“I don’t want to know, but I have to ask. At the dacha, did Kosyk make it?”
“We couldn’t find him.”
“We left him on the riverbank.”
“The search was extensive, including the river itself. We have little doubt General Kosyk is alive.”
Summer was surprised at the almost-VIP treatment, given the KGB’s reputation. They slapped him around, but seemed careful not to break any bones. He was more worried about how Faith was holding up. He guessed he had been there nearly twenty-four hours when the interrogators were summoned away.
An Amazon ill at ease in her polyester businesswoman’s suit and a man in a US Army uniform entered the room. A guard accompanied them and unlocked the handcuffs that were eating into Summer’s flesh.
“I’m Colonel Holton Wilson, military attaché to the American embassy.” The colonel spoke with a nondescript Midwestern accent. His skin was pasty white. “Chris Goldfarb is our deputy consul and legal eagle. We’d like to talk to you about what happened. We’ve heard the Russian version, but we want to get it from you straight. Chris will do everything she can to get you out of here and home as soon as possible.”
An hour later, a squat nurse dressed in a white smock and hat that would have been more at home on a French chef escorted Faith into her lavish Soviet suite. The two rooms had furniture that would have made an American roadside motel proud. Although the plaid fabrics of the overstuffed love seat didn’t match the swirls of the boxy sofa, the reds almost didn’t clash. Clusters of tinted glass globes hung from the ceiling like a lost high school science project. Obligatory pictures of Lenin adorned the walls, reminding the guest who was really footing the bill.
“Put these on and Doctor Rukovsky will be with you soon.” The nurse tossed a hospital gown and worn terry-cloth robe at Faith with the hallmark courtesy of the Soviet service industry.
“I don’t need a doctor, just a shower, some sleep and Commander Summer.” Faith dropped the clothes on the bed, grateful it was a regular double mattress and not a hospital bed with rails. She walked into the bathroom, hoping to lose the nurse, but she followed her.
The edge of the dry wall was a good half-inch shy of the corner. The rod of the shower curtain was higher on one side, but it did nicely parallel the slope in the bathroom tiles. The finest of Soviet toiletries were arranged on the bathroom vanity. Faith was happy for anything resembling a toothbrush.
“You’re not allowed to have visitors, not even other patients.”
“So Summer-Commander Summer-is here now?”
“You should be honored that Doctor Rukovsky is admitting you herself. The last time I remember the head of the clinic doing an intake exam was when we had Brezhnev’s wife here and the chief was trying to get a new wing written into the next five-year plan.” The nurse picked her nose and rubbed her hand on her smock. “We’ve never had an American here before. From the looks of you, you need a thorough workup. Those circles under your eyes tell me you need a vitamin B injection.”
“Keep your needles away from me. Now if you don’t mind…”
“Get undressed now. Put on the gown and I’ll bring the doctor in to see you.” The nurse stood in the bathroom doorway, gawking at Faith like a zookeeper observing a new arrival.
The pipes clanked when Faith turned on the shower. She pulled off her shirt, dropping it to the floor. “You can either leave me in peace or make yourself useful and scrub my back. If you decide to stay, make sure you wash your hands first.”
Faith caught herself on the shower wall as she nearly collapsed from fatigue. She washed off the last patch of soap from her forearm and turned off the water. She wrapped herself in a towel, staggered to the bed and collapsed. Within moments of her head finding its way to the pillow, Dr. Rukovsky entered the room.
The gentle middle-aged woman examined Faith as quickly as she could and prescribed fluids, food and rest. She agreed the X-ray of her ribs could wait until after she had gotten some sleep. When Faith asked about Zara and Summer, she was ordered to rest-she could socialize later. The doctor instructed the nurse to dress the cut on her hand. By the time she finished cleaning the glass slivers from the cut, Faith was too wired to sleep.
When the nurse left the room, she waited long enough for her to return to her station and pulled on the gown and robe. She stood and the blood drained from her head. Light-headed or not, she was going to find Summer. She pushed down on the door latch. It was locked.
Faith stumbled back to the bed and flopped onto it in defeat. Her eyes drifted shut.
Something brushed against her cheek and she thought she was dreaming when she smelled Summer’s familiar scent. He perched on the bed beside her. The beard that had grown over the past few days had been shaven away, and so had the stubble on his head. He was again as bald as Khrushchev, but much sexier.
“I lifted a couple medical instruments that made great lockpicks.” He stroked her hair.
“You know I love how resourceful you are.”
As she raised her head toward him, he slipped his fingers behind her neck, supporting her head until their lips met.
“God, I’ve missed you so much,” Faith said. “I lo-”
The door flew open and the nurse charged inside. “What is going on here? Back to your room, now!” She pointed to the door.
Summer sprang away from Faith out of old habit.
Faith sat up in the bed and said in Russian, “Commander Summer is my fiancé and we’re guests of Mr. Gorbachev, so I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes when we tell him how you treated us. Leave!”
The nurse snorted, stomped away and slammed the door.
“Did you tell her what I think?”
Faith gazed into Summer’s bloodshot green eyes. “I told her I was going to cheat history.”
“You did not. What’d you say?” He smiled as his eyes followed along the lines of her face. “You know, you get more beautiful every time I look at you.”
“I told her you were my fiancé.” Her face relaxed into a soft smile. “And you know, I like the way I felt when I said that. It’s been a long time, but then I am pretty damn tired, so I might be delirious and getting nostalgic.”
“I know how you can keep saying it.”
She drew him to her and kissed him. “Make love to me. It’s been too long.” Faith pulled him on top of her, but immediately wiggled out from under him because of the pain from her ribs.
They had slept almost a day when the nurse waddled into the room, clapping her hands. Summer jerked the sheets up to cover them. They watched the sudden flurry as four deliverymen followed the nurse, carrying garment bags and boxes. A young woman placed a mahogany jewelry case on the dresser while deliverymen filled the wardrobe. Faith thought she recognized one of the dresses from the GUM shop. The smell of fresh coffee and cooked eggs filled the suite as a woman dressed in a chef’s jacket set the table in the adjoining room.
“Eat, clean yourselves up and get dressed. Someone is going to be here in three hours to pick you up, and I’m supposed to deliver you looking your best,” the nurse said in Russian, her damning eyes glaring at them. “You know, this is never allowed here. I don’t know what possessed the director to tolerate this.”
“What’s happening?” Faith sat up in bed, careful to pull the covers around her.
“Doctor Rukovsky is taking care of the pass herself, so I know you’re not being discharged. You have appointments in our salon in an hour for hairstyling, manicures and facials.”