Beyond the Ivory Tower (14 page)

“I know, but they didn’t even ask you for ID,
Mr. Lazarev.
”

The doors slid open and another volunteer ushered them through the PACU—the post-anesthesia care unit—to a curtained-off area barely large enough for a hospital bed and molded plastic chair. Anna lay on the bed, eyes closed, white as the sheets, her arm swathed in a bulky gauze dressing and supported by a sling. She wore a pale blue hospital gown that was way too big, and her hair was stuffed into a disposable surgical cap. A nurse stood beside her, adjusting the automatic blood pressure cuff that hooked into a wall monitor.

Ethan hung back as Klara approached the bed. “Anna.” She reached for her sister’s hand, then hesitated, glancing at the nurse.

“Give me a sec,” the nurse said. “I need to get the vitals and then I’ll be out of your way.” She finished her notes, pushed aside the flat-screen computer, and leaned over the bed to adjust the tubing from Anna’s IV. “Anna, honey, you’ve got some visitors.”

Anna’s eyes fluttered, but remained closed. Her fingers flexed, and she moaned softly. The nurse touched her shoulder. “Try not to move your right arm, hon. Are you feeling nauseous?”

“Yes.” Her voice was hoarse, more a croak than a whisper.

“The doctor wrote for some Zofran. I’ll be right back with it, okay?”

Ethan waited until the nurse left before moving around to the head of the bed. With shaking fingers, he claimed Anna’s hand and leaned down, pressing a kiss to her brow.

He’d almost lost her. Hope was the only thing that kept him going through the frantic rush back to L.A., in the face of mounting horror as events unfolded over live TV. Hope, and determination. He might not be able to stop a madman intent on murder, but he’d do anything in his power to ensure that if they survived this tragedy, he and Anna wouldn’t be parted again.

Her eyes opened. She frowned. “What…?”

“You had us worried,” he said.

“Ethan…”

He nodded toward Klara. “Your sister’s here. And your friend Becca is on her way.”

Anna turned her head and winced, then covered it up with a wan smile. “Klara. How’d you get here?”

“It helps to have connections,” Klara said. “But next time you want to see me, you could, oh, I dunno, just ask, okay? All this drama just to get me down here is, like, so freaking OTT.”

“Okay,” Anna said. “I’ll try to tone it down.”

Ethan squeezed her hand, grateful beyond words that she was well enough to joke.

“Here we go.” The nurse returned. Ethan reluctantly stepped aside to give her access. “Zofran, four milligrams.” She injected it through a port attached to Anna’s IV. “You should be feeling better in no time.”

“Thanks.” Anna swallowed and closed her eyes.

“Dr. Kogan will be by to talk with you soon.” The nurse adjusted the rate on the IV infusion pump. “Can I get you anything in the meantime? Some ice chips? Another blanket?”

“Blanket. Please.”

Ethan resumed his position beside her, wishing he could crawl into the bed and wrap his arms around her, but for the moment he settled on simply holding her ice-cold hand in both of his.

Klara’s phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen. “Looks like Becca’s here. Let me find out if they have a room for you yet. If not, do you want me to bring her here? She can be your other sister.”

Anna opened her eyes. “What?”

“There are rules,” Klara said, just as the nurse returned. “Ethan will fill you in.”

“Thanks,” Ethan said, accepting the blanket.

Klara followed the nurse out, leaving him alone with Anna. He draped the blanket over her, careful not to jostle her bandaged arm. “Better?”

“Yes.” Her eyes focused on him. “I’m glad you’re here. How did you know to come?”

“Like Klara said, connections.” He pulled the chair closer and sat, leaning forward so he could reclaim Anna’s hand. All the nervous energy that had sustained him through the day seeped out of him, leaving him drained. The entire sequence of events that led him here, to Anna’s bedside in the PACU, felt unreal.

He watched as her eyes drifted shut. For a moment he thought she might have fallen asleep, but then he saw the sheen of moisture sliding down her temple. He reached out and wiped away the tears with his thumb, but they kept flowing.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” she whispered.

He stroked her cheek, pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m here,” he said. “I’m here, and I’m not leaving.”

Several minutes passed in silence. Somewhere beyond the curtain, a monitor started beeping. There was a low murmur of voices, and then the sound abruptly cut off.

Anna opened her eyes. The skin beneath looked bruised. “One of my students was shot,” she said. “No one would tell me what happened to him. I don’t even know if he’s okay.”

“I’ll find out,” Ethan promised. “Later. You’ll tell me the name, and I’ll find out.”

