Lady in Red Pt. 02 Ch. 18

As the memorial neared the conclusion, Gwen and Steve were asked to speak. They each spoke briefly about their personal grief the attacks caused.

"I don't know if it's appropriate in Russia at memorial services, but we think it should be, if it isn't," stated Gwen near the end of her statement. "I'd like to ask Jordan and Charlie Burns to come up and help us.

As she spoke, Jordan and Charlie rose and made their way to the front of the church as Steve and Gwen waited. Once they reached the altar, Charlie and Jordan took seats at a huge piano that was located off to the side. Gwen placed a microphone in front of her friends and held another to share with Steve.

Jordan and Charlie played the introduction and then Jordan and Gwen began singing 'Bridge over Troubled Waters' in beautiful harmony. Charlie and Steve simply filled in background for them. Once they finished the song, Jordan and Charlie continued playing while Steve joined Gwen in singing the song in Russian. Those attending the memorial were moved to tears long before the song ended.

The two couple then proceeded to use the same formula for 'Let It Be'. By the time they finished the song, Gwen and Jordan had tears streaming down their cheeks and Charlie and Steve were seen rubbing their eyes. The service was broadcast across Russia and the performance by the friends further endeared them to the entire nation.

Mrs. Novokov was shown on screen sobbing into a handkerchief as she embraced both couples when the service was over. Many of the representatives from other countries stood in line to speak to the four friends.

Senator Chatham sat in the Oval Office with President Hanson as they watched the televised proceedings in Moscow. "Mr. President, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but those kids are far and away America's best ambassadors to any place on the globe. Can you imagine any other couple managing what those two did during that attack? Steve was unarmed and took out five terrorists, including the one trying to stab Novokov's son to death. Gwen fought off a crazy woman and then operated successfully to save Novokov's son's life!"

"I haven't heard any complaints about them from Congress lately," chuckled President Hanson. "They never dreamed that Steve would flex his political muscle so strongly when they threatened Gwen. Steve destroyed Simpson and word has it that Clark has wisely decided to not seek another term. Steve's learned to speak the language that Washington understands. They aren't innocent kids anymore. They're beginning to understand both the power they have, and the responsibility that goes with it."

"I know very well that they deliberately lifted Vince Rosen out of the political doldrums. They're going to make him president," predicted Senator Chatham. "That'll put them in a great position to expand their power base. Where will this all end?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" asked Hanson rhetorically. "I don't think there's any ceiling for them right now. They'll manage to achieve whatever goals they may have. I can't see anything stopping them at this point. They'd have to screw something up pretty badly to derail their future."

"Should we be concerned about that kind of power?" asked Chatham. "I can't imagine how much they'll have in fifteen or twenty years, if they manage to stay alive. They seem to live on the edge a lot."

"Concerned or not, don't try to stop them," warned Hanson. "Nothing short of death or a huge miscalculation on their part will bring that train to a halt. I can't think of anyone that I'd rather see have the power their gathering. They're basically very good people. I'd suggest that you remain friendly with them and watch your career soar."

"That's pretty much what I've decided," admitted Chatham.

Landing in Kiev on Tuesday afternoon, Gwen, Steve, and company were whisked through a gate that was closed to the public at the airport. They boarded a waiting bus and were taken to their hotel. That's when the surprises started.

As the bus pulled up in front of the hotel, hundreds of teen girls stood on the sidewalk cheering and giggling as teen girls do. The surprise was that they were all wearing red eye patches! Looking closer, Gwen noticed that many of them had also darkened around their other eye.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Kate as she stared out the window of the bus. "All of those kids want to look like Gwen, even when she looks like she was hit by this bus. You really have some serious fans here, Sis."

When they exited the bus, Gwen, Jordan, Charlie and Steve, much to the delight of the fans, walked into the crowd and began signing autographs. They spend half an hour shaking hands and answering questions as they signed all sorts of objects handed to them. Steve had to chuckle at one older girl that pulled her arms through the arm holes in her shirt. Soon she produced a bra for Steve to sign. That immediately gave her friend the idea to ask Steve to sign her chest just above her breasts. Steve politely declined, pointing out that there were a large number of younger fans present that did not need to see that type of behavior.

