NERTHUS
Opening my eyes, I struggle for a few seconds, until I get them to adjust to the bright light.
Blinking repeatedly, I think I am hallucinating at first as I see Aleksei, leaning against the wall near the door to my hospital room.
I rub my eyes, but as I look again, he is still hanging around leisurely, scooping pudding into his mouth unbothered.
“Aleksei?” I say raspily, my speaking turning into coughing.
“Whoa, slow down, princess,” he says with a full mouth, his Slavic accent heavy in his speech. “Drink something first.”
Taking a sip from my glass with a straw, I gulp painfully, “You… You… You are alive?”
He spreads his arms, distorting his face as if I was crazy, “Of course I am.”
“But I saw you lying in a pool of blood… I… And…” I try making sense out of my distorted memories even if there isn’t.
“Argh, yeah. Four shots in back, two in legs. Not the worst I ever got. You children are so carefree. Living around happily without seeing war, then there is a bit of blood and puff, everybody is dead,” he takes a short break, turning his attention back to the pudding in his hands. “But I passed out. I am a little embarrassed of it.”
I laugh, my throat feeling like ripping apart, but God, does this feel good. He grins up at me, and I get a bit hungry from seeing him eat. I lower my eyes on the tray with my food on it, and gasp, “Is that my pudding?”
He spreads his hands again, and scoffs. “I saved your life, so you owe me pudding,” he says nonchalantly, making me crack up again.
“Where is Arawn?” I ask, taking another sip of my water.
“Down with boy,” he answers, making my eyes widen.
“What?” I breathe out and turn around hastily to get the blanket off me. “With Danny? Is he okay?”
He observes me with squinted eyes, probably thinking I’m a mad woman again. “No, he is not. But he will get over it.”
I practically jump out of bed to reach them, but as soon as I have set foot onto the ground, my legs give out beneath me.
“Woah!” Aleksei runs to catch me before I can fall. “Careful, princess. You can’t go anywhere so fast with that much of morphine.”
I groan as he helps me back into bed, and I sigh. “Please, I want to go to them.”
“Why? Just wait until Boss comes back,” he tries to argue, making me pout as I flash him my dog puppy eyes.
“Let me think of something, okay?” he groans, and I nod happily.
Looking at the door, I notice that he had literally let everything fall to come and catch me. “Oh, your pudding…”
“Yeah,” he sighs, looking at the mess on the floor. “But we are in rich men’s ward, so I get new one.”
Laying back into my pillow, I hold on to my stomach and laugh.
***
“I feel stupid. Why can’t I just walk?” I groan as Aleksei pushes me through the different wards in a wheelchair.
If I didn’t know better, I would think I hallucinated, and he wasn’t even there that night.
“Morphine and nothing to eat is bad combination for walking,” he philosophizes, making me sulk.
He also is too slow as he pushes me to the ICU.
“Can’t this thing go faster?” I sigh, throwing my head back and he chuckles.
“Nothing changes by going faster, princess. Stress is not good for stomach,” he simply states, continuing to push me leisurely.
Arrived at the intensive care unit, my anxiety rises as I see all those people full of tubes and ask myself if we shouldn’t have to announce our visit or register our entrance with a nurse. But the medical staff keeps scurrying around us, so I suppose that is just another special passepartout from the Rodberg’s repertoire.
The thought has barely crossed my mind as a nurse throws herself in front of us, “Can I ask you who let you through, and where you are going?”
Oh, oh!
“Taking stroll,” Aleksei says like it was the most normal thing in the world, and the nurse lifts his brows at him.
“Do you have permission to be on this floor?”
Aleksei nods and I press my lips together as I look up at her with glassy eyes. “I’m here to see my baby! He was shot! Of course we are allowed to be here!”
“Oh,” she looks at me slightly saddened but I can see that she won’t take this as easily. “Maybe if you give me his name, I can show you to his room?”
I pinch at the blanket in my lap, lowering my gaze as I sniff, “Thank you so much.”
She nods with a smile and proceeds to walk to a nurse’s station, and I look over my shoulder, panicking slightly. “Do you know Danny’s last name?”
Aleksei chuckles as he shakes his head and I close my eyes with a sigh.
Well, fuck.
“Name?” The nurse asks expectantly as I flinch.
“Deiniol,” I answer confidently, and she lifts her brows at me.
“Could you spell that for me?” She says while typing into the computer and I bite my lip.
Do I look like I could spell it, girl?
“Can’t you just look the name Rodberg up?” I ask desperately, making Aleksei chuckle.
“Aleksei,” my heart blooms as I hear his voice thundering through the busy ward. The nurse and I jerk up simultaneously and stare at Arawn who stands there looking absolutely gorgeous even if totally disheveled.
Life is just unfair.
With a hand gesture, he summons us to come with him, and Aleksei already starts pushing me towards him.
“They are with me,” Arawn states matter-of-factly, making the nurse nod perplexed.
He doesn’t move, waiting for us to reach him and glares down at me. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes,” I nod. “And I’m in this stupid thing, aren’t I?!”
He sighs, nodding absentmindedly before walking down the buzzing hallway, and we follow him silently.
My heart is already beating wildly in my chest as we reach a room with a wide bed, and blinding white lights that reflect on the sterile surfaces.
Danny is lying in the bed motionless, thousands of tubes running into his body from the beeping and whirring machines. A pumping noise resounds in the room, simulating the breathing it has to do for his unconscious body.
“They placed him into a medically induced coma,” Arawn’s deep voice reaches my ear and I turn my head at him as I didn’t even notice that he leaned down to me. “It will help him regaining his strength better.”
I look at him feeling nothing but sadness as he holds my gaze, clenching his jaw. “Help me out of this thing,” I whisper finally, and he holds his hands out to me to help me up to stand on my wobbly legs.
“Thank you,” I say in a strange tone, distorted by my urge to cry.
I walk along Danny’s bed carefully, feeling Arawn’s strong frame following every one of my moves protectively.
He drags a chair closer to Danny’s bed to make me sit down at his side and I sigh relieved.
Finally.
“Thank you,” I repeat, as I touch Danny’s hand cautiously as if I were risking making it break into many little pieces.
Arawn leans down again, caging me in from behind as I keep my eyes on Danny. “I’ll go and take care of some paperwork. Aleksei will stay with you, but if you need anything… Promise you will call me.”
I nod, turning to look up at him over my shoulder, “I promise.”
He leans in, kissing me gently before he straightens back up and walks out of the room.