“Okay.” She bit her lip. “What about the shooter? Did they catch him?”

“He’s dead. Turned the gun on himself.”

“Unbelievable.” She let out a shaky breath. “Do they know why?”

“No,” Ethan said. “The investigation’s ongoing. They think he might have been a student, though it’s not clear if he was still enrolled. ”

Anna sighed. “Hell of a day.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Hell of a day.”

Whatever pain medication they’d given her was starting to wear off. Anna shifted and winced.

“Do you want me to get the nurse?” Ethan said.

Before she had the chance to answer, the curtain parted and a tall man wearing scrubs and a toothpaste ad smile entered the cubicle, the nurse on his heels.

“How’s the patient?” he said, glancing briefly at the monitor that displayed her latest vital signs. “Still feeling groggy?”

“A little.” She tried to sit up, but ended up gasping instead. Pain streaked through her injured arm and the nausea returned with a vengeance. “
Chort poberi.
”

“Easy,” the man said, reaching her side just as Ethan tightened his grip on her good hand and eased her back against the pillows. “There’s a plate and twelve screws in there. You don’t want to undo all my amazing handiwork.”

“
Egoist
,” she muttered beneath her breath.

“Not really,” he laughed, lowering the side rail and perching on the bed beside her hip. “
Yesli’b ya skazal chto ya luchshiy hirurg v mire, togda ya bil bi egoistom.
” He glanced across the bed at Ethan, who was watching with narrowed eyes. “Sorry, we haven’t met. I’m Leo Kogan.”

Ethan shook his hand. “Ethan Talbot. The husband.”

The man’s brows shot up. “Really?” He turned back to Anna. “You got married and didn’t invite me to the wedding?”

“Ethan’s joking. We’re not married.”

“Not
yet
.”

“Ethan…” She frowned. What was the matter with him? He was glaring at Leo like a guard dog facing off against a potential intruder.

Good thing Leo seemed to find it amusing. “Okay, Anush,” he said. “Let’s have a look.”

Anna sucked in a breath as he exposed her bandaged arm and checked her pulse. “Well?”

Leo grinned. “I do good work.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m glad you were the one on call.”

“Me too. Now close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.” He glanced Ethan’s way. “Is she this much of a pain in the ass with you?”

Ethan glowered. “No.”

“Lucky man. Come on, Anush, close your eyes. Good girl. Can you feel this? How about this? Okay, you can look now.” He put her through some passive range of motion maneuvers with the wrist and elbow, then wrapped her fist around two of his fingers. “Squeeze. Harder. Okay. You can let go now.”

She sagged against the pillows. “Is it supposed to hurt this much?”

“We’ll get you some pain medication. All things considered, you’re lucky it was just your humerus. It’ll heal.”

“What about my ankle?”

“Keep it up a few days. We’ll get you an aircast. Two, three weeks, and you’ll forget it was even sprained.” He rose from the bed and turned to the nurse. “There’s a PRN order for IV morphine on her chart. Five milligrams should do it. And let’s get the PCA pump set up.” He glanced back at Anna. “The nurse will show you how to use it. If there are any issues tonight, have them page me, okay?”

“Thanks, Leo.”

“Don’t mention it.” He turned to Ethan. “Make sure she doesn’t lift anything with that arm.”

“How long before I can take her home?”

“Maybe tomorrow, or the next day,” Leo said. “Depending on how things go.” He glanced back at Anna. “And you—behave.”

She managed an anemic smile. “I’ll try.”

The curtain swung closed behind him.

Ethan cleared his throat, drawing Anna’s attention back. “So, how long have you and the doc known each other?”

“We practically grew up together. My family left Russia first, Leo’s family moved about five years later. My dad helped Leo’s mom get a job at Penn. She still works there. That’s where Leo went to med school.”

“And somehow he ended up here.”

Anna blinked. “Why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry,” Ethan said. “It’s just—”

He broke off as the nurse returned with Anna’s morphine. “How’s your nausea?”

“Better, thanks.”

“I’m still waiting on the PCA pump.” She administered the morphine and disposed of the used syringe in a wall-mounted sharps container. “It’ll give you a steady infusion of morphine, a milligram per hour. If you need more, you just press the button for a bolus. That way you control the amount of pain medication, up to whatever maximum dose Dr. Kogan ordered.” She stripped off her gloves and logged onto the computer to chart the medication. “Your room should be ready in a little bit. I gave your sister the room number. She said she’ll meet you there.”

