Chapter 29

It happened so quickly. They were on their way to the French restaurant when the truck in front of them pulled over into the other lane.

A car was coming right at them and hit them head-on.

Moments before the accident, sitting in the backseat with his arm around her shoulder and one hand on her stomach, he felt like the happiest man in the world.

“You look stunning, and I am proud to be seen with such a beautiful woman in my arms. Are you happy?”

She smiled sweetly at him, placing her hand over the top of his.

“I never in my whole life thought I would be this happy. Regarding the trip to Scotland and your hiring Tabitha back, how could I not be happy? I’m in love with the most wonderful man in the world, and I’m having his baby.”

Whenever she mentioned that she loved him, he would get this strange look, and she knew he didn’t like her saying it.

“Relax, I don’t expect you to say it back,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

He lifted her chin and lowered his head, kissing her.

It was a warm and loving kiss.

He broke the kiss and looked out the front window when he heard the driver swear.

He wrapped his arms around her protectively when he saw the car approaching them just before the impact.

He had no idea how long he was out when he heard voices and sirens around him.

There was blood dripping from his head; he felt like he wasn’t even in his own body and that he was floating above.

“Danica,” he called out her name and turned his head.

She was lying there unconscious; her head was up against the door, and she was covered in blood.

He forced himself to move; he placed his hand on her face and gently turned her toward him.

He felt for a pulse on her neck and thanked God when he found one.

His whole body hurt; every little movement caused him excruciating pain.

His eyes moved down to her stomach, and he felt a stabbing pain in his heart when he saw her lower half was covered in blood.

“Somebody help us,” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The door on her side opened, and an officer poked his head in.

“Hang in there, sir; help is on the way.”

“You have to help her. She’s pregnant, and I can’t get her to wake up,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

“The paramedics are here now. Please do not move until we get you both out of here.”

He kept his arm around her, stroking her cheek and telling her to wake up.

She looked so lifeless, and he had to hold back his tears as he prayed to God to save her and the baby.

“It’s going to be all right, sweetheart. Be strong and stay with me. I’m here, and I’m never going to leave your side. Please wake up, sweetheart, please.”

But no matter how much he pleaded, she never opened her eyes or made a sound.

When they were inside the ambulance, he sat there holding her hand.

“You’ve got to help her; you’ve got to save the baby,” he said, looking over at the one paramedic.

“How far along is she, sir?”

“Close to eight months. Why is there so much blood? Is she losing the baby?”

Placing the stethoscope over her belly, he looked up at Dmitry.

“I can hear the heartbeat, but once we get to the hospital, they’ll take good care of her.”

He leaned over her, stroking her hair that had blood in it.

“I’m here, baby, we’ll get you help, and you’ll be all right, I promise you. Please, hang in, don’t leave me,” he said, wiping his tears away.

As soon as they got to the hospital, she was rushed right into surgery.

He tried to follow, but the security guards had to hold him back.

“Please, sir, let them do their job.”

He shrugged them off him.

“Get your fucking hands off me.”

A nurse came over to him.

“Sir, you need to get your wounds taken care of. Let me take you to a room and get you cleaned up. You will need some stitches.”

“I don’t have time for that right now. I need to be in there with her.”

“I promise you, the moment they know anything, they will come and tell you. You are bleeding all over the place, and you won’t be any good to that young woman if you pass out.”

He was breathing hard; his eyes wandered over to the door they had taken her through.

“Okay, but make it quick.”

He was taken into one of the small examination rooms, and the blood was cleaned off of him, and his cuts were cleaned.

He needed some stitches on his arm and his forehead, and when they went to give him the freezing, he refused it.

“I don’t need that, just put the damn stitches in and let me get out of here.”

He didn’t want to wait for the freezing to kick in; he just wanted to get it over with, get back out, and find out how Danica was doing.

When he finally left the room and went to where she had been taken, Dennis and Craig were there waiting for him.

“How is Miss Burke?” Dennis asked, shocked at how banged-up his boss looked.

“I don’t know, they haven’t fucking told me anything yet. Have either of you guys heard who caused this accident?”

“All we’ve heard is that it was a drunk driver who had fallen asleep behind the wheel; he died on impact.”

“What about my driver?”

“He didn’t make it, boss.”

Just then, the doctor walked out and over to them.

“Miss Burke is awake and is asking for you.”

“How is she and the baby?”

“Miss Burke is in a great deal of pain, and to save the baby, we have to do an emergency C-section right away.”

“Then do it,” Dmitry snapped.

He then followed the doctor into the back room dressed in a gown.

“Doctor, Danica is going to be okay, isn’t she?”

“We will do everything we can for her, but I must be honest with you. She’s fragile, her blood pressure is low, and she has internal bleeding.”

The doctor’s words shook him to the very core.

He entered the room and saw her lying there, went right over to her, taking her hand in his.

“I’m here, baby; everything will be okay.”

She tried her best to smile at him, though it was very weak.

“Dmitry, please tell me our baby will be okay.”

