Something’s wrong with me,” Lena said as she stood up from the table, clutching her right side and covering her mouth with her hand.
“You always have some problem,” her husband, Boris, snorted, methodically working his spoon. The omelet on his plate was disappearing at the speed of light. “Better pour me some coffee. You’ll pretend later.”
“Dad, maybe Mom really isn’t feeling well?” Rita stood up to pour her father coffee, and Lena gasped, grabbed her stomach with both hands, turned pale, and sweat appeared on her forehead.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” her daughter cried out in alarm. “Should I call an ambulance?”
“No need,” Lena shook her head, “it should pass soon.”
“I’m telling you, it’s all an act,” Boris cleaned his plate with a piece of bread and shoved it into his mouth. “Where’s my coffee?”
She didn’t rush with the coffee; she watched her mother suffer in pain, trying to hide it. Only when Lena cried out in pain and bent over did Rita pick up the phone and call for a doctor.
The elderly doctor arrived and examined Lena.
“Have you been to the hospital with these symptoms before?” he asked, tapping on her stomach.
“No, why?” Lena groaned.
“I think you should go to the hospital,” the doctor closed his medical kit. “I suspect you’ll need surgery. At least, they’ll examine you and make a final decision.”
“Is it necessary?” Boris asked, peeking into the room. “Can’t you treat her at home?”
“Are you a surgeon, and are you going to operate on her at home?” the doctor’s sarcasm was not lost on Lena or Boris.
Boris snorted and left. Lena began packing her things for the hospital.
“Mom, are you going to be gone long?” Rita looked upset.
“Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on getting sick. But I’ll try to get discharged as soon as I can. Maybe it won’t need surgery.”
“Of course it won’t,” her husband said as he walked into the hallway to see his wife off. “And don’t stay too long. I know you; you’ll start making up illnesses to avoid coming home.”
“When has that happened?” Lena was shocked by Boris’s statement. She, even sick, never ran to the hospital; she always powered through everything. With a 39-degree fever, she made dumplings because her husband wanted homemade ones. And not at some point, but right now. When she had a bad back and could barely walk, she had to mop up water from the bathroom floor because a pipe burst. Boris had cut his finger and couldn’t help.
“What if it’s an infection?!” Boris had refused to help when she asked, worried about blood poisoning.
And so, she did it all herself, groaning and crying while cleaning up the water.
Rita, coming home from the university, took the rag from her mother’s hand and scolded her father for not helping.
“You’re too young to talk to your father like that,” Boris scolded her.
“Don’t yell at her,” Lena snapped. “She’s right—you’re always making excuses.”
Now, Lena was off to the hospital, unsure of what the outcome of the hospitalization would be.
The first day in the hospital, she underwent various tests and examinations.
The next day, the doctor, during his rounds, looked at her medical history and warned her that surgery was inevitable.
“Don’t worry, it’s a routine surgery. Everything will be fine,” he reassured Lena, seeing the fear in her eyes.
Lena called Boris.
“The subscriber is out of the network area,” an automated voice answered. So, she called her daughter.
“Rita, where’s Dad? I can’t get through to him,” Lena was anxious before the surgery, and Rita could tell from her voice.
“Oh, he’s watching TV. Dad!” she shouted at her father, “Mom wants you!”
“Why does she want now?” Lena heard Boris’s annoyed voice. “Hello?”
“They’re going to do the surgery,” Lena was no longer worried, but angry at her husband. Couldn’t he show some humanity?
“Well, congratulations! What do you want from me?” Boris barely paid attention to the conversation, his focus entirely on the TV, where models were walking the runway in swimsuits.
“Start cooking at home when Rita’s at school,” Lena gave her husband instructions.
“And why should I? I work too. I’ve found a housekeeper!” Boris waved her off.
“Boris, I’m not joking!” The metal in her voice made Boris straighten up. “Rita’s got exams, and she needs to do well. And you need to get off your butt sometimes!”
Lena could be very tough when it came to her daughter.
“Fine, fine,” Boris grumbled and hung up.
After the surgery, Lena needed time to recover. She stayed in the hospital for observation for a few days. Boris never called or visited her during this time. But Rita came every day, bringing her what the doctor allowed.
“Rit, they’re feeding me here,” Lena jokingly scolded her daughter, but she was happy to have such a responsible and empathetic child. “And what about the university? How do you manage everything?”
“Everything’s fine, Mom! I’m a long-lasting battery,” Rita joked. She didn’t want to upset her mother, so she didn’t mention that she didn’t want to go home. Her father had gotten completely lazy. He wouldn’t get up from the couch or the computer chair unless forced. Rita remembered a week without her mother.