“Thank you.”

“If you need anything, just press this call button. I’ll be back in a little bit to check your vitals.”

The nurse left. Ethan resumed his place by Anna’s side.

For several minutes neither spoke. Then Anna prodded him. “You were about to say something…”

He sighed and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. “You and Kogan seemed pretty cozy.”

“I’ve know him since we were in diapers.”

“So…you’re friends.”

“Like you and Colette.”

He flinched, and Anna immediately regretted her snarky remark. Before she could apologize, he said, “I take it you saw the article this morning.”

“I was at Whole Foods,” she said, “picking up bagels for the staff, and you were on a cover in the checkout line.”

“You know it’s rubbish, right? I was trying to reach you all afternoon, to make sure you didn’t get the wrong idea. And then…things came crashing down.”

He looked so distressed that Anna wanted to wrap her arms around him, reassure him. Would have, if not for the bum arm and IV tubing that limited her mobility. She settled for squeezing his hand. “I won’t lie to you—I did get angry. For a minute or two. I mean, it would be nice if the tabloids would leave us alone. But it seems like you’re a paparazzi magnet.”

“Not by choice.”

“I know. But there it is. And if I’m going to spend my life with you, I guess I’d better learn to ignore it.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Ethan, I need the use of at least one hand—”

“Oh—sorry!” He relaxed his grip, and brought her fingers to his lips. “I love you, Anna. And we’ll be happy, I promise.”

“I love you too,” she said, and then she couldn’t speak at all because his mouth covered hers, stealing her breath away. But that was okay, because what else was there to say? Just a few hours ago, she thought she’d never experience this again, the joy and thrill of being with the man she loved, the man who—miracle of miracles—loved her back.

Dimly, she heard a beeping sound, the whoosh of a curtain parting.

“Oh!” The nurse said. “Excuse me. Your monitor was going off…”

Anna blinked and caught her breath as Ethan slowly straightened up. The nurse scooted around him and pressed a button. The beeping stopped.

“Mr. Lazarev,” the nurse said. “Please try to remember, this is a surgical recovery room, not a honeymoon suite. I don’t want to have to ask you to leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As soon as the nurse was out of sight, Anna burst out laughing. “
Mr. Lazarev
?”

Ethan grinned. “It got me in here. Though I have to say, Mrs. Talbot does sound better.”

“Sorry,” Anna said. “But was there a question that I somehow missed?”

Ethan lowered the side rail and sat on the edge of the bed. “Will you, Anna Lazarev, do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes,” she said. “But I’m keeping my name.”

“Fine,” Ethan agreed. “As long as the kids are all Talbots.”

“Hyphenated?”

“No hyphenation. Just Talbot.”

“I thought we were negotiating,” Anna said. “‘Just Talbot’ isn’t much of a compromise.”

“I suppose not,” Ethan said. “How’s this for a compromise: I’ll move to L.A. We’ll get a nice big house with room for lots of little Talbots.”

“Really?”

“Sure. I was getting kind of tired of San Francisco anyway.”

“Since when?”

“Since I fell in love with a stubborn math professor who happens to live in L.A.”

“I’m not stubborn,” Anna said, poking him in the ribs. “Or at least, not any more than you.”

Ethan caught her hand and stretched out on his side next to her. “Anyway,” he said. “The climate’s better here. Warmer. All that Bay Area dampness was getting to me. Not good for the joints, you know.”

“What about your work?”

“That might take a while to figure out. But someone told me not too long ago that there’s all sorts of tech startups here that need VC funding. Sounds like the Talbot Fund might be missing out on the next big thing if we don’t open an L.A. office.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“For you, and for me. Though I have to admit, the benefit of being well known—don’t roll your eyes—is that I could probably set up shop in Timbuktu and people would still find me.”

Anna gave a watery chuckle. “Arrogant much?”

“When it comes to business, maybe. When it comes to love, I never take anything for granted.”

“Mm.” The morphine was starting to kick in. Anna felt her lids drooping. “I still think your ‘drop out to find yourself’ program is full of hooey.”

“So you’re not going to blog on behalf of the Talbot Foundation?”

“I took my blog down.”

“I noticed. You could always put it back up again.”

“You could always endow a scholarship fund for those who want to return to school…”

Ethan propped himself up on an elbow. “I’ll think about. Anything else you want while we’re negotiating?”

Anna looked up at his beloved face. “Give me time.”

“Always,” he said, smiling. “As much time as you want, for the rest of our lives.”