Page 39 of Gone Before Goodbye

She doesn’t ask the obvious “Then why a ball?” follow-up because it’s already unspoken and he’s choosing not to reply. She instead stays in her lane: “As your physician, I want to warn you that if you want to have surgery tomorrow—”

“I know, I know.” He holds up his hand. “‘Nil per os’—Latin for ‘nothing by mouth.’ So nothing to eat or drink after midnight.” His watch buzzes again. Oleg heads toward the door. “We can talk more tonight at the ball. But now? I promised you could examine Nadia alone. She is waiting for you in the room across the hall.”

CHAPTER SIX

Nadia stands in the corner of what looks to Maggie like a spare office. She wears a plush white terry cloth bathrobe that seems to be swallowing her whole and makes her look even more petite. Her jet-black hair is wet. Her skin glistens.

Maggie smiles at her. Nadia is expressionless.

Speaking very slowly, Maggie says, “Let me see if one of the nurses can translate for us.”

“No.”

Maggie watches as Nadia crosses in front of her and closes the door.

“I speak English,” Nadia says. “I just don’t want them to know.”

“Oh.”

There is no examination table. Maggie had debated bringing her into the operating room for a full exam, but it seems more important to do a private consultation—just talk to her alone—than do a physical yet.

“Is it okay if I call you Nadia?” Maggie asks.

“Yes, of course.”

They both take a seat. Maggie isn’t sure how to begin. She wants to say, “My God, you’re gorgeous, don’t do this to yourself,” but that would be wrong and unfair and judgmental. But none of that lets Maggie off the hook as a physician and, well, a woman. There could bedisturbing issues around this procedure involving consent, coercion, and power dynamics.

“How old are you, Nadia?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Do you understand what Oleg has hired me to do?”

“Augmentation mammoplasty,” Nadia says. Maggie tries to place her accent. There may be Russian or Eastern European, but she also hears something else. “In short, a boob job.”

“Are you okay with doing this procedure?”

“Yes.”

“I should go through the risks—”

“No need. I know them.”

Maggie nods slowly, leans forward. “Anything you discuss with me is between us. I will keep it in the strictest of confidences. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“You can trust me, Nadia.”

For the first time, Nadia smiles—and it’s radiant. “I do already, Doctor. You’re the only one who knows I speak English.”

“Thank you for that.” Maggie shifts a little more toward her. “I need to make sure you’re okay, Nadia.”

Nadia says nothing.

“If someone is pressuring you to have this surgery—”

Nadia laughs. “You can’t be serious.”