21

That Sunday, before going to the hospital, Nico decided to take Caroline and Dimitri out to lunch at the Paris-Moscou restaurant on the Rue Mauconseil in the first arrondissement. His mother loved this spot, which was a few steps from Les Halles and the Saint Eustache Cathedral. The food was a savory feast. Along the walls, all the Russian saints could be seen, as well as tableaus, trinkets, and Orthodox crosses. Dozens of matryoshkas in vivid colors were arrayed on a shelf. Here, the French music coming over the loudspeakers seemed quite out of place.

They ate eggplant caviar on toast as they waited for the traditional dishes of stuffed cabbage and turkey Kiev—an escalope rolled up with prunes and cheese. For dessert, they had vatrushka, a Danish pastry with farmer’s cheese and raisins. Dimitri washed it down with soda, while the adults had Ukrainian beers. They raised their glasses to Anya’s health. Dimitri was impatient to hug her, as he hadn’t seen her since she’d fallen ill.

The hospital atmosphere was a stark contrast to that of the Paris-Moscou. Instead of the hearty Russian brews and vivid matryoshkas, the hospital offered gray tile, foreign smells, and the hushed talk of nurses and doctors. It annoyed Nico that a person had to be a doctor or a nurse to understand the lingo. Still, he found it reassuring that his mother was in a hospital with cutting-edge equipment and an extraordinarily qualified staff. Dimitri, on the other hand, was clearly intimidated by all the technical paraphernalia and was looking withdrawn.

Dr. Xavier Jondeau, the doctor on duty, came to meet them.

“Her blood pressure has risen, and her heart rate is high,” he said. “But her oxygen saturation is normal. And the cerebral issues have been completely resolved. That’s good news. We’ve seen ventricular extrasystoles with patients who’ve had ventricular tachycardia.”

“They’re ventricular contractions provoked by abnormal electrical discharges from the heart,” Caroline translated. “That’s why Anya keeps feeling palpitations and pain. If they recur, they can get worse.”

“We’ll have to run some tests before making more medical or surgical decisions,” Dr. Jondeau said.

Another moment passed, and finally they were in Anya’s room. She was so pale. Dimitri, however, brightened as soon as he saw her. He called her by her Russian name, and she responded in Russian, telling him how happy she was to see him.

“You scared us to death,” Dimitri said in Russian. “Don’t do it again, please.”

Anya switched back to French. “Don’t worry, my little angel. The doctors are going to fix me up.”

Nico had never seen his mother look so fatigued. She turned to him. “Come here, my son. Give me a hug.”

Nico tried to hold back his feelings. He clumsily worked his way around the beeping machine that was recording her vitals, her IV line, and the monitors attached to her chest and gently embraced her. Anya was so pale, and Nico could feel his anxiety rising. Neither Samuel Cassian nor Jacques Langier had been able to identify Damien Forest in the pictures. Nico had made a promise, and he still had his end to hold up.