“You shot her? But why didn’t the boss shoot her?”
“Because he was bleeding like crazy and on the ground! Look around you, there is blood all over the place!” I flail my arms violently in the direction towards the bloody mess. When he fell, his blood splattered and smeared everywhere around us. “Anyhow it doesn’t matter who shot her, what matters is Viktor is hurt. You need to help him, please!”
He crouches down next to us feeling Viktor’s pulse. “I understand your upset, but did you check his pulse?”
“Well no, he was unmoving and unresponsive, I just figured he needs to go to the hospital or he’ll die from all this blood loss. I know he was breathing, I saw his chest rise, but he passed out and hit the floor. It has to be bad, right.”
“Head wounds bleed a lot regardless. It looks like he needs some stitches. I’m calling one of the guys in who used to be a medic in the Russian military. Try to calm down a little, you will help him out more that way.” I nod and stroke Viktor’s cheek lovingly, not paying attention to anything he says passed the word medic.
I hope he will be okay. I have come to care for Viktor so much. Do I love him? Yes, absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind that I do, after the events that occurred today. Alexei pulls out his phone and I stare at him questioningly. I don’t know who he would be calling at a time like this. It’s hardly the time, and he needs to be concentrating on helping Viktor right now.
“I’m calling Dmitry. He’s the one who can help.”
I nod, wiping at my tears. Shit. I have blood all over my hands, I’m sure I just rubbed it all over my cheeks. I probably look the part of a psycho killer now. Zoning out, I don’t pay any attention to what is said on the phone. I have Viktor’s gun and as I stare at him, I vow to shoot anyone who hurts him. I lightly kiss his bloody forehead and whisper to him, promising, “You’ll be okay, love.”
“Oh shit! Boss?”
I’m pulled out of my reverie by an unfamiliar voice.
“Relax, мышь (mouse), it’s Dmitry. He will help as much as he can.”
“What’s going on?” Dmitry inquires, coming to squat beside myself, Viktor and Alexei.
Spartak stands in the doorway, concerned, but also ready to protect us in case something else goes wrong.
Glancing up, I mutter, “He won’t wake up and his head is bleeding all over the place.”
He shoots me a worried look with his whisky-colored eyes and nods, bending his head to look at Viktor. He reaches for him and I raise the gun.
“Easy, Miss. I’m just going to have a look. I have to see what’s going on, so I can attempt to fix, yes?”
I look him over from top to bottom. He looks older than us, probably around forty and in great shape. He has very short brown hair to match his sparkly, intelligent eyes and has a pleasant nature about him. He doesn’t strike me as a threat so I lower the weapon and he scoots in to get a better look.
“Well, it appears as if the blood flow has had some time to slow down and start clotting. Head wounds bleed more than most anyhow, that’s why it looks as if you butchered someone.”
As soon as the word ‘butcher’ comes out of his mouth, I start to weep miserably again.
“You fucking idiot! The nutso over there used a fucking butcher knife on the boss. Meesh peeLAA desyiVAW (Mouse saw everything),” Alexei growls angrily and Dmitry pales.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” he says to me, remorseful.
I choke up. “Please just fix him.”
He goes straight to work gathering everything he needs and cleaning the area. I sit stationary and watch every move Dmitry makes. Thank God the blood has slowed down some. It’s still bleeding but it’s not pouring out like before.
My skin feels stiff and gross from the blood drying. My nails are grimy and caked with it but I refuse to leave him like this. Even if Vik has someone here to help, I’m staying next to him every single minute. A harsh scrubbing can wait.
Meeting my eyes Dmitry kindly says, “Hold him still. I have to put in a lot of little stitches and don’t let his head fall backwards, keep it elevated so the blood will flow downward.”
“Okay. Do you know if he will he wake up?”
“He will wake up after some rest. I think his body went into shock when he saw his own blood. It went into protection mode and had him pass out. It’s actually fairly common when people see a larger amount of their own blood. The wound’s not deep enough to do permanent damage to the brain area. Luckily this was right over the skull, so it acted like a protective barrier. Now, if he wakes up and after a while doesn’t seem to be himself, then we should take him to the Emergency Room. I’m confident this will suffice.”
“Thank you.” I show my appreciation and Alexei grunts in agreement.
