Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Nine 

Sephie 

The chest tube came out quickly. The nurse made me stay in bed for half an hour after it came out, just to make sure my lung would stay inflated and functioning properly. Once the half hour was up, she came in and told me I could get out of bed. I wanted to get out of bed as much for Adrik as I did for me. I still felt guilty for keeping him trapped with me. I knew a short walk would do him good, too. 

I’d had bruised ribs before, but never broken ribs. Both were not something I wished to ever have to deal with again. Every single movement caused pain in my ribs. Andrei and Viktor were there to help me sit up on the edge of the bed. My hospital gown wasn’t secured, so they all got a full view of the bruises down my left side. 1 heard collective cursing. 

“If 

you 

won’t take pain meds from the doctor, will you let me go get you some ibuprofen?” Viktor asked. “I can get snacks, too,” he added, grinning at me. 

“I’m more excited about the snacks, if I’m being honest,” I said, trying to pull the st upid hospital gown around me. “Can you get me some clothes too? This thing makes me want to murder people.” 

“You got it,” Viktor said, laughing at me. 

Adrik stood in front of me. “Hold on to me,” he said as he helped me stand. Once I was standing, he wrapped the hospital gown around me, tying it so it would stay in place. His hand brushed against my skin. “Grab her a pair of my sweatpants and a hoodie. She’s freezing,” he told Viktor. 

“She’s going to be living in your hoodies until her arm comes out of this cast,” Ivan said as he thumped the cast with his finger. “I can’t imagine your tiny little shirts being able to fit over that thing.” 

“My shirts are not that tiny. Your shirts are just giant in comparison,” I said grumpily. 

“Ok, she needs snacks. I’ll be back as quickly as possible,” Viktor said, laughing. He left the hospital room quickly. 

Adrik offered me his arm as I walked slowly to the door. My legs felt fine. Sore, but fine. That’s a good sign. Being able to walk around always made me feel better, no matter how much pain I was in. Misha and Ivan walked out of the room ahead of us, with Andrei and Stephen behind us. It was still early enough in the evening that people were still visiting friends and family that were in the hospital, so the hallway wasn’t empty. We got plenty of strange looks as I walked at a snail’s pace down the hallway with my giants. 

“Can I tell them I’m the go d da mn princess? Will it make them stop staring at me?” I asked Adrik quietly, speaking Russian so we wouldn’t be understood. He laughed at me, leaning over to kiss my cheek. “You can tell them whatever you like, solnishko. Or I can have them all killed for looking at you. Say the word,” he said, grinning at me. 

“Don’t tempt me,” I said. 

Viktor was back shortly after my excursion into the hallway. “I lied. I’m more excited about the sweatpants 

than anything.” I said as he handed Adrik a bag with clothes for me in it. 

Ivan and Stephen were the closest ones this time, so they helped pick me up and move me to the edge of the bed. I was impressed with how gentle they all were, given their massive size. Adrik helped me put his sweatpants on. They were a few sizes too big for me, so he rolled the waistband and tied them tight enough they would stay up. He glanced at the guys, the sweatshirt in his hand. They all turned their backs to me, so as not to see all of me. Adrik carefully took the hospital gown off and replaced it with the sweatshirt, leaving my left arm out of the sleeve. 

“Sweet, now it looks like I only have one arm,” I said, playing with the empty sleeve. I smacked Adrik with it as he helped me sit back on the edge of the bed. “Oh, this is going to get me in trouble.” 

Adrik looked to Viktor. “Definitely needs snacks.” Viktor threw a protein bar at Adrik, who ripped the wrapper open with his teeth and handed it to me. As soon as the protein bar was in my hand, my stomach woke up. 

“I don’t know why men think women are that complicated. Keep us warm and give us snacks. It’s not rocket science,” I said, taking a bite.. 

“I feel like most women are slightly more complicated than you are, spider monkey,” Andrei said. 

“That’s fair. Totally fair.” 

Once I ate one protein bar and managed to keep it down, I was starving. I ate three more in the span of an hour. Viktor had also brought me some ibuprofen, so I took that, which helped take the edge off the pain. Ant hour after I took my first dose of superprofen, Ivan asked, “what’s your pain level now, princess?” I thought for, a moment, then held up four fingers. “So, an 8 for normal people, then?” he said, grinning at me. I was starting) to feel more like myself, despite my pain. I felt like I could finally smile genuinely back at him. 

“Ah, there it is,” Misha said. “Viktor, she’s gonna need more protein bars. Maybe get her some beef jerky or something, too. Clearly protein makes her soul return to her body.” 

I laughed, but grabbed my ribs with my good arm. “F**k. Laughing is not an approved activity right now. I’m currently regretting bringing out your hilarious side.” I felt Adrik shift me so I was leaning back against him, his arm around me protectively. 

“How much easier is it to talk now, princess?” Ivan asked. 

“It’s better. I can breathe a little easier sitting up,” I said. “You want to know about when I was with Armando, don’t you?” 

He chuckled, nodding his head. Stephen said, “we all heard that conversation. What happened when you asked him about who was pulling the strings?” 

“Ricardo,” I said. “He wasn’t looking at me until I said Ricardo’s name, then he looked at me. I could tell he was livid that I had said Ricardo’s name, but he was also afraid. There was fear in his eyes. When he walked back over to me after I said all that to him, it was the only time I was actually afraid for my life. If you guys hadn’t shown up when you did, he might’ve killed me.” Adrik tried to pull me closer, but it was difficult given my sling. He nodded to Andrei and Ivan, who both stood and walked over to the bed. “Pick her up so she can. 

lay back against me,” he said. They lifted me gently, while Adrik moved underneath me. They put me dow between his legs so I was leaning back against his torso. He wrapped both arms around me, his legs on eith side of mine. I leaned my head back and kissed his cheek. “This is much better,” I said quietly