red moscow

Chapter 2620

Just as Kopalova was about to hang up the phone, Sokov unexpectedly asked, "Kopalova, is your unit still implementing the rationing system?"

"No, it was cancelled last October." Kopalova replied: "Misha, why are you asking this?"

Sokov did not answer her question, but continued to ask: "Do you have the habit of storing food at home?"

"Of course not." This time Kopalova answered straightforwardly: "You know, I'm a reporter, even though I'm just a photojournalist. But like any other reporter, I often have to go on business trips and don't go home for ten days or half a month. Even if I have food stored, it will have gone bad by the time I get home."

Sokov didn't want to be a saint and save the world. But facing the impending famine, he didn't want to watch Kopalova suffer from hunger, and she seemed to have some kind of intimate relationship with the original owner of her body. So he reminded her when necessary, and whether she would listen was not his concern.

"Storing food directly may not be a wise choice," Sokov said. "Even in winter, the bread you bought will go moldy in a few days. So I think you should buy some flour and bake bread yourself when you are free. Anyway, you have an oven at home, so it is more convenient to do anything."

But what Sokov didn't expect was that after hearing what he said, Kopalova said excitedly: "Misha, I didn't expect you still remember the oven in my house. That's great, that's great, I'm so touched."

Sokov was stunned: What's going on? Isn't the oven a standard feature of every household? Why are you so excited when I mention the oven? Is there any story between you and the original owner of your previous body and the oven?

Although he was full of doubts, Sokov did not dare to ask. If he said something wrong, the other party would definitely be suspicious. Even if he used amnesia as an excuse, the other party would probably be skeptical.

"Misha," Kopalova suddenly said in a very gentle voice, "After Asia wakes up, can you spare some time to come to my house?" Perhaps worried that Sokov would refuse, she emphasized, "You haven't come to my house once since the war broke out. I thought you had forgotten me."

"How could that be?" Sokov laughed dryly and said awkwardly, "During the war, I was seriously injured in the enemy's bombing and lost a lot of my memories. Although I can't remember what happened to you before, when I met you in Stalingrad, I had a very intimate feeling and felt that you must be a very important person in my life..."

Sokov racked his brains to come up with sweet words, which really worked. While trying to please Kopalova, he also kept hinting to her that he had lost a lot of memory due to the concussion, so it was reasonable for him to forget his past with her. With such a precautionary measure in advance, even if Kopalova found any doubts in the future, he could use this reason to evade her.

After finishing his conversation with Kopalova, Sokov lay back on the bed, trying to close his eyes and fall asleep as soon as possible. But too many things had happened in the past two days, and his mind was like a movie, with various images flashing through his mind, making his cerebral cortex excited again.

Since he couldn't sleep, Sokov simply got up from the bed, went to the table, turned on the desk lamp, took out paper and pen, and continued to write the last part of "An Ordinary Soldier".

As dawn approached, Sokov finally finished writing the novel.

When he wrote "Book Finished" at the end of the manuscript, he suddenly felt empty and listless, as if all the energy in his body had been drained away.

The phone rang, and Sokov reached out and grabbed the receiver, yawning and saying, "I'm Sokov, who are you?"

"Misha, it's me." Nina's voice came from the receiver: "Asia, Asia..."

Hearing Nina's excitement, Sokov's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself that maybe something happened to Asiya, so he hurriedly and cautiously asked, "What happened to Asiya?"

"Asia is awake!"

"Asia is awake?"

"Yes, she woke up." Nina said, "I saw that she woke up, so I called you immediately to tell you the news as soon as possible."

"I'll be there right away."

Sokov put the manuscript away, put on his clothes, and rushed out of the room.

When he drove to the gate of the compound, the sentry on duty at the gate saw Sokov and asked curiously: "Comrade General, you are out so early."

"Yes, I need to go out and do something."

"Comrade General," the sentry asked politely, "Can I ask you if you are in the city or in the suburbs?"

Sokov thought about it. Although the hospital where Asiya was hospitalized was located on the edge of the city, it should still be in the urban area. So he replied, "It's within the urban area. What's the matter? Is there any problem?"

"Comrade General, I heard that things are not peaceful in the suburbs, especially before dawn, when accidents are more likely to happen." The sentry said to Sokov, "If you want to go to the suburbs, I need to report to my superiors and send someone to accompany you to ensure your safety."

"No thanks," Sokov declined the offer politely, "I'll be in the city, so my safety shouldn't be a problem."

After leaving the compound, Sokov drove while looking out the window at the street. The street was empty, not to mention cars, not even people could be seen, as if everyone in the city had disappeared.

Arriving at an intersection, Sokov was stopped by a police patrol car approaching from the front.

A policeman and a police sergeant got off the car. They came to the front of the car, raised their hands to salute, and said politely: "Please show me your ID!"

Sokov took out his ID and handed it over, then asked casually, "Comrade Sheriff, you stopped my car. Is there something wrong?"

"No problem, Comrade General." After reading Sokov's ID, the sheriff said politely, "We were patrolling nearby and didn't see any vehicles coming in all night. We happened to see your car, so we came to check it out."

The other party was just performing his duties, and Sokov naturally would not argue with him. After he took back his ID, he drove to the hospital again. When he arrived at the hospital's inpatient department, he was stopped by a fat female nurse when he entered the door. The female nurse politely said, "I'm sorry, Comrade General, it's not visiting hours yet. Please come back in a few hours."

"Comrade nurse," Sokov patiently explained to the other party, "My wife had a car accident yesterday. She was rescued in the operating room for more than ten hours and was barely out of danger, but she has not woken up. I just received a call saying that she has woken up, so I hurried over."

