Here and Now

by Blake Haugen

  Two men and a woman she didn’t know emerged from back seat of the vehicle. They ignored her and moved to the back to open the trunk. They quickly unloaded what looked like monitors, a gurney, and IV and x-ray equipment. What the hell was going on?

  The car turned off and the front seat passengers exited. Another unknown man, somewhat aged, got out of the passenger’s seat. Eva got out of the drivers seat, looking as beautiful as ever – even at five in the morning. She took a large, black leather designer bag from one of the men carrying the medical equipment and made her way to the shop’s back entrance. It was then that she noticed Persephone.

  “Jesus, Persephone. If they called you, then it might be worse than –” she cut herself off. “Shit, let’s just get inside. Rory, Amir, Alice, we’re headed to the second floor. I’m not turning on the lights so follow me and watch your step.”

  Persephone knew she’d gotten a pass. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she played along and made to follow the group inside. A firm hand held her back before she made her way through the door.

  “You don’t know what’s going on in there. Just wait until we can get some ears inside,” Timothy rushed, still breathing hard from the sprint they’d just made.

  “Vanya could be hurt and my instincts are telling me I need to go up there. Now unless you plan on taking me down after I cause a huge fucking alarm, or just shooting me, you need to get yours hands off me right now. Don’t make this difficult. I didn’t ask you to come this far. I’ll get with you after I’m finished here, but if you’re in any way concerned about our deal, you’ll just follow me and try to protect your investment.” She glared up at him, daring him defy her. Timothy sighed with displeasure and pressed the microphone in his ear.

  “Chandler, we’re going in through the back entrance. Stay put until I say otherwise.”

  Pulling away from a stunned Timothy, Persephone went through the door and jogged up the stairs to the second floor. The light was on in the tea room, the door closest to her. She could hear Timothy coming up the steps behind her and a man giving directions inside. Furniture creaked and scraped as it was moved around. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

  Several people were whirring around the room. Eva and some of the men with her were changing into scrubs and washing their hands in the water closet. Others were setting up the gurney, changing the sheets. Yulian and others were moving furniture away from the area where the gurney was being assembled. There was a lot going on, but all Persephone saw was Vanya.

  He lay on one of the sofas, his head cradled in Lina’s lap. His sister held a breathing mask to his face, pumping the air chamber steadily. The woman from the back seat of the car, a nurse perhaps, cut his shirt from his body. His eyes blinked open and shut just once. A man pressed a large swabbing cloth into his chest. It was covered in blood. She was too late.

  Persephone darted forward and fell to the floor by his feet. She grabbed his knee with one hand and then covered her mouth with the other. “Vanya.”

  Lina didn’t question her presence. She didn’t take her eyes from her brother’s face. The only one who acknowledged Persephone was the woman with the scissors. She began to prepare an IV drip and turned when Persephone whispered Vanya’s name.

  “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I need you to leave Mr. Pravdin’s side. We need some space to help him,” she said absently as she worked. The East Asian woman tied up her long black hair, wiped her hands down vigorously with wipes she pulled from a case, and then donned latex gloves. She sterilized Vanya’s arm, probed for a vein, applied the IV, and then taped it up. Her task done, she turned to Persephone testily, noticing that she hadn’t heeded her request.

  “Ma’am, you’ve got to move now. We –”

  “I can help. I can take off his shoes and socks. You just washed your hands and everything. I can do it.”

  “Go on then,” the nurse gave her permission. “His pants and underwear, too.”

  Persephone scrambled to untie his laces. She stuffed his socks in the designer loafers and chucked them under the sofa. She was more delicate with his pants and boxers, unwilling to move or jolt his torso in any way. When Persephone finished, the nurse stood up straight.

  “Okay, I want everyone not with the medical team to move out of this room right now. Come on. Everybody out. You can protect Mr. Pravdin by making sure we have as much space as we need to do our job. Rory and Amir, I’m ready to move. Come on, out!”

