After leaving the hospital, the two walked more than 200 meters along the street, and a cafe appeared on the side of the road. Sokov slowed down and said to Tonia with his face sideways, "Tonia, that's it, let's go in." After that, he pushed open the two closed glass doors and walked in one by one with Tonia.
The cafe is of medium size, with more than twenty square tables inside. Maybe because it is lunch time, most of the tables have people. Sokov looked around, pointed to the corner, and said to Tonia: "Tonia, there is an empty space there, just sit down, and I buy good things and go over."
Unexpectedly, Dongniya stood there without moving, but said to him nervously: "Misha, let's go to eat in another place?"
Dongniya's reaction surprised Sokov. After he saw clearly the customers sitting in the cafe, he immediately understood what Dongniya was afraid of. Just from the black leather jackets worn by the customers and the blue-topped and big-brimmed hats, Sokov knew that they were from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If he hadn't suddenly seen so many Ministry of Internal Affairs here, Sokov almost forgot that this place is not far from the KGB headquarters, Rubyanka, and they should have come here to have a meal.
The staff of the Interior Department who were eating, when they heard someone coming in from outside, they looked up at the door habitually. They happened to see Sokov and Tonia walking in. One of the Interior Officers saw it. He put down the tableware in his hand, got up and walked to the door, and said to Sokov and Tonia: "Please show your documents!"
"Dict?!" Dongniya heard the insider's officer say this, and she took out her ID from her pocket in a panic, held it in her hands and handed it over: "This is my ID."
The officer took the ID and did not look through it immediately. Instead, he continued to stare at Dongniya. When the other party was trembling, he looked down at the ID in his hand. After reading it, he handed it back to Dongniya, and looked at Sokov again and asked, "Comrade Major, where is your ID?"
"Sorry, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov shrugged, spread his hands, and said, "I just came back from the front line and don't have a document?"
"No certificate." The officer couldn't help but snorted when he heard Sokov say this, and then said coldly: "Since you don't have a certificate, please follow me, right?"
"Wait, Lieutenant Sasko." Just as the officer grabbed Sokov's arm and tried to take him away from the cafe, the officer sitting at another table called him. Sokov looked in the direction where the sound came, and it turned out to be an elderly captain. He got up and came to the officer's side and said to him, "You won't treat him as a deserter, do you?"
Second Lieutenant Sasko nodded and said with certainty: "That's right, since he can't get the document, I have reason to suspect that he is a deserter and need to take him back for review immediately."
The captain sneered at the Second Lieutenant Sasko, and then said disdainfully: "Comrade Lieutenant, please open your eyes and see, which deserter has the Order of Lenin on his chest?"
When Lieutenant Sasko asked Sokov for the ID, he did not notice that there were two medals on the pullover in the open military coat, one of which was the extremely high-level Lenin Medal. When he saw the medal on Sokov's chest, he quickly let go of his hand, took a step back, and said to his superior with some embarrassment: "Comrade Captain, I didn't pay attention to the medal on his chest."
The captain ignored Sasko, but took two steps forward and came to Sokov, and said apologetically to Sokov: "Comrade Major, I apologize to you on behalf of my colleagues. Please forgive his recklessness."
"It's okay, Comrade Captain." Sokov waved his hand at the other party and said generously: "It's just a misunderstanding." He also explained to the captain, "I am Major Sokov, the battalion commander of Istria. I was ordered to return to Moscow a few days ago. Due to various reasons, I don't have any documents on me, so I'll be grateful for this."
"I understand, comrade Major." After confirming Sokov's identity, the captain laughed and said, "As far as I know, many officers on the front line have not had time to issue new military certificates due to changes in their positions. I think this is the case for you."
Seeing that the other party gave him a step, Sokov nodded and said with certainty: "Comrade Captain, you are right. I have just obtained the rank of major. I haven't been given a new military certificate yet."
After the captain left with the reckless lieutenant, Sokov turned his head and asked the frightened Tonia: "Donia, what do you want to eat?"
"A cup of black coffee, no sugar," Donia calmed down and said, "A vegetable salad and two slices of bread."
Sokov took the coffee and food he ordered on the counter and took Tonia to the empty table in the corner. He took out the things in the tray and said to Tonia with a smile: "Please, Tonia! You must be hungry."
Before picking up the tableware, Tonya secretly glanced at the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sitting around, and said with lingering fear: "Misha, you are so brave. You dare to walk around without documents. If you are arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a deserter, you might be shot."
"Don't worry, Donya, I'm fine." Sokov's emotions were obviously not affected by the incident just now, but instead changed the topic in time: "Donya, where are you from?"
Donya, who had just picked up the coffee, heard Sokov's question, quickly put the coffee down and answered truthfully: "I am from Leningrad and studied in the Medical University in Moscow. I just graduated last year and the war broke out, and then I was assigned to my current hospital and became a surgical intern."
When Sokov learned that Dongniya was actually a native of Leningrad, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He thought of the city besieged by the German army. In the past few months, tens of thousands of residents had starved to death due to lack of food. He quickly asked with concern: "Do you still have family in Leningrad?"
"My mother and two younger brothers are still in Leningrad!" Donia replied sadly: "I have lost contact with them, and I don't know how they are doing now?"
