Here and Now

by Blake Haugen

  Persephone rolled her eyes and dug through her bag until she found her keys. She pointed out which one opened her apartment door and handed them over. Max entered the waiting area from the isolated hall.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked.

  “You speak English now?” Persephone raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  “I speak English well now,” Max replied with a lighter accent than she remembered.

  “See, Persephone, I told you things have changed. You and Vanya don’t have to skulk around anymore. It’s a new age. Max, watch her. Make sure she stays here. I’m going on a supply run.”

  Yulian went to the elevators without a backward glance. Max shrugged his shoulders and guided Persephone back into Vanya’s hall. She took a deep breath and concentrated on the light emanating from his room at the far end. When Vanya woke up, she was going to be there to face the new age.

  ☐

  Vanya woke up slowly. It was dark. He could hear the low hum of a television above him. It was playing a movie – not one he recognized. Then he felt the pain.

  He tried to breathe through it, but it hurt so much. He hadn’t ever felt anything quite like it. Somehow, through the pain he began to remember. Last night, the deal, Persephone, Victorovich and Peng, and the German bastard that shot him; but more than anything, there was the pain.

  “Please,” Vanya tried to whisper. His voice was cracked and faint. He had to swallow a few times to increase his volume. “Please, it hurts so much.”

  Lina was suddenly above him. This was familiar. He remembered her face floating above him before now. He repeated his plea and she disappeared. He vaguely realized she was leaving the room – his hospital room. She came back seconds later with a nurse who touched some machines. He implored her to hurry up whatever she was doing with his eyes. The agony continued for a minute more, but then it began to fade. He felt like he could breathe again. Relaxed, he took stock of his surroundings.

  A hospital. Fuck. He imagined his name and ‘gunshot wound’ in the headlines and thought of the damage control he’d have to do. Investors were shaken at the slightest provocation. Handling them wouldn’t be fun while he was getting over his injury. Yulian was asleep in a chair across from his bed. As always, Max stood in the corner.

  “Vanya, is it better now?” Lina asked gently and rubbed his hand.

  “Yes,” he murmured. “Can you turn the television off?”

  “Yes, of course.” Lina moved to the control that lay beside his hand and clicked a button. The silence that followed was relieving. Only the whir of the machines hooked up to him could be heard.

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s four a.m.”

  “Sunday morning?”

  “No, no. Monday morning.”

  “How bad is it?”

  “Dr. Vance and Eva said you’re fine. There was little vascular injury, you were treated soon after the injury, and you lost blood, but not too much. They said you’re basically the luckiest shot up man they’ve ever seen. The recovery is going to be a while.”

  Vanya winced. This was such a setback. He had plans for the coming weeks that were completely dashed now. He’d been so eager to speak with Persephone and felt cheated out it. He turned his head from Lina on his pillow.

  A man stood in the hallway outside his door. Vanya could only see his shoulder and assumed he was watching over the room. Beyond the guard, someone lay down on a bench with a pillow and blanket. The silhouette under the blanket looked like a woman. She shuffled every so often, obviously asleep. His curiosity piqued, Vanya asked Lina to show him how to raise himself up.

  He almost regretted it. The movement of the bed raising his torso brought back some of the stabs of pain he felt earlier. The tube feeding oxygen into his nose shoved upward and tape pulled at the large bandage that spanned from his chest to his navel. What he saw made all the hurt worth it.

  “Percy!” he croaked. Trying to reach out to her proved futile. His arm was weighed down with IVs and pulse oximeters.

  “Shh, shh,” Lina soothed. She dabbed a towel at his head. “She’s here. She’s not going anywhere. She came after you when you finished your little field trip to her place. Just rest right now. You’ll talk when she wakes up.”

  Vanya’s eyes stayed on Persephone. She looked so sweet and peaceful as she slept. He wanted to sleep, too. Given the circumstances, this was as close as they could get. He watched her squirm around on her bench until his fatigue and the drugs took over.

