Shenods. “Likeyour shoulders.Andyour arms.You’vegot good arms.”Shereaches out and puts a hand on my forearm, which sends warmth all the way up it, even though her skin is cooler than mine. “Yougot good everything.Butyour hair is…”Shemakes a face.
Iput a hand on my hair.Betweenthe rainstorm and how many timesI’verun my hands through it in worryover the past few hours, it feels a bit, well,big. “IguessIcan’t have everything.”
Amoment later, she says, “Ilike competing with you.”
“Oh, yeah?Why’sthat?”
“Idon’t know.”Shesays it like it’s all one big, slurred word. “Becauseit makes me feel like you see me.”
“Idefinitely see you,”Isay, knowing thatI’m“seeing” her more now thanIever have.Sincewe first met, there hasn’t been a time whenIhaven’t.Butnow,Ifeel likeIunderstand her in a wayIhaven’t before.I’mseeing all the sides of her that are beautiful and perfect.
“Youhave the most…” her sentence drifts off, and it’s like she’s coming out of the anesthesia just a hair more.Notfully, or even close to it, but more than she was.Enoughto make her expression turn from blissful ignorance to something that looks a lot like frustration.Inan accusatory voice, she says, “Yougave me sowdeuhm thio… thiowe pentol?”
Allher words have been coming out mumbled and slurred, butI’vebeen able to make them out just fine until this one.Ittakes a moment beforeIrealize she’s maybe asking about sodium thiopental, andIchuckle. “YouthinkIgave youtruth serum?”
“Iknow they combine it with… sleep deprivation?Orbeing nearly asleep?Andoxy, oxy, oxytose…Ican’t think of it.Badguys followed me toVladivostokonce and captured me.Theygave it to me, soIknow how it feels.Theytry to make you believe that you’re talking to someone you love and trust so you’ll give upinformation.”
Shetries to sit up, but winces and decides to just pin me with an intense glare instead. “Sowho are you?Who’syour boss?Whocaptured me?”Eachquestion comes out like a single, slurred word. “Iwithstood it once before andI’mgoing to withstood…withstood?Withstandit now.”
“Noone gave you ‘truth serum.’Youhad surgery on your fibula, and now you’re coming out of anesthesia.That’sall it is.Theeffects should wear off soon.”
Sheshakes her head. “No, you’re lying. ‘Cuz,Inever would’ve said ‘Ilike your face’ toLedger’sface.You’renot him.Yougave me sodium thiopen…something.Andnow you’re pretending to be someoneIlove so that you can get me to give up classified info.”
Ican’t help the smile that crosses my face. “Youlove me?”Sodiumthiopental is used by almost no one in the world for a lot of reasons, one being the fact that it doesn’t actually work.Maybethe real ‘truth serum’ is general anesthesia.
Iwant to hear what elseZoehas to say.Butnot only doesNehircome in, but my phone rings.Bythe country code,Iknow it’s theIrishAmbassadorto theUnitedStates, andIknow it’s very early, especially inIreland.Istep out into the hall to take the call.
“AmbassadorConnolly,”Isay afterIanswer the call. “Thankyou for returning my call.”
“Oh, of course.Iwas surprised to wake up to see that calling you was on my list of tasks for the day.Evanmust’ve added it sometime during the night.”
HadIeven realized that it was the middle of the nightwhenItextedEvan? “Howwas your daughter’s wedding?”
“Absolutelyperfect.Shewas such a beautiful bride.”
Ican hearNehirtalking toZoein the room.UsingtheEnglishwords she is familiar with, she says, “Thathamburger man.Hea good one.”
“Hamburgerman?”Zoeasks, rightly confused, even without the recent anesthesia.
“No, no, um…”There’sa pause, andI’mfairly certain that the nurse is trying to explain with gestures.
“Oh!Beefy!”
I’mreally trying not to get distracted by their conversation, but thenNehirsays, “Yes!Thatbeefy man is good.Hekept a constant virgin at your side.”
“Hekeptwhatat my side?”
Irun a hand over my face, mute the phone, and call out, “Vigil!Ikept a constantvigilat your side.”ThenIunmute the phone and ask the ambassador, “Didyou get lots of women ogling your legs while wearing your kilt?”
“Youknow,Iwas too busy fawning over my family and enjoying that we were all together in one place to notice, but afterward, my wife told me that there was plenty of ogling.”
Ilaugh genuinely.
“Andwhat about you?Didyou try black and white pudding while you were in my country?”
“Idid.”
“And?”
