Chapter 14

Will and Kostya were waiting at a table to meet Meredith in the hospital cafeteria during her three a.m. lunch break. Scanning the room, Kostya smiled when he saw her, even though she arrived five minutes late. She felt plain wearing blue scrubs over a long sleeved white tee and sneakers, but he looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Meredith made a beeline for the Starbucks stand, waving to them on her way, and when she sat down, she was happily sipping on a caramel latte. The place was deserted except for a few hospital staff picking over the cold case of sandwiches and salads, the only prepared food available from the cafeteria at this time. Will had promised something better, and she grinned widely when he opened a bag and unpacked a pint of tomato bisque and a grilled cheese on sourdough.

“I take it you stopped by the Washington Mans tonight,” Meredith said, referring to her parents’ house in Georgetown.

“I have to in order to get Mrs. Farley’s soup and grilled cheese,” Will said. “She said to tell you tomorrow night is cream of chicken and rice. She’ll keep it in the crockpot if you want to stop by after your shift.”

“She is the best.” Meredith took a bite of her sandwich dipped in the savory soup. “So, what do you guys need? It sounded important on the phone.” Her mouth full, she focused on Will and Kostya.

Will looked around them. The three of them sat in a corner of the room and were out of earshot of anyone else. “We have a proposition for you. TRUST needs your help. It may be outside of your comfort zone, but in the end, it will be for the greater good.”

“Okay,” Meredith said carefully, glancing at the empty tables around them. “Is this one of those, ‘I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you’ things?”

Kostya laughed, recognizing his line from last night. “Sort of, except this is ‘we’re going to tell you, but we may have to shoot anyone else you tell’.”

“Seriously?” Meredith rolled her eyes, sure that he was joking. She paused, waiting for the punchline but neither man spoke. “You’re serious?” She glanced at each of their somber expressions and immediately got nervous.

“Yeah, this is serious. Nuclear bomb serious,” Will said.

“You want me to be a spy?” She lifted her eyebrows incredulously. Nuh-uh. No way. No how. There was no way that she could do anything that might result in her torture or death.

“Not exactly a spy,” Will said. “We want you to do what you’ve done before and go into the Ukraine as a medical aid worker.”

“Okay…” Meredith sipped her coffee and eyed them suspiciously. “Where do the nuclear missiles come in?”

“You won’t be working any clinics this trip. You’ll be the front to get me to the silos again,” Kostya explained.

Meredith studied them, unconvinced. “You guys better have a good explanation and a better plan.”

Forty-five minutes later, the three of them sat with their heads close together and Meredith held her hands up for them to stop and listen to her.

“Let me just clarify what I’m hearing.” Meredith lowered her empty coffee cup and tapped the lid with her fingernail as she gathered her thoughts. “You want me to lead a medical aid group into the Ukraine as a front for getting Kostya in so TRUST can defuse bombs?”

“It’s not really defusing,” Kostya said with a crooked smile. “It’s more like disabling.”

“Okay, disabling.” Her eyes darted back and forth between the two men. “I don’t even know where to begin with the problems we’re going to face. I mean, let’s start with the basics. I am a resident in a busy hospital in Washington D.C. How am I going to get the time off work to go on this adventure?”

“Hannigan at INS is part of our team for getting papers and such. He’s friends with Dr. Singh and he’ll arrange things,” Will explained. “You’ll be doing a service for the country.”

“What about getting in to the Ukraine, especially with Kostya, who is a wanted man there?” Meredith asked.

“I’ll have a new identity,” he said. “Dr. Nichols says he can get me papers with any name I want. I’ll have medical credentials as well.”

“Will those papers keep you alive if you are discovered by Fire of Dawn?” Meredith whispered. “Will they keep me alive if I’m caught with you?”

Kostya’s eyes darkened with the suggestion of putting her in danger. Holding her eyes with his, he reached out and took her hand. “Meri, this is larger than you and me. This is Hiroshima times ten. Letting this happen is not an option. We have to do something.” His eyes searched hers, gently comforting her. “I didn’t choose to be in this position, but there’s no way I can turn my back on the problem. Too many lives are at stake.”

“I need time to think about this,” she said to Kostya and then directed at Will. “Can we talk again later?”

“Of course,” Will replied. “In the meantime, can we start drawing up some plans?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, start the plans.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to get back to work. Kostya, will you be home when I get back?”

“Yes. I’ll make some breakfast, too,” he offered.

“Okay. I’ll see you around eight-thirty.” Holding Kostya’s gaze until the last moment, her eyes didn’t leave his until she turned to go. The two men watched her as she left, but when she approached the corner, she stopped and turned back to them.

“I’m probably going to say yes, you know.”

“You’ll be awesome, too,” Will said, unsurprised.

“Mm-hmm,” Kostya added. “There’s not much you can’t do.”

Resigned, she nodded and headed around the corner. She would do it, but she was hardly sure it was a good decision. Meredith, her mind spinning with ideas, ran back to her shift in Emergency.