Chapter Seventy-One

Chapter Seventy-One

Sephie

Stephen and Viktor came to the hospital with me and Ivan the following morning to get Ivan's arm x-rayed. Dr. Williams was expecting us, probably with an extra dose of anxiety meds for his entire staff. Ivan was quiet on the ride there. I knew he was nervous.

I slid my arm through his good arm when we walked in. Since they knew we were coming, a nurse took us to see Dr. Williams immediately.

"Dr. Williams, thanks for working us in," I said, somewhat ironically, since I knew he basically had no choice.

"It's good to see you again. I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you, if I'm being honest," he said, shaking my hand.

I couldn't help but laugh. The trauma was still fresh, clearly. He got to work quickly as I'm sure he wanted to get us out of there as quickly as possible. Viktor and Stephen had walked into the room with us, but both stepped out once the doctor started to take Ivan's bandage off. I looked at Ivan curiously, but he just winked at me. They were working on something else, obviously.

I didn't let go of Ivan's hand the entire time the doctor was looking at his arm. "It looks like it's healed really well. The stitches can come out. We just need to x-ray the arm to see how the bone has healed, but the break in the bone was the least of your worries that day," Dr. Williams said. He looked to me, a puzzled look on his face. "I'm not sure how to do this x-ray. You can't be with him."

"Why not?" I asked. I could feel my anger starting to rise.

"Women need to limit their exposure to x-rays as much as possible. Especially if there's a possibility you could be pregnant. It's dangerous," he said.

I just laughed. "No worries there, Doc."

He looked at me, still concerned. "You still could be without knowing. It's too big of a risk."

I could feel my anger starting to rise. Ivan squeezed my hand tighter. I looked at the good doctor, very seriously. "I don't have a fucking uterus, Doc. There's no goddamn chance. Can we get the x-ray now, please?"

He looked stunned, but his medical curiosity got the better of him. "You're so young. Why?"

Ivan said, his voice strained, "It was not by choice. One of your kind took it against her will." I almost laughed when Ivan said "your kind" to the doctor, like he and all other doctors were a completely different species. In his mind, they likely were.

The doctor looked at both of us, his face dropped. He glanced to the open door. "Are those other two men coming back?"

"Eventually, yes," Ivan said.

Dr. Williams got up quickly and shut the door. He sat down in front of us again. "Tell me what happened. It was a backroom procedure for cash, no? I've been hearing stories like this for years. I've been trying to find this doctor, but he moves around to different parts of the city, so it's been impossible to track him down. He has an entire unit of police dedicated to finding him."

I looked at Ivan, my eyes wide. He squeezed my hand, his face softer. He nodded toward the doctor, indicating I should tell him what happened. I sighed. I told the doctor the short version of the story about my uncle and what happened that night. When I finished, Dr. Williams had tears in his eyes.

"I remember you told me that doctors were the reason for his reactions in the operating room. I had no idea that you also had reason to hate us. It makes what you did that day even more poignant," he said, looking at me with pure sympathy in his eyes.

"To be clear, I did it for him, not you," I said. Ivan let go of my hand and wrapped his good arm around my shoulders.

"Do you remember anything about the doctor? Where he was when this happened? A name? A physical description? It's hard for most of the people he's worked on to remember what he looks like. I'm not sure what cocktail he uses on people, but it seems like he wipes their memory," he asked.

"Oh, I remember," I said.

Ivan looked at me, then at Dr. Williams. "Whatever drugs he used on her likely didn't work the same on her as other people. Redheads are different. She said she remembers being out for a really long time after the procedure. He probably had to change his cocktail for her."

Dr. Williams looked at Ivan, completely surprised. "How do you know that redheads are different? There are doctors that don't even know that."

"You don't want to know, Doc. Trust me," I said.

He nodded. "We'll abandon that line of questioning, no problem."

"I don't remember the doctor's name. I don't think they ever said his name. They just called him ‘doctor' the whole time. But I'll never forget what he looks like," I said. I shuddered, thinking about his face.

