Saving Anna Karenina

Part 40

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

Blair was no longer practicing French verb conjugations. She now talked about her upcoming court date to appeal her detention in the hospital. This was a popular topic among patients. They called their attorneys on the payphones in the hall and prepared their cases in the salon. No one ever won. They said that doctors lied in court about their conduct so that they could continue to experiment on them. Anna didn’t know what to believe. The doctors had left her alone, mercifully, since her second day.

The new woman with the pearl earrings arrived in the salon with teary eyes and sat down next to Theo. Kurt nudged Anna.

“Get a load of this,” he said. They watched as she glanced at the television, where some man shouted about politics, and then back at Theo, who was flipping through a magazine.

“Can you believe this place?” said the woman.

“What? No. Uh-uh,” he said, looking at his magazine.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Me? Umm, what is today, Wednesday?” he said. It was Monday. “I’ve been here for three days,” he said, coolly and matter of factly. It sounded like the truest thing in the world when he said it, and Anna understood now why Blair commended his talent for deception. She could see the woman felt relieved to hear it, inferring, perhaps, that three days was the maximum stay. But her attempt to pursue further conversation with Theo floundered, and she caught Anna’s eye. Anna smiled at her. Kurt leaned forward.

“You doin okay?” he said. “Why doncha come over and talk to us. We need new company.” He gestured to the chair next to them. The woman rose to join them.

“I can’t believe this place,” she said, sitting down. She offered her hand to both of them. Bernadette was a doctor. She was astonished by the way the nurses and servants treated the patients of the sanitarium.

“Tell me about it,” said Kurt. “I been trying to get a fresh piece of Nicorette from this bitch for the past three hours.” He pointed to one of the nurses, and then waved his hand at her. “Scuze me! Can I get some fucking attention over here? If you aren’t going to let us go outside and smoke, at least give us Nicorette!”

Anna slapped his leg. “No one deserves to be abused like that, no matter how bad the service is. You lower yourself when you speak with such coarse cruelty.”

“Animals,” said Kurt, shaking his head and glaring at the nurse.

“Getting back to you,” said Anna, looking at Bernadette, “how does a doctor become a patient in a sanitarium?”

“They don’t,” said Bernadette in restrained fury. “Doctors don’t get themselves committed to a psych ward. It ruins careers. I’m here because my husband committed me. I trusted him… we have two children together. Never a sign of any major problems in our marriage. And then this. He does this to me.”

Devondrea was shouting Bernadette’s name from across the room. She excused herself and ran over to the payphone. Anna watched her speaking tersely into the telephone. The tragedy of what she had just heard brought tears to her eyes.

“That’s a sad story,” said Kurt, shaking his head.

Alexei Alexandrovich had taken her son from her, but he had not placed her in a sanitarium. That was a betrayal beyond anything Anna had experienced. Would Vronsky have tried to get rid of her like this if she’d stayed? Had they done it already — been secretly involved with Dmitry sending her into the future with no return ticket? This thought chilled her.

“I bet she’s the one with the money,” said Kurt. “He probably started having an affair, and wanted to get money out of her. So now she’s ‘crazy’ and he has grounds for divorce. Too bad. Really too bad in a state like New York where we got fault-based divorce. What a bastard.”

Anna shook her head. Divorce was such a treacherous endeavor.

Visitors were starting to arrive. There were Derek’s parents with the famous bags of McDonalds food. A couple of old men walked in with long beards and long, curly muttonchops, wearing black hats and black suits, with strings hanging from their pockets. Several mothers arrived, hugging their daughters. One carried a stuffed bear, which she handed to her daughter, the weary one who always carried her pillow. One visitor brought an enormous pizza pie, others brought magazines and chewing gum. They sat down at the tables and began to talk and eat. A sinewy man in jeans and a cap was speaking with Bernadette and a man in a suit. Kurt, Blair and Anna remained on the sofas, watching.

“Where’s Matyas?” said Anna.

“Rip Van Winkle is still sleeping,” said Blair.

This was a good time for Anna to go read her novel in peace. The back salon would be empty.

This is part 40 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

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