“Brother, it’s Alyssa. Grigory just did another scan and… you better get here soon. She needs you.”
46
ALYSSA
I’m crying when Uri walks in.
“Oh my god, Uri! What happened?” I yelp. “Are you alright?” He’s covered in sweat and ash and dried blood. Suddenly, it feels trivial to be sitting safely in a hospital bed and crying about my latest scan.
He grabs my hand and brings it to his lips. “Forget about me. Are you alright?”
I shake my head. “There’s blood on your arm.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not mine.”
I shudder. “You’re not hurt?”
“It takes more than a couple dozen spineless cowards to hurt Uri Bugrov,” he growls. “Now, tell me, why are you crying?”
I gulp back the remainder of my tears and try to ignore the smell of metal and smoke wafting off of him. “Dr. Grigory just did another scan. He’s really concerned about one of the babies.”
“Another scan? You just had one.”
I cringe. “I was… experiencing some discomfort.”
His eyes bore into mine. “Discomfort?”
“I guess ‘pain’ is probably a better word,” I admit softly. “And he wanted to be sure everything was alright with the babies. But one is severely underdeveloped. H-he thinks we might…” I take a deep, shuddering breath. “He thinks we stand a chance of losing one of the babies.”
Uri’s eyes turn brittle and cold. He pulls himself up to full height and walks over to the door. “Get the doctor in here now,” he orders someone I can’t see in a terrifying boom before walking back to me.
I can see him start to unravel. Wherever he was before this hasn’t exactly helped him achieve a state of Zen calm. And I badly need him to be calm right now because the truth is, I’m close to unraveling myself.
“Uri, please…”
Before I can finish my thought, Dr. Grigory walks in with tightly pursed lips. Apparently, he already suspects the shitstorm that’s waiting for him inside this room.
“Mr.—”
“Don’t you say my name,” he hisses. “Why is Alyssa scared shitless that we’re going to lose one of our children?”
The doctor swallows uncomfortably. “She was experiencing pain earlier. I conducted a scan that suggests that one of the babies is close to fetal distress.”
“Fetal distress?”
“Not only is the baby not getting enough nutrients, but it may also not be getting enough oxygen. Which means that… well… we might need to consider your options now.”
He’s sweating profusely and I can’t bring myself to blame him. Uri, on the other hand, is looking like he wants to put Grigory’s head through a wall. And there’s enough blood on his arms to prove he certainly could follow through on that threat.
“‘Options’？” Uri growls. “What do you mean, our fucking options?”
“Option one: we perform an emergency C-section and take them both out now. But considering how underdeveloped one baby is, we might end up losing it.”
The muscle in Uri’s jaw is vibrating. “And the second?”
“We wait. We monitor the situation closely and hope that the weaker baby is able to push through on its own.”
“And what if that doesn’t happen?” Uri demands. “If the weaker baby goes into fetal distress, can you perform a C-section then?”
“I’m afraid that by then, it might be… too late.”
I flinch, trying not to completely lose my shit. But the thought of one of my babies dying inside me—it’s too much. It’s too damn much.
I’ve never seen Uri look so angry. Though even that word seems insufficient to describe the black fury twisting his features into a man that’s almost unrecognizable.
“So you’re telling me that my options are to take the babies out now and risk one dying or to keep them both in there and risk one dying anyway? How are those the options?”
Dr. Grigory actually takes a step back. “M-Mr. Bugrov,” he says formally, “I assure you, we’re doing everything we can to ensure both your babies are born safely, but—”
“‘But’ is not an option.” Uri looms toward the doctor like a beast stalking its prey.
“Our main priority is making sure the mother is healthy and—”
“You don’t think her safety is my priority, too?”