16

Once again, Nico and Caroline stopped at the nurses’ station, where Anya’s caregiver for the evening was stationed behind a computer monitor.

“Good evening, Chief Sirsky and Dr. Dalry,” she said. “How are you?”

“We’re fine, but more important, how is Mrs. Sirsky?”

“Her heart rate is still high, and her blood pressure is low. Same as last night. Her Glasgow reading is thirteen over fifteen, which is good.”

Nico and Caroline thanked the nurse and went in to see Anya. Any semblance of calm started to crumble as soon as Nico laid eyes on her. She had the panicked look of a hunted-down animal. Nico wanted to yell and break the machines that sequestered his mother. But he smiled and rubbed her hand gently. Anya gripped it with all the strength she had left.

Caroline and Dr. Fursac had reminded Nico that his mother’s reactions proved that her brain function hadn’t been damaged. The Glasgow reading underscored that opinion. And Dr. Fursac had told him that they might soon be able to extubate her and transfer her to a step-down unit. That was good news.

“Try not to worry, Maman,” he said. “You’ve been sick, but you’re getting better. I have faith in you.”

Anya seemed to cling to his words as though they were a lifeline.

“You know what they’re telling me? That you’ve got an angel on your shoulder. Keep fighting, and soon we can free you of all this stuff. You deserve to have a room upstairs with a view.”

His mother’s eyes shone with hope.

“Stay strong, Maman. Okay?”

She nodded imperceptibly. But Nico could still read fear in her eyes. She had a tube in her trachea that had to make her feel like she was suffocating. And she had been strapped down, because the nurses thought she might pull out her tube and IV line.

Nico kissed her on her forehead. She closed her eyes, clearly exhausted and despondent.

Caroline put her head on his shoulder. He breathed in her scent.

“Let’s go back home,” she said.

She led him outside, away from the world of suffering and anguish, away from the hospital. Nico needed to be back at his place, curled up with Caroline. To make love to her, to feel relieved of his cares, if only for a few moments.