CHAPTER Twenty Five
Erin
I shove through the hospital doors, my heart thumping, my mind racing. I don’t believe a single breath has left my body since I got the phone call from Luca.
I can’t breathe or think. I don’t stop trotting until I reach the intensive care unit on the first floor. The nightmare demon who left me a mess five years ago has found me, yet again. I rush past the waiting room and head straight toward the nurse’s station. “Alek Dostov. Where is he?” I ask the woman sitting behind the desk.
“He’s in surgery, Erin,” Nikolai informs me as he comes to stand by my side. “The knife hit an artery close to his heart.”
“Knife? What? Who would do something like this?” I ask.
“We left many unhappy people behind in Russia,” he says in an accent that’s so much deeper than Alek’s. “Don’t worry, the carabineri caught the bastards who did this thanks to Adriana.”
“That’s cold comfort if he doesn’t...I’m going in to check on him,” I answer and start to move around Nikolai. I hate hospitals. The last time I visited one was when I tried to hurt myself and wound up putting my mother in one instead. It’s almost like the white walls mock me, making me think of the way Mom sits inside an institution, reminding me that I’m the one responsible for putting her there.
“You can’t go in right now. We have to wait,” Nikolai says firmly. His tired eyes are focused directly on my face.
Katerina and Adriana step out of the waiting room behind Nikolai. The two women support each other. I barely recognize Alek’s mom who’s dressed in beige slacks and a mint green polo shirt. Her long silver hair hangs loose and she wears no eye makeup. If Adriana wasn’t standing beside her, then I probably would think I was looking at the ghost of Katerina Dostov. We lock gazes. The fire in her eyes each time she has glanced my way in the past is gone. Tonight there’s no competition. On this night, Katerina and I play for the same team...Alek’s.
“Erin,” Adriana rushes over to me, embracing me. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“So I hear you’re the heroine of the day,” I say in a shaky voice. She steps back and gives me a tiny smile.
“You know how trouble loves that brother of mine. Somebody has to watch over him,” she says, her last words breaking up in fresh tears. Luca strolls out of the waiting room and makes his way over to Adriana. He wears a bandage over his left eye and there are several bruises on his neck.
“Luca, what happened?” I ask.
“I got in a fight with a big, ugly bear. Lost a deliciously good cup of coffee in the process too,” he adds. He kisses Adriana’s forehead and wraps his arms around her little body. They look good together, and I’m happy for them, a bright spot in the tunnel of dark and madness. “But I saved the light of my everlasting eye.”
“Oh brother. Someone shoot me in the head now, please,” Katerina says and starts walking back toward the waiting room.
“Mrs. Dostovsky?” a female’s authoritative voice calls out. We turn to find a doctor who’s still dressed in her scrubs. “We’ve moved your son into his room on the fifth floor. We were able to repair the damaged lung and stop the internal bleeding. But he lost too much blood. I’m afraid that he has fallen into a shock induced coma. Now we wait to see how Alek’s body responds to the treatement.”
“Don’t give me that we’ve done all we can bullshit line. Get yourself back in there and fix the problem. This is my son! One of the two main reasons I get up and do this shit every day,” Katerina says, trembling. Nikolai moves over to where she stands and massages her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Dostovsky. It’s up to Alek now,” the doctor says and then leaves all of us to stand here in the aftermath of the diagnosis she left behind.
It’s like I can feel the floor moving closer to my face. That’s how the doctor’s words affect me. I’m on a freaky ass merry-go-round again, only this time the black and white tiles spin around my head instead of horses snapping at me with demonic looking teeth. A pair of arms surround me, tiny ones. Adriana. Glancing into Alek’s sister’s face sends a shudder through me. They could almost be twins.
“He’s going to be fine,” she says to me. “Don’t you worry, now. I know my brother. He won’t leave his two favorite girls ever.”
