Taking my entire world.
Mikhail guides me to the waiting area. Gets me water. A blanket. Tries to clean some of the blood off my hands.
"He's going to make it," he says. "Lev Volkov is too stubborn to die."
I want to believe him.
But I saw those wounds. Saw the blood loss. Saw Lev's eyes going glassy.
Hours pass. No word.
Yaroslav arrives with Mila. She runs into my arms, crying.
"Is Papa okay? Is he alive?"
"He's in surgery." I hold her tight. "The doctors are helping him."
"You said you'd come back! You left me alone!"
"I know, baby. I'm sorry. But I had to save your papa."
"Did you?"
The question breaks me. "I don't know yet."
We wait. The three of us huddled together in uncomfortable plastic chairs. Covered in blood and ash. Waiting for news that could destroy us.
More hours.
A doctor finally emerges. Scrubs stained. Face exhausted.
"Ma’am?"
I stand on shaking legs. "How is he?"
"He's alive." The doctor's expression is carefully neutral. "But it was very close. Three gunshot wounds. Significant internal damage. He lost over half his blood volume. We had to remove his spleen and repair a punctured lung. The bullet near his heart missed the major vessels by millimeters."
"But he's alive?" I need to hear it again.
"He's alive. In critical condition. The next forty-eight hours will be crucial in his recovery. Hopefully, infections do not set in, and his body can begin to heal and recover from the trauma." The doctor looks at each of us. "He's not out of the woods yet. But he's a fighter. That much is clear."
"Can I see him?"
"ICU. One visitor at a time. Five minutes only."
Mila looks up at me with desperate eyes. "I want to see Papa."
"You will,Cielo. Let me go first. Make sure he's okay. Then you can see him."
The ICU is sterile, with beeping machines, harsh lights, and Lev at the center of it all.
Tubes everywhere. Machines breathing for him. Monitors tracking every vital sign.
But alive.
I take his hand carefully. It's cold. Pale.
"I'm here." Tears streaming down my face. "I'm right here, my love. And you're going to be okay. You have to be okay."