After hearing what Sokov said, the nurse was also in a dilemma. She sympathized with Sokov very much, but the hospital's rules and regulations were not something that an ordinary nurse like her could violate at will, so she could only harden her heart and say, "Comrade General, I sympathize with your feelings very much, but the rules are the rules, and no one can violate them. Please come back in a few hours, and don't embarrass me."

Seeing that the nurse was unwilling to compromise, Sokov felt a little annoyed: "Comrade nurse, do you know who I am?"

"I don't know." The nurse shook her head and said, "I only know that you are a general, but I don't know who you are." The nurse knew very well that even if she offended the general, it would not bring any bad consequences, after all, he was not responsible for her. But if she violated the hospital regulations, she might be punished. She had a scale in her mind to decide which was more serious.

Since Sokov had already come here, he would not be stopped by a nurse. He planned to use courtesy first and force later. He would negotiate with the other party first. If that didn't work, he would force his way in. "Comrade nurse, I am very familiar with your dean. If you don't believe me, you can call him to verify it."

"Are you familiar with our dean?" The nurse was a little hesitant.

"That's right," Sokov saw the change in the nurse's attitude and realized that it would be useful to bring the director out. "Besides my wife, there are four nurses arranged by the director himself, divided into several shifts, taking care of her non-stop for two hours. My wife's mother is also in the ward. This is a special permission from the director. She was the one who called to inform me that my wife has woken up."

"Comrade General." Hearing Sokov's words, the nurse had to pay the necessary attention, so as not to offend someone she shouldn't offend and cause herself unnecessary trouble. She asked cautiously, "Excuse me, which ward is your wife in?"

After hearing Sokov mention the ward where Asiya was, the nurse said politely, "Comrade General, please wait a moment. I will call the doctor on duty."

Sokov made a gesture to her, "Please go ahead." Since the matter could be resolved through negotiation, there was no need to force it. If it really got out of hand, even if the dean came out to resolve it, there would probably be a lot of trouble. Besides, Asiya was still living in the hospital. If she really offended the nurse, she might do something bad in private, which would be hard to guard against.

A few minutes later, the nurse said to Sokov, "Comrade General, I have verified that everything you said is true. Now, you can go to the ward and visit your wife."

Sokov thanked the nurse, crossed the hall and went up the stairs.

Arriving at Asia's ward, as soon as he entered, the nurse on duty said to Sokov in surprise: "Comrade General, congratulations, your wife has woken up."

After thanking the nurse, Sokov quickly walked to the bedside and leaned over to look at Asiya lying on the bed.

Perhaps feeling Sokov's arrival, Asiya slowly opened her eyes.

When she saw clearly that the person standing in front of her was indeed Sokov, she said in a weak voice: "Misha, you are here!"

"Well, Asiya, I'm here." Sokov squatted down beside the bed, grabbed one of Asiya's hands, and asked softly, "How do you feel?"

"I feel very uncomfortable, and my whole body hurts..."

Hearing what Asiya said, Sokov immediately turned his head to look at the nurse in the room, wanting to ask what was going on. The nurse saw Sokov looking at her and quickly explained: "Comrade General, we have given her painkillers and morphine. I'm afraid we have to wait a little longer for the drugs to take effect."

Sokov learned that the nurse had already taken appropriate measures. He nodded slightly and then asked, "By the way, where is my mother-in-law?"

"After she called you, she came in again to tell us that she wanted to call her family." The nurse looked at the time and said, "She's been gone for about five minutes. She should be back soon!"

Sokov nodded and continued to talk to Asiya: "Asiya, hold on a little longer. When the medicine takes effect, you won't feel the pain anymore."

Asiya first said "hmm", and then said to Sokov in a crying voice: "Misha, I'm sorry!"

"Ashia, why are you saying sorry?"

"Child, our child is gone. It's all my fault. I'm useless. I couldn't even keep the child. Misha, I'm sorry." Asiya said this, tears streaming down her cheeks like beads from a broken string.

Sokov reached out to wipe her tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears came. Losing her child would be an irreparable trauma for Asiya, and she didn't know how long it would take to heal.

"Silly girl," Sokov was heartbroken after losing his child, but he did not show it in front of Asiya. Instead, he comforted her by saying, "We are still young. Even if we lose this child, we can still have children in the future."

"Misha, there are some things you don't know. When you went to the Far East, Comrade Stalin called me personally to ask about the fetus. He even took the initiative to tell me that after the child was born, he would let Yakov be the child's godfather."

After hearing what Asiya said, Sokov was stunned. If Yakov really became the godfather of his child, it would mean that his child's future would be very smooth. He smiled bitterly and said, "Is this true? Yasha is really something. I have such a good relationship with him, but he never mentioned this to me."

"Misha, have you forgotten that according to custom, before a child is born, you cannot tell others who the child's godfather is, otherwise it will bring misfortune to both parties."

Asiya's words made Sokov stunned again. Is there such a custom in Russia? How come he has never heard of it? But then he thought about it. When students go to school to register at the beginning of the school year in September every year, they will hold a bunch of chrysanthemums in their hands as a gift to the teacher. In China, chrysanthemums are used to commemorate the dead. It is reasonable that he does not know many Russian customs because he has little knowledge.

"Asiya, don't worry. Yasha will not get away as the godfather." Sokov patted Asiya's arm gently and said softly, "When we have our own children in the future, we will definitely let him be the godfather."

Sokov's comfort made Asiya stop crying: "Misha, I heard that when I was in the operating room for emergency treatment, you even begged the dean to mobilize the best doctors from other hospitals to perform surgery on me. If it weren't for their help, I'm afraid I would have died long ago. Misha, thank you, thank you for everything you have done for me."

"Silly girl, what nonsense are you talking about? You know, we are husband and wife, and all these things are what I should do."