Page 58 of Tainted Empire

But her concern is the furthest thing from my mind. “Mikhail…” My voice is urgent, hoarse. The memories of the shootout, the crash, come flooding back in a terrifying rush.

We were ambushed.

I try to sit up, ignoring the pain that shoots through my body. “Mikhail, Lee. Where is he?”

Lee’s expression shifts, her bottom lip trembling slightly. It’s a look that sends a cold wave of dread through me.

“Oh God, Lee! No!” I exclaim, shaking my head, my heart pounding in my chest. “Tell me he’s okay. Tell me Mikhail’s okay!”

She shakes her head, her eyes brimming with tears. “He... he was hit the hardest, Gabi. The car may have been armored, but they came prepared. It was rammed on his side and he took the brunt of the impact. They’ve put him in an induced coma because of his injuries.”

Her words hit me like a physical blow. I can feel the room spinning, a wave of nausea and despair washing over me.

“No, no, no,” I whisper, tears streaming down my face. “I need to see him, Lee. Please.”

Lee takes my hand, squeezing it gently. “You can’t, Gabi, not yet. You need to rest, recover. The doctors are doing everything they can for him.”

I shake my head, struggling against the pain and the weakness. “I don’t care about me, Lee. I need to be with him. He can’t... he can’t be alone in this.”

She sighs but her voice is gentle yet firm. “Remember you’re hurt, too. You need to take care of yourself. Mikhail wouldn’t want you to get more hurt because of him.”

A thought crossed my mind then, something I never considered because I always saw Mikhail as this powerful man who no one could touch. And now… Oh, God, what if he doesn’t make it?

“But what if he doesn’t make it, Lee? What if I lose him?” I break down, tears streaming down my face. “This is all my fault. He had reservations about the dinner but I pushed him. We should never have gone to that dinner.”

Lee’s voice is firm, insistent. “This is not your fault, Gabi. None of us saw this coming. Mikhail wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

“But he’s in a coma… because of me,” I sob, the weight of the situation crushing me. “He’s always protecting me, and now he’s... he’s...”

Lee holds me as I cry, her presence a small comfort in the face of overwhelming fear and pain.

“He’s a fighter, Gabi. He’s strong. And he has the best care. We just have to have faith,” she assures me, rubbing my back. “Mikhail loves you, he’d do anything for you and right now he needs you to be strong.”

Her words are meant to comfort, but the pain is overwhelming. Mikhail, lying in a hospital bed, fighting for his life – it’s more than I can bear. I close my eyes, praying, hoping, needing him to wake up.

The hospital room feels like a cage, trapping me in a reality I can’t escape. Mikhail’s in a coma, and I’m here, helpless. I need him to come back to me. I need to tell him... I just need him.

As consciousness ebbs and flows, each moment of lucidity is a stark reminder of the harsh reality. Mikhail is fighting for his life, and here I am, lying in a hospital bed, enveloped in a fog of pain and medication.

During one of these moments, I notice Alexei sitting beside me, his presence marked by a solemn silence. His arm is encased in a white cast, and his face is a canvas of cuts and bruises. When his eyes meet mine, a palpable sense of guilt washes over his features.

“Mrs. Baranova,” he starts, his voice thick with remorse. “I... I’m so sorry. This is my fault. I was driving... I should have been able to avoid it, protected you and the boss better, I... I should have been dead.”

Hearing him blame himself, a wave of sadness washes over me. “Alexei, no,” I say softly, trying to offer some reassurance despite my own turmoil. “You did everything you could. It’s not your fault. These things... they’re unpredictable.”

He shakes his head, his eyes haunted. “I was supposed to protect you both. And now the boss... he’s... I failed him, failed you.”

I reach out, my hand trembling as I try to offer some semblance of comfort. “You didn’t fail us, Alexei. You’re here, you’re alive. That’s not failure. We were ambushed, there was nothing more you could’ve done.”

But Alexei looks away, his jaw clenched, unable to accept my words. The room falls into a heavy silence, filled only with the sound of the heart monitor beeping steadily beside me.

“I was responsible, Mrs. Baranova. And now, the boss...”

His voice trails off, and he looks away, unable to meet my gaze. The weight of his perceived failure is etched in every line of his face. I want to reach out again, to comfort him, but my own body betrays me, exhaustion pulling me back under.

The silence in the room is heavy, broken only by the steady beep of the heart monitor. Lying there, I’m acutely aware of the cost of the life we’ve chosen - a life where danger is always a shadow, lurking just out of sight.

I close my eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over me. When I open them again, Alexei is still there, his gaze fixed on some distant point, lost in his thoughts. The guilt he feels is a mirror of my own helplessness, and together, we wait in silent vigil, hoping for a miracle that would bring Mikhail back to us.