We make our way up to the fifth floor. Only two people at a time are allowed in the room. Everyone agrees that Katerina and I should go in first. Stepping into the Alek’s room, I’m assaulted by the sight of tubes, monitors, and that soapy smell that’s hard to describe. Leaning over his motionless body, I kiss his lips. He doesn’t stir a bit. But my heart thrashes loudly enough to make up for both Alek’s weak heartbeat and mine. I’m thinking at any moment he’ll get up and start cursing at me in Russian the way I believe he used to do without me knowing it.
I take a seat on the other side of the bed. I’m now staring at his mother.
“Hello, Erin,” Katerina says in a hoarse voice as though she has just now noticed me for the first time.
“Katerina.”
“Katerina. One hell of a name, isn’t it? I bet you didn’t know that it means purity and cleanliness, did you? I certainly didn’t.” She reaches out, tucks the covers up around Alek’s neck, and then glances at me, her eyes humorous, and her lips twisted in a sarcastic smirk. “That’s not my real name, darling.”
Whoa. Katerina just used a term of endearment on me. I’m not sure whether I should smile, faint, or prepare to run.
“Back home, I’m simply Tracy. Do I look like a Tracy Higgins to you?” she asks. Hell no. I shake my head unable to look away from her face. “Alek’s father, Sergey, rescued me from a life of prostitution after my wealthy family threw me out of the house. I had gotten pregnant by a man of a different race, something considered shameful in the South in that day and time. I suffered a miscarriage. Shortly after that, Alek’s father spotted me one night while I was working in a bar. Oh, he was such a handsome man. And rich. He said he was struck stupid by me. Said I was a natural beauty, the type any man would be proud to escort on his arm. He took me out of Austin back to his home in Moscow. What the hell else did I have to lose, right? We came up with my Russian identity, gave me a fancy new name and family history so we could impress the Dostovskys. But Sergey’s parents were no fools. He had left his first wife for me, and his parents hated me for that reason. Imagine what happened after they discovered the truth about my real identity.
It was a hard time, Erin. I left behind one life of rejection, only to jump straight into another. I didn’t want the same thing to happen to either of my children.” She lowers her head and makes a trembling gasp as she massages Alek’s arm tucked inside the covers.
“I’m sorry my ex-husband left your daddy on the road that day. I never forgave him for being so cruel.”
This information slaps me in the face. But I’m numb with grief, and I’ve gotten so used to unexpected surprises from this bunch, that I don’t feel a thing. “So you knew who I was the moment you met me?”
She clears her throat and says, “I did. But Alek did not know. I could never bring myself to tell him the extent of his father’s cruelty that day. Agent Angelo was the man who tracked down Sergey’s contacts in America. My ex-husband was running scared when he came to Austin five years ago. I didn’t want to believe that someone who gave me such beautiful gifts in my children was responsible for paying someone to run your family off the road. I can’t believe it. My son loves you. I know he does. I’ve been so busy trying to keep my children from turning into tiny versions of Sergey and me that I failed to see I’ve done the opposite of what I set out to do.”
“If you know he loves me, then why don’t you like me?” I ask.
“It’s not that I don’t like you, Erin. I see all of me in you. Everything I could never be. I’m jealous. What you have with my Aleksandr is real. I’ve yet to discover such a thing with my husband, or in the fling I had with Sebastian, or anyone.” She exhales a shaky breath and shakes her head. “But I can’t lose my Aleksandr. Dear God, take everything away from me, but please don’t take my son.”
Her voice cracks and her face crumples as she’s overcome by sobs. I break down at the sight of this woman, the toughest person I think I’ve ever met, crying over the son she might lose.
The same man who has taught me how to feel my heartbeat again. I stand and move over to where Katerina sits and put my arms around her neck. Slowly, she eases an arm around my waist. We sit holding each other this way a long moment before she says, “After everything I’ve revealed, you still choose to comfort me? I can see why Aleksandr loves you so dearly.” I tighten my embrace. In return, she cries harder. We both do. Adriana steps into the room, her expression pained when she glances at Alek.
“That bald-headed director guy needs to speak with you, Mother. It’s about Alek’s show tomorrow night,” she says.
