“Another surprise, I would have thought you the kind of man with black satin sheet on his bed.”
The man arched an eyebrow in barely disguised amusement. “Not unless I have company,solnyshka.”
Deva blinked at the words, the first she had clearly heard from him in his mother tongue.
“Is that Russian? What does it mean?”
“It is Russian. As for what it means, I’m not sure you are ready to hear it yet.”
Somehow, she wanted to maintain the playfulness a little while longer. Light Aleksei was entertaining. “Insulting, is it? Careful Aleksei, you’re in no position to do so without serious risk of retaliation on my part.”
She may have been able to hurt him badly, but compassion for his physical state prevented her. The man was in so much pain, even more than he showed, and it tore at her. The thought made her blink. There may be similarities with Aleksei and a beloved ghost from her past, but there was no way she could compare the emotional depth between them.
Shaking her mind back to the present, Deva forced herself to give him a more clinical assessment. From what she could see, moving was excruciating, and as he told her, she didn’t feel any broken bone. She uncovered one leg at a time, continuing her assessment. He was starting to shiver, his body hot, bordering on a fever. Not a good sign. Covering him once more, she put her hand on his forehead. As her hands were cold, she leaned forward to press a cheek against his feverish skin, the same way her mom had done when she was sick. He didn’t move, but sighed gently, making the tendrils of her hair move against her neck.
“What did you take for the pain, Aleksei?”
It took a moment for him to react to her. Deva hadn’t realized he had closed his eyes. When they opened at her question, they were glassy and slightly unfocused. “What?”
“Did you take anything to alleviate the pain? Medication? Drugs?”
He only shook his head. Deva helped him to lie down, rearranging his pillow. Looking around, she took another blanket and put it on him gently, making sure he was properly covered.
“I’m gonna find you something for the fever and the pain. I’ll be back.”
His lack of responsiveness and unusual passivity buzzed like an alarm in her head. She started to really worry then. Looking in his bathroom, checking all the cupboard and drawers, she only found a couple of ibuprofen tablets. At least she could start with that. Back in the kitchen, she went to get him a glass of water and quickly returned to his room.
He hadn’t moved and looked peacefully asleep. Putting the tablets and glass on the night table, she sat beside him and stroked his arm, trying to wake him without surprising him.
“It’s me, Deva. Wake up Aleksei.”
He did and looked disoriented for a moment before his gray eyes fixed on her. “Deva...”
“I’ve got some ibuprofen for you. Can you sit up a little and take them? I’ve got some water.”
A knee on the mattress, she moved her arms around his shoulder to help him up, quickly giving him the tablets and glass before lowering him back down.
“Rest, I’ll try to find something stronger for the pain.”
“Don’t open the door to anybody. And put the alarm back on.” His voice was raw, his gaze fixated on her until she nodded. Only then did he relax again, slowly falling back to sleep.
Deva closed his bedroom door and went to fish her phone out of her bag. She could call Gabrielle, but there was no time for explanations and intermediaries. And she wanted to have something more concrete than underground fighting before contacting her. Instead, she dialed one of the people she trusted the most and who was certain to help her.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sasha, it’s me, Deva.”
It took a moment for the woman on the other end to respond, but when she did, warmth made her Louisiana accent seemed brighter, reminding Deva of happier times and places.
“Ma cousine chérie! Gosh, Cousin, it’s been such a long time since I last heard from you. Are you well?”
Her cousin always had that warmth and energy in her. For as long as she could remember. Not that she saw her often these days, going into hiding had forced Deva to disappear from most members of her family on her mother’s side. And as Sasha was with Doctors Without Borders, being sent all over the world in war zones, family reunions were tricky.
“Listen, Sasha, I can’t explain right now, but I need your help. More your expertise as a doctor.”
Her cousins tone immediately changed, she was all business now. “Are you hurt? Because I’m stateside right now, if you need me I can take a plane to you.”
Deva tried her best to calm her down. “I’m fine. It’s for a... friend.” How would she be able to explain this? “He’s an MMA fighter, and has been badly beaten, and has lots of bruises. And I think a fever is setting in. I gave him two ibuprofen tablets, but I can’t leave him like that. He’s in a lot of pain.”