  Persephone filed out with everyone else. Lina was the last to leave. She’d only left Vanya’s side at Max’s insistence. The door to the tea room shut soundly. The muffled sounds of the doctors and nurses inside the room filled the hallway. Their voices were urgent; each moment that passed made Persephone sicker. The idea that Vanya was hurt was unbearable. Her chest heaved and it took great effort to take in air. She didn’t hear Lina say her name at first.

  “Persephone!”

  “Hmm?” she responded distantly.

  “I said come with me. You, too,” Lina demanded, nodding toward Timothy and Max. They followed her into the office next door. Lina took a seat behind the large desk and motioned for Persephone and Timothy to take seats in the chairs that sat in front of it. Max stood behind them, guarding the door.

  Persephone remembered that the room had been designed by Mariya Pravdina for Kirill. The antiques and objects in the space had a classic, masculine feel. The desk’s chair was significantly higher than the others. It and the other décor were imposing. Now Lina was trying to use that intimidation factor to her advantage. She folded her hands and leaned forward.

  “Persephone, I’m going to speak plainly. My brother is in the next room, most likely fighting for his life. My patience is extremely thin. So, I’m going to ask you some questions and I need you be completely honest with me, because if I find out you had anything to do with this, there will be nothing on this earth that can save you from me.”

  “So then ask them, because I’ll need you to be completely honest with me, too,” Persephone returned. She stared into Lina’s eyes. They were the same color as Vanya’s, but their predatory bent reminded Persephone of Kirill.

  “How did you find us? We didn’t even know we’d be here this evening.”

  “Vanya came by my apartment about three hours ago. He thought there could be a chance he might not make it through the night and gave me a package with information on Yevgeny Leonidovich Naryshkin. If anything happens to him, I’m supposed to take over the financial affairs he has with Naryshkin. Vanya’s contact information was in the files. I used the number and Timothy’s resources to track you guys here.”

  Lina withdrew from the desk and settled back in her chair. She looked away from Persephone and inhaled quickly. She was uneasy, but Persephone was unsure why. What had she said to take Lina off her game? Persephone decided to probe that later. She wanted to ask some questions of her own while Lina was off balance.

  “Did someone with the German firm hurt Vanya? What happened?”

  “How do you know about the Germans?”

  “Vanya told me tonight. He told me all about the deal and the guy who got shot by his dad and the friends that were taken.”

  “Yes, it happened during the exchange. One of the men taking our friends shot him in his lower right chest.”

  “With one of those guns!?”

  “No, a regular one. The stuff about Naryshkin, what did Vanya tell you? What other tasks did he give you?”

  “He actually didn’t even tell me about Naryshkin per se. He said there’s someone he supports living outside the state. I didn’t even know it was Naryshkin or that I was a trustee until I reviewed the files myself. I’m just supposed to handle his trust and its payouts.”

  Lina’s eyes went wide at that revelation. “He made you a trustee? You just arrived in the city. He hasn’t seen you for four years! Not since you crushed him!”

  “Look, I don’t give a fuck about your stupid money! I just came here to help Vanya! Your fa
ther has gone too far this time. He’s part of the reason I had to leave in the first place. His need for – for this power – it’s screwing up people lives. Vanya is shot up and under a freakin’ knife! When’s it gonna stop?”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Lina muttered. She stood and passed them to move toward the door.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t worry about it. You must really love my brother if you came out here and got this guy to help you. Are you staying here?”

  “Of course; why?”

  “I’m leaving. It turns out my father orchestrated this whole thing. The falling out of the deal with the Germans, trying to get Vanya hurt. I’m going to take care of it. Max, could you get Alexey? You’re both coming with me. Bring along whoever else you think you need.”

  “Wait,” Timothy said, speaking for the first time since they entered the office. “Does this mean you’ll be running things from now on?”

  Lina turned on Timothy and looked down on him with disgust. “For a while perhaps. Don’t put my brother in the grave yet, you asshole.”

