A policeman saw Alexei's medic alert bracelet right away and called life flight, and a helicopter arrived to rush him to the hospital. When Madison said that she was pregnant with his child, she was allowed to accompany him. During the brief flight, her eyes never left Alexei's. As the light in them seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer, she struggled to fight a rising panic. When they reached the emergency room, Alexei was transferred to a gurney and quickly wheeled through a set of double doors, leaving Madison to wait alone, helplessly. What am I supposed to do when something like this happens? Anastasia would know. She's been through it loads of times, but her parents were always there with her, of course...

With shaking fingers, she called Anastasia. She's going to really hate me when she finds out that Alexei missed a clotting factor injection appointment to go to my ultrasound appointment with me...

Anastasia answered, and Madison breathlessly told her what had happened.

"We'll be right there," Anastasia said. "Did you call Olga and Maria?"

"I was just about to."

Within minutes, Anastasia arrived with George.

"Where's Lexi?" asked Madison.

"Anne's watching her," Anastasia told her. The two-and-a-half-year-old girl had her father's dark hair and eyes and her mother's undauntable spirit. She and Anne's son Jonathan enjoyed playing together.

Olga and Maria had just arrived when a physician came to give them an update. "He's out of immediate danger," he said. "The bleeding is, of course, significantly worse than would ordinarily be expected, but we're giving him clotting factors by IV and he's beginning to respond. He has three broken ribs and extensive bruising. A hundred years ago, this type of of injury would have invariably been fatal for him, but with modern day treatment, he has a chance."

"He can't die!" Madison sobbed. "He's going to be a father!"

Anastasia gasped.

"I'm so sorry you had to find out like this," Madison told her.

Instantly all three women surrounded Madison, fussing over her as if she were the one who had been injured.

"You don't need to be under this kind of stress!" Anastasia cried. She and Maria got Madison to lie down and asked a nurse to bring her a drink of water. Maria sat beside her stroking her forehead.

"Really, I'm fine!" Madison insisted, trying in vain to sit up.

"When did you find out?" Anastasia wanted to know.

"Only a few days ago. We were on our way back from my first ultrasound appointment when it happened."

Olga's eyes narrowed. "Didn't Alexei have a clotting factor injection recently?"

"He rescheduled it so that he could go to my ultrasound appointment with me," Madison confessed. "He really wanted to be with me when I saw the baby for the first time. And I wanted him there. I wanted us to see our baby for the first time together." She turned pleading eyes toward Anastasia. "I was so afraid you'd hate me when you found out."

"Oh, Maddy, I could never hate you." Anastasia embraced her tightly.

A man dressed in clergical garments suddenly appeared. He was tall and slender, with long, dark brown hair. Anastasia couldn't see his eyes because he was wearing dark shades. She felt a growing sense of trepidation.

"May I pray with you?" The man's voice was deep and rich. It sounded eerily familiar.

"What unique glasses! Can I please look at them for a second?" asked Anastasia.

"Yes, of course." Puzzled, the man handed his shades to Anastasia, and she was able to take a quick glimpse at his eyes and saw that they were dark brown. Thank God.

"Thank you very much, sir. Yes, of course you may pray with us," she told him.

A few hours later, the physician reappeared. "Good news," he told them. "The bleeding has finally stopped completely. We'll keep him a few days for observation, and of course he's going to be sore for quite a while, but other than that, he should be fine."

"Thank God!" All four women and George hugged each other.

"When can I see him?" asked Madison.

"Whenever you want." The physician smiled. "He's awake, although he may be a bit groggy from the Demerol."

Alexei was lying with half-open eyes and a lop-sided smile.

"I was only trying to scare you," he quipped.

"Oh, you did that, all right." She went to him and hugged him as if she would never let go. "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"I'll try not to." He chuckled weakly.

"I'm going to marry you just as soon as you get out of here," Madison said emphatically. "I'm not putting it off for one day longer!"