Page 73 of Runaway Queen

An urgent sense of anxiety went through me that I’d never felt before. What if my kidney wasn’t a match? What if I couldn’t give my son what he needed? I had a son. A son. It still hadn’t sunk in, but I had a feeling it was about to, as Sofia was leading me to the children’s ward where Leo was.

The brightly colored curtains in the windows and cartoon-character covers were at odds with everything I’d known in my childhood.

I stopped outside the door, my feet frozen to the spot.

That horrible, swirling chaos was roaring in my chest. I couldn’t handle normal human emotions anymore, clearly. Sofia watched me, seeing right into my ugly soul, just like always.

“How should I introduce you?” Her soft voice wound around my heart.

“However you want. You know him, I don’t.”

“Okay. Let’s go in then.”

She tugged at my hand, always so brave. She had always been brave. She’d been defiant in the face of the threat I’d first posed to her, as a young woman on the cusp of life. She’d lived with her terrible father and slimy cousin without complaint. She’d killed her cousin herself when he’d tried to hurt her. She’d raised a kid alone to protect him. She was brave in a way few could be.

She walked into the room first. It smelled like crayons and chicken nuggets. She walked to the end cubicle. She couldn’t afford a private room for our son. It hit me deep inside. Because of Antonio De Sanctis, Leo had suffered more than he had to. If I’d known everything, Kirill would have provided the best care in the world for him. Instead, Sofia had toiled away to do what she could. One day soon, Antonio would pay for every day she’d struggled without me. He’d answer for every tear my family had shed.

“Leo? I’ve got a visitor for you,” Sofia was saying before me.

She pulled back a curtain. His bed was near the window, and a view of the woods, and beyond, the sea, filled my vision. A tiny figure sat on the bed. He wore dinosaur pajamas, navy and red. His gray eyes locked on to me with interest.

“A visitor! Who is he?”

Sofia took a seat on the edge of the bed, leaving the chair beside Leo free.

“His name is Nikolai,” she said and nodded toward the seat.

I found myself sitting in it before I’d even realized I’d moved. I was having an out-of-body experience.

“Nikolai?” Leo scrunched up his little face. It was like looking at a mirror image of myself at his age. It was uncanny. “Like the name inside your ring?”

The name inside her ring? I looked to Sofia, but she avoided my eyes and simply nodded.

The boy considered her answer for a moment before twisting to me, crossing his legs on the covers and sticking out a skinny hand. “I’m Leo.”

“Hello, Leo. It’s good to meet you.” His little bones felt as fragile as a bird’s in my grip.

“Nice to meet you, too. You have an accent. Are you Russian?”

I blinked between him and Sofia. “I am. How did you know?”

“I’m learning Russian. Well, my mom tried to teach me some, but she’s bad at it. Will you teach it to me?”

“If you want.”

“Cool! Do you know Dumoulin?”

“The hockey player?”

Leo nodded enthusiastically. “He’s from Maine. He’s so amazing. After I have my operation, I’m going to try out for the school team. In Hade Harbor, there’s a really good team at the high school where my mom works. Cayden West is the best.”

“Is that right? Do you know how to skate?”

Leo’s face fell. “No, not yet. Mom thinks it’s too dangerous, and I could slip and fall, alsoZioAngelo can’t stay on his feet. If you’re Russian, does that mean you know how to skate? It snows there a lot.”

I could barely keep up with the swerves in the conversation. “I know how to skate.” I tried to keep to the pertinent question. “I can teach you, if your mom doesn’t mind… after your operation.”

Leo smiled at me. That terrible confusion in my chest, like the winds of madness that had been blowing for years, suddenly died. His smile was like the dawn, just like his mother’s.

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