"Can you give a description to a sketch artist? I've talked to hundreds of people that have been traumatized by this man over the years and not a single one of them can remember his face. You are the only one I've found so far," he said.

I looked at Ivan. He could see the fear plainly on my face. He said to me in Russian, "I've been looking for this guy too. Ever since you told me what happened. That's why Stephen and Viktor left. They're asking the other doctors what they know about this guy. It might be useful to find out what the police know about him, but you don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

I felt the shaking start in my body as I looked at him, answering in Russian, "I'll do it, but we need to get on with this or I won't be able to walk out of here."

Ivan pulled his phone out of his pocket, called a number, let it ring once then ended the call. Within two minutes, Viktor and Stephen were back in the room with us. Ivan looked at the doctor. "Give us the information for the police unit you're working with. We'll make sure she gives the description of him, but we need to get that x-ray, so we can get out of here. If she goes, I go and nobody wants that." He had a sense of urgency to his voice that made it clear to Dr. Williams that we needed to move fast.

He nodded his head. He stood up, "Follow me."

As we walked to the x-ray room, Ivan explained what was happening to Viktor and Stephen. I still had a hold of Ivan's hand, but Viktor reached down and grabbed my other hand as we walked down the hallway. Dr. Williams set Ivan up in front of the x-ray machine. He had a lead vest that he gave me to put on, so I could stand next to Ivan. He took a few x-rays, then walked back and adjusted Ivan's arm to get a different perspective. The entire process was over in just a few minutes.

"It takes around ten minutes to get the films, but I'll hurry it along as much as I can," Dr. Williams said as he led us back to the original room we were in. He left us, telling us he would be back as quickly as he could be.

I still had a hold of Ivan's hand, both of our hands in my lap. He could feel the shaking in my legs starting to get worse the longer we stayed. He looked to Stephen, asking, "Any tricks to help make this better until we get out of here?"

Stephen thought for a moment. "Boss is the only thing I've seen stop it for her. His touch seems to calm it down."

I looked at both of them. "I'll be okay. It goes away after a while, but I never know how bad it will get first. Sometimes I lose control of my body when it gets really bad. That's what I'm trying to avoid."

Viktor moved behind me, his giant hands on my shoulders. He didn't say a word, he just calmly stood there like he was willing my trauma to calm down. I took a deep breath. It did actually help.

Dr. Williams walked back into the room with the x-ray films in his hand. He handed Stephen a card as well. "That's the police unit I'm working with. Each time I hear of a new person who's come in contact with that doctor, I send them there," he said as he clipped the films on the wall to look at them. He looked at them, looked at Ivan, then looked at the films again. He scratched his head, then turned to look at Ivan. "Your break is completely healed. Not only that but I also can't tell where it was to start with. That's virtually unheard of except in very young children." He looked to me, grabbing scissors from a drawer at the side of the room. He sat on a stool and rolled himself to Ivan. "Let's get the stitches out, so you can leave."

He worked quickly, telling Ivan that he still needed to be careful with his arm. "Have you had any pain in your arm lately?"

I couldn't help but laugh. I looked at Ivan, asking in Russian, "Have you had any pain in your arm ever?" Viktor squeezed my shoulders as he laughed quietly behind me. Ivan grinned at me, but looked at the doctor completely straight-faced, "Nope, Doc. It's felt great. You do great work."

As he pulled out the last of Ivan's stitches, he said, "Okay, well, take it easy for another week or so and then you can start to use it more. It's healed. It's healed better than I've ever seen an injury like that heal in such a short time, so I think you'll be fine." He looked to me. "And please, give the police unit a call. You're the only one that knows what he looks like. We've been trying to get him for over ten years now."

I nodded my head. I went to say something, but Viktor answered for me. "We'll make sure it's taken care of, Doc." His giant hands were still gently resting on my shoulders. He was the calming presence I needed to keep the shaking from getting too bad. Ivan squeezed my hand as he pulled us both up.