  “I saw his wound; he’ll pull through fine. I didn’t mean any disrespect. It’s just that we’ve been looking into your progress with CLTDs as well. There’s some things I’d like to talk to you about. My guys and I can escort you and your people to your father. If you’re willing to hear me out, I can have Vanya transferred to a secure hospital once he’s stabilized, no questions asked.”

  Lina paused only a moment at his offer. “Who is we?”

  “I’m an intelligence officer. I work with a number of departments, but the one interested right now is the Department of Defense. Contact Dunya if you need confirmation of my credentials.”

  “Is he who he says he is?” Lina asked Persephone.

  “Honestly,” Persephone replied as she assessed Timothy, “I’m almost as surprised as you are right now. But even though Timothy’s agenda isn’t always clear, his allegiance isn’t. I know he’s been an intelligence attaché for years.”

  Lina turned back to Timothy. “My brother’s injury can’t be leaked to anyone. Not the police, not the press. No one.”

  “We can do that,” Timothy promised easily.

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  They all left the room quietly. Persephone sat in her chair, shocked. She supposed she should be happy with Timothy’s assessment of Vanya’s condition, but she just felt drained. There were never guarantees – never. Choosing not to face the others, she moved the couch against the wall next to the door. She curled up into a ball. The sun began to rise outside. Sleep wasn’t an option, so she stared at the desk and chair, willing the minutes to pass faster. When that got tiresome, she prayed. She didn’t know what things between her and Vanya would be like on the other side of this night, but she prayed it would come. If he made it through the night, then he would likely be okay.

  She lay there until someone knocked at the door three hours later. The sun was high in the sky, filling the room with its harsh light. Persephone sat up and told whoever it was to enter. Yulian came in looking haggard and as serious as she had ever seen him. His thin blue silk tie hung undone around his neck. He had untucked his white shirt and the navy fabric of his suit had wrinkled.

  “Lina just called. We’re taking him to a hospital. He stabilized about thirty minutes ago. We’re headed out now. Are you coming with us?” Yulian rasped.

  Persephone nodded and followed him soundlessly to his SUV. They sat together in the backseat. Persephone watched the men come out of the building carrying Vanya on his gurney and loading him into the back of the SUV that Eva and the medical team were in earlier. Apparently, its backseat folded down and was made to accommodate a wounded passenger. Vanya seemed wildly unlike himself. He was covered in what she assumed were saline drips, morphine drips, drains, and EKG monitors. The bottom half of his body was draped in a hospital gown. The uncovered top half bared the bandage over his surgical wounds.

  “Eva is a surgical nurse?” Persephone asked blankly when they closed the back of the SUV.

  “No, she’s a doctor.”

  “What?”

  “What, you think you’re the only one that can go to grad school?” Yulian laughed humorlessly. “She starts her residency in the fall. She’s going to be the family doctor. A lot has changed since you’ve been gone Persephone. People have changed. They’ve moved on.”

  When everyone was loaded up, they followed the medical SUV out of the alley. Persephone looked out the window rather than trying to talk to Yulian. It was strange to see people going about their normal Sunday morning business. Several were church goers and others were walking their dogs or grabbing breakfast. She was escorting her ex-boyfriend to some sort of secure medical facility. It was unfair, but that didn’t bother Persephone so much. That was life. She’d learned time and again that bad things happened. What bothered her more was the here and now.

  She’d done Vanya as much good as she could. Timothy’s interests had thrown her for a loop. Could she have brought Vanya some trouble as well? It was troubling to think of him doing jail time after a trauma like this. She hoped Lina handled Kirill and gave Timothy whatever he wanted.

  They entered the hospital through a service entrance and took a service elevator to a quiet wing. There were only two nurses at the station at the end of the hall, and no patients in the other rooms. Two armed men stood at the main entrance to the hall. Another guarded Vanya’s room which was windowless and sat at the far end of the hall, isolated from any activity.