“Please don’t thank me yet. Wait until we see if it works. And Alexei, we need to get him on the couch or to a bed and put a pillow under his head.”
“Okay, now?”
“Yes, now. He is all stitched up and the only other thing I can do is put ointment on the cut. I’ll do that after we move him though.”
“Okay, Doc, sounds good.” Alexei gestures to Spartak to come help lift Viktor.
“You’re a doctor?” I quiz Dmitry.
Alexei interrupts, “Yes, he’s a great doctor. He went overseas to help tend to the soldiers over there with the war.”
My eyes widen marginally. “Seriously? That is so kind of you.”
He shakes his head sadly. “No, Miss, they are the ones who truly sacrifice. I just sew people up.”
I squeeze his arm gently and follow Alexei and Spartak to Viktor’s bedroom.
I race ahead of them to fix his pillow perfectly. They get him all settled and the doctor puts a thick coat of clear ointment on Victor’s wound.
“Thank you all so much for helping him,” I say as they start to leave the room.
“Are you going to watch him?” Alexei inquires, peering at me curiously.
“Yes, I will not leave him,” I state, making a silent promise to myself and glancing back at Viktor for a brief second.
“Good, take a shower and wash up while you wait. If he wakes and you look like that, then we will have World War Three on our hands.”
“I would rather just sit beside him.”
Spartak grumbles at me. “No, Miss Elaina, please listen to Alexei about this.”
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from them. “Okay, geez, but I’m shutting this door because I’m leaving the bathroom door open for him.”
They all leave the room and I’m met with a loud silence when I shut the bedroom door.
I’m not sure exactly how I should do this. I can see a large portion of the room from the shower, but not the bed, which is where Viktor’s lying. I’ll set the gun on the counter, beside the shower. That way just in case I don’t hear something and he needs me to protect him, I’ll be able to jump out quickly and take care of it. I know the cabin is empty besides the guards and the area is supposed to be secure, but I can’t help to be paranoid. We were just attacked for heaven’s sake.
I strip him of his filthy shoes and unbutton his pale blue, blood-saturated shirt, attempting to make him comfortable without moving his body or head too much.
Using a wet wash cloth, I do what I can to clean off his face for him.
Once I complete that task, I cover Viktor up with the soft, light sheet. Dipping down and gently kissing his cheek, I make my way to the bathroom to start the shower. God knows I need a strong scrubbing. Today’s a completely new kind of dirty.
ELEVEN
VIKTOR
five hours later
I’m awoken by movement next to me and a sharp
pain shooting through my skull. Everything’s a little fuzzy but from the sweet brown sugar smell I know it’s her beside me.
Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes tiredly and glance at my princess. Elaina sleeps on her side curled into my body, with her hands clasped together tightly next to her chin. She’s breathtakingly beautiful. She has no clue just how much I worship her. The gun rests beside her with the safety on.
Good girl.
Reaching over to lightly touch her silk-like skin makes my head throb and I hiss through my teeth. I’ve got to see what’s going on back there. I remember the pain, but I don’t remember getting hit with anything. It was instant pain, sharp and stabbing. And blood. I remember lots of blood.
Bit by bit, I attempt to sit up, holding onto the bed as I fight the dizziness. Christ, what did I miss?
Oh no, the kitchen!
I have to check out the cabin. I don’t know if we’re secure and if everyone is okay. At least Elaina is here so I know she’s okay.
Okay, let’s try this again. I rise gradually, until finally I’m standing at my full height.
That only took ten minutes to accomplish.
I arrive at the bathroom mirror and I have to admit, I’m not impressed. There is still quite a bit of dried blood on my face and my hair looks disgusting. I can’t look like this, call me vain, but I pride myself on always looking my best. I can’t believe she saw me looking so terrible.
I flip on the shower and strip the rest of my clothes. It appears Elaina was nice enough to undo all of my buttons and to remove my shoes for me. That’s fortunate, because at this moment I don’t know if I can bend over without falling or puking. I can’t get over the fact that I didn’t protect her. What kind of man am I, to not be able to keep her safe?
Stepping into the steam, and under the hot spray, I grit my teeth to keep from yelling at the pain on my head when the water hits it. My appearance will obviously have to wait, there is no way I can run my fingers through my hair with soap to wash whatever’s going on back there. I’m going to look for a small mirror once I catch my bearings a little better and see what hurts so badly.