"Thanks, Doc," Ivan said as we all quickly walked out of the room. In the hallway, Ivan looked down at me, "You okay, princess?"

I nodded my head. "Papa Bear helped in there. He kept the shaking from getting worse." I felt Viktor silently grab my other hand as we walked quickly down the hallway to the exit.

We were back to the penthouse in record time. Once in the elevator, Viktor told me he was taking me to Adrik's office. I looked to Ivan, still worried about him. "No, Papa Bear, I'm okay. I promise. I screwed up his schedule yesterday. I don't want to screw it up two days in a row. We can go to the penthouse. I'll be okay, it's getting better. I promise," I said, trying to convince him not to interrupt Adrik.

He looked at me skeptically, but relented. "Then you're stuck with us for a little longer until I'm sure you're okay. You've had a rough couple of days, sestrichka."

"I'm surprisingly okay with what happened yesterday. Like, I might be a psychopath I'm so okay with it," I said. I looked at all of them, gauging their reactions to what I said.

Stephen started to say something, but the doors dinged and started to open. He was waiting until we were in the penthouse before he said anything. Before he could speak, I said, "Wait a minute, there's something I need to do." I still had a hold of Ivan's hand. I stopped him and opened my arms for him to give me a real, two-armed hug. "I freaking need this," I said quietly as I wrapped my arms around his waist. He wrapped both of his giant arms around me and held me tightly as I rested my head on his chest. I inhaled deeply, feeling my body relax a little more.

I stepped back from him, unexpected tears in my eyes. "I can't tell you guys how nice it is to feel safe with you. Like life-changing and that's not just me being overly dramatic, even though I do enjoy that," I said, trying to laugh to keep the tears from falling. I felt Viktor's giant arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. Once again, he said nothing. He just held me tightly for a moment.

Stephen said, "Sephie, you realize you do the same for us, right?" I tried to peek over Viktor's shoulder at Stephen, who was still behind Viktor, but he was too tall. I turned him, so I could see Stephen without letting go of Viktor.

"I do not realize that, Yoden. What do you mean?" I asked.

"Yoden?" he said, looking at me skeptically.

"Yoda and Stephen. Yoden. Come on, not all nicknames stick the first time. Give me a break here. I'm just throwing things out there, seeing what sticks," I said, laughing.

He just shook his head as he said, "We give you physical security, but you give us emotional security. It's the classic masculine/feminine dynamic. We give you a space where you feel safe physically which allows you to give us a space where we feel secure emotionally. So, while you're grateful to us for making you feel safe, we feel exactly the same toward you."

My eyes went a little wide as he was talking. I stepped back from Viktor to look at him and Ivan. They both nodded in agreement with what Stephen said. I thought for a moment, chewing on my bottom lip, not knowing how to respond. I looked at Stephen sideways, "So you're telling me, this whole time, it wasn't my sexual charms?"

He laughed. "You know those things don't work on me, right? I have immunity."

I looked at him, in feigned disbelief. "My milkshake does not bringeth all the boys to the yard?"

That got a loud laugh out of all of them. Stephen walked to me, pulling me into a hug. "Seph, you're just the best."

Viktor and Stephen stayed with me and Ivan in the penthouse for a while longer. I think they were enjoying the break. Eventually, Viktor's phone pulled them away, leaving Ivan and I alone. He looked at me, a serious look on his face.

"Uh oh, Super Squish. Shit's about to get real," I said, grinning at him.

"About this doctor that did your procedure. I've run into nothing but dead ends. If you can give me a description of him, I can see if that helps jog people's memories. People have heard of him, but no one knows details," he said.

"What about the police?" I asked.

"We should talk to Adrik about that. He's close with the police commissioner. He should be able to get us the information this unit has on this guy, but they're going to want that description in exchange." He thought for a moment, looking at me. "We can do things the police can't, princess, but they don't give up information for free. They need to still feel important," he said, chuckling.

