by Paul Blake
‘Alec?’ Claudia.
‘Uncle Alec?’ Sara.
‘…’ He blinked a few times to clear his eyes. He licked his lips with no saliva. A drink? The women smothered him in their tears, he could feel his own running down his cheeks joining with theirs, then down his neck onto the sheets. They stayed like that for as long as they needed. Sara broke off first, then Claudia, with a kiss to his forehead. Alec’s eyes had adjusted to the light, and he looked at the two women in his life with fresh, albeit red-rimmed, eyes. Sara, her brown hair up in her travelling pony-tail style, her blue eyes clear and sparkling. Claudia had her blonde hair in a similar style, Alec enjoyed the look it gave to the shape of her face. Her blue eyes were bloodshot, a knot of concern between her eyebrows.
‘Can I get you anything Uncle Alec?’
‘…’ Water. He coughed.
‘A drink?’ He nodded his head.
‘I’ll be back in a sec,’ she rushed off out of his field of vision.
‘It’s good to have you back, my darling.’
‘…’ You are a vision. He smiled. Alec decided that wasn’t enough and waggled his eyebrows. He could feel tightness all around his face.
‘Oh, Alec!’ Claudia’s voice broke.
Sara returned with a cup of water and a straw. She put the straw to his lips.
‘The doctor said you could have only a little bit.’
Alec sucked on the straw and felt the cool relief of water hitting the inside of his lips, his gums, his tongue. He fought the impulse to suck harder and slowly wetted all areas of his mouth.
‘T…t…thanks,’ he said. His voice a scratchy whisper.
‘It’s good to have you back, Uncle Alec. I was so worried.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ she scolded him with a smile.
He looked at Claudia, ‘my arms. Can’t move ‘em.’
She looked down at the bed. ‘They’re strapped down. Try wiggling your fingers.’
Alec strained and attempted the movement.
‘They’re moving. Can you feel anything?’
‘I can.’ The relief he felt was almost as great as the shame of his panic. He could feel his cheeks burning.
Claudia looked at him, ‘you don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s an easy mistake to make. You have three broken ribs, they are strapped up, that might make it hard to breathe—’
‘—Just seeing you does that,’ Alec said.
‘Nice line, Uncle Alec. Very smooth,’ Sara said.
‘May I continue?’ Claudia said, sounding put-out but looking pleased with what he had said. ‘Your ribs are strapped up; your arms were as well to stop you moving in your sleep and damaging the ribs further. The bullet wound on your arm has become infected, the doctor found pieces of toilet roll in there. I’m not going to ask. Your back is very badly bruised, as are your arms and legs. Your face...’ Her voice caught, she coughed. ‘Your face, well, your nose is broken and splinted to straighten it out, you have deep cuts on your cheeks that might scar, but the doctors said there are things they can do to try to minimise that.’
‘That’ll be from the baton he was waving around. So, you’re saying I look a mess. But, at least I’m not paralysed.’
‘More water Uncle?’
Sara brought the cup to his mouth again. He drank carefully.
‘I’m so glad you’re ok, Uncle.’
‘I’m not sure how ok I am, but at least I’m here with my two most favourite people in the world.’
‘You’re so soppy sometimes. Especially for a grumpy old man.’ She reached down for a gentle hug and then sat back on the chair.
‘Sara, could you give Claudia and me some time? We need to talk about what happened.’
‘Of course, Uncle Alec. I’ll let you and Aunty Claudia “Talk”.’ She held her hands up and performed an air quote gesture. She laughed as she stood up, noticed her book on the floor and picked it up. ‘I’ll go and read this in the visiting room. The chairs there are comfier there anyway.’
‘I’ll come and get you when we’re finished,’ Claudia said.
‘Thanks, Aunty.’ She left the room.
‘So, my dear, what happened? I remember Olegovich smashing my face into the floor, but after that there’s nothing.’
Claudia sat on the bed next to him, she reached for his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.
