The door to the surgery opened and Dr. Lazovsky appeared. He had his mask pulled below his chin. His hands were bare but there was blood on his smock.
The Count leapt up.
“Please, Rostov,” said the surgeon. “Have a seat.”
The Count sat back on the bench.
Lazovsky didn’t join him; rather he put his fists on his hips and looked down at the Count with an unmistakable expression of competence.
“As I told you, in these situations the greatest risk is swelling. We have alleviated that risk. Nonetheless, she has suffered a concussion, which is basically a bruising of the brain. She is going to have headaches and will need a good deal of rest. But in a week, she will be up and about.”
The surgeon turned to go.
The Count extended a hand.
“Dr. Lazovsky . . . ,” he said, in the manner of one who wishes to ask a question, yet suddenly can’t find the means of doing so.
But the surgeon, who had stood in this spot before, understood well enough.
“She’s going to be every bit herself, Rostov.”
As the Count began to offer his thanks, the man in the black suit opened the door at the end of the hall once again, only this time it was for Osip Glebnikov.
“Excuse me,” said the surgeon to the Count.
Meeting halfway down the hall, Osip and Lazovsky conferred for a minute in lowered voices while the Count watched in astonishment. When the surgeon disappeared into the surgery, Osip joined the Count on the bench.
“Well, my friend,” he said with his hands on his knees. “Your little Sofia has given us quite a scare.”
“Osip . . . What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make sure that you were both all right.”
“But how did you come to find us?”
Osip smiled.
“As I’ve told you, Alexander, it is my business to keep track of certain men of interest. But that doesn’t matter at the moment. What does matter is that Sofia’s going to be fine. Lazovsky is the best surgeon in the city. Tomorrow morning, he will be taking her to First Municipal, where she can recover in comfort. But I’m afraid that you can’t stay here any longer.”
The Count began to protest, but Osip raised a calming hand.
“Listen to me, Sasha. If I know what has happened tonight, others will soon know too. And it would not be in your best interest, or Sofia’s for that matter, if they were to find you sitting here. So this is what you must do: There is a staircase at that end of this hall. You need to go down to the ground floor and through the black metal door, which leads to the alley behind the hospital. In the alley, there will be two men waiting who will take you back to the hotel.”
“I can’t leave Sofia,” said the Count.
“You have to, I’m afraid. But your concern is perfectly understandable. So I have arranged for someone to stay with Sofia in your stead until she is ready to go home.”
At this remark, the door was opened to admit a middle-aged woman looking bewildered and frightened. It was Marina. Behind the seamstress was a matron in uniform.
“Ah,” said Osip, standing. “Here she is.”
Because Osip stood, Marina looked to him first. Having never seen him before, she met his gaze with anxiety. But then she saw the Count sitting on the bench and ran forward.
“Alexander! What has happened? What are you doing here? They wouldn’t tell me a thing.”
“It’s Sofia, Marina. She had a bad fall on the service stairs of the hotel, but a surgeon is with her now. She is going to be all right.”
“Thank God.”
The Count turned to Osip as if he were about to introduce him, but Osip preempted.
“Comrade Samarova,” he said with a smile. “We haven’t met, but I too am a friend of Alexander’s. I’m afraid that he needs to return to the Metropol. But it would be such a comfort to him if you could remain with Sofia until her recovery. Isn’t that so, my friend?”
Osip laid a hand on the Count’s shoulder without taking his gaze off Marina.
“I know it is a great deal to ask, Marina,” said the Count. “But . . .”
“Not another word, Alexander. Of course I will stay.”
“Excellent,” said Osip.
He turned to the uniformed woman.
“You’ll see that comrade Samarova receives everything that she requires?”
“Yes, sir.”
Osip offered Marina one more reassuring smile and then took the Count by the elbow.