“Sweetheart, there’s a mountain of dishes! There’s not a clean plate left. Can you please start cleaning up? And your excuses about university aren’t an excuse for neglecting the house!” Boris yelled at Rita when she came home from school.
“Margaret,” he called from his room, “boil me some dumplings or something! I’ve got an important project!”
Rita quietly approached her father from behind and noticed that this “important project” was a computer game, which he quickly minimized, leaving only some charts and numbers on the screen. Rita only grew angrier.
“Maybe you’ll visit Mom once?” Rita tried to hide her irritation.
“Why? You’re going? Why should I go? Let her think she’s a princess. We’ll all have to wait on her like servants. She’s been lounging in the hospital long enough. She could take her pills at home without the surgery.”
“I think I’m the one fulfilling all your demands right now,” Rita vented her frustration. “How has she lived with you all this time?”
“Why are you talking back?” Boris frowned. “What, now you think you’re the teacher? Don’t like it? The door’s right there! You feed her, water her, and teach her…”
“I’m studying too,” Rita reminded him, “on a budget, in case you didn’t know. And I know where the door is. As soon as I get a job, I won’t stay here for another day!”
“Yeah, yeah,” her father smirked, “we’ll see how fast you come running back in a week, asking to come home. And until then, get me my coffee!”
Rita didn’t tell her mother any of this. She didn’t want to upset her. It would only make her leave the hospital sooner, and that would be worse.
“Why is Dad so busy that he couldn’t come once?” Lena had been wondering this during the days she spent in the hospital. She smiled. “I’m not contagious.”
“He doesn’t leave the computer,” Rita didn’t lie or tell the truth.
“Other husbands come several times a day to see their wives,” Lena whispered to her daughter. “People even ask if I have a husband. No one’s ever seen him.”
“Maybe it’s better that way,” Rita blurted out. She immediately bit her tongue, but it was too late.
“Alright, spill it!” Lena became very serious. Rita regretted being so rash, but she knew her mother would get the truth out of her anyway. So, she had to tell her everything about how her father was acting.
“How do you live with him?” Rita looked at her mother, trying to gauge how she was taking the news. Lena was thoughtful, as if she was making a decision.
“You know what, go live with Grandma for a bit,” Lena smiled and patted Rita’s hand. “We’ll have to take preventive measures once I get back.”
“How can you live there alone? He won’t do anything!” Rita exclaimed, surprised. “He doesn’t care about anyone; it’s like no one else exists.”
“Let’s see how much he really wants a family. If nothing changes, we’ll take drastic measures,” Lena became serious. “You go to Grandma today. Let him live alone for a few days. Tell him you have off-campus practice.”
Lena spent a week in the hospital. Rita went to her grandmother’s three days before her mother was discharged.
When Lena got home, she found Boris furious.
“What the hell? What kind of off-campus practice is this?!” he raged at his wife, who had just returned. “No wife, no daughter at home!”
“What, do you have a problem?” Lena smirked. “No one to wait on His Majesty? I’m not in the mood to lecture you. The doctor told me to relax and not stress. Otherwise, I’ll end up back in the hospital, but not for a week this time.”
She went to the bedroom, made the bed, and lay down with a book.
“I don’t get it, why are you lying down?” Boris was shocked by his wife’s behavior. “The house is a mess, not a crumb of bread!”
“Are you deaf too? Lazy, selfish prick?” Lena looked at him over her book. “I just told you, I’m not allowed to stress. And housework is stressful, as I see it. You’re in a bad mood, and you’ve taken over the house. Go out, get some fresh air, and stop by the store. What do you want for dinner?”
“Pilaf,” Boris was still in shock and replied almost automatically.
“Alright, buy everything for the pilaf. I’ll send you a list,” Lena wrote a list on her phone and sent it to her husband. “I can’t have that, or else I’ll relapse. So here’s another list.”
She sent him another SMS. Boris looked at both lists.
“Am I a pack horse to you? This is half the store!” he grumbled.
“Alright, you can ignore the first list,” Lena shrugged. “But the second one is non-negotiable! I need to eat regularly, or goodbye home, hello hospital!”
“Yeah, right, do you expect me to sit hungry or eat your broccoli?” he mumbled to himself as he left the house.
“Done, I’ve got everything, go cook,” Boris returned from the store, sweating from the unfamiliar task.
“I can’t, the incision hurts, I’m afraid it’ll split,” Lena had already found a recipe for pilaf online and sent it to him.
“Are you kidding me?” Boris roared. “Am I your cook? I’ve never done this and I’m not going to start!”
“Fine, don’t do it. Did you buy bread? Oil? Make yourself a sandwich; I hope you