King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Six

Adrik

“Jefe, any word?” He picked up on the first ring. He sounded worried.

“She’s fine, Trino. She’s going to need to stay in the hospital a few days though. Armando beat the shi t out of her

before we could get to her,” I said.

“I hope he’s already dead.”

“He wishes he was, I can tell you that. He’s still alive though. I plan on drawing it out as long as possible. I want him

to suffer.”

“I love this line of thinking, lefe.”

“That being said, Sal is still at large and I’m a little worried about what he’s going to do once he finds out about

Anthony and Lorenzo. I’m not leaving her until she can leave the hospital.”

“Say no more, Jefe. I have the perfect solution. I’ll take care of everything. Sal won’t find out until I’m sure that

Sephie is okay. and can leave the hospital. No matter how long it takes.”

“Thanks, Trino. And thanks again for sending Oscar. He’s been an integral part of our fireworks show.”

Trino laughed. “I love that guy. I’ve never met anyone who gets as excited to blow shi t up as that dude. He’s

great.”

“He’s good at his job, I will definitely give him that,” I said.

“Keep me updated on Sephie’s condition. How bad is it?” he asked.

“He dislocated her shoulder and broke her arm. She also has five broken ribs and a punctured lung. She’s more

blue and purple than anything right now, but she got more information out of both Sal and Armando despite

everything that was happening to her. There’s another player behind Armando that we don’t know much about.”

“F**k, Jefe. How did you not kill him?”

“I was well on my way to doing so, but she stopped me. She was having trouble breathing,” I said.

“She’s even more special than I thought if she could stop you in the middle of that,” Trino said.

“You have no idea, Trino. I’ll keep you updated and let you know when she can leave. Thank you again for

everything, Trino.”

“De nada, Jefe.”

Viktor ran to one of the vehicles to get a charger for Misha’s phone so we could plug it in for Ivan. Nobody had slept

in over two days, so nobody wanted to be woken up to him fighting his past. I didn’t want to put Sephie in danger

either. Knowing her, she would wake up just to help him, knowing he was struggling.

I had to admit that listening to her play helped me relax and be able to sleep better, given the situation. Because of

her arm in a sling and cast, I couldn’t hold her as close as i wanted to. Because of her chest tube, she needed to be

partially sitting up. She was as close to me as her arm in a cast strapped to her waist would allow, but I still

managed to pull her legs over mine partially so she would feel even closer. It was frustrating and not ideal, but I

found myself drifting off to sleep despite everything.

We were all woken up periodically by nurses coming in to check on her. One nurse clearly wa happy with me being

in bed with her, but she didn’t say anything. Perhaps it was the gun on r hip that she didn’t like. Dr. Williams came in

that evening to check on her before he left for the day. He chuckled, “one of my nurses went on a rant about you

being in bed with her. I told her i could send her home for the day if she had that much of a problem with it. She

decided to let it go.”

“She doesn’t know I basically pay her salary. She’ll be out of a job if she doesn’t let it go,” I said sternly.

“I’ll make sure she takes care of everyone else on the floor instead,” he said. “How is she?” he asked pointing at

Sephie.

“She’s been mostly quiet. Like Ivan, she has demons that resurface anytime she gets hurt. She started fighting, but

as long as she can feel me next to her, she stays calm.” As I said that, she struggled to snuggle closer to me.

“Let’s make sure you stay next to her, then. She needs to stay quiet so she can breathe easily until her lung has a

chance to heal a little more,” he said. He looked toward Ivan, who was still sleeping. “How’s he doing?”

“Good so far. As long as he can hear her playing, he stays calm. I assume he was okay when you checked him out

earlier?”

“He was as calm as he was when she was with him. You were right, too. She is incredibly talented”

I smiled, feeling that familiar pull in my chest. I loved it when other people saw the greatness in her too.

“I’ll be back in the morning to check on her again. If something happens overnight, the nurses know to call me,” he

said.

