“Sister, if you do not give me the information I need, someone will die before you can call security. Of that I can assure you.”
Nina caught her breath. What was he going to do? Even with her eyes wide open she had trouble seeing properly, so attempting to memorize his features was next to futile. It was best just to pretend she could not understand German and that she was too sedated to hear anything anyway.
“No. Do you think it is the first time a charlatan has attempted to intimidate me in my twenty-seven years as a medical professional? Get lost or I will pummel you myself,” Sister Barken threatened. The sister said nothing afterward, but Nina distinguished a mad scuffling after which it was alarmingly silent. She dared to turn her head. In the doorway the wall of a woman stood firm, yet the stranger had absconded.
“That was too easy,” Nina said under her breath, but played dumb for everyone’s sake. “Is that my doctor?”
“No, my dear,” Sister Barken replied. “And please, if you see him again, let me or any of the other staff know immediately.” She looked very annoyed, but showed no fear whatsoever as she joined Nina at her bed again. “They should bring in the new patient within the next day. They have stabilized him for now. But don’t worry, he is under heavy sedation. He will not be a disturbance to you.”
“How long will I still be confined here?” Nina asked. “And don’t say until I’m well.”
Sister Barken chuckled. “You tell me, Dr. Gould. You have everyone amazed at your ability to fight infection and have exhibited borderline supernatural healing capacity. Are you some sort of vampire?”
The nursing sister’s humor was most welcome. It cheered Nina to know that there were still individuals with some wonderment. But what she could not relay even to the most open-minded, was that her uncanny ability to heal came from a blood transfusion she had undergone years ago. At the gates of death Nina was saved by the blood of an especially wicked nemesis, an actual remnant of Himmler’s experimentations to create a super-human, a wonder weapon. Her name had been Lita and she was a monster with powerful blood indeed.
“Maybe the damage was not as profuse as the doctors initially thought,” Nina replied. “Besides, if I’m healing so well, why am I going blind?”
Sister Barken caringly laid her hand on Nina’s forehead. “Maybe it is just symptomatic of your electrolyte imbalance or your insulin levels, my dear. I am sure your sight will become clearer soon. Don’t worry. If you keep going as you are now, you will be out of here soon.”
Nina hoped the lady’s assumption was right, because she needed to find Sam and ask about Purdue. She needed a new phone as well. Until then, she would just check the news for anything on Purdue, as he was arguably famous enough to make the news in Germany. Even though he had tried to kill her, she hoped he was okay — wherever he was.
“Did the man who brought me in…did he say he would return at all?” Nina inquired about Detlef Holtzer, an acquaintance she had wronged before he rescued her from Purdue and the devil’s veins under the infamous Reactor 4 in Chernobyl.
“No, we have not heard from him since,” Sister Barken admitted. “Not a boyfriend in any capacity, was he?”
Nina smiled in reminiscence of the sweet, misunderstood bodyguard who had helped her, Sam and Purdue locate the famed Amber Room before things fell apart in the Ukraine. “Not a boyfriend,” she smiled at the hazy image of the nursing sister. “A widower.”
Chapter 4 — Charm
“How is Nina?” Purdue asked Sam as they vacated the bed-less room with Purdue’s coat and a small valise as baggage.
“Detlef Holtzer had her admitted to a hospital in Heidelberg. I am planning to drop in on her in a week or so,” Sam whispered as he checked the hallway. “Good thing Detlef is the forgiving type, or else your ass would be haunting Pripyat by now.”
Looking first left and right, Sam motioned for his friend to follow him to the right where he was heading for the stairs. They heard voices in discussion coming up to the landing. Hesitating for a moment, Sam stopped and pretended to be embroiled in a conversation on his phone.
“They are not agents of Satan, Sam. Come on,” Purdue sniggered, pulling Sam by his sleeve past the two cleaners that were chatting about trivialities. “They don’t even know I’m a patient. For all they know, you’re my patient.”
“Mr. Purdue!” a woman called from behind, strategically interrupting Purdue’s statement.
“Keep walking,” Purdue muttered.
“Why?” Sam teased loudly. “They think I’m your patient, remember?”
“Sam! For God’s sake, keep walking,” Purdue insisted, only vaguely amused by Sam’s juvenile interjection.
“Mr. Purdue, please stop right there. I need to have a word with you,” the woman reiterated. He stopped with a sigh of defeat and turned to face the attractive lady. Sam cleared his throat. “Please tell me that is your doctor, Purdue. Because…well, she can brainwash me any day.”
“It appears she already has,” Purdue mumbled with a sharp look to his associate.
“I have not had the pleasure,” she smiled as she met eyes with Sam.
“Would you like to?” Sam asked, receiving a mighty elbow from Purdue.
“Excuse me?” she asked as she joined them.
“He’s a bit shy,” Purdue lied. “He must learn to speak up, I’m afraid. He must seem so rude, Melissa. I’m sorry.”
“Melissa Argyle.” She smiled as she introduced herself to Sam.
“Sam Cleave,” he said plainly, keeping track of Purdue’s surreptitious signals in his peripheral. “Are you Mr. Purdue’s…”Mindfucker?
“…attending psychologist?” Sam asked, keeping his thoughts locked safely away.
Coyly she scoffed amusedly. “No! Oh, no. I wish I had such authority. I am just the head of administration here at Sinclair, ever since Ella went on maternity leave.”
“So you will be leaving in three months?” Sam feigned regret.
“I’m afraid so,” she replied. “But it will be okay. I have a freelance position at Edinburgh University as an assistant, or advisor, to the Dean of Psychology.”
“Do you hear that, Purdue?” Sam marveled a bit too much. “She is stationed at Fort Edinburgh! It’s a small world. I haunt the place too, but mostly for information when I research my assignments.”
“Ah yes,” Purdue smiled. “I know where she is — stationed.”
“Who do you think got me this position?” she swooned and looked at Purdue with immense adoration. Sam could not let the opportunity for mischief slip by.
“Oh, he did? You old scoundrel, Dave! Helping talented, budding academics into positions even when you do not get publicity for it and all. Isn’t he just the best, Melissa?” Sam praised his friend, not fooling Purdue at all, but Melissa was convinced of his sincerity.
“I owe Mr. Purdue so much,” she chirped. “I just hope he knows how much I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, he gave me this pen.” The back of her pen rolled left to right across her dark rose lipstick as she subconsciously flirted, her yellow locks barely covering her hard nipples that strained through her beige cardigan.
“I’m sure that pen appreciates your efforts too,” Sam said plainly.
Purdue looked ashen, screaming in his mind for Sam to shut up. The blond woman stopped sucking her pen immediately, realizing what she was doing. “How do you mean, Mr. Cleave?” she asked sternly. Sam was unfazed.
“I mean that pen would appreciate your efforts in signing Mr. Purdue out in a few minutes,” Sam smiled confidently. Purdue could not believe it. Sam was busy using his freak talent on Melissa to get her to do what he wished, he realized at once. Trying not to smile at the journalist’s audacity, he kept his expression agreeable.