  The second time Vanya woke up was much easier. The sun was going down. The light in the room was soft and everything was tinged with orange and yellow. Persephone sat in the chair reading a book were Yulian had been before. She had changed clothes. Before she was wearing a jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket. Now she donned a gorgeous white fit-and-flare dress, covered in black and white roses. Due to the dress’ short, thin sleeves, the beautiful brown skin of her neck and arms were exposed and illuminated.

  “Come here,” he called out to her.

  She stood immediately and dropped the book in the chair. Persephone rushed to him, but to Vanya it felt like forever before her hands covered his. She smiled down at him and tears spilled down her cheeks. He vaguely registered that his sister, Max, and Yulian were leaving the room. The only thing that mattered at the moment were Persephone’s pink lips kissing the hand she held.

  “I love you, sweetpea,” he managed to say. Vanya realized he was crying, too. He tried to stop because it hurt, but Persephone’s next words made that impossible.

  “I love you, too. So much,” she shuddered through sobs.

  “I missed you.”

  “Oh, god, Vanya. I missed you, too. You have no idea how much.”

  “Percy, I want you stay here. I need you to stay with me. Promise you’ll stay.”

  “I promise.” She let go and moved to the chair she’d been sitting in. She moved it to his bedside near the monitors and dumped her book on the bed by his feet.

  They sat there staring at one another for a few minutes. Vanya luxuriated in her caresses. Ironically, there in that hospital room, he felt peace for the first time in years.

  “How did you find me after I left your apartment?” he asked.

  “I called Timothy and offered to trade him the intelligence I had if he found you and helped you.”

  Vanya stiffened at the mention of the man’s name. “Are you two seeing each other?”

  “No. No way. What gave you that idea?”

  “He was in contact with you while you were in Geneva.”

  “How did you figure that out?”

  “Timothy came to me months ago. He knew I’d been hunting Trask discreetly and he asked for my assistance in luring him out of the shadows. We took him down after you arrived last week. He’s in federal custody and he won’t bother us ever again.”

  Persephone’s eyes filled with tears again and she averted them. “You’d – you did that for me?”

  “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Don’t you know that by now?” Vanya answered. “There’s no one for me but you. It’s always going to be that way.”

  Persephone nodded frantically, still refusing to look at him. Her sobs grew harder and Vanya tried to raise himself to no avail. At his grunt of pain, Persephone moved to stop him.

  “No, don’t move, Vanya. Just rest. They said you shouldn’t talk too much anyway.”

  “Then stop crying. Why are you crying?

  “Because I’m so stupid.”

  “What? No! Why would you think that?”

  “I shouldn’t have ever held back from you. I wasted so much time. If that bullet had – had done more damage… I don’t know. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”

  “Hey, hey, come here. Kiss me.” Vanya strained his arm to hold his hand to the back of her head as their lips met. Her mouth was the best thing he’d tasted since he’d landed in this bed. He was reluctant to let her go, but the pain in his arm was insistent. He let it fa
ll to the bed and whispered when Persephone pulled back.

  “But it didn’t do more damage. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. In fact, we never have to be apart again. I want to get married. Today.”

  “Vanya!” Persephone burst out with a laugh. She looked at him indulgently and moved some hair from his brow. “Babe, you’re so drugged up right now. We’ll talk about it when you’re up and walking and eating.”

  “I’m not drugged up! Well…” he frowned after Persephone set him with a leveled look, “I am, but I’m serious about what I want.”

  “Vanya, you say that now, but I’ve been away. I – I don’t know. I’m not the same. I don’t want to let you down.”

  Vanya saw her fear for what it was and squeezed her hand for emphasis. “Percy, I don’t care about what you’ve done or who you’ve done. Do you hold the last four years apart against me?”

  “No way!”

  “Then don’t insult me by thinking I’d do that to you. I’m dead serious, babe. I’ve had a long time to think about this. Here, I’ll show you. Yuli!”