‘When you didn’t turn up at Mustapha’s kebab, we went to your flat thinking you’d fallen asleep. Your front door was partially open, and there was blood on the landing. Peter and Sara waited, and I went inside to see if you were still there. I was so scared something had happened to you. I couldn’t breathe. I checked all the rooms, the tv was left on in the living room, but obviously, you weren’t there. So, I called Control and got them to trace your phone.’
‘You’re going to have to stop doing that, you know. It’s a terrible invasion of my privacy.’
‘Shut up, darling,’ she smiled. ‘Anyway, they traced you to the apartment building on Friedenstraße. They were very surprised when their system flagged the building was owned by the Russians. Our security team picked me up, and we headed to the building. Only one of the apartments had its lights on so we forced entry to the main entrance and headed up there. The security team burst the door open, and we entered. Immediately we saw you were out cold, covered in blood. I thought you were dead. Oh my god, you looked awful. Olegovich went to slam your head into the floor, and I shot him. I checked you for a pulse and… here we are.’ Tears ran down her face.
‘You saved my life. You know that, don’t you? Without you there he would have killed me. I’ll never forget that.’ I wish I could move my arms. I want to hold her so badly.
‘Why was he trying to kill you? Wasn’t he told you didn’t kill Jaromir?’
‘It was nothing to do with Jaromir. I killed his pathetic father, years ago. He was avenging him.’
‘You killed his father?’
‘Yeah,’ Alec frowned. ‘He was the Russian that killed Stefanie in ’89, I told you about that the other day. How long have I been in here anyway?’
‘Four days.’
Alec whistled, ‘I’ve never had so much sleep. Thanks to you it wasn’t permanent. Where was I? Oh yes, Oleg Konstantinovich was his name. I never knew it. He died in 2007. Olegovich was convinced it was because I shot his father eighteen years previously. He blamed me for his shitty upbringing and shitty father.’
‘How do you feel about that?’
‘I don’t think I’ll lose any sleep over it. Stefanie was special. Almost as special as you. She didn’t deserve to die at his hands. How about you? You’re the one that killed Olegovich.’
‘I feel fine, it was either him or you,’ she shrugged. ‘It was no contest.’
‘I was expecting you to tell me it was a hard choice, that you agonised over it before tossing a coin.’
‘I’m not in a teasing mood,’ she smiled. ‘I think it must be the odour coming from you, I’m not sure you were cleaned off before they put you in that bed.’ She waved her hand in front of her nose.
‘Well, luckily for me you’re here to give me a sponge bath.’
Claudia laughed and shook her head. ‘If you’re well enough to think about stuff like that I think you’re well enough to do it yourself.’
‘Spoilsport.’
Claudia stuck her tongue out at him. The door to the room opened, and a doctor and nurse entered.
‘Herr Foster, it is good to see you awake finally. We are going to run some tests to determine the extent of your injuries.’
‘I’ll go and join Sara, we’ll be back in a bit,’ Claudia said. She squeezed Alec’s hand. ‘It’s so good to have you back with us.’ She bent down and kissed his forehead. She stood up, gave his hand another squeeze and left the room. Alec followed her with his eyes. A tear came to the corner of his eye, hung around for a few seconds and then trickled down his cheek. You are a lucky man, Alec, don’t ever forget that
.
‘So, Herr Doktor, how long am I going to be stuck here?’
◆◆◆
‘Have you got what I asked?’ Alec asked Claudia as she came into the hospital room. Her hair was damp, and there were rain streaks on her coat. Alec was sitting in the chair beside the bed. The Gone-Away World book from his apartment in his hands. Sara had picked it up for him, along with some of his clothes, before she had left to go back to England.
‘Yes, I’ve got it.’ She held up her handbag. ‘Are you sure you want to do this alone? You’ve been in here for two weeks now. You haven’t been anywhere apart from a walk to the bathroom and the occasional jaunt down the corridor to the hospital shop.’ She sat on the arm of his chair. Alec wrapped an arm around her narrow waist.
‘I’m sure. It’s not that I don’t want you there. I don’t want to go anywhere without you. She’s part of Stefan’s world. I’m not sure the fact I’ve been lying to her for twenty years would go down very well. Especially if I turn up with a supermodel on my arm.’
‘You old smoothie.’ She smiled. ‘So, you’re keeping Stefan going?’
