The Final Hour (Volkov Bratva #3)(39)

“Sweetie.” Amber spoke carefully, like she was afraid to frighten her. “I brought you some clothes so you could change.”

Lauren heard her, even saw the small bag that had her clothes in it, but she wasn’t ready to get up. Not yet.

“I’ll stay right outside the door,” Amber amended, noticing Lauren’s hesitation. “If they call for you, or if I see any doctor talking about Mish, I’ll come in and get you. Promise.”

Thanking her, Lauren took the bag, heading off to the restrooms. It was vacant, and in the lengthy mirror that spanned a wall, Lauren saw her reflection for the first time.

Blood shot eyes, mascara tracks beneath them, and Mishca’s blood was everywhere she must have touched. For a moment, she wanted to break down again, the sheer severity of the situation almost too much, but she held the tears back, and turned on the taps to one of the sinks.

She had to disconnect from what she was doing as she washed the blood clean from her hands, taking wads of paper towels to clean her face. When she was finished, she went over to the door, pulling it open to see Amber standing exactly where she said she would be.

“Could you unzip me?”

She turned, waiting patiently as Amber undid each of the buttons, then pulled the zipper down. Lauren was trying not to get frustrated as she reached for the ties of the corset, but when she couldn’t make any progress, Amber produced some scissors and just cut her out of it. With that done, Lauren changed and stuffed her dress into the bag, tossing the ruined corset in the trash, rejoining Amber out in the lobby.

Ross and Susan stood as they came back into the waiting room, and everything Lauren was feeling was reflected on Susan’s face. Lauren was too afraid to even look at Ross, afraid of what she might see there. And really, she was too tired to deal with his judgment.

“What have they told you?” Susan asked gently.

It didn’t take long for Lauren to disclose that information, especially since there wasn’t that much to begin with. Alex and Luka walked up together in the middle of her brief description. It was different having Alex there. They all cared for Mishca in their own way, but Lauren doubted anyone cared for him as much as she and Alex did.

But Alex was handling this rather well, at least from what Lauren could tell. Maybe that in part because of the man standing next to her…

Detectives arrived at the hospital later, ready to question everyone in attendance. Lauren was patient, answering every question as best she could, though taking silent cues from Luka as to how much she could reveal, not that she really knew much. She did, however, know that despite the NYPD promising to launch an investigation into the shooting, more than likely it would be the Bratva that found the shooter before they even had a suspect.

It seemed, after the detectives had come and gone, that was the last straw Ross could take, refusing to stay silent any longer. At first, Lauren easily ignored his grumblings, but when she caught sight of Mikhail just out of sight talking to a man in scrubs, she had another excuse to get away.

Her plan was to excuse herself and see what they were talking about—she wouldn’t put it past Mikhail to keep her out of the conversation—but Ross wasn’t ready to finish disclosing his feelings on the entire matter.

Except, Lauren was too wound up to care what he would say.

“This is—”

Lauren whirled around so fast, Ross nearly stumbled trying not to step on her heels. “Don’t. Whatever you’re about to say, just don’t.”

She didn’t mean to raise her voice, she hadn’t even planned to continue on in the conversation, but it was like an uncontrollable anger had taken her over. Susan and Alex spared each other a glance then hurried over, wanting to prevent the situation from escalating.

“Mish is in there somewhere and I have no idea how he is. So, whatever you’re about to say about his profession or about him, save it. I don’t need this on my wedding day, and especially when I don’t know whether my husband will live or die.”

Ross was a proud man, and was unrelenting when it came to the set of principles he followed, but seeing the hurt and fear in Lauren’s eyes, he put aside what he felt for Mishca and gave her the support she wanted.

“Once I know he’s going to recover, then you can yell at me.”

Lauren would apologize to him later, but right then, she needed to know what the doctor was telling Mikhail. He had made his position on their tying the knot pretty clear at the rehearsal dinner, and judging from the tension whenever his name was brought up around Mishca, she didn’t doubt for a second that he would keep something vital from her.

What did surprise her some was how negative he seemed to become in the recent months. While he hadn’t seemed particularly fond of her when they first met, she had thought he’d warmed up to her, but now she didn’t know what to think.

The doctor was just turning to leave when Lauren called out to him. “Excuse me, are you Mishca Volkov’s doctor?”

The confusion was clear on his face as he shot a look at Mikhail, then peered at her. “I’m sorry, I can’t discuss a patient with—”

“I’m his wife.”

Now surprise colored his expression, but only for a second. “I didn’t realize…well as I was explaining to Mr. Volkov, on the ride over here, Mishca went into cardiac arrest.”

Mishca’s heart had stopped.