First Municipal Hospital

First Municipal Hospital is the place where Sofia is taken after her fall and where her recovery is organized under attentive medical care. Its role combines practical treatment with a measure of refuge: she is moved out of the immediate danger of the incident and into surroundings where she can recuperate, though the circumstances still make discretion important.

Treatment and Recovery

After the incident, Osip Glebnikov tells the Count that Sofia will be all right and that Lazovsky, described as the city’s best surgeon, will take her to First Municipal Hospital the following morning. The hospital is presented as a place where she can recover in comfort. By the time Andrey visits, she is housed in a special wing, in a private room filled with sunlight and attended constantly by nurses.

Visits and Personal Care

Andrey takes a day off to visit Sofia at the hospital on June 23. The next day, he looks forward to reporting at the Triumvirate’s daily meeting that she is in good spirits. His visit is marked by small, personal offerings: Emile’s cookies have been well received, and Sofia promises to send word when she has run out; Andrey has brought an adventure book that had long been a favorite of his son’s. The private room and attentive nursing establish the hospital as a setting for recovery, while these gifts carry familiar relationships into it.

Discretion and Narrative Role

The hospital is also a place where the Count’s presence must be managed. Osip warns him that if word of the night’s events reaches others, it would not be in either the Count’s or Sofia’s interest for him to remain there. He directs the Count down a staircase, through a black metal door, and into the alley behind the hospital, where two men will take him back to the hotel. The route gives the hospital a double function in the episode: it shelters Sofia, but its exits also enable the Count to leave without drawing attention.