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Laila just shakes her head, bringing Nina closer. “She can’t catch her breath. Her lips are blue. She’s sick. She’s sick, and we need a doctor.”
A horn honks outside, and I turn to see Gedeon idling in the driveway. He’s relaxed in the driver’s seat, one arm resting on the sill. Then I turn back to Laila, and there’s nothing relaxed about my wife. All signs of the woman who fell asleep in a languid pile in my arms last night are gone.
I have a feeling if I tell her I need to leave right now to go to a Bratva meeting, she’ll be gone for good.
“It’s probably just a cold,” I say instead.
“It could be whooping cough. Or RSV.” Nina stops crying just long enough to let out a few wracking coughs before she begins again in earnest. Laila looks stricken as she holds our daughter, powerless to do anything to help. “It could be anything. We have no idea. We have to do something.”
“We will do something. She’s going to be okay.” I press a kiss to Nina’s forehead, and it does feel a little warm. “Why don’t you and Evelyn keep a close eye on her, and then if things get worse, we can?—”
“You want to wait for her to get worse? She’s sick now, Arsen!” I open my mouth to argue, but she waves me off. “I’m not crazy! Babies are tiny—helpless. It’s like the flu. That affects babies more than other people. This could be like that. Maybe it is a cold, but if we don’t do anything and something happens to her, I’d never forgive myself.”
She’d never forgive me, either. I don’t think Nina is in any immediate danger, but that doesn’t mean shit to Laila.
I turn towards the door, and Laila grabs the back of my shirt. “Where are you going?”
“To free up my schedule.”
Gedeon waves as I open the door, but he frowns as I get closer. “I’m notthatlate. Only a minute. We’re still going to be early for the meeting, so you shouldn’t look that upset.”
“It’s not you. Actually,” I change course, “it’s all on you. The meeting today—I need you to handle it yourself.”
He kills the engine and starts to open his door, but I slam it closed before he can. “Stay in the car because you are actually five minutes late and you need to go.”
“By myself?”
“You’re up, brother. You’ve wanted a bigger role in the Bratva. Well, here it is.”
He eyes the promotion suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
“Nina is sick, and Laila needs me here to take care of her—both of them.”
“Blyat’,” he mutters. “Are you sure? They’re expecting you today. They might take it as an insult to get only me.”
“Then they can stick their deal up their asses. They want to do business with the Adamov Bratva? Then they’ll have to play by my rules.” I clap a hand on the roof of the car. “Go be my eyes and ears. You’re speaking with my voice today, Ged.”
His jaw squares. “I won’t let you down, boss.”
The moment he’s speeding down the drive, I make a call to Nina’s pediatrician. If Dr. Simone thinks it’s strange that I’masking her to make a house call, she doesn’t say so. She just tells me she can be here in fifteen minutes and hangs up.
Armed with that assurance, I head back into the house to find Laila cradling Nina. She’s still screaming her lungs out, which tells me things can’t be so dire. With lung capacity like that, she might actually betoohealthy. But she’s turning ten shades of red and her nose is snotty.
“Something is wrong with her,” Laila whispers without looking up. “She’s never been like this before. I can always calm her down.”
But no matter what Laila tries, Nina squirms and cries uncomfortably. I can tell the effort is taking a lot out of Laila, as well. She winces with every step, like her hip is starting to ache.
I pull Laila against my side until I have both my girls cocooned in the circle of my arms. “You need to breathe. We have to stay calm for Nina.”
Laila shudders out a breath that sounds painful. Her tears fall against my shirt sleeve, and I just hold her a little tighter. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here. I’m right here. Nina will be fine.”
When I finally convince Laila to take a seat, I go into the kitchen for some towels and a bowl of cool water. While we wait for the doctor to arrive, I run the wet towels over Nina’s flushed skin.
She’s still whimpering, but by the time Dr. Simone breezes into the kitchen, Nina is significantly calmer. The doctor takes one look at our setup and nods. “Good thinking. That’ll bring down any fever.”
Laila leaps to her feet with a wince. “She’s been coughing all morning, Doctor. I think she’s having trouble breathing.”
“Let me take a look at our little shining star.” Dr Simone pulls a stool over and sits down in front of me. I hold Nina while she conducts an examination with her stethoscope.