I nodded in understanding. "Have you talked to any prostitutes or their pimps? I'm almost certain that's how my uncle knew about this guy. I think he mostly does abortions for prostitutes. My uncle's friend that knew about the doctor was a pimp. He would come to the house occasionally, but I would always leave when he was there. He gave me the creeps."

"Do you remember that guy's name? We might be able to find him," Ivan asked. He reached up with his previously bandaged arm to run his hand over his goatee like his arm hadn't been in a sling for weeks.

"Only his street name. His girls used to call him Chucky and that's all I ever heard my uncle call him. I don't think that was his real name though," I said.

"It's a start," he said. "Are you sure you're up for talking to the police about this?"

I looked down, my hands starting to fidget in my lap. I thought for a moment, then looked back up at his concerned face. "I can do it if it means finding this guy. There's no telling what else he's done to other people." I paused, then added, "But you guys are gonna have to go with me. I might not be able to avoid screwing up Adrik's schedule that day."

"His schedule is the least of his worries when it comes to you, princess. He's going to be mad at us for not bringing you to his office today once he finds out. He's told us all before, nothing else matters without you."

"Shut up."

He thought for a moment. "I think the first time he told us that was when we were at the ranch house in Italy. When you were passed out and he couldn't leave you or you'd get sucked back into your nightmare. I went into the room the morning we were supposed to leave and told him we'd all decided we couldn't leave. He agreed and said nothing was more important than you. His empire is replaceable, princess. You are not."

I sat, somewhat stunned, for a moment. I didn't know how to respond. Luckily, Misha came into the penthouse and saved me from having to.

"Gazelle, are you hungry yet? Because I'm starving and we can't decide what to get for lunch, so you're the deciding vote," Misha said, his broad smile stretched across his face. He sat down next to me, his arm around my shoulders.

"What are the choices? Do any of them involve a burrito the size of my head? Because if they do, that's what gets my vote," I said.

He leaned over, kissing my cheek, "This is why you're the best, Sephie. Be back shortly with a burrito the size of your head." My stomach growled loud enough for them to hear. They both looked at me, pretending to be shocked.

"What? Sometimes my stomach feels neglected and needs to be included in the conversation. She has a mind of her own," I said, laughing.

Everyone came to the penthouse for lunch, including Adrik. I wasn't expecting him to have a break in his day. He clearly enjoyed my excitement to see him, holding me in front of him long enough to calm down, so the guys wouldn't also see how much he enjoyed my excitement.

He looked down at me, concern plainly in his eyes, "What's this about you going to the police, solnishko? Are you sure you want to do that?"

I chewed on my bottom lip, but nodded. "Ivan thinks it would be helpful to get the information the police have on that guy. It might help find him. Apparently, nobody else can remember what he looks like, but I can clearly remember his face." I shuddered again, seeing his face flash in my memory. Adrik pulled me closer, feeling it.

"I'll call the commissioner this afternoon and find out what he knows about this police unit that's trying to find the doctor. We can have them come here. I don't like the idea of you going to a police station," he said, kissing my forehead.

I heard Viktor's deep voice behind us. "That's a better idea. You're going to need to be there with her, Boss. We had to rush out of the hospital before her shaking got too bad."

Adrik clicked his tongue. "Why didn't you come to me when you got back?" I looked up at him. He looked almost angry.

"I was okay. Viktor helped keep it from getting worse when we were at the hospital. I screwed up your day yesterday. I didn't want to do it two days in a row," I said apologetically.

His eyes softened. "My schedule doesn't take priority over you, solnishko."

Ivan said, "Told you." I didn't even look in his direction, I just snapped my fingers and pointed in his direction. I could hear him laughing.

He looked over my head to Viktor. "You really helped?"

Viktor shrugged his shoulders, a somewhat worried look on his face. "I don't think it was the same as you, but it kept it from getting worse, which is what we were worried about."

Adrik took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. Viktor looked at him, puzzled. "You're not mad?"

