Touching Rune

by S. E. Smith

She knew she wouldn’t want to stay if she couldn’t have both their loves. It would tear her apart to lose one of them to another woman. No, it was best that she leave so they could have a chance of finding another they could both love. She absently rubbed her hand over her heart. It hurt when she thought of them with another woman but she knew she had to accept that she was there for just a brief moment in their lives.

  Like the Guardian Angel that helped George Bailey, she thought sadly.

  Chapter 17

  Rune’s face glowed later that evening as they stepped out of the movie theater. It had been even better than the movies she had been watching on the wall glass. Dimitri and Sergei had bought her a popcorn and soda. She loved the popcorn but the soda made her have the hiccups.

  She shivered in the crisp night air as they waited for the limousine. Three of their bodyguards stood at a respectable distance, scanning the movie goers that stopped to gawk at them. She turned and grinned up at Sergei.

  “That was incredible!” She breathed out. “It was so big and the noise made me feel like I was a part of it.”

  “We could tell. I have never seen anyone jump so much in my life during a movie,” Dimitri laughed as she turned to stick her tongue out at him.

  “Don’t forget the shouting,” Sergei added with a grin.

  “I…,” she started to tell him she had not been shouting when the figure of a teenage boy near the corner of the building held up a shiny metal weapon similar to what had been in the movie. “Look out!” She cried out.

  Everything happened in a blur as she stepped in front of Sergei at the same time as she pushed Dimitri to the side. The loud sound of popping was followed by screams as people began to run, adding to the confusion.

  Dimitri yelled out to the bodyguards at the same time as the limousine pulled up. He jerked open the door and pushed Sergei and Rune into it before he dove in on top of them. The driver pulled out and accelerated away from the danger as two additional vehicles that were part of their security detail closed in front and behind them.

  “The other men!” Rune cried out in a muffled voice. She was sandwiched between Sergei and Dimitri on the floorboard of the vehicle. “What about the other men?”

  “They are fine,” Dimitri growled out. “They have the shooter down.”

  “How do you know?” Rune asked with a grunt as Dimitri pulled himself onto the seat. “Sergei, are you alright?”

  “Except for having Dimitri practically throw me out the other side of the limousine, I’m fine,” he bit out. “You can let me up now, Rune.”

  “Oh! Sorry,” she said, wincing as she pushed herself up and into the seat across from Dimitri.

  “What the hell was that?” Sergei asked as he sat next to Dimitri.

  “You know as much as I do,” Dimitri said as he answered his cell phone.

  Rune looked back and forth as Dimitri spoke rapidly in Russian. From the look on his face, he wasn’t happy with what he was hearing. Sergei bit out a few questions that Dimitri answered with either a grunt or a dark look.

  “Well,” Sergei asked in Russian. He didn’t want Rune to hear what was said until they knew the extent of the threat. “What did they find out?”

  “The local law enforcement is there,” Dimitri replied in a low tone. “No one else was hurt. It appears to be some kid strung out on drugs. Pierre said he was talking crazy stuff, not making any sense and laughing hysterically when they asked him any questions.”

  Sergei pulled his cell phone out and called the car in front of the limousine. “Get us to the hotel immediately and make sure it is secure. I do not want a repeat of this.”

  “Sergei,” Dimitri said looking at the blood coating the hand holding the cell phone. “You are hurt.”

  Sergei looked at his hand in bewilderment. He ran a mental survey over his body. He didn’t hurt anywhere. He looked at Dimitri wondering if he had been hit when Rune spoke up.

  “I don’t think it is Sergei’s blood,” she said faintly holding her hand out. Fresh, bright red blood dampened her slender palm. “I… It is mine.”

  Sergei’s loud curse filled the back of the limousine even as he and Dimitri knelt in front of her. She looked at them with wide eyes as they forced her to lie down on the seat. She felt Sergei applying pressure to her side where the blood was spreading under her sweater.

  “Tell the driver to get us to the hospital immediately,” Sergei said in a hoarse voice.

  Rune smiled tenderly up at Sergei. “It isn’t that bad,” she protested faintly. “It is not my time yet. I still have almost two weeks.”

