— he smiled, struggling to hold the spoon with his good hand. — Such beautiful ones, with towers. And then a wave would come and wash it all away, and you would cry.
Marina smiled, remembering that distant childhood. It seemed like another lifetime. She kissed her father on the forehead, reminded him that the neighbor Tamara would come by at lunchtime, and left the house.
It was damp and cold outside. The wet snow that had fallen last night had partially melted, and now a gray slush was underfoot. Marina walked to the bus stop, lost in her thoughts. Vera Ivanovna’s words gave her no peace: “Don’t use the main entrance.” Why? What could happen at the main entrance? She got on the bus, took her usual seat by the window, and watched the streets go by. The city was waking up, people rushing to work. Everything was as usual, mundane and predictable.
Maybe she was exaggerating? Maybe Vera Ivanovna had just gotten something wrong or was overly anxious? The old woman was not young, and her diabetes affected her health. But then Marina remembered that look, the genuine fear in Vera Ivanovna’s eyes. No, this wasn’t an old woman’s eccentricity. It was a serious warning from someone who truly knew something.
The bus took Marina to her stop. She got off and slowly walked towards the clinic. The building was visible ahead, white with the blue “Medlife” sign. In front of the main entrance was a small paved parking lot where the doctors’ and administration’s cars were usually parked. The service entrance was on the other side of the building, by the utility yard, where the dumpsters, warehouse, and boiler room were.
Marina stopped a few dozen meters from the main entrance. She usually entered here, passed the security guard Semyon, and went up the central staircase to the second floor. It was a familiar route, performed automatically. But now she stood there, hesitating. The main entrance looked completely normal. Glass doors, a sign above them, a parking lot with a few cars. No signs of danger. Maybe she should just go in as usual? What difference did it make which entrance she used? But Vera Ivanovna’s voice echoed in her head again: “Under no circumstances should you use the main entrance.”
Marina took a deep breath and turned right, going around the building. A narrow path led along the wall to the utility yard. It was dirtier here, the snow wasn’t cleared in some places, and it was slippery underfoot. She walked carefully, holding onto the wall, and in a minute, she was at the service entrance. It was an ordinary metal door, always open during working hours. Marina pushed it and went inside. It smelled of bleach and dampness. She walked down a narrow corridor, past utility rooms, up the back staircase to the second floor, and found herself in the familiar staff room.
Sveta, the young nurse from surgery, was already inside. She was applying lipstick, looking in a small mirror. The day began as usual: rounds in the wards, distributing medicine, injections, IV drips, measuring blood pressure. The patients were varied: some were grumpy, some grateful, some silent. Marina did her work automatically, but a sense of tension never left her. She was constantly listening, watching, expecting something.
Around 11 a.m., she was going down to the first floor for medications. Passing a window that overlooked the parking lot in front of the main entrance, Marina involuntarily stopped and looked down. The security guard Semyon was standing at the main entrance. He was smoking, leaning against the wall, and talking on the phone. Marina saw him glance at the parking lot several times, then at his watch, then at the parking lot again. His posture seemed tense; he was clearly waiting for someone or watching someone.
Then the head doctor, Oleg Viktorovich Krylov, came out of the building. A tall man in his fifties, in an expensive suit, with neatly combed gray hair. He approached Semyon, and they started talking. Marina couldn’t hear the words, but she saw the head doctor gesturing, pointing at the parking lot, then at the entrance. Semyon nodded, took something out of his jacket pocket, and showed it to the head doctor. Then they both looked at their watches.
Marina stepped away from the window. Her heart started beating faster. What was that? A normal conversation between a boss and a guard? Or something else? She returned to the staff room and tried to focus on her work. But her thoughts were a jumble. By lunchtime, the tension was almost unbearable. Marina decided she would definitely find Vera Ivanovna in the evening and demand an explanation. She couldn’t wait until the day after tomorrow anymore.
Around three in the afternoon, while Marina was giving an injection to an elderly patient in her room, Sveta ran into the staff room.
— Marin, did you hear? There was some commotion at the main entrance.
Marina flinched and quickly finished the procedure.
— What kind of commotion?
— A car almost hit someone in the parking lot. They say the guard Semyon was behind the wheel. It looked like he was trying to park but mixed up the gas and brake and nearly drove into the wall. Good thing no one was nearby.
Marina went cold. A car in the parking lot. The guard Semyon. At the main entrance. If she had entered through the main entrance this morning, as usual, she would have been coming out for her lunch break or walking to work right around that time. No, wait, Semyon was waiting for someone this morning. The commotion in the afternoon was strange, but maybe they had planned it for the morning? Or had they been watching for her all day?
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