Adrik laughed. He looked down at me as he answered Viktor. "No, the opposite, really. It makes me worry less to know that she has someone else who can help if needed." I smiled up at him, watching as he tried to hide his heart skipping a beat.

We were in Adrik's office at the end of the day, waiting for someone from the police department to show up, so I could give them a description of what the doctor looked like. Adrik had called the commissioner after lunch. He knew about the doctor and said they'd been trying to catch the guy for a decade. He said the same thing as Dr. Williams; no one could remember what he looked like. Adrik told him that I could remember and the commissioner said he would send someone out that night. He also told Adrik that they could have all the information the police had on the guy.

"He told me that we had free rein to find this guy. He said his people have been looking for him for a decade and they'd only run into dead ends. He was still operating in the city, as they met new victims regularly. Apparently, he's gotten worse as the years have progressed. He's moved on to even darker things," Adrik said as we were waiting.

"How could you get worse?" Misha asked.

"He's into organ harvesting now. The hospitals are reporting people showing up with missing organs, with no memory of how it happened," Adrik said.

"For real? I thought that was just an urban legend," I said.

"According to the police commissioner, it's real. He hasn't released that info to the public yet, but he said it's been happening more frequently lately," he said.

"Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse," I said, mostly to myself.

Viktor's phone rang. He got up, walking out of the office. He returned a moment later with one uniformed police officer, one plain clothes officer, and a third with a sketch pad in his hands. Adrik stood, walking toward them. He extended his hand to all three. "Thank you for coming on such short notice," he said. He motioned for them to sit.

"We should be thanking you, sir. We've been chasing this guy for years and never found anyone that can remember what he looks like. We still haven't been able to figure out what drugs he uses to wipe memories. They're out of the victims' systems quickly, which makes it impossible for us to test them," the plain clothes officer said, taking a seat across from the couch I was on.

When Adrik got up to greet them, I moved closer to Andrei, who was on the other side of me on the couch. I was scared. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders while I curled up next to him, wanting to hide. He held me against him tightly. "You'll be okay, spider monkey. We'll protect you," he whispered to me.

The plain clothes officer looked at me. "You must be Sephie," he said. I nodded. Adrik sat back down on the couch, but sat closer to me so I wouldn't have to move from Andrei. The officer glanced at Andrei and at Adrik, then back to me. "I'm Jason," he said. He looked at the uniformed officer. "That's Ryan. And that's Will," he said, pointing to the guy with the sketch pad. "We're really grateful to have found you, you know. You seem to be the only one that can remember what this guy looks like. Can you tell us what happened?"

I looked up at Andrei, who gave my shoulders one last squeeze before I moved, so I was sitting between him and Adrik. I had my hands pulled inside my sleeves, so the officers couldn't see my bruised knuckles. I didn't need them asking questions about anything else today. Adrik stretched his arm across my lap as I started to recount the story of my uncle and what had happened the night he took me to this doctor.

I gave the sketch artist, Will, as complete a description as I could of what the doctor looked like. He would ask me questions as I described the guy, trying to get a better idea of what he looked like. He was working on his sketch pad the entire time we were talking. Finally, he said, "Okay, tell me if this looks like him. We can change anything that might be off." He turned his sketch pad and I saw the face of the doctor that had taken my uterus. I stared at it for a moment, then felt like I was going to vomit. I jumped off the couch, racing to the bathroom, which was across the floor from Adrik's office, not wanting to use his private bathroom to spare everyone from having to listen to me vomit.

I wasn't going to make it. Thankfully, everyone had gone home for the day and I spotted a trash can. I grabbed it and emptied what was left of the burrito I had for lunch that day into the can. I felt Adrik's warm hands on my back. I was still bent over, not sure if I was going to vomit again or not. I groaned. I hated vomiting and I hated it worse when it happened in front of people. He didn't say anything, he just gently rubbed my back until I stood up. When I did, he ushered me toward the bathroom. When he came into the bathroom with me, I couldn't help myself. I looked at him, saying, "Under any other circumstances, this would be kinda hot."