  Hours passed and soon it was noon. Persephone sat outside the door, watching Vanya’s chest go up and down as his monitors beeped intermittently. Yulian sat at his bedside and Eva and other doctors and nurses popped in an out every hour to monitor their patient. Persephone finally passed out around two o’clock that afternoon and woke up at four o’clock when Lina arrived.

  She didn’t exactly acknowledged Persephone. In fact, Persephone only woke because of the murmurs going on around her. Catnapping, she heard the click of Lina’s heels. She was walking further down the hall with someone else, too far to hear. Persephone slid one eye open and shut it. She glimpsed Yulian and Max listening intently to whatever Lina was saying. When they finished and walked closer, she straightened herself and sat alert.

  Lina nodded at Persephone and took the seat right next to Vanya’s bed. Max stood in the corner, as was his custom, and Yulian sat in a chair under the television. More visitors came as the day went on. Sophie stopped by with flowers and food, showing surprise when she laid eyes on Persephone. She was polite, but Persephone knew she was shocked to see her. Peng even stopped by in the evening with news on Victorovich’s condition. He was well and asking after Vanya.

  As nightfall came, Persephone began to feel superfluous. She no longer had adrenaline on her side, pushing her to do crazy things. Now that the danger had passed, she felt like a fifth wheel. Her presence seemed utterly useless in light of the way Lina was waiting on Vanya. She held his hand as Yulian moved around the room restlessly and flipped through television stations. It wasn’t a time for small talk. Perhaps it would be better to let them be alone. Persephone hadn’t showered in nearly thirty-six hours. Going home to regroup would be the sensible thing to do, she thought, standing up. Vanya would make contact if he needed her. She made it a few feet down the hall before she heard a throat clearing behind her. Looking back, she saw Yulian’s scrutinizing green eyes staring down at her.

  “Where are you going?” he demanded quietly. He nodded his head down the hall and she followed him past the nurse’s station. They opened the hall doors and stepped outside into a waiting area.

  “I’m headed to the cafeteria. I just need a break.”

  Yulian studied her for a moment and her eyes shifted. Damn, she thought. It was rookie’s mistake. Yulian recognized it for what it was.

  “You’re lying,” he said narrowing his eyes. “You know he needs you here. He’s needed you for a long time
. You did a real number on him.”

  “He’ll be fine,” she mumbled. She made to move around Yulian, but he grabbed her arm gently after blocking her path.

  “But he won’t be good. It would mean everything if you were here when he woke up. I think he deserves that. Losing you twice would kill him. At least think about what you’re doing this time.”

  Persephone felt anger flash through her. “I left for him. As much as it killed me I did it. I put emotions aside and made the right call. I won’t apologize for keeping us alive.”

  Yulian sighed. “There’s nothing to hide from right now. What are you running from?”

  “Give me a break,” Persephone scoffed and began to shrug him off. He held firm and got in her face.

  “Listen; he still loves you! You two still love each other and that… that means a lot. You have a chance at something really good here and you shouldn’t throw it away.”

  “Don’t fucking lecture me. You don’t know what I’m doing or how I feel.”

  It was Yulian who scoffed then. “What? You just cut a deal between my family and the government because you feel brotherly love for Vanya? You need to give me a break. Listen, you’re afraid and I get that. It was one hell of a night – especially since I think this is the first time you’ve seen him since you back here, am I right?”

  Persephone dodged his eyes, ashamed at being called out. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Okay, so things are crazy, but don’t be stupid about it. I’ve never thought of you as a coward.”

  “I’m not!”

  “Then prove it. Be here when he wakes up, when things are awkward, and it’s not the heat of the moment. Don’t mind Lina. She’s just in protective mode or something.”

  “Alright, alright. I’m staying. I just – I need to get some clothes and a toothbrush.”

  “Nah, give me your keys. I don’t trust you right now. Max!” Yulian went back through the doorway and shouted down the hall. He turned back to Persephone and held out his hand expectantly. “Come on, I’m not letting this go. I’ll get everything you need.”