Page 130 of Toxic Salvation
Even if we both know better.
After a moment, she pulls back and wipes her eyes, transforming back into Dr. Fairfax. “This is going to sting,” she warns.
The first suture slides through my skin, neat and precise. She works in silence, occasionally dabbing away blood, scarcely breathing.
“How many stitches?” I ask as she’s nearing the end.
“Seven for the entry wound, five for the exit. You were lucky—it missed everything important.”
“Told you I was careful.”
“Getting shot is not careful, Kovan.”
“Getting shot instead of killediscareful.”
She finishes the last suture and covers both wounds with sterile bandages. “There. Try not to rip these out by doing something stupid.”
“Define ‘stupid.’”
“Anything involving guns, knives, explosives, or people who want you dead.”
“That’s going to severely limit my social activities.”
She doesn’t smile. “I’m serious. No heavy lifting, no sudden movements, and definitely no more heroics for at least two weeks.”
“Two weeks? Vesper, I can’t?—”
“It wasn’t a question, Kovan.”
I scowl at her. “You’re really going to make me sit on the sidelines while my men handle Ihor?”
“Your men can handle things for two weeks. You’re more valuable to them alive than dead.”
She starts cleaning up the supplies. But I can see the exhaustion in the set of her shoulders, the way she keeps touching her belly unconsciously.
“When’s the last time you slept?” I ask.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She keeps working. “I caught a few hours yesterday morning.”
“Jesus, Vesper. You’re six months pregnant and working double shifts. That can’t be good for the baby.”
“The baby is fine. I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.” She finishes packing up and turns back to me, her expression softer now. “I love you, you know.”
“I know.”
“And I love that you protect the people you care about. It’s one of the things that made me fall for you in the first place.”
“But?”
“But I need you to protect yourself, too. For me. For the baby. For Luka.” She steps closer, her hands coming up to frame my face. “We’re your family now. That has to mean something.”
It means everything. More than she knows.
“Okay,” I say finally. “Two weeks. I’ll let Pavel and Osip handle field operations.”