  “Hush, малышка,” Sergei demanded. “What have you done? You should not have put yourself in front of me.”

  “You sound like Mother Magdalene,” she whispered, closing her eyes against the flashing of the streetlights outside the window that were making her dizzy. “She asked me the same thing the last time I died.”

  “You will not die,” Dimitri snapped out as he pocketed his cell phone. “Do you hear me, Rune? You will not die.”

  “No, I won’t die,” she murmured softly. “Not tonight.”

  *.*.*

  “You’ll have to wait out in the waiting room,” the older nurse said in a stern voice. “The doctor will meet with you as soon as he is finished evaluating Ms. August.”

  “We will stay,” Sergei said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “She should not be left alone.”

  Rune thought the nurse did a very good job of not rolling her eyes at the two huge men glaring at her. She had been a little embarrassed when the limousine, escorted by two additional vehicles and two police cars, pulled up in front of the brightly lit entrance. Almost a dozen men jumped out of the assortment of vehicles. Dimitri had gently lifted her out of the limousine and transferred her to a rolling bed that was brought outside.

  Three people in colorful clothing pushed her through several sets of doors with Dimitri and Sergei speaking rapidly in a mixture of Russian and English. Rune glanced around as they moved through the corridor. She had never seen so much strange equipment in her life. Finally, one of the women in a colorful green outfit told the men to slow down and tell her what happened in English.

  “She was shot!” Sergei snarled in a dangerous voice.

  “Sergei,” Rune rebuked quietly. “They weren’t the ones who shot me. What of the boy? Your men didn’t hurt him, did they?”

  “She is the one shot and she worries for the man who shot her,” Dimitri muttered under his breath. “No, the police have him. He is high on some kind of drugs. The police will transport him to a hospital to be evaluated, I’m sure.”

  “Not here,” Sergei snapped. “I will not have him anywhere near Rune.”

  “Sergei, he was only a child,” Rune said, struggling to sit up on the rolling bed as they wheel her into a small room. “Dimitri said he was under the influence of some type of drug.”

  “When a boy takes a gun in his hand he is no longer a child, Rune,” Sergei responded angrily. “What do you think you are doing? Lie still!” He ordered, pushing gently down on her shoulder as she tried to sit up again.

  “I believe the police officers would like to speak with you,” the nurse in the green uniform said, breaking into their heated conversation. “Both of you.” She stood next to the bed and looked pointedly at both men. “We need to help Ms. August remove her clothing so the doctor can examine her.”

  “We have seen her without clothes,” Sergei stated pointedly. “We....”

  “Out!” Rune gasped as she held her side as she finally sat up so that she could glare at them. “Both of you, out!”

  “You heard her. Both of you will have to wait out in the waiting room,” the older nurse said again. “The doctor will meet with you as soon as he is finished.”

  “I...,” Sergei started to argue when one of the police officers stuck his head in the room.

  “Mr. Vasiliev,” the heavy-set police officer wearing a dark blue uniform interrupted. “We need to speak wi
th you and Mr. Mihailov for a few moments.”

  Dimitri opened his mouth to add to Sergei’s protest but Rune’s soft voice drew his attention. She had laid back down against the white sheets and looked very pale and fragile. One of the nurses was carefully cutting her sweater off of her with a large pair of scissors. His eyes went to the blood staining the pristine sheets.

  “Please,” she whispered before closing her eyes. “Go. I will be fine. They will tend my wounds and I will rejoin you shortly. Please, for me,” she added, opening pain filled eyes and looking pleadingly at him.

  Dimitri swallowed and nodded. Even Sergei had stopped arguing at the pain reflected in her voice and eyes. Dimitri walked over and bent to brush a kiss across her forehead. Sergei stepped up after Dimitri turned and stepped out of the room.

  “You will not die,” he whispered softly before brushing a kiss over her lips. “Promise me that you will not disappear while we are gone.”

  “I promise,” she said, looking up at him with a reassuring smile. “I’ll be with you before you know it.”

