Page 57 of Dimitri
She had just descended the last step and was walking across the almost empty parking lot when she glimpsed something out of the corner of her eye. It was that slight turn that saved her from a greater injury. She barely had time to duck before she felt the butt of the gun slamming into the side of her head.
Before she went down in a heap, she clearly saw the woman standing over her with the gun pointed to her head. Betsy Blake, face red with deadly intention, was about to pull the trigger when they both heard a shout.
With an unearthly scream, she spun away and bolted.
"Ms., are you okay?" Her good Samaritan knelt down next to her. "I've called the cops. Can you stand? You're bleeding. Your head is bleeding."
She was losing consciousness, and the nausea was rising inside her chest. Clutching his jacket, she fought the darkness. "My phone. In my briefcase. Call Dimitri." Was the last thing she said before fading into oblivion.
Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. The cold air stung her cheeks as she struggled to stay upright, vision blurring at the edges. The world seemed to tilt, the sound of footsteps echoing around her, distant and hollow. Thoughts of unfinished business and Dimitri flashed through her mind as the darkness threatened to pull her under.
*****
He was jumping out of his skin, or so it seemed like to him. He certainly could not sit still and the really bad coffee his grandparents were forcing on him was declined. He wanted to hear what was happening. He had been in the middle of helping with the training of a very spirited stallion when he received the call. At first he could not understand why a strange male voice was using Allison's phone and then it had gotten through to him.
He had time to inform his grandparents and without waiting for them to accompany him, he had broken every speed limit to get to the hospital. The irony was lost on him. He who had been so careful to observe the rules only this morning had not cared one damn if he broke them all. He just had to get to her.
Now he had been here for the past half an hour and still nothing. The police had come to let them know the woman had been caught fleeing the scene and had confessed. She blamed Allison for losing the child she had never cared about in the first place.
That did not matter to him. All he wanted was to make certain she was going to be fine.
"Darling, won't you sit?" Elizabeth walked over to him and touched his arm lightly. The agonized expression on his face was tugging at her heart.
"I cannot. I just—" They turned in unison when the doctor came into the room.
"How is she?" he demanded abruptly.
"She's concussed and should stay here for a day or two. There is no internal bleeding, which is thankful, and both mother and fetus are doing well." The man's light blue eyes twinkled. "She's asking for you and demanding to be allowed to go home. Hopefully you can persuade her it would be in her best interest to stay even for the night."
"I will certainly do my best." Dimitri turned to his grandparents.
"Tell her we will see her when she gets home," Elizabeth told him warmly. "No doubt you want to stay with her."
"Of course."
*****
"You look like hell," were the first words out of her mouth when he burst into the room.
When her comment did not make him laugh, she realized how shaken up he had been. Lifting a hand, she curled her fingers around his as soon as he came to sit on the bed.
"Don't—" He had to swallow the lump that was lodged firmly inside his throat. "You are never to do that to me again." His accent had thickened, until the words were running over each other. "I died." He muttered something else in Russian as he gripped her fingers and took in the bandage that looked so stark against her coloring. "It seems I cannot let you out of my sight."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, shaken by the stark look of terror on his handsome face. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Toeing off his boots, he slid in next to her and buried his face against her neck. He had to touch her, to smell her in order to assure himself that she was right here and alive. "Just don't go away. I cannot lose you. I will not."
When she wrapped her arms around him, it was to discover he was shaking.
"Dimitri, I'm sorry."
Holding her tight, he closed his eyes and sent up a prayer of thanks.
*****
"A week." His mouth was thinned in determination, and she knew with a sinking heart that she was not about to move him. His grandparents had suggested they move into the farmhouse temporarily while she was recovering.
"The doctors cleared me to go back in three days." She turned to Elizabeth for support, but the woman just shook her head.
