Saving Anna Karenina

Part 44

Start with Part 1, and read a short synopsis of the original book.

Princess Adriana knew it pained her father that she didn’t have a mother. Part of her now realized that being with Mitch would mean defeat for Prince Gabriel, a permanent reminder of his dead wife and her absence in their life. Another part of her considered the possibility of Mitch leaving her for months at a time and the risk that he would have affairs with other women. Still another part reconciled it all — “shit happens,” Mitch always said, making her blush with his coarse language. “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.”

Someone was taking a seat in the chair next to her as Anna enjoyed Mitch’s coarse idiom — to her mind, not a cliché, as it would be to a modern English speaker. Anna looked up from the book and saw Matyas. The way he sat down thrilled her. His legs spread, his arms fell peacefully to rest on the chair arms, his head propped back to look out the window. It expressed a contagious ease. His hair was slightly wet and standing up handsomely. He smelled of cologne. He wore a green wool sweater.

“Good morning,” he said, grinning.

“Good morning.”

Was this the first person in America who had actually wished her good morning? They usually said “Hi” or some incomprehensible abbreviation that expressed neither well wishes nor the time of day.

“You look very nice,” Anna said.

Matyas stroked his cheeks. “I shaved,” he said. He looked at the sunny day outside, taking it in with pleasure. “They watched me when I did it. Razors, you know. That’s why I waited so long. I can’t stand being watched by these cold-hearted people. What are you reading?”

Anna told him about the novel, getting carried away as she recounted its plot and explained how much she could understand Princess Adriana.

“You should write Danielle Stone a letter,” he said as she finished. “I bet she would want to meet you.”

“You think so?” Anna suppressed a joyous smile.

“You’re leaving,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “When?”

“I am?”

Anna felt her answer, her breath, the drift of her body, flowing towards a safe place inside him. He watched her as this feeling developed, as if to say he understood the feeling of relinquishing herself to him, as if he had been waiting, and did this for others.

“They won’t keep you here.”

Anna nodded, believing him.

“Do you want to go to my room?”

“Yes.”

“Come on.”

She followed him down the hall into a room with two unmade beds. He closed the door behind her, but he couldn’t lock it. Doors didn’t have locks and sex was forbidden in the sanatorium.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said, walking towards her. His accent gave him a natural and honest quality compared to Americans. When he met her in the middle of the room he put his arm around the back of her body and pulled her close to him. Their waists touched. He leaned back to look at her and smiled. He pushed her hair off her face, held her face and stared at her. All the tension drained from Anna’s body, leaving her limp and giggling. His smile widened and he laughed a little himself.

“You’re so sweet,” she said to him. He kissed her face and then her lips. His lips were red and swollen, like the lips children draw. He kept his hand on the back of her neck as he kissed and pushed his pelvis into her. He pulled her onto the bed, onto his lap. He put his hand around her waist and rubbed her, kissing her neck, her face, and her lips.

“I don’t like America. But I don’t want to go back either. They’ll let me stay here if someone gets me out of the hospital. I can live for a long time. I’ve got a lot of money.”

“Why?” said Anna.

“Dealing drugs. But I won’t do that anymore.” He kissed her neck. “Do you like that?”

“Yessss,” Anna whispered, arching her back. She imagined herself hidden away with Matyas and Seryozha, so that no one could find them or hurt them for the rest of her life. Matyas was a magician. His cool skin touched her everywhere — her chest bones touched his, and their legs intertwined, and he shook her back and forth affectionately, burrowing his face in her neck. He pulled off her peacock dress and kissed her body, rubbing up against her, delicately touching her underpants. Anna kissed him to say yes, on his lips and his cheeks and again his lips.

Only a few moments later, she felt herself recover. Her soul, which had passed, unnaturally, through too many cycles as only a crescent moon, grew to full size. It now had resources to give away — light for those in the dark. She closed her eyes and imagined a scene she had never known. She stood on a rocky shore beneath the blazing sun. Horsemen rode down a river delta in the distance. Music played behind her, where white lights twinkled and guests assembled. The water was the color of Italian pottery, turquoise with black veins.

“Dude, the doctors are looking for you,” said a man’s voice, interrupting her dream. Anna and Matyas looked up to see Theo in the doorway. He disappeared just as quickly. As they stood, Matyas grabbed Anna and kissed her deeply.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, rubbing her back and holding her tight to his body. “Like no one else.”

She went limp, dropping her head on his shoulder. He ruffled her hair and rubbed her neck, then released her. They smoothed themselves out in front of the mirror. Matyas left first, and Anna waited a beat to do the same. Within minutes they had resumed their positions in the chairs of the rear salon, where the Danielle Stone novel sat face down on the windowsill, open to the last page. They exchanged looks of mirth. A group of doctors and students were inside the nearest room, talking to a patient who wouldn’t get out of bed.

This is part 44 of a serialized novella being published each Thursday. It is a speculative sequel to Leo Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43

I’m the author of Oh, the Places Where You’ll Have a Nervous Breakdown.