Clambering out of the large shower, I’m unamused at how ungraceful every action of mine seems to be. I feel like I’m an inexperienced toddler, banging around everywhere. I don’t know if I’ll even be able to get my clothes on successfully.
Leaning over the sink to brush my teeth, I catch a brief glimpse at a pile of clothes on the floor and do a double take. They are covered in blood. Not soaked, but it looks as if blood was smeared all over them. Surely that can’t all be from me? If so, that would explain why I was so dizzy on waking up and especially after showering.
I didn’t see any injuries on my lovely girl, though a lot of her was covered up in my t-shirt. I love that she steals my clothes to wear. I told Elaina to cut them all up or do whatever she wants to anything. I only care about a few suits, but even then I can always replace them.
Leaving the bathroom, I’m met with a sleepy Elaina sitting on the end of the bed. Her blonde hair is a complete mess, as if she fell asleep with it wet, and she looks absolutely adorable in her rumpled shirt. She rubs her eyes tiredly, not realizing I’m watching her.
“Princess, are you okay?” I rasp, standing in the doorway.
She gasps, head shooting up to look at me eagerly. “Me? Are you nuts? How are you feeling? I can’t believe you took a shower already! You need to rest.” She’s rambling and I smirk. I adore the fact that she cares enough to chastise me and want to take care of me.
“Why is my pillow case black and not the others?” I ask, puzzled.
“Oh, well, because of your head of course. I didn’t want it to stain the light one with blood, so I changed it before the guys laid you down.”
“Who laid me down? What exactly did I miss and what happened to my head?”
“Alexei and Spartak are the ones who laid you down with the doctor guy who works for you.”
“Okay and what happened to my head? Why does it hurt so badly? The last thing I remember was a sharp pain, but it didn’t feel like I was struck with something. I remember seeing you yell and that’s about it.”
Elaina’s pretty blue eyes tear up and she stands, walking toward me timidly. “You were stabbed.” She chokes brokenly, irises so full of sadness and fear. A tear trickles down her face and she glances away. “You lost a lot of blood and passed out. The doc sewed your head up and put cream on it.”
“I see. So what happened? Who did it and are my men holding them?” Reaching out, I grab onto her hand, squeezing it to bring her some comfort. She seems so distraught. I know it was probably scary, but we’re both okay.
Glancing up at me, more tears rain down over her cheeks.
“Princess, please. We are both alright. Stop crying and tell me, baby,” I murmur.
“O-kay,” she says brokenly. “K-k-ken-dall got in and sta-stabbed you with a big knife. You’re lucky you’re so tall compared to her or she could have seriously injured you. She was going to do it again, I swear. I saw her try to-to do it. I saw her rear back with the knife, aiming for your back, so I had to shoot her. I’m so sorry, Vik-Viktor. I promise I had to or Kendall would have hurt you more.” She sobs and my insides mash together seeing her so torn.
Standing up straighter, I pull her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her tightly and whispering, “It’s okay, lovely, you did the right thing.”
Rearing back, Elaina glares at me, incredulous. “The right thing? I killed someone! You can’t just wash that off, Viktor! Trust me, I tried. I scrubbed so hard I bled in some places and yet it didn’t help with the demons screaming at me inside.”
She pulls away from me and perches on the edge of the bed.
“I can’t believe I killed Kendall. I thought you were fucking dying. You wouldn’t wake up and there was blood everywhere. You wouldn’t open your eyes and I just wanted to kill her all over again for taking you away from me.”
She buries her face in her palms and weeps. I’m lost. I’ve never felt remorse for a kill before. I’ve always just taken care of the job. I clean up messes and take care of the bad things my father or brother never wanted to touch.
I step close to her. “Then why, Princess? Why on earth would you do such a thing if you are to feel so guilty afterwards?”
Glancing up at me through her fingers. “Why, Viktor?” She stands abruptly, putting her hands to her sides, face swollen from her weeping. “Because I love you. I would kill a hundred people to protect you, even if it makes me a completely horrible person. If it comes down to you or someone else, I will always kill for you.” She sniffles and wipes her face, looking at the ground, obviously ashamed for admitting that she would kill again.