“Our baby is going to be just fine, and so are you. I know you’re scared, sweetheart, but you are strong and will get through this.”

He wiped her tears away; he could see she was in a great deal of pain and worried about the baby.

He kept talking to her, taking her mind off the operation.

She was too weak to speak, so he did all the talking.

Still holding her hand, he looked up when he heard the cry of a baby.

A smile broke out on his face when he saw the very tiny baby wrapped in a blanket.

He looked back at her and kissed her cheek.

“It’s a boy. We have a son.”

Tears were streaming down her cheek.

“You got what you wanted, a son. Dmitry, I want you to make a promise to me.”

“Anything, sweetheart.”

“I want you to give me your word that you will love and care for our son—raise him to be a good and honest man.”

His eyes filled with tears; he couldn’t believe that she was talking as though she was not going to survive.

“Don’t you dare talk like this; you will be around to raise our son.”

“Give me your word,” she said between sobs.

“I give you my word, but you listen to me—you’re not going anywhere, do you hear me? Don’t you dare leave me. I mean it, I love you.”

“Now you tell me,” she said, a small smile appearing on the corner of her lip.

Just then, the lights on the monitor started making some weird sounds, and he could hear someone saying she was going into cardiac arrest.

He was pushed out of the way while they worked on her.

He was not about to be pushed away, so going over to the head of the bed, he placed his hands on her head and leaned over.

“Don’t go, baby, come back to me. Fight for us, fight for our son. You’re strong, and I know you can do this.”

Droplets of his tears dripped on top of her head.

Suddenly, her heart started again, and he saw her chest rising and falling and let out a deep breath that he had been holding in.

He looked up at the doctor.

“She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?”

He looked over at the other doctors and back to Dmitry.

“She has lost a lot of blood and is very weak. We’ve done everything we can for her. It is now in God’s hands.”

He shook his head.

“No, I do not accept that. She is going to live; she is going to come through this.”

He looked down at her.

“Wake up, baby, open your eyes and look at me. Tell these imbeciles that they don’t know what they’re doing and that you are going to survive.”

When she wouldn’t open her eyes, he glared at the doctor.

“Why isn’t she waking up?”

As the others were cleaning her up and the baby was taken away to be checked out, the doctor pulled him over to the side.

“She is in a coma; it happens sometimes. Miss Burke has been through a traumatic ordeal, and this is her body’s way of dealing with it.”

“How long will she be in a coma for?”

“There is no way to tell right now; we just have to wait and see. The good news is we were able to stop the bleeding. All we can do is wait and be patient. I’m going to ask you to leave the room while we finish up here, and once she’s taken to her room, you can go see her. Why don’t you go check on your son?”

He left the room, went to the nursery, and was followed by Dennis and Craig.

Since his son was born early and was very tiny, they had to put him in an incubator.

However, the nurse told him the baby was strong and doing well, so it would only last a few days.

“He’s a good-looking little guy, boss,” both men said.

He just nodded his head.

All he could think about was Danica.

“I’m going to go see her now. I want you guys to set up more security cameras inside and outside the house. Also, check and find out if anyone has spotted Bepa yet. I want that woman dead.”

After the men had taken off, he went to find out what room she was in.

He walked in and was glad to find out she was breathing independently and didn’t need a ventilator.

Pulling up a chair, he sat down, holding her hand.

“Hey, baby. I wish you would wake up so that you can see our son. He’s so amazing. He’s tiny but has a great set of lungs. Wait until you see what I’m wearing; they gave me some scrubs. Maybe I’ll keep them, and someday we’ll play doctor,” he said, hoping she would hear him and wake up.

He sat there with his head on the bed and closed his eyes.

He must have been sleeping for hours when he was awakened by a hand on his shoulder.

Looking up, he saw Dennis holding a coffee and a small bag.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on me; I could have shot you.”

“Well, you didn’t. Here, I thought you could use a coffee and a sandwich. How is Miss Burke doing?”

“She still hasn’t woken up, but I know she will.”

“Boss, she’s a remarkable woman, and before you know it, she’ll be awake. If you don’t mind me saying, she’s good for you. I’ve never seen you so happy, and when she wakes up, I hope you will consider making your relationship with her official.”

“I suggest you mind your own business,” he snapped at Dennis.

“Sorry, boss.”

“Have you started setting up the extra security I asked you to do?”

“Yes, it’s being taken care of as we speak. There will be no way for Bepa to get inside or anywhere near the property.”

“Don’t underestimate her; she’s very cunning and knows every inch of the place. I know she’ll show her face at some point. Just wait until I find out who’s been helping her. They will suffer a horrible and painful death.”

“Why don’t you come home and get some rest? I can have a man outside the door to watch Miss Burke.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Can I bring you anything from home?”

“Yeah, some clothes and pick up some red roses for Danica.”

When he was finally alone, he picked up her hand, kissed it, and begged her to come back to him and their son.

“Hurry and wake up, sweetheart. We need to give our son a name, and I want both of us to name him. I love you, baby.”

He then spoke to her in Russian, knowing how much she loved it when he spoke in his native language.