  “You’d better,” he responded gruffly before straightening and looking with a dangerous glare at the nurses. “You will keep her safe. If anything happens,” he warned in a low voice. “I will hold each of you personally responsible.”

  “Well,” the older nurse said with a huff after Sergei walked out the door. “Isn’t he a load of fun? I’ll go get the doctor, Judy. Can you and Pam handle this?”

  “As long as Mr. Hot and Heavy and Mr. Dark and Dangerous don’t come back in,” Judy joked as she moved over to the side of the bed.

  “Yeah,” Pam comment with a sardonic grin. “I didn’t think they were ever going to leave. So,” she added with a twinkle in her eye. “Both have seen you without your clothes on?”

  Rune looked at the young nurse and smiled before wincing as Judy shifted her to get the rest of her shirt and sweater off of her. She looked ruefully down at the tattered remains of her clothing. She lay still and breathed through the pain radiating out from her side. She had been hurt a few times as a young girl. She fought back a shudder when she thought of how her mother had stitched up her leg once when she had fallen on the sharp rocks near the fjord. She had been very careful ever since, not wanting to have to go through that pain again.

  “How many?” She whispered through gritted teeth.

  She was suddenly very, very cold. The shivers that had started a few minutes ago had multiplied until she was amazed the whole bed wasn’t shaking along with her. Her jaw hurt from keeping her teeth from chattering.

  “How many times have they seen you without your clothes?” Pam teasingly asked.

  Judy laid several blankets over Rune. “If you are still cold, let us know and we can add more blankets for you,” she said.

  “Nay, how many stitches will you be putting in my side?” Rune asked huskily.

  Pam tilted her and looked at the deep one inch gash. “If I had to guess, at least ten,” she said looking over at Judy. “What do you think?”

  Judy walked around the bed and glanced at the wound. “At least, maybe fifteen.”

  “Dritt!” Shit! Rune murmured staring up at the ceiling. A silent tear escaped from the corner of her eye to run down the side of her face. “Can I... will you at least give me spirits to dull the pain. I’ll need a sturdy stick as well.”

  “I can understand the booze. I’d need a couple of bottles if someone tried to shoot me,” Judy commented good-naturedly. “But why a sturdy stick?”

  “I’d need both to deal with those two,” Pam responded with a chuckle. “I’d be a basket case if I had the two of them in my bed,” she added pretending to fan herself.

  Rune looked at Judy with a scared look. “The last time my mother stitched my leg it took my father and three warriors to hold me down. The pain was fierce. Mother gave me spirits after she finished until I passed out. She wouldn’t let me have any before as she wanted to make sure I had not done further damage.”

  Judy stopped pulling items out of the cabinet on the wall to stare at Rune in disbelief. When she realized that Rune was telling her the truth she shook her head. She looked at Pam who was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “You won’t feel a thing after the first pinch,” Judy assured her. “Let me see if the doctor is ready. You’ll be fine. The doctor will numb the area before he does anything and we’ll give you some medication for the pain.”

  “You go see if Dr. Sullivan is ready,” Pam said. “I’ll get the rest of the items ready.”

  “Thanks,” Judy replied before she patted Rune’s hand. “You’ll love Dr. Sullivan. He is a sweetheart.”

  Rune watched Judy walk out the door. She turned her head and watched Pam in silence as she finished placing items on a metal rolling tray. Pam smiled encouragingly at her as she rolled it up next to the bed.

  “So you and Sergei Vasiliev and his bodyguard are an item?” Pam asked curiously.

  “His bodyguard?” Rune asked, puzzled.

  “The huge guy that was in here,” Pam said.

  Rune frowned for a moment before she realized that Pam thought Dimitri was just Sergei’s bodyguard. She smiled her thanks when Pam added another blanket to her feet. Dimitri had taken her shoes off in the limousine after they made her lay down and the room she was in was freezing.

  “Dimitri is not just Sergei’s bodyguard. He is the Mihailov, in Vasiliev-Mihailov,” Rune said. “He is like Sergei’s older brother.”