Once they made their way inside the hotel, Steve once again found Nadiya Mitsko jumping into his arms. "The big, brave American saved more lives? This time in Russia? You and Gwen are legend now! Ukraine is very excited that you will once again 'rock our town'. There are already many tourists and visitors in Kiev in anticipation of your concert.

"Gwen, do you want me to help Steve relax while you get your eye patched or something?" teased Nadiya as Steve's friends broke into laughter.

"Thanks, Nadiya," replied Gwen with an exaggerated frown. "Let me think. Should I allow my boyfriend quiet time with one of the most beautiful, sexiest women he's ever seen. A woman that appears to be seriously in lust with him? Forgive me, but I think not. But thanks for the offer."

With Gwen's response, Nadiya gave her friend a warm hug. "I have been waiting for another chance to kiss Steve and help you two make up. I am beginning to wonder if that opportunity will ever come again."

"I learned my lesson," replied Gwen. "I'm not going to be pushing Steve into any woman's arms, and especially not a beautiful blonde bombshell."

"You have the nicest way of letting me down gently," laughed Nadiya as she began welcoming the other members of the entourage. "Thanks so much for coming, everyone. I especially want to thank Jordan and Charlie for performing with Gwen and Steve Saturday night. This is a very big thing for our country!"

"All of the teen girls have begun wearing eye patches in honor of Gwen's ordeal and her heroism in Moscow. Younger girls are placing patches on their dolls and pretending that they are Gwen. It's so cute," smiled Nadiya.

"Oh, wow!" responded Stephanie as she quickly pulled her cell phone out. "We've been missing a huge opportunity! I'm sending a text back to home to have our people develop some sort of Gwen, Steve, Jordan, Charlie and friends' action figures, dolls, or whatever, that kids can play with. We need these on shelves by Christmas!"

"That's a great idea!" agreed Paula. "I bet they'll be extremely popular."

"I may buy a few if the ones of Gwen are anatomically correct and life size," allowed Billy as Charlotte punched his shoulder.

"Does that mean that you'll retire the blow-up dolls you have now?" asked Jared with a straight face.

"Hell yes!" laughed Billy. "It's a no-brainer!"

"You will not be having any life size dolls of my friend," stated Jordan flatly. "Besides, I was hoping you'd want to collect the 'Jordan' dolls."

"Don't worry about that," replied Billy. "I want the Jordan, Lisa, Kate, Naomi, Becky, Ashley, and Nadiya dolls. Will they have likenesses of the mothers, too?"

"I don't know if I should slap your face, or give you a hug for that comment," admitted Paula with a blush.

"I want to place the first order for the 'Charlotte' doll," insisted Steve. "That one will be a collector's item."

"Thanks, Steve!" gushed Charlotte as she hugged Steve. "Why wait for the doll when you have the real thing right here? It's obvious that Billy doesn't appreciate what he's got."

"I refuse to allow any dolls with your likeness to be sold! I shudder to think about what these horny, sick puppies would do with one. There'll be no Charlotte dolls," insisted Billy as the others laughed.

Once Nadiya finished greeting the Americans, she turned to Gwen and Steve again. "I want you to meet a special friend. He's a deputy ambassador to Ukraine from Germany. I've been dating him for a little while."

"I'd be glad to meet him!" enthused Gwen. "Maybe I'll be able to trust you around Steve if you have your own boyfriend."

"Don't be that foolish!" laughed Nadiya as she took Gwen's hand and led her to the other side of the lobby.

A tall blonde man stood and moved to greet Nadiya as she approached with her friends. "Hans Mueller, this is Gwen Anderson. The gentleman next to her is Steve Hammer."

Steve liked the man immediately. He was friendly, intelligent, and not overly impressed with Gwen and Steve's fame. Nadiya beamed when she saw how well Steve had accepted him. As the two men chatted, she pulled Gwen a short distance away.

"Do you think that Steve likes him?" asked Nadiya quite seriously. "I was hoping that he would, but I'm not sure if he's just being nice because Hans is my friend."