He smirked at me. "I'll remember that," he said as I turned on the water in the sink. I washed my hands, then splashed water over my face. He handed me a paper towel when I was done. I glanced at myself in the mirror. I could plainly see the fear on my face. I knew everyone else would be able to as well. I caught sight of my hands as I was drying my face. I quickly pulled my sleeves back over my hands to hide them. Adrik noticed. I just looked at him and said, "I should've worn gloves and told them I was a germophobe or something."

"It will be fine, solnishko. Don't worry," he said as he pulled me to him.

When we walked out of the bathroom, all five of the guys were lined up outside the office, waiting to make sure I was fine. I couldn't help but smile to myself. "They worry almost as much as you do," I said.

He clicked his tongue. "More, I think. Which is saying a lot."

I smiled at them as we walked closer, watching them relax knowing I was okay. "Hope you guys didn't want burritos again anytime soon. It's going to be a while before I'm okay with that idea," I said as we walked back into the office.

This time, Adrik sat on the couch and I sat in between his legs, his arms wrapped around me. Jason looked sympathetic when he said, "I hate vomiting. Hate it worse than anything in the world. But I'm guessing by that reaction, we nailed what he looks like?"

I nodded my head. "That's him. He's probably older now, though. It was eight years ago when it happened."

"Don't worry about that," Will said. "We've got software that can digitally age a person. We'll make a few variations of how he might be aging to see if people recognize him."

Jason looked at me, a serious look on his face. "Sephie, where is your uncle now? You know you can press charges against him, right?"

I froze. I felt Adrik hold me tighter. Jason noticed, adding, "You said he used to beat you. He needs to be brought to justice, Sephie. He shouldn't get away with that."

"He didn't," I said, matter-of-factly. Jason looked at me, somewhat confused. "He's dead. I killed him," I said as I stood up. I lifted my shirt over my head, turning my back to them. "I had to, or he would've killed me."

I heard all three of them curse as they looked at my back. Ryan, who hadn't said a word the entire time, finally quietly said, "Charges brought."

I couldn't help but laugh quietly as I pulled my shirt back on, careful to keep my hands covered. I turned and sat back in Adrik's lap, his arms once again holding me tightly. Jason, who was still somewhat speechless, was trying to find words. Ivan spoke up, asking, "The commissioner said you would share the information you had on this doctor?"

Jason was once again snapped back to reality. He looked to Ivan, nodding his head. "We brought a few boxes with us, but there's more at the station. Ten years' worth of information on this guy, to be exact. You can look through all of it. The commissioner made it clear we were to cooperate fully with you guys." He looked at Adrik, leaning forward in his chair. "Look, I know you guys can operate outside the law where we can't. I don't care anymore. I want to see this guy in jail, but if he ends up dead, I won't shed a tear over it."

Will said, "There are countless other stories, just like yours and some that are worse. He has to be stopped."

Adrik simply nodded. Ivan stood up and asked to make a copy of the sketch, so he could get it out to his people right away. Will readily handed it over. "We'll send the aged version to you, as soon as we have it. I'll get this to the IT department as soon as we get back. They'll age him and we can send over that one."

They were getting ready to leave. Adrik looked to Andrei, and said in Russian, "Hold onto her until they're gone." Andrei nodded once, reached over, and pulled me to him again. I curled up against his side, with his giant arm over me protectively. Adrik stood up, as well as Misha, Stephen, and Viktor. Those three stood in front of me while Adrik talked to the officers.

Andrei looked down at me, somewhat curious. "Why are you so worried, spider monkey?" he asked me quietly, still speaking Russian. Misha, who was close enough to hear the question, glanced down at us, curious as well.

I pulled my hand out of my shirt sleeve far enough that he could see my bruised knuckles, quickly pulling my hand back inside. Recognition spread over his face. "No unnecessary questions," I said quietly. Viktor and Stephen escorted the officers back downstairs. Misha turned to me and said, "You were born for this shit, gazelle."