerthus lays her hand on her stomach, shaking her head.
“Do you feel sick?” I ask, making her look at me before she shakes her head again.
The nurse smiles encouragingly, turning towards me before she leaves the room. “If she changes her mind, we are just a push of a button away, okay?”
“It would be better if you ate something. The doctor told me that you threw up as you were brought in,” I insist while she closes her eyes.
“I’m not hungry,” she whispers.
“I know,” I sigh, sitting back into the chair next to her bed. “But you have to eat eventually, or you won’t feel any better.”
She sighs exhaustedly, keeping her eyes closed. “I’ll eat something when Danny comes out of surgery.”
“This might take hours, babe,” I try to argue, but she ignores me.
“Okay,” I finally give in. “I’ll ask you again in an hour or so.”
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I have barely accessed my emails as I hear her breathing pattern change. I smile as I lean forward to tuck her in properly as she fell asleep due to the exhaustion still weighing on her. “Good girl.”
I go through my messages and find the first report on the ammunition that Dario was able to organize in such a short period of time. I had asked him not to tell Jenna about what happened yet, as she would have only worried herself sick, risking stressing out Nerthus even more.
Since I knew that Nerthus was going to be fine, I felt reborn. I don’t think I ever felt worse than when I saw her covered in all that blood.
Even though I can’t exactly be sure of it as my brain already suppressed my memory of me getting the call from my men telling me that Giulio and Aleksei had been shot at.
I suppose that as soon as the thought of Nerthus being with them crossed my mind, my body went on autopilot, blacking everything out completely.
I could have gone directly to Goldman to put a bullet between his eyes, but I drove directly to the hospital as even my primary senses were only thinking of getting to her as fast as possible.
Taking a deep breath, I open the report and I instantaneously have to lean back and inhale once… twice…
Well, fuck.
The ballistic clearly states that it couldn’t be traced back to a specific weapon, which wasn’t surprising.
But it was clearly determinable which kind of gun, rifle or other kind of weapon they belonged to.
And what a coincidence…
The bastard had used the same weapons he stole from me to attack me.
What a son of a bitch.
But I’ll pay him back for this little surprise, and he will get everything back plus the accrued interest.
As if he had known the moment I got the report, I get a text from Goldman, feeling sorry for my loss.
I wonder if his men were on drugs or just were stupid enough to lie to him, or if he has planned something else.
Calling Vito and Gennaro, I get them to get in position in front of the surgery room where Danny is being operated on. And I send in one of my specialized soldiers disguised as a nurse into the operation theater. She knows how to make people know that they are under strict observation. She also would know how to make out a sketchy line of action. If the threat arises from a corrupt surgeon, she won’t think twice about eliminating them.
Dropping my phone back into my pocket, I lay back to set my eyes back on Nerthus.
My index and my thumb graze my lips and chin while I think about how to proceed next. Giulio died on the spot, Aleksei got away with being extremely lucky, even if it’s known that he is the hardest pill to swallow, Danny in surgery and Nerthus…
Taking another deep and calming breath, I grab the armrest of my chair, the whirlwind in my mind too chaotic to let me scheme something useful. I will think about it another time.
For now, I have more important things to focus on.
If he had planned something else regarding her, he would need to get past me.
I might have been infiltrated, and the rats are overrunning my ship, but those creatures will also be the first to flee overboard if I blow a fucking hole right into its middle.