“Fine time to tell me, now,” Mike pointed out then shook his head. “I think Savina tried to tell me but I cut her off. How much of a screw-up have I made?”
“For you, very little,” Genadi said, quietly. “For Lydia and Irina, perhaps much.”
“Kildar, it is okay,” Lydia said, from the back. “You are the Kildar, you can do as you will.”
“Don’t tell me things like that or we will get in trouble,” Mike replied. “I’ll fix it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Kildar…” Genadi said.
“I’ll fix it, Genadi,” Mike snarled. “If I have to, I’ll make them eat it raw. But they are not going to send Lydia or Irina to town because of my mistake. Get that straight. The absolute worst that happens is I’ll take them in myself. But nobody mentions that option, understood?”
“Yes, Kildar,” Genadi said.
“Thank you, Kildar,” Lydia replied.
“How is Irina?” Mike asked.
“Asleep, I think,” Lydia said. “At least very sleepy and quiet. What did you give her?’
“Enough Loritab to put her under,” Mike said. “And enough Keflex, I hope, to slow down the infection until we get to the hospital. The Loritab has Tylenol in it, so it should get the fever down a bit. I’m not sure what I’m doing, but I’m trying.”
“It is very cold in here, Kildar,” Lydia said. “Could you maybe turn on the heat?”
“The colder it is, the harder it is for her body to let the fever run out of control,” Mike said. “We’re just going to have to put up with it.”
The rest of the drive was mostly made in silence except for when occasional really bad bumps would wake Irina up. Finally they got to Tbilisi after midnight and Mike followed Genadi’s directions to the hospital.
At the receiving dock for the emergency room, an armed guard waved them away.
“Right, I’m going on full ugly American mode,” Mike said. “Genadi and Lydia, get Irina out. I’ll handle the rest.”
Mike got out of the car and stalked over to the guard who reacted by pointing his AK at Mike’s chest.
“Get that out of my way,” Mike said, slapping the barrel aside. “We have a medical emergency here. Where’s a damned doctor?”
“You cannot park here!” the guard said, trying to swing the weapon back.
“Like hell,” Mike replied. He pulled the AK away from the guard, dropped the magazine and disassembled the weapon before the guard could even reach for it. “Where is a damned doctor?” he snapped, grabbing the guard by the collar and lifting him off his feet.
“Inside,” the guard gurgled, pointing to the doors.
“Thank you,” Mike replied, setting him down. “I’ll move my car in a bit. If you have any questions about this little encounter, contact Colonel Skachko at the Office of the President and he will put it in perspective.”
Mike grabbed his jump bag and still made it to the doors before Lydia and Genadi had gotten the shaky Irina to the door. He held them open and then strode into the admissions area.
“Where’s a doctor?” he asked the woman at the first counter.
“You will be having a seat,” the woman said, pointing to a set of folding chairs.
“Nope,” Mike said, leaning over until he was inches from her face. “We have an inflamed appendix. Onset was better than four hours ago. We need a doctor and we need him now. If I have to wake up the president of Georgia, and I can with one call, I will. But you had better get me an internist, one that is sober, in no more than ten minutes or I’m going to make sure you spend the rest of your life in a cheap brothel in Turkey. Do I make myself clear?”
“I am Doctor Platov. What is the problem?”
The doctor was about fifty and clearly tired, but Mike couldn’t smell any alcohol on his breath.
“Possible inflamed appendix,” Mike said. “Pain from palpation on the right side, fever of 104 plus, Fahrenheit. She’s had fifteen milligrams of Loritab and seventy-five milligrams of Keflex about four hours ago. Onset was slightly in excess.”
“Get her to an examination room, now,” the doctor said to one of the orderlies that had accompanied him. The orderlies were large and male and Mike figured they had two purposes.
“She comes from a very strict mountain society,” Mike said as the orderlies brought out a gurney and helped Irina into it. “As long as possible, her friend should be with her,” he added, indicating Lydia. “And a female nurse is going to be required.”
“The first thing that is required is payment,” Dr. Platov sighed. “I can confirm your diagnosis, but to open her will require assurance that the bill will be paid. I assume she has no insurance if she is from the mountains. And I cannot, cannot, operate without assurance of payment.”
“Give me an estimate,” Mike said, “and I’ll give you cash.”
“You do not understand,” the doctor said, tiredly. “Even in this country, such things will be expensive. At least a thousand euros.”
“Where’s the cashier?” Mike asked as two policemen came in the doors.
“I believe you threatened her with being sold into slavery,” the doctor said, dryly.
“Fine,” Mike said. “Just one thing. I know that there are local medicines and foreign and the foreign are more expensive. They’re also better. Use the foreign. I’ll pay for it.”
“You, stop right there,” one of the policemen said, placing his hand on his pistol.
“If you draw that, you’ll end up on a border post shaking down Chechens,” Mike replied, glancing over his shoulder. “I’m quite serious. If you think I’m not, you’d better wake up Colonel Skachko at the office of the President of Georgia. Right now, I’m going over there,” Mike said, pointing at the functionary at the desk, “and I’m going to pay her for the services this doctor is about to perform. Come on over. We’ll talk about whether I’m under arrest over there, okay?”
The doctor looked at them and nodded, then gestured at Lydia to accompany him as the gurney was wheeled away.
“Hi,” Mike said, smiling at the woman who was looking at him with a mixture of wariness and anger. “Sorry about all that, I was just trying to get through to you.” He dipped into the jump bag, ignoring the police at his back, and pulled out a thick bundle of euro notes. “The doctor estimated that the operation will be a thousand euros,” he said, opening up the bundle and counting. “That’s fifteen hundred. The extra is for good medicines. I’m, personally, good for any additional treatment. Is there any question?”
“What is she, your whore?” the woman asked, eyeing the money on the desk.
“No, she’s in the nature of a retainer,” Mike said. “As far as I know, she’s a virgin. She’d better be one when she leaves the hospital. Pass that around.
“Right,” he continued, turning to the cops. “Mind if I pull out my cell phone?” he continued, ignoring them as he did just that. He hit the speed-dial list and held the phone up where they could see it. “That is the personal, home, number of the Georgian Undersecretary of State for Military Affairs, Vladimir Svirska. Would you like me to hit Send?” he asked, hovering his finger over the button.
“No,” the policeman in the lead said, holding up both hands. “Not a problem.”
“I was on a medical emergency,” Mike said. “You might talk to the guard and explain to him the term ‘medical emergency.’ I will now go move my car so that ambulances can pull up.”
“Are you okay?” Mike said, sitting down by Lydia. He’d sent Genadi off with some money to arrange a hotel room with instructions to get a suite at the Hilton. Be damned if he was going to stay in any fleabag.