Page 132 of Sexting the Pakhan

Ruslan’s gaze lifts to Karina.

Karina’s mouth closes. Whatever she wants to say, she swallows it. “Bathroom sink had the good towels.”

I take them from her. “Those are not the good towels.”

“They are now blood towels,” she says.

Nadia, standing near the doorway with her arms wrapped around herself, says, “That is an upsetting category.”

Karina closes her eyes briefly. “You are correct. I apologize.”

Mila is still beside Ruslan’s chair, clutching her bent paper crown against her chest. Her eyes keep moving to his injured leg and then back to his face, like she’s trying to decide whether he’s allowed to be scary when he’s also bleeding.

“Is he going to die?” Mila asks.

“No,” I say at once.

Ruslan says, “No.”

Karina says, “Not in my evening schedule.”

Mila nods slowly, reassured by the fact that all three adults have agreed for once.

I kneel in front of Ruslan and cut away the soaked makeshift bandage. The wound is high on his thigh, ugly and bleeding, but not as bad as it looked in the kindergarten. At least that is what I tell myself so I don’t start shaking again.

“You need a doctor,” I say.

Ruslan watches my hands. “I know.”

“Then why are you in my kitchen?”

His eyes lift to mine. “Because you brought me here.”

That makes me angrier than it should. But I don’t say anything. This isn’t the time to be petty to an injured man.

“That was Mila’s moral decision,” I say.

Mila straightens. “We help hurt people.”

Ruslan looks at her, and something in his expression shifts so quietly I almost miss it. “Yes,” he says. “You do.”

I press a clean towel to his leg. He inhales sharply but does not move.

“Sorry,” I say.

“Don’t be,” Ruslan says.

“I wasn’t that sorry,” I say.

Karina makes a strangled sound near the counter. “God, I missed and hated this tone.”

I look up at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Karina says quickly. “Absolutely nothing. I’m simply having a normal reaction to a normal evening.”

Nadia steps closer, still pale but curious despite herself. “Why do you know him?”

The kitchen goes quiet. Ruslan doesn’t answer. Karina suddenly becomes fascinated by the first aid box.