"Didn't you contact them?" As soon as Sokov said, he felt that his question was a bit ridiculous. Now that Leningrad is in the siege of the German army, it is so difficult to get in touch with his relatives in the city.
Donia replied with a wry smile: "In order to ensure the smooth flow of military lines, Leningrad has cut off all civilian telephone lines since late August and has to wait for the war to reply. In short, I have lost contact with them for a long time." Speaking of this, her eyes couldn't help but turn red, and tears flowed down her face.
Sokov quickly picked up the napkin in front of him, handed it to Tonia to wipe her tears, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Tonia, I didn't mean it."
Donia took the napkin, wiped it casually twice, squeezed a smile on her face and said, "It's okay, this is war. Maybe we will have to wait until the day when the war is over before we can reunite with our loved ones. By the way, Misha, where are the people in your family?"
"My mother was evacuated to the rear in October last year," Sokov said vaguely: "Now I am the only one left in Moscow."
Dongniya stared at the medal on Sokov's chest for a while, and asked curiously: "Misha, I want to ask you, why did you return to Moscow at this time?"
Sokov was stunned by Tonya's question. He hesitated for a long time before he said carefully: "Tonya, I don't understand what you mean."
"As far as I know, there are still fighting outside Moscow." Dongniya stared into Sokov's eyes and said, "Wouldn't a commander like you command troops to fight against the Germans?"
After figuring out what Donia asked, Sokov quickly said: "I was ordered to send an injured senior commander back to the military hospital in Moscow for treatment."
"Misha, where are the senior commander you mentioned now?" Dongniya asked briefly.
Hearing Donya's question, Sokov thought for a moment in his heart, thinking that as long as he didn't say Rokosovsky's name, it should not be considered a leak, so he said openly: "At Dimiriazev Agricultural College."
"Dimiriazef Agricultural College?" When Dongniya heard this place name, she showed a surprised expression on her face: "It's such a coincidence that there are many wounded people living in our hospital, who are transferred from Dimitiazef Agricultural College. I also went there this morning to pick up a group of wounded people who were transferred back."
"Really?!" Sokov saw Tonia nodding to show her affirmation, a few years suddenly popped up in his mind. He wanted to visit Rokosovsky two days ago and asked him about his next arrangements, but he was stopped by the soldiers standing guard in the corridor. Regardless of his explanation, the other party refused to let him go to see the commander. Since Tonia could enter the Dimiriazev Agricultural College, if she was willing to help her, she might be able to meet Rokosovsky smoothly.
Thinking of this, he said to Tonia: "Tonia, I wonder when will you pick up the wounded next time?"
"Our hospital generally places wounded people whose injuries have improved but still need to continue recuperation." Donia frowned and said, "As for when to pick up new wounded people, it's hard to say. Maybe tomorrow, maybe there will be another four or five days."
When Sokov heard this, there was a chance! He asked again: "I wonder if you can take me to Dimiriazev Agricultural College next time you go to pick up the wounded?" Seeing a puzzled expression on Dongniya's face, he quickly explained to her, "That's right, I was ordered to send this commander to Dimiriazev Agricultural College. But what should I do next? Should I return to the front line or stay in Moscow, my superiors did not have a clear reply. Therefore, I went to the hospital to see my superiors and see how he arranged it."
"So that's how it is." After finding out what happened, Tonya nodded and said, "You can go to Room 107 of the outpatient building tomorrow morning to find me. If there is no one at the door, you can just push the door in; if there are many patients queuing outside the door, you have to wait a little longer."
Sokov stayed in Moscow for a long time, so he naturally knew that there was no registration in Russian hospitals. If you want to see a doctor, you would just queue outside the clinic of the doctors in various departments. Is a doctor busy at work? He just needs to see whether there are many patients queuing outside the clinic to see if there are many patients.
Because there were too many officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the cafe, it was impossible for the two of them to stay here for too long. After rushing to lunch, they left the restaurant.
Sokov had nothing to do at this moment, so he offered to take Tonia back to the hospital. Tonia blushed and agreed with a red face, and took the initiative to hold his arm and walk towards the hospital.
Halfway through, Sokov saw the house he lived in, and pointed at the window of his room by chance and said to Tonia: "Donia, have you seen that three-story house?"
"See." Dongniya looked in the direction of his finger, and after seeing the three-story building clearly, he nodded and said, "There are all identity living on this street. Ordinary people want to live, but they can't live."
Hearing Donia say this, Sokov said a little embarrassedly: "Actually, I just want to tell you that the window on the right side of the third floor is my room."
"What, you live here?" Donia stopped and asked in surprise: "You are not kidding me, are you?"
"How could you joke with you in this kind of thing?" Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. There was about an hour before Tonya went to work, so he took the initiative to invite her: "I want to invite you to visit my house now. I wonder if you are willing?"
Although Donya was holding Sokov's arm on the road, her heartbeat suddenly accelerated when she heard Sokov invite her to visit her home. She hesitated for a long time before muttering: "Misha, this is too fast. We just met today, and you are going to invite me to your home..."
"That's right, Tonia." Sokov said quickly, afraid that Tonia would reject her request, "This house was rewarded by her superiors. Maybe it won't take long to go to the front line and this house will be vacant. It's not good that the house has not lived in for too long, and it's only a road away from where you work. So I want to take the liberty to beg you, how about you help me see the house during my time in Moscow?"
Chapter completed!