Page 113 of Shutter and Sin
“Then get the stretchers and get them in!”
The scene turns into a blur of controlled chaos. They load Lev and Grigori first, the smell of copper and ozone hanging thick in the air as they start IVs. They’re in rough shape. Then they reach Zoya. She’s still dead to the world, but her chest rises and falls in a steady, reassuring rhythm. I climb into the back of the ambulance with her, the metal floor vibrating under my boots.
"Pakhan," Bohdan says, leaning into the doorway. "The Georgians are being taken care of. From what we could tell from Mrs. Zoya's listening device, she called for help from Kostya, but he left her for dead. So, sir, what do we do with him - we suspect he might be working with the Georgians.”
I take a deep breath before answering.
"Kill anyone still breathing," I snap, not looking away from her face. "Then find Kostya. That little shit left her to die. I want him brought to me."
"Yes, Pakhan."
The doors slam shut, cutting off the sound of the world. I sit on the narrow bench beside Zoya and take her hand. She’s too pale, the small cut on her forehead a stark red mark against her skin. It’s stopped bleeding, but the silence between us is heavy.
"You’re going to be okay," I whisper, as much for myself as for her. "It’s just a concussion. You’re fine."
The sirens scream as we tear through the city streets. At the hospital, the doors fly open, and the team splits - Lev and Grigori are wheeled straight toward surgery while Zoya is pushed into a quiet examination room.
"It’s a mild concussion," the doctor confirms after a tense few minutes of checking her vitals. He works with a practiced, steady hand, applying a butterfly bandage to the cut on her forehead before looking up at me. "She has some bruising, but she should wake up soon, so we’ll keep her here for observation to be safe."
"How soon?" I demand, my voice echoing in the small, quiet room.
"It could be minutes, or it could be a few hours, because concussions are unpredictable by nature," he says, stepping back to let the nurses move in.
They wheel her into a private suite, the soft beep of the heart monitor filling the silence as they hook her up to the machines. I pull a chair to the edge of the bed and take her hand. “Please wake up,Vedma.”
Chapter 35
Zoya
My head is pounding, and everything aches. When I try to open my eyes, the light is blinding. “Alexei?” My voice comes out rough.
“I’m here,Vedma.” His hand squeezes mine. “Don’t try to get up.”
I try to sit up, and pain explodes through my skull. “Lie down.” He eases me back against the pillows. “You need to rest.”
“What happened?” I reach for my head. “Why does it hurt so much?”
“The car flipped, and you hit your head hard, but you’re safe now. You’re in the hospital.”
The memories start to bleed back in. First the gunfire, then the screech of the chase, and the bone-jarring pop of the tire exploding. I close my eyes against the sudden rush of it. “I feel so dizzy,” I whisper.
“Just hold on. I’ll call the doctor.” He presses a button, and a few minutes later, a middle-aged woman in a white coat walks in.
"Good to see you awake, Mrs. Romanov." She smiles, stepping closer to the bed. "May I check your vitals?"
"Yeah," I mutter.
I stay still as she works. She presses her fingers to my wrist, watching her watch as she counts my pulse, then pumps the cuff tight around my arm. The Velcro rips loudly in the quiet room before she moves in to shine a penlight in my eyes.
"Everything looks good," she says, her voice,professional. "You’re very lucky. You hit your head, but thankfully not your stomach, so your baby is fine."
She keeps talking - something about monitoring and follow-up appointments - but the words just blur into background noise. What was she saying?
Baby.
“Where do you go for your prenatal care?” the doctor asks, her eyes focused on her clipboard. “We’ll need to coordinate with your OB-GYN moving forward. Based on the measurements, you’re twelve weeks along.”
Silence.
