Page 77 of Mine To Possess
He nods and we get out of the car. It pulls away and I take Amelia’s hand. She puts her other hand on her stomach.
“It’ll be ok, won’t it?” she asks, her eyes begging me to reassure her.
“Of course it will,” I smile. “Us Leshchenkos are made of strong stuff. And something tells me you are too.”
44
AMELIA
Viktor ushers me into the emergency room and immediately the smell of antiseptic hits my nostrils.
I keep my hands on my stomach, shielding the fragile life that is hopefully still growing inside of me as Viktor leads me to the front desk, his arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders.
“My girlfriend is pregnant and she’s been hit in the stomach,” Viktor says. “We need to see a doctor right away please.”
The receptionist asks me for my details, and I give her everything she asks for. My name, my address. I give her Viktor’s address and I feel a warmth inside of me as I say it. Then I tell my medical history and my insurance details.
“Thank you,” she smiles. “Please take a seat in the waiting area.”
“I don’t think you understand,” Viktor says, his voice level but with anger simmering just beneath the surface. “She needs to be seen by a doctor right now.”
“I appreciate that, Sir, but as you can see, there are a lot of people waiting to be seen and…”
“I’m going to say this one more time,” Viktor interrupts her. “She needs to be seen by a doctor right now.”
I cringe slightly, sure he’s going to threaten the woman, but once again, he surprises me with what he actually does, and once again, I tell myself to stop thinking the worst of him.
“I can forgive you for not knowing this,” he tells the receptionist calmly, “but I’ve donated more money to this hospital than anyone else in the city. You have a whole wing named after me. I didn’t do that to be recognized or worshiped or any of that shit, but when my girlfriend and my baby are in danger, I expect to be seen in a timely fashion,” Viktor says.
Her jaw drops open. “Oh, you’re Viktor Leshchenko?”
“Yes,” Viktor admits.
“I’m sorry, Sir, I had no idea,” she stutters.
Viktor smiles his most charming smile. “It’s fine. I didn’t come wearing my name badge, so you’re forgiven. I trust we can go through?”
“Yes. Yes of course, Mr. Leshchenko,” the receptionist says. “I’ll page Doctor Patrick right away.”
“Thank you,” Viktor says.
He leads me down a wide corridor towards the back of the emergency room. Curtained cubicles line the walls and harried looking doctors and nurses swarm in and out of the engaged ones.
“You paid for the hospital?”
“Not all of it, but a lot of it. This is one of the few hospitals in the state with the resources to see people without insurance. Growing up, we were one of those families without insurance and it’s nice to be able to give something back now that I’m in a position to be able to do it. And for the record, that’s the first time I’ve ever played that card.”
A man in a white coat appears from a door to our left. “Mr. Leshchenko? Miss Madison? I’m Doctor Patrick. Come this way please.”
He leads us to one of the cubicles and pulls the curtain around us.
“What happened Miss Madison?”
“Umm…” I start hesitantly.
“I gather you are pregnant, and you took a blow to your stomach?” Doctor Patrick says.
I nod and he goes on, his voice gentle. “I’m not here to judge you and I’m not here to make trouble for you. I just want to establish what happened, so I know how best to treat you.”