Page 148 of Bratva Knight

I was covered in wires. Some of them stuck to my chest, some of them to my forehead. They ran from me to the monitors surrounding the bed, keeping track of my vitals.

The floor-to-ceiling glass door in front of me slid open, a short, plump woman in a nurses outfit stepping into the room. She gave me a warm smile.

“Oh, you’re finally awake—”

“Shhh,” I whispered, placing a finger to my lips. Her eyes flicked to Nikolai sleeping beside me and she raised the clipboard in her hands to cover her mouth.

“Sorry,” she mouthed when she took it away. She stepped further into the room, coming to stand next to me by the bed. “I was beginning to wonder if he ever slept. He’s been awake since the moment he brought you in,” she whispered softly.

“Just out of curiosity, when was that?” My voice was hoarse, my throat all scratchy. It made me cough.

She handed me a small styrofoam cup filled with water. The name on her badge read “Marie”. I thanked her and drained the whole cup in one gulp. The refreshing liquid slithered down my throat and I moaned.

“You’ve been here just over a day.” Marie checked the monitor, writing down a few readings onto her clipboard. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” I answered honestly.

“I don’t blame you, given the condition you came in. Severe concussion, cracked rib, a few cuts, intensive bruising, multiple finger sprains. The list goes on and on. That must have been one hell of a car accident your boyfriend here pulled you out of.”

“It was,” I agreed, lying easily. I wasn’t surprised to hear that he’d come up with some sort of cover to explain my injuries. It’s not like he could have walked into the emergency room and said “Oh, she was hurt trying to rescue me from a gladiator-style, fight to the death tournament. You know, same old, same old.”

“Was anyone else brought in with me?” I asked, removing the tubes from my nose. I was dying to know how the others were. If anyone else had been hurt. What happened after I passed out.

“Just you. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the last twenty-four hours. We’ll keep you here for another day or so, just to monitor your concussion, and then you’ll be free to go. Don’t worry, we’ve noted your pre-existing condition in your file, so if you need to come back for any reason, the proper precautions can be taken.”

“Pre-existing condition?” I groaned, trying to sit up without jostling Nikolai.

“The pregnancy,” she smiled.

My brows snapped into a frown. “I think you’ve got the wrong file there. I’m not pregnant.”

Her frown matched mine. “Uhh.” She flipped through her clipboard, riffling through the papers. “This is awkward.”

“What is?”

“You were in quite a bit of pain when you arrived. We always run a blood test before administering morphine, and the results revealed you most certainlyarepregnant. Very early stages, only about two weeks or so. But definitely pregnant.”

I stared at her, her words taking a little longer to process than they usually would.

Pregnant…pregnant…pregnant.

My mind just kept repeating the word over and over again, like it was waiting for me to catch on and understand the significance of what she’d just said.

Oh, god…what? How? Nikolai and I used protection every time we had sex. How strong were his goddamn swimmers?

“I’m sorry if this isn’t good news,” she said softly, offering me a sympathetic pat on the hand.

“It’s not that. It’s…well…” It wasn’tnotgood news, right?

Of course I always wanted to try and have another child. But that wasyearsfrom then, when I’d had the chance to properly heal from the trauma of Nikolas’ death.

It was too soon. I couldn’t go through what I went through last time. There’s no way I’d survive losing another child.

My eyes flicked down to Nikolai, still fast asleep. “Does he know?”

“The boyfriend? No.” she shook her head. “Doctor/patient confidentiality.”

I nodded, slightly relieved. I needed time to process that information before even trying to tell Nikolai.

---