  “Wow!” Pam whispered in surprise. “Brothers. That must be something. I’m surprised. I never saw a photo of him and Ms. Ferguson together. It was always Vasiliev and her in the gossip mags.”

  “Ms. Ferguson?” Rune asked in confusion. “Who is she?”

  “You don’t know about Eloise Ferguson? The model and actress he was hot and heavy into just a couple weeks ago?” Pam asked. “They were practically engaged until she lost the baby. The magazines say she and Vasiliev were devastated about it. Supposedly, Ferguson was so upset she called off their engagement and retreated. I sure hope he didn’t pick you up on the rebound. I had that happen and it sucks,” Pam added.

  “Baby?” Rune whispered. “Rebound?”

  “Yeah. I sure hope he doesn’t dump you the way my ex did,” Pam said with a heavy sigh. “My last boyfriend didn’t tell me until three months later that he had broken up with his wife. What he also forgot to say was that he was still married and they were trying to work things out. Three and a half months later, he dumped me and went back to her. I guess he had really wanted kids and she didn’t at the time.”

  “What... what happened?” Rune asked with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  “With my ex-boyfriend and his wife? They are expecting any day,” Pam replied with a shrug. “Live and learn. Take my advice; never ever get with a guy on the rebound. They always go back to the woman the moment she flutters her eyelashes.”

  Rune opened her mouth to deny it but an older man in his late fifties walked into the room followed by Judy. He spoke briefly with Pam before glancing at the paperwork she had handed him. His eyes glanced up a few times before he nodded and spoke.

  “My name is Dr. Sullivan. So, young lady,” he said cheerfully. “Do you think you are superhuman or something?”

  “Superhuman?” Rune asked confused. “No, my name is Rune. Rune August.”

  Dr. Sullivan chuckled. “I heard you tried to stop a speeding bullet,” he said with a gleam in his eye. He shook his head when she continued to look at him with a blank expression. “I guess my age is showing. They must not have made a movie of her yet.”

  “Movies!” Rune grinned suddenly understanding what he was talking about. “I like movies. That is where we were when a boy shot me.”

  “Well, let’s see what kind of damage he did,” Dr. Sullivan said with another chuckle. “Not too bad. A couple of stitches and you should be right as rain.”

  Rune silently nodded as she watched him wash his hands, dry them then put on a
pair of bright blue gloves. She winced when he touched the area around the wound. A moment later, her side went numb. She clenched her fists when he had her roll onto her right side. He stood over her with a bright light shining down and began stitching the wound. She could feel the tug as he worked on her but there was no pain.

  “Tis a miracle,” she murmured in relief.

  Rune smiled up at the old healer as he looked over the rim of a pair of unusual glasses that made his eyes look huge. He smiled down at her briefly before he finished stitching her side. Picking up a pair of tiny scissors, he clipped the end.

  “Pam and Judy will finish taking care of you,” Dr. Sullivan explained. “You’ll need to be seen by your regular physician in ten days to have the stitches removed. If you have any heat, redness or inflammation around the area contact him or her immediately. You’ll need to try to keep the area dry as well for the first few days. Do you have any other questions?”

  Rune listened carefully as she rolled onto her back. “No, but I thank you for making this painless for me,” she said.

  Dr. Sullivan smiled cheerfully and laughed. “I always do what I can. I’ll write you a prescription for some light pain medication. You can take an over the counter pain-reliever if you have any other discomfort after a day or two.”

  “Thank you for your help,” Rune said not knowing what else to say.

  She didn’t understand half of what he was talking about with seeing her doctor or over the counter pain medication. She was just thankful no one else had been hurt and her wounds had been minor. Unfortunately, the pain from her side had moved to her heart. She knew for certain now that there was no hope of her staying with Dimitri and Sergei. She now understood why Sergei had never told her that he loved her. His heart belonged to someone else even if he would not admit it.

  Chapter 18

  “She is sleeping,” Dimitri said with a deep sigh as he closed the door to the bedroom. “The pain medication made her sleepy.”

  “What happened, Dimitri?” Sergei said running his hand through his thick black hair. “I find it hard to believe that we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”