  Yulian popped in the room a second later. He smiled to see Vanya awake and shouting for him. “Hey coz, you look good! I mean, as good as you can given the circumstances. You look way better than you did yesterday.”

  Vanya grinned at Yulian’s failed attempt at a compliment. “Thanks, man. Thank you. Do you think you can get my wallet? I have something in there for Persephone.”

  “Yeah, sure. One sec.” Yulian moved to the closet on the other side of the bed. After digging through a chocolate leather duffle bag, he pulled out a thin croc-stamped wallet and handed it to Vanya. He took a step back from the bed and waited patiently before he realized Vanya was looking at him expectantly.

  “Oh! Um, I’ll just step out. You guys just call us when you’re ready.”

  Vanya chuckled when he left and then stopped abruptly because he realized that hurt too. Persephone noticed his discomfort immediately. She made to adjust his pillows, but Vanya stopped her.

  “No, no, babe. Just listen to me for a sec.” He opened the wallet with the hand that wasn’t holding Persephone’s. He was thankful for the convenience of holding her left hand when he pulled the engagement ring from the smallest pocket in the wallet and placed it on her finger. For years he had wondered what that pear-cut sapphire would look like on her little finger. Now that the time had come, he was greatly pleased.

  “Vanya,” Persephone breathed out. Her hand shook in his. Her eyes were fixed on the stone and its brilliance.

  “The sapphire is from Montana and the diamonds are from Russia. I’ve had this with me everyday since Victorovich and Peng made it four and a half years ago. Nothing and no one is ever going to come between us again. Those aren’t drugs talking – it’s me. I want you to marry me.”

  Persephone produced tissue and wiped her eyes. “But shouldn’t we wait? I mean, it’s been an insane two days.”

  “After tonight? How could you possibly want to wait another moment? Nothing, absolutely nothing has changed. I am so in love with you and I want you to be my wife. Do you believe me? Do you trust in me?”

  “Yeah, I do. More than anything. But four years –”

  “Look at me. Four years. Four years is nothing to me. Make my dreams come true right now. I don’t care if you don’t feel the same way. Love will come again. I know it.”

  Persephone laughed through her tears. “As if! The love never left, Vanya. I love you so much,” she sighed and wiped her face again. “You know, I just thought of something. I was reading some travel article on Tel Aviv and this chef was talking about all the wonderful, crazy things that were happening in the food and cooking world or whatever. There was this one thing he said that really struck me. He said, ‘It’s like love. There’s no limit.’ Isn’t that amazing? There’s no limit to what I feel for you. It’s only grown and gotten stronger.”

  “So, that’s a yes?” Vanya pushed.

  “Yes, Vanya. That’s an unequivocal yes.” Persephone pulled his face forward for another kiss, but let go at his wince. She apologized against his lips, taking them slowly and tenderly. Vanya savored each taste and stopped when he was struck by an idea.

  “Let’s go there,” he proclaimed suddenly, grabbing her hands.

  “Where? Tel Aviv?”

  “Yeah, after rehab is done it can be our honeymoon or whatever. Two weeks there, two weeks somewhere else and then more until you’re ready to come back.”

  “What about your work? There’s a lot of things you have to talk to Lina about. There’s your father to worry about. There’s my work, too.”

  “Fuck it. I’ll figure it out. I just want to be gone with you, babe. Right now; hell, an hour ago. Okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Persephone nodded earnestly. She came back for a passionate kiss when Vanya beckoned her to him. She pulled away when he let out a puny chuckle.

  “What is it?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that this is not at all how I planned to propose to you. I was thinking a romantic daytrip or weekend getaway with wild fucking all day.” He didn’t stop when she guffawed and gently swatted his hand. “I mean it. Like, from the window to the wall. I had it all planned out. God help you when I get out of this bed, woman. You’re laughing now, but you’ll be screaming later.”