"The best way to find out is to ask Steve," replied Gwen as she studied Nadiya's face. "You really like this guy, don't you? Do you think that he might be the one? He's certainly tall and good looking. Be sure to bring him around a lot this week so we all get to know him better. Steve will tell you what he honestly thinks if you ask him. He thinks the world of you and wants you to be happy. If Hans makes you happy, and treats you with the respect that Steve feels you deserve, they'll become good friends."

"Thanks so much, Gwen. You've been a great friend to me. I am ashamed to admit that I had thoughts of winning Steve away from you when we first met. That was before I realized that I never would be able to do that," admitted Nadiya. "You two belong together and everyone can see it."

"I knew how much you liked Steve right from the start," revealed Gwen. "I never blamed you for it. He's something special, but I've finally come to accept that he loves me totally. He'll never abandon me. I don't know if I could drive him away, but I'm sure not going to try. I hope to have a house full of his kids someday!"

"I'm so happy that Hans and Steve are getting along so well," beamed Nadiya. "Would you like to visit the hospital you so generously built for the people of the Ukraine? It is complete and we are preparing for the grand opening Saturday. This is a very exciting time for us Ukrainians."

Later that afternoon, the Americans, along with Hans and Nadiya arrived at the newly constructed hospital. The six owners of Lady in Red Productions had debated for weeks on what to name the hospital. They discussed various clever names, saints' names, famous Ukraine names, and even geographically pertinent names. They finally decided to simply call it 'Lady in Red Children's Hospital of Kiev'.

When they were still a few blocks from the new structure, the group could easily read the name in large letters on the face of the building.

"Look!" cried Jordan as she pointed out the window of their bus. "It has our company name in huge letters across the front, along with our logo. I've never been so proud of anything before in my life. Can you believe that we built this?"

"Look at the tears on Gwen's face," pointed out Kate. "I still remember the night she invited us to her room to tell us that she wanted to build a hospital here. I wasn't an owner then, but I sure was proud of you guys!"

As the bus pulled up to the front of the building, the group noticed a couple dozen people gathered in front of the building, a hundred feet away from the entrance. They had blankets, a few chairs, and a few small cots along the wall.

As the Americans stepped off the bus, a very well dressed man rushed up to greet them. His English was excellent, with only a hint of an accent.

"Welcome! I'm Gerard Binak, the hospital administrator. I've gathered the entire staff, including maintenance, IT, and clerical. You're scheduled to address them in half an hour in the auditorium. Everyone's very anxious to meet the famous and very generous Americans!

"Why are those people over there?" asked Gwen as she pointed at the small gathering nearby. She couldn't help but notice the rather poor condition of the clothing and blankets the people had with them.

"They started lining up yesterday for the opening on Saturday," explained the administrator. "They heard that everyone will be given the best possible care, so naturally the poor people show up first."

"Nadiya, would you please come with me," requested Lisa. "The rest of you go on in and meet with the staff. We'll be in shortly."

Gwen gave her sister a smile and a quick nod before speaking to the Binak. "Lead the way, Sir. We're all very anxious to see what $300 million can buy these days."

The group was very impressed with the first floor of the building, but that was all they had time to see before the meeting with the employees. The auditorium was state of the art, like everything else in the hospital. It was wired for audio and video presentations, with comfortable seats that even reclined.

Gwen, Kate, and Jordan each spoke to the packed room about their expectations for the hospital and how it would benefit the people of Kiev and much of Eastern Europe. As Jordan finished her brief speech, Lisa entered the room and stepped to the podium.

"We need to establish something right here, and right now," stated Lisa firmly as everyone suddenly sat straighter in their seats and many even leaned ahead. "The sole purpose of this hospital is to treat the sick and injured people that come to its doors. That means every last one of them. No patient receives less than total respect and attention.

"If there is ever any doubt about the treatment, always do the best for the patient, regardless of cost. I want to be very clear here. If we receive any complaints that anyone connected with this facility did less than their absolute best for a patient, there will be an inquiry. If the complaint has merit, people will be fired.

"At this moment, we have an even dozen very ill children waiting with their parents outside the doors. These parents intend to wait until Saturday to get their children treated as soon as the doors open. Those doors will open in ten minutes, not in a few days! We are opening for business right now! I want everyone to report to their stations and be prepared to treat anyone in need. If that's a problem with that directive, come up and see me or one of the other owners immediately."

