“Friends and family of Alanna and Dmitri Roberts?” a doctor asked as he walked into the waiting room the next morning.
“How is she?” Darren immediately questioned.
“And you are?” the doctor replied.
“I’m her boyfriend, Darren,” he said.
“Please to meet you. I’m Dr. Bennett. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” the doctor answered.
“Bad news,” Destiny spoke up.
“Well, it seems as if Alanna suffered for a badly punctured lung and a large amount of blood loss. We rushed her into emergency surgery to repair the extensive damage caused by the knife’s blade. The good news is that’s she’s recovering nicely and she’ll be able to leave within a few days along with her brother, who only managed to sustain a fractured leg and a couple of black eyes,” Dr. Bennett explained.
“Can I see her?” Darren asked.
“Yeah, follow me,” the doctor replied as he walked out of the room and motioned everyone to follow him. They sauntered down the hall past a set of double doors marked ICU. He led them to a room near the end of the corridor. “She’s in there. Her brother is across the hall.”
“Thank you,” Darren said as he pushed the door open and went inside. He found Alanna laying in her bed, fast asleep, her face as peaceful as it could possibly be. A smile curled up on her lips while her head flopped to the left on her pillow. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and took her delicately soft hand into his.
Alanna took a deep breath and opened her eyes after feeling someone take her hand. She looked up to see Darren sitting beside her and Daniel and Destiny stood near the door. Her smile grew wider when she realized everything was over and she was still alive.
“Morning,” Darren whispered as he kissed her palm.
“So, it really wasn’t a dream,” she replied.
Darren shook his head, “No.”
“What you said was all true?”
“Every word.”
Alanna pulled him in for a soft, tranquil kiss. Darren’s arms wrapped around her as he pulled her close, but she backed away, grunting painfully.
“Not ready for that just yet,” she sighed. “How’s Dmitri?”
“He’s fine. He’s got a broken leg and that’s all,” Darren answered. “You two should be out of the hospital soon is what the doctor said.”
“Oh, that’s so great. I hate hospitals. They give me the creeps.”
“I know what you mean. I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“I’m still staying at your place, right?”
“I wouldn’t let you leave my sight.”
“So, you two back there care to step into the conversation or what?” Alanna asked as she turned her attention to Daniel and Destiny. “How exactly did things happen last night anyway? I remember getting stabbed and passing out in Darren’s arms, but how did I get here?”
“Well, I tied up those guards that you wanted me to seduce. Then I went looking for a phone. I called Rogers and told him to get his ass out to that building because we had found Vladimir. When I came back to the room, you were laying in Darren’s arms as if you were dead, and I freaked out. Then Rogers arrived and he called an ambulance,” Destiny explained.
“And that’s the whole story?” Alanna replied.
“Yeah, ask anyone who was there. That’s exactly what happened,” Destiny said.
“That’s so uneventful. I was expecting something more exciting.”
“Well, you had to be air lifted to the hospital because your injury was so bad,” Daniel finally joined the conversation.
“Oh, okay then. At least something cool happened.”
“It was not cool,” Darren replied. “I seriously thought you were going to die in my arms.”
“Oh, yeah, he was bawling like a baby,” Destiny added.
“You shut up!” he shot back. “You started crying the second we got to the hospital.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Grow up.”
“Enough about me. How’s Dmitri? I want to see him,” Alanna whined.
“Speaking of the devil,” Destiny replied as she moved away from the door to reveal Dmitri standing there behind her on a pair of crutches.
“Dime!” Alanna screeched as her arms flew up over her head.
“Ally!” he replied as he hobbled over to her and gave her a hug.
“I was so worried about you. I thought I’d never see you again,” she cried as her eyes filled with tears.
“I know, me too,” Dmitri said, unable to pull himself away from his sister.
“Okay, you’re smothering me,” she replied. He moved away.
“How do you feel?”
“I’ve just been stabbed, I’ve lived through a punctured lung, and there are twenty stitches in my side. How do you think I feel?” Alanna retorted.
“Just dandy,” Dmitri joked. He looked around the room and saw one familiar face and two that were strange to him. “Des, nice to see you again. So, who’s everyone else?”
“That’s Dan over there with Des, and this is Darren. He saved our asses last night,” Alanna introduced.
“Nice to finally meet you,” Dmitri said.
“Pleasure is mine,” Darren replied.
“So, were you the other guy that Vladimir was talking about last night before everything happened?” Dmitri asked.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You’re Alanna’s new boyfriend, aren’t you?”
“Dmitri!” she scolded from the bed.
“Yes,” Darren answered.
Dmitri smiled. “Finally, someone normal,” he replied as he hobbled back towards the door.
“Normal, what?” Alanna hollered after him. “Sebastian
was normal, granted he did have green hair and he liked to freak dance, but
he was a nice guy.” Darren stared at her in confusion. “Older brothers,” she
tried to explain. “They love to tease and taunt.”