From Russia With Love

Dominika spent the rest of the afternoon in Gerard’s hospital room, the two of them talking and laughing as specialists and nurses bustled in and out, checking his various tubes and flicking through the clipboard on the end of his bed. As the sun started to go down, Gerard’s parents joined them, and the three of them sat around his bed, chatting away. An overwhelming sense of happiness filled Dominika as she looked over to Gerard, his face glowing in the yellow sunset light that filtered through the window. He was battered, but despite the battle wounds he was still her Gerard. The same boy she’d met that day at the stream on the estate, the same boy who’d teased her and made her blush her entire life but she’d somehow always ended up next to anyway. She squeezed his hand gently and he turned to her, smiling lopsidedly. She could feel the elation beaming from him too. Probably partially the fact he was drugged up on narcotics, but also the fact they’d finally gotten everything out in the open. The cat was finally out of the bag, so to speak, and now they didn’t have to hold back. They shared the same feelings.

The surgeon returned to the room in the middle of their visit, and Gerard seemed to have a million and one questions for him.

“I’ll be able to walk again, right doc?” he asked. Dominika could feel the tension in his body as the words left his lips. The surgeon smiled reassuringly.

“Certainly, Gerard, there is no reason for your mobility to be affected long-term. With some physiotherapy, you’ll be back to normal, just with some scarring”

He seemed to relax then, and Dominika did too. She knew how important Gerard’s career was to him, he’d have been lost without it. A small part of her hoped though that he’d be put on desk duties or something involving less explosions. She’d had enough of a shock to last her at least the next year.

“So how long till I get to bust out of here?” Gerard asked eagerly.

“We’ll discharge you in a couple days once we’re sure you’ve started healing correctly and there’s no infection. You won’t be returning to duty for a minimum of eight weeks though, so push that right out of your mind for now and concentrate on healing”

The surgeon turned to leave but paused at the door and looked back at Gerard.

“And don’t try to be a hero, son, let your family look after you. You need them”

“Yeah, yeah” Gerard said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Doctor’s orders” he emphasized.

Donald stood up then and looked at the clock on the wall above them.

“We should go back to the hotel, ladies, let Gerard have his rest for the night. We’ll come back first thing in the morning”

“Hey, hey” Gerard protested “you’re not stealing her away yet, someone’s gotta keep me company while I’m cooped up in here”

Donald rolled his eyes and looked to his wife briefly before turning back to the pair. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a small card which he handed to Dominika.

“Alright, you two. Domi, when you want to come back to the hotel, call that number and we’ll send the rental car to pick you up”

They said their goodnights and shuffled out of the hotel room into the dimmed lights of the ward hallway. Dominika placed her hand on the edge of his cream blanket and he grasped it again, pulling it towards him and pressing his lips against the backs of her fingers.

“I just realized, you must be missing school to be here” he murmured, eyes closed.

“It doesn’t matter” she replied “I’ll go back when you’re better”

He opened his functional eye suddenly and stared at her, scrutinizing. He looked disapproving.

“You really want to miss out on your fancy ballet company for two whole months, Domi? That’s always been your dream”

“Like you said Gerard, life is short. Some things are more important”

He was silent then, unable to refute her point since it was his own to begin with. She had always been excellent at arguing her point of view. The girl was born to argue, but her stubborn streak also provided him with endless entertainment and made her easy to bait.

“Besides” she added “when we go back to Washington I’ll go pick up my written choreography and then I can do most of my training at home, I won’t even miss out” she grinned at him, pleased with herself.

“You never answered my letter about the gender status of your classmates” he said, eyeing her suspiciously. She knew he was teasing and decided to play along with it.

“That’s because it’s full of boys there, I knew you’d be jealous”

“Hmmm” he mused thoughtfully “maybe I will have to don a leotard after all”

She leaned in close till their noses were inches apart, her eyes fixed hungrily on his lips.

“You don’t have to worry” she breathed, eyes flicking back to his “leotards aren’t my thing. I like men in uniform”

He kissed her and chuckled softly against her neck.

“Good”

Notes

Thanks for all the beautiful comments, you guys are the best!
Short and sweet but another update is coming shortly.
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