‘Yeah, he’s like an old friend now, I’ve had enough of letting them go. Did Sara get away alright?’
‘Yes, I dropped her and Peter off at "Alex" as you guys call it. They are very much in love you know. Peter is a lovely young man.’
‘Has he decided what he’s going to do? I think he’s gone off the idea of corporate lawyering. His heart was never fully in it.’
‘He did mention something about maybe looking at joining the service in some capacity, especially now he can get the hero who saved the Prime Minister’s life and solved the murder of one of the Heads of the SVR to recommend him.’
‘What me? I think he over-estimates any influence I may have.’
‘You’d be surprised, you’ve been stuck in here since the incident. There is talk about you taking Arthur’s spot. He won’t be needing it.’
‘It’s a shame they took away the death penalty for treason.’
‘What about the job?’
‘We’ll see, I may have to decline and visit the distilleries of Europe. There’s a woman who would be a better candidate anyway. Smart and clever, it’s hard to be both, you know. Popular within the whole Berlin office, has all the right connections, well, apart from a strange affection towards a trampy partner, and is smoking hot too.’
Claudia blushed. ‘I was going to go with you on your imbibing tour, remember.’
‘Like I said, we’ll see. If I’m the hero you said people are saying, I’ll have some influence over both your careers. I’m too old for a promotion, and if you remember I didn’t handle the last one very well.’
‘Well, that’s true. You were awful.’
‘Thanks, Your Royal Bluntness,’ he laughed. ‘We’ll talk about it later. Shall I meet you at yours or do you want to go to mine?’
‘I’ve seen the state of your place. Do you even own a vacuum?’
‘So, yours it is, then. I’ll be there around ten. If I’m late, you have my permission to track my phone.’
‘I wasn’t going to ask. I think I’ll be keeping tabs on you until you’re back to full strength and even then…’
Alec took her hand, ‘It’s over now. Nothing will come between us again.’
Claudia bent her head down and kissed him soundly. ‘I hope so. You better go now, it’ll take you a while to get there with your cane.’
‘I was thinking of leaving it. I’m not that old that I need a cane.’
‘You do need it. It’s just temporary to give you and your back support after all the abuse it took recently. Think of it as a sword, you can be Errol Flynn swashbuckling your way through the Berlin public transport system.’
‘That does sound attractive. I think I’ll be Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride instead though.’ The famous line from the film came to Alec’s mind: “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Maybe not.
Alec moved closer to the edge of the chair, and Claudia stood up to give him room. He placed his hands on the arms of the chair to support himself as he stood up. He reached for the cane beside the chair and his book and placed them on the bed. He walked over to the coat hooks and took down his recently laundered trenchcoat. The act of lifting his arms was far less painful than it had been a few days before. Claudia came over and helped him into it. She straightened his tie and fussed with his hair. She went over to the bed and collected his cane and book and handed them to him. Alec slipped the book into the coat pocket and gave the cane a few swings.
‘En garde!’ He put himself in a fencing pose and prodded Claudia gently with the tip of the cane. She shook her head.
‘One of these days you’ll grow up.’
‘Not if I have my way. Shall we go my fair maiden?’ He bowed stiffly and held his arm out for her to take.
They walked arm in arm through the hospital, Alec’s free hand getting used to the cane. The rubberised tip making the occasional squeak on the highly polished floor. They took the Große Hamburger Straße exit. The rain had ceased, the cobbled pavement was slick with water.
‘Watch your step,’ Claudia warned. ‘What station do you want to go to?’
‘You need the Hackescher Markt station, the S7. So, I’ll drop you off there and get the tram from Monbijouplatz to Alex and then hop on the U2 to Nollendorfplatz.’
‘How do you know this off the top of your head? It’s incredible really.’
‘Some people collect stamps or shoes, I collect public transportation routes. It’s served me well in the past and especially recently.’
‘That’s true. I can’t believe you ran from the Cathedral to Hausvogteiplatz station. I walked it the other day to see how far it was. I didn’t think you had it in you.’
‘Me neither, to be honest.’