  Vanya called everyone back into the room, sure they were curious about all the raucous laughter. He tasked Max and Yulian with finding a priest or judge to accommodate them as soon as possible. Lina would be their witness.

  She and Persephone urged him to sleep now that everyone had complied with his wishes. Vanya was surprised at how tired he was. Sleep came easily because he had no worries. Persephone held his hand tight. She glowed in the light of the setting sun. Everything Vanya needed – everything he loved – was right in front of him.

  Epilogue

  October 6, 2019

  Persephone sat patiently in the passenger’s seat as Vanya drove them to their destination. He’d insisted on blindfolding her to show her his wedding present. Apparently they had to drive a bit to see it. Her present to him sat in a dainty, shiny chrome box topped with an array of silver bows and strings. She held the hat sized box in her lap. It was Vanya’s suggestion that they wait to exchange gifts until after their wedding reception. Although they’d signed civil certificates in Vanya’s hospital room in early July, they’d gone through a Russian Orthodox marriage yesterday with all their family and friends in attendance.

  It was a small, but luxurious wedding. They were married in the same church Lina and Austin were married in six years ago. The first reception, held the previous evening, was in a posh rooftop restaurant surrounded by other city buildings. They’d just left the breakfast reception on the Mariya, the yacht named for Vanya’s mother. It was Kirill’s present to them and the only communication they’d had with him since June.

  For his betrayal, Lina and Vanya used Timothy to wrest complete control of the Pravdin Group from their father. It turned out that the German firm was way ahead of the American government in CLTD development. Lina and Vanya completed their hostile takeover of the German company and signed an exclusive contract with the American government for weapons production and ongoing research. The disappearance of the two German men in the hangar went relatively unquestioned.

  For immunity from the charges Timothy wanted to pin on him, Kirill handed the vast majority of his fortune and control of the Pravdin Group to Lina and Vanya. As far as the press was concerned, he’d gracefully retired and gave his legacy to his heirs. He lived off a generous allowance as an ‘advisor’ to the Pravdin Group Board of Directors.

  Lina was in control as CEO, one of the youngest in the country at age thirty-seven. Vanya would remain an executive in development, Mikhail would stay with natural gas in Russia, and Yulian would take the helm in weapons contracting. He had the head for it and had proven himself over the past year.

  Persephone tried to put all that out of her mind. Vany
a was hers for six weeks. They left for Tel Aviv tomorrow. After that, they’d have two weeks in Prague, and then two weeks in Paris. Since she couldn’t take that long of a break from her new job, she broke her contract with the firm and resolved to look for something else when they came back. In another time, she would have considered something like that unthinkable. She couldn’t care less now. The important things were easy to see since she’d nearly lost them.

  “You’ve been pretty patient over there,” Vanya’s voice broke into her thoughts. She felt his hand massage her left shoulder. Since the accident, he’d had limited range of motion on the right side of his torso because of pain and damage to muscles. The bullet was removed from his back sixteen days after it had entered his body. The doctors chose to let him get over the trauma to his chest first before causing more trauma just to take the chunk of metal out. It had pleased Persephone to see Vanya’s drastic improvement over the last month. He was almost back to normal.

  “I’m just enjoying this,” she answered. “Being here with you in the car. There were times when I never thought I’d do this again. You could drive me around in circles all day and I’d still be happy.”

  Persephone felt his knuckles against her cheek and scrunched her shoulders. She knew his hands would travel to her ticklish neck next. Instead of his fingers against her neck, she felt the car some to a stop.

  “Stay there,” Vanya said. She heard him leave the car. Her door opened and she removed her seatbelt and reached for Vanya. Clutching the gift box, she let him lead her forward. Birds chirped in the chilly afternoon air. Gravel crunched under her feet. The whoosh of leaves alerted her to the surrounding trees.

  “Okay, now I’m not patient. Where are we?”

  “I guess you can take it off to see the outside first.”

  “See the outside…?” she repeated, removing the black silk eye mask. “Vanya, oh, my, god, I can’t believe this.”