“Thank you, Dr. Williams. For both of them. I understand it’s a bit of a unique situation we’ve put you in. I appreciate

everything you’ve done,” I said. He nodded his head and left quietly.

Sephie stayed quiet for the entire night, as long as her head was resting on my shoulder. She would periodically try

to get closer to me, but would struggle to do so each time. Her ribs made it difficult to move without severe pain

and her arm in a cast and sling made it awkward for her to lay against me. I tried to hold her as close as possible

without hurting her.

Dr. Williams came back the next morning to check on her. He looked at everyone in the room. “You’re all looking

slightly more refreshed this morning. I take it you all got a little sleep, at least?” he asked. One of the nurses had

brought in an extra bed the night before, so the guys rotated through the beds during the night. Each time a nurse

came in to check on Sephie, they would rotate. It wasn’t ideal, but they weren’t going to complain if it meant

staying close to her,

There were quiet grunts in response to Dr. Williams’ question. He chuckled. “I’m guessing you guys likely haven’t

eaten, either. I can have food sent up. You’ll feel better once you can eat, as well.” He turned to me. “How did she

do last night?”

“She was quiet. She’s tried to move closer to me a few times, but struggles to do so. It makes her frustrated, even

in her sleep,” I said.

“She’s going to be in a good bit of pain for a while. Her bruising is deep. And I know I don’t have. to tell you how

painful broken ribs are.” He walked to the side of the bed opposite from me. Het put his hands up, looking at me. “I

need to check her,” he said, before he touched her, like he was asking my permission.

I tried to sit up so I wouldn’t be in the way. He lifted the blanket off her, then lifted the hospital gown she was

wearing to look at her chest tube. I heard the guys cursing quietly as they saw the bruises that covered her body.

Dr. Williams checked everything, then said, “I need to roll her onto her back. She has so much bruising that I want

to be sure I didn’t miss something that’s causing her to bleed internally.”

Andrei and Misha stood up immediately to help shift her onto her back. They gently lifted her and turned her so the

doctor could have access. As he palpated her abdomen, she started mumbling. He heard her and took note of it,

but continued his exam. I could see her body start to shake the longer she was away from me. Dr. Williams felt it

too. “That’s concerning,” he said.

“That’s what happens when she’s away from him,” Ivan said.

“It’ll stop once we put her back on him,” Misha said.

“Intriguing,” he said as he continued his exam. When he was satisfied that there was nothing going on internally

that he needed to worry about, he stepped back to let Andrei and Misha move her back closer to me. Dr. Williams

stood and watched as the mumbling quieted and her body relaxed as soon as her head was on my chest once

again. “That’s not something I see, ever,” he said as he stared at Sephie, like he was completely lost in thought

over what he’d just witnessed.

Ivan didn’t say a word, but he stood up and walked silently to the bed, standing in between Sephie and the doctor,

his arms crossed across his chest. It was enough to break whatever thought pattern was going on in his head. “I’ll

come back in a few hours to check on her again. From what I can see, she’s doing well. She might be able to get

the chest tube out earlier than I thought, but she’ll still need to stay here for observation for a day once it comes

out. We want to make sure it won’t need to go back in,” he said as he walked toward the door. “I’ll have food sent

up, as well.” He closed the door quietly behind him.

We all looked at Ivan, somewhat puzzled. “Doctors are all the same. As soon as they find something that can’t be

explained with their science, they want to study it. I’ll die before I let that happen to her,” he said, clearly bristled.

“I’ve seen that look way too many times before.”

“Let’s hope she continues to make improvements quickly so we can get her out of here,” Andrei said. “I’d also

rather get my own food than rely on what he sends up.”

“Fair point. I’ll tell the doctor it’s not needed,” Viktor said. We could hear the edge to his voice as he stood to leave

the room. I smiled, as I kissed the top of Sephie’s head. Viktor rarely got angry, but when it came to her, he would

destroy whatever he perceived to be a threat, no questions. asked.