They walked south along Große Hamburger Straße past the Jewish Memorial Cemetery and the Magicum – Berlin’s magic museum – opposite, down to the Sixties diner on the corner with Oranienburger Straße, they followed the road round to the right, to Monbijouplatz.
‘Is that your tram stop?’ Claudia asked.
‘Yeah, I’ll walk you to the station though, it’s just down here.’
They walked down Monbijouplatz, with the Monbijou Park to their right, the trees bare and forbidding with the grey blanket over the sky and chill air. A couple of minutes later they walked under the bridge supporting train tracks, the thunderous rumble of a train passing above them echoed around them. They came out onto Kleine Präsidentenstraße. Alec could see the Berliner Dom ahead of them. Didn’t I come this way with Mihael? He felt no pity for the man. He killed Jaromir, kidnapped Sara and was going to kill me. He got what he deserved.
‘The hero returns to the place of his victory.’ Claudia said.
‘I was just thinking that, but not the hero or the victory part. It seems so long ago. We go to the left, away from the cathedral.’
They went along Henriette-Herz-Platz. It felt strange retracing the steps he took with Mihael, past the eateries under the station. He held Claudia tighter as they passed the BBQ Kitchen restaurant. They soon came to the entrance of the Hackescher Markt station. They stopped outside, Claudia gave Alec a hug, and they kissed passionately.
‘I’ll see you soon,’ Alec said.
‘You better.’ She turned to walk away, stopped and reached into her handbag. ‘You’ll need this won’t you?’ She took out a beige envelope wrapped in a brick shape. She handed it to him. He put it in his pocket, the other one to his book.
‘Thanks, I forgot about that.’
‘I do worry about you. Old age making you lose your marbles, the bangs to your head wouldn’t have helped.’
‘I love you too.’ Alec kissed her on her cheek. She smiled and turned. She walked into the station, twice looking back at him standing there; he watched her go and resisting the urge to join her. As much as it pains me when we part, I do like watching her leave. I m
ust do this though.
33
Alec turned to walk back to the Monbijouplatz tram stop but changed his mind. Alexanderplatz is only ten minutes away. I’ll walk it. I hate backtracking on myself. Alec continued along Henriette-Herz-Platz, turned left onto An der Spandauer Brücke, ducked under the bridge this side of the station and turned right onto Dircksenstraße. He followed the curve of the road as it ran parallel to the train tracks. Passed the restaurants all along the road, under the tracks. Doesn’t the noise of the train or the vibrations disturb the ambience? He could see the Fernsehturm tower poking out over the tracks, watching over East Berlin. The station was very close to the tower. He remembered taking Sara up to the viewing platform on one of her first trips to Berlin. She loved the view from up there so much they went back that night to see the city lit up. The road straightened, and he could see Alexanderplatz station in the near distance. He quickly crossed Karl-Libenicht Straße and walked, cane prodding the ground to the station. This is where Peter was when I spoke to him on the phone. Alec turned around and looked behind him. Mihael and the weightlifter’s car would have been parked there. A chill swept through him at the thought of Sara’s kidnapping. Mihael paid for it though.
He entered the station and headed to the U-bahn platform. He found it easily enough and stood at the platform and waited for the train. It didn’t take long. He pressed the button to open the doors and hobbled on. He sat near the door. The doors closed after their warning alarm and the train moved off. He passed all the stations he had the night Jaromir was killed. He didn’t fall asleep this time.
The train stopped at Bülowstraße, and Alec gathered his thoughts and put them away in a corner of his mind. The doors closed, and the train continued, passed the buildings with house-sized murals on them. I think I like street art. It’s better than graffiti, I’m not sure I understand it though. The sky was darker now, streetlights had switched on. The train slowed as it came up to Nollendorfplatz, and then stopped. Alec stood up, holding the edge of the seat partition for support. He leaned on his cane with his other hand. He stepped off the train as the doors began to beep and headed down the platform to the right. He walked with unaccustomed hesitancy. Hesitant about being knocked on his arse and hesitant about what was coming. He walked down the stairs to the ground floor, holding the bannister as he went, trying not to trip other travellers with his cane. He exited the station to the left.