Milana
I sit on the bed and look around to see if there's anyone nearby. No one. And that's great. I examine my hands. The catheter hasn't been removed yet. But luckily, I'm not connected to an IV anymore. I try to get up. My head spins. However, easily slipping away didn’t work. A nurse enters the room and immediately claps her hands, as if to say, "Where do you think you're going?"
I sigh and heavily sit back on the bed. Then I decide it's better to just ask outright, and if need be, beg, but I can't stay here and not see him… It's beyond my strength.
" Please, " comes out in a hoarse whisper.
She smiles gently, and I continue. I desperately need to make her understand how vital this is to me.
" Help me get to his room. Please."
The woman looks into my eyes, full of despair and silent pleading, then sighs. She seems to understand, and a hopeful anticipation blossoms in my chest.
Suzanna turns out to be very compassionate. Besides the wheelchair, she brings me a robe so I don't feel uncomfortable in my nightgown. I cover my legs with a blanket, which Suzanna also insists on. She pushes me along the hospital corridor. And just a few rooms away, she turns left.
Damn, we were just tens of meters apart all along. So close. And yet so far at the same time.
Finally, we entered the room. Andriy is propped up in his bed.
" He must be feeling much better, " I exhale relieved and can't hide a smile.
Suzanna wheels me closer to his bed, and I finally notice movement from the left. I turn my head. From the small couch under the wall, Bianka rises and with a cold expression on her face approaches Andriy's bed.
I watch in a stupor as she stretches her lips into a satisfied smile, looks at him, reaches out her hand, touches his broad, shrapnel-scarred fingers, intertwining their hands, and turns her head to me.
Her look is predatory and mocking.
And I just don't understand anything. I can only gaze alternately at their intertwined fingers and at her. Finally, I force myself to look at him.
Turquoise eyes, which had become so dear, now look at me coldly, harshly, and utterly indifferent. With a stranger’s gaze.
" Andriy, " I whisper, mouthing his name.
" Milana," he says firmly. Glad to see you’re alright."
The cool, formal voice of my boss is like a bucket of ice water. I just blink numbly, opening and closing my mouth in a silent attempt to utter a word.
" Bi says you were very close to the explosion's epicenter.
" Yes," I say quietly. What game is he playing? "We both were…
" The explosive device was definitely set up by an amateur, hastily, " he dismisses. " Fortunately for us. The police are handling it now.
I exhale. That's good. So they'll check everything.
" Love, the doctor said not to strain yourself, " Bianka sweetly chimes in, looking triumphantly at me. " And your employee should probably rest too, right? she raises an eyebrow at Suzanna.
" Of course. Peace and getting a good rest are best right now, " she confirms.
" Certainly, my love. " he turns to her, his blue gaze warms, then he lifts their intertwined fingers to his lips and briefly kisses them.
Something in my chest feels like it breaks and hurls downward. I swipe away the unwanted tears already forming in the corners of my eyes and stubbornly lift my chin.
" Andriy Mykolaiovych, " I carefully choose my words to understand if this is just a game. Let him give me any sign, any hint, something, so I understand it's not real. That he remembers me, and not this bitch. " Do you remember the events of the past weeks?
I look intently into the blue and dear eyes. But there's nothing there. Absolutely empty. No emotions. His thick eyebrows come together, and then he looks questioningly at Bianka.
" Well, yes. Of course. I returned from Lviv and we started preparing for the wedding, " and he looked at her with the warmth he had recently given me. My heart is sliced by it.
Sobs escape from my chest. But I just nod.
" By the way, Milana. I'm really sorry this happened. My company will, of course, compensate you for the moral harm caused and cover all necessary treatment and rehabilitation expenses.
I just bite my cheek from the inside. To not scream, rather, to howl... Through a veil of tears, I can barely see him, but his last words just sear everything inside.
" And of course, I won't keep you here any longer. As soon as the doctors give the 'okay,' Bianka's secretary will buy you plane tickets to Lviv.
“He doesn't want to see me." My heart painfully clenches.
" There's no need, Andriy Mykolaiovych. I'm quite familiar with the ticket booking system, " I press out dryly and glance at Suzanna. Thankfully, the woman understands without words because she takes the handles of the wheelchair and begins to wheel it out into the corridor.
But Bianka apparently decides I haven't had enough, because she leans over to him and damned intimately whispers into his ear, but in such a way that I hear clearly, "Everything will be fine, my love. I'll take care of you," and swiftly kisses him on the lips.
Then I see nothing more. Suzanna wheels the wheelchair into the corridor and gently pats my shoulder:
" There, there. Quiet, dear. Everything will be alright. Don't worry. You don't need this right now.
Her soothing whisper and confident voice strangely bring me to my senses and help me pull myself together. Yet, my heart still aches.
The next several days passed in a terrible mood. I take my medication, eat and drink, and everything happens on some kind of autopilot. Thoughts of my beloved being so close, yet no longer mine, press on my brain and tear my soul. Finally, after another checkup, the doctors conclude that I can be discharged. So I get dressed and call a taxi.
Passing his room, I couldn't help to look inside. Andriy is sitting on the bed, intently reading on his smartphone.
" Hello, " I say quietly, approaching closer.
The turquoise eyes sharply detach from the display and fix on me. There's a strange expression in them. Then all emotions disappear. Pain sharpens in my chest.
I give a quick glance around the room. He's alone. The bitch isn't here. I feel a desperate urge to come closer and say:
" I know you don't remember this... And it's not hard to guess what Bianka has spun you, but we had... a relationship, " I nervously swallow, his gaze still expressing no emotions.
I look intently into the beloved eyes. I can finally understand why he remembered her and not me. Bianka had been with him for so many years, and it was her face he saw first when he came to his senses... I swallow hard.
" I'm leaving. Going back to the hotel. We have a shared room, " I say for no particular reason.
" However, when you return, it will again be only yours. I have a plane ticket to Lviv for tomorrow, " then, after a slight pause, I decided to tell him about what I found.
" I don't know what Bianka told you, but that evening when it all happened, " I gestured around the room because I couldn't say it out loud. " I had just found information that led me to think about illegal human trafficking. I don't know how established the system is, but this is happening"I guess the profits are already colossal. I didn't manage to find direct evidence. One thing is for sure: Lukash is involved. Don't trust him.
" Oh, Milana. " I hear behind me. " Heard they're letting you go.
" Yes, Bianka. I'm actually leaving now. " I turn back and say dryly. " Just came to wish Andriy Mykolaiovych a swift recovery.
Bianka quickly approaches his bed. Stands next to it, almost in a defensive stance, and tilts her head up. I tear my gaze away from her and meet the blue eyes.
" Thank you, Milana, for your wishes, " his cold voice cuts through the ears. " And have a safe flight.
I bite my cheek from the inside to not burst into tears in front of this bitch and turn toward the exit. I leave the room swiftly. I reach the hotel in some apathetic stupor.
In the same state, I pack my things and stuff my suitcase. My gaze falls on a black lace set that I never got around to wearing, and I throw it back into the suitcase in anger.
Then the anxiety and stress from the past days and what I've been through wash over me, and sobs break out. One sob, then another, and here I am, lying face down on the pillow. After crying myself out, I drift into a deep sleep.
I woke up in the morning. I look at the clock"damn, there’s almost no time left before my flight. I quickly take a shower and get myself together. Packing my suitcase, I cast one last look around the room where we spent so many wonderful moments, and left. An hour later, I entered the airport terminal.