"But we didn't plan to open until Saturday," protested the administrator. "If patients are allowed in now, there will be people and equipment in the way when we have the grand opening. It would go much smoother without these dirty, poor people cluttering up this beautiful building."

"That will NO longer be your problem!" snapped Lisa. "You're fired! I've spoken to security and they'll be waiting at your office. You're allowed to take personal property, but nothing belonging to the hospital."

"You can't fire me!" protested the shocked man. "My cousin is the mayor! He'll shut this place down before it even opens. You can't just waltz into our city and take over. I don't take orders from you, or any other stupid cunt..."

That was as far as the man got before Jason had him by the throat and pinned to a wall. "You never speak to a lady like that, and certainly not to my wife," snarled Jason as he shook the man like a dog would a rat.

"Get him out of here," demanded Lisa. "Jason, you stay next to me. I don't want you getting into trouble. Nadiya, can you get the mayor's phone number for me?"

"You are in luck," chuckled Nadiya. "He is one of my phone contacts. I will call him right now and give you the phone. He speaks English quite well. I do not believe he will be backing up his relative's boast."

Nadiya spoke briefly into her phone and then handed it to Lisa. The conversation was short and very much to Lisa's liking. As she handed the phone back to Nadiya, she spoke to her group.

"Mayor Plusko assured me that his 'second cousin, through marriage' was not speaking for the city, or the Mayor's office. He apologized for Binak's behavior and asked that we not allow it to cloud our opinions of his city and its appreciation of our efforts."

"My God, Lisa!" managed Kate once Lisa finished speaking. "You tore that guy apart. He had it coming, though, if he had sick children waiting days for the hospital to open. That was pretty lousy, to say the least."

"Thanks for setting him straight," added Jordan. "When Gwen asked about the people waiting by the wall, I had a bad feeling about it. Then that pompous ass dismissed them as unimportant! I never saw that tough side of you before. I'm impressed."

"My job is to run everything that isn't part of the entertainment portion of Lady in Red Productions, more or less. You guys work so hard to earn all that money to help these kids that I feel like I'm not pulling my weight at times. I knew Gwen was upset, but it shouldn't be up to her to do everything," reasoned Lisa. "I could tell she was troubled and I knew why. I felt it was my job, so I did it."

"You were great!" praised Gwen. "I was stewing about what to do when you indicated that I should attend the meeting and let you handle the situation. I'm really proud of you, and not just for taking the lead. You have a complete understanding of what we're trying to do with these hospitals. It isn't about good press and winning public opinion. It's about doing the right thing, especially for the less fortunate."

"All I could think about was how I'd feel if Theresa was sick and I had to wait days for a hospital to open so she could be cared for properly. No parent should have to do that and no child should suffer that way," insisted Lisa.

"You probably didn't notice the looks of approval from the doctors, nurses, and other staff members when you reamed out that asshole," reported Billy. "Hey, I made a joke! Anyway, they were grinning and nodding when Lisa sent Numb-Nuts packing. I have the feeling he wasn't very well liked here."

"You really have a way with words," observed Charlotte drily. "Reaming out assholes and numb-nuts? I never realized you were an English major."

"I speak the universal language of 'macho men'. All the guys understood me perfectly, and so did you," pointed out Billy. "I call 'em like I see 'em."

The group spent the rest of the day touring the entire facility. They tried to speak with everyone connected in any way with the hospital. Many of the staff members thanked Lisa for ridding them of Binak. He was held in contempt by almost everyone.

Gwen and Charlotte spent a lot of time with the patients, as well as their parents. Nadiya translated for them as each and every parent expressed their gratitude. They had difficulty believing that their children were being treated in a facility so superior to anything that had ever seen before.

Later that evening as the tired group was bused back to their hotel, Gwen spoke with obvious emotion to her friends. "That hospital is the finest thing I've ever been associated with, other than you people here with me right now. We've given those children hope. Their parents finally have hope. We gave that to them. They were trying to thank us for giving their children a chance to live beyond the next few days. Can you imagine what they were feeling as they waited on the street with their suffering kids this morning? Lisa, you probably saved some of their lives when you demanded they be treated immediately."