“Shh. I’ll take care of it. I don’t want Alek to hear anything else stressful tonight, even if he is in a coma,” Katerina whispers, giving me a tiny smile as we separate from one another. She stands up, leans over, kisses Alek’s forehead, and then heads toward the door. This show means the world to Alek, and I want to know how Frederico intends to handle rescheduling it. So I follow behind them.
Inside the waiting room, Frederico gets right to the point of his visit. “I am terribly sorry about what has happened. I believe it will be in the theatre’s best interest if we cancel tomorrow night’s show.”
Adriana and Nikolai both protest. Even Luca has something to say about Frederico’s suggestion. Katerina who seems diminished since Alek fell into the coma, lowers her head a moment. And then she says, “Well, seems you got your wish, Frederico. All those ridiculously ironic praises to the Virgin Mary you make seem to have paid off. Congratulations.”
“Hold on Signora Dostov—”
“No, you hold on, Frederico,” I interrupt. All eyes turn toward me. “This is Alek’s dream. He has spent his entire life preparing for the day he could run his own show. How dare you try to take that away?”
He waves his hands in a motion as though he’s about to shush me. “Please, Signorina, you don’t understand. There’s no possible way this show can happen now. I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the one who doesn’t understand,” I snap, my voice cracking and my head pounding from all the emotion storming inside of it. Feeling desperate, I turn toward Nikolai and say, “You can conduct the symphony, right? You’ve filled in more than enough times for Alek.”
“Ridiculous idea!” Frederico cries out. “Even if we were to use a second rate maestro, Lila Davis won’t sing for him. She only performs with top quality.” He’s such a hypocrite.
“Then tell her to go to hell.” I’m so heated and angry I could probably set the room on fire. “I can sing in the damn interlude.”
He looks me up and down as though I’m a bum, a bold one who just overstepped her bounds. “A seamstress who thinks she can pull off a miracle. I’m touched, but not impressed.”
“This is where I step in to this conversation, Frederico. First, you will apologize to Erin,” Katerina begins, surprising the crap out of me again. Frederico opens his mouth to say something, but Katerina holds her hand up, silencing him before he can say anything. I love how she’s a badass in that way. “I’m not done. We go with Erin’s plan. Or, I’ll discontinue all of my ex-husband’s contributions to your new business program.”
She gives me a victorious smile.
Grumbling as he opens and closes his mouth several times, Frederico throws his hands up in the air. “This will be a disaster. I play your way this time, but I will have the last word. I am sorry, Signorina,” Frederico says to me and walks toward the waiting room’s doorway. He turns to Katerina and says, “Your misfits had better be able to pull this off. Or there’ll be no more chances for Alek to prove his worth.”
Alek’s mom waves him away and says, “Frederico, why don’t you go make your threats useful to somebody who actually gives a shit.”
“I’m going to go check on Alek,” I say to no one in particular. I fought for what Alek believes in. Now I want to go tell him about it.
Back inside Alek’s room, I take a seat beside his bed and stare at his face. It’s peaceful. The calm way he sleeps reminds me of a child. I inhale a shaky breath as I recall the way I’ve treated him over the past week or so.
Yesterday, I was about ready to make the decision to move back to Lafayette. Today, I might lose the one person who has taught me more about the true aspects of my personality than life could ever do. Bending toward him, I stroke his hair. “I—I just wanted you to know I took your offer. I’m going to sing for you. Your show will happen. I get to be the one who saves you this time. Wish me luck, baby.”
I stand and kiss his lips, my heart shattering more with each breath I have to take alone.
Alek
“I can hear you, Jaybird.” My thoughts are clear, but the words vibrate inside my head. Erin hurts. The tears she sheds tells me everything. She loves me. I know she does.
I can’t move. What the f*ck?
I hear you baby. I wish I could tell you how I’ll be right by your side. I’m coming back to you. I promise. Wait for me.
“I love you, Erin Angelo,” I manage to say. And then a bright light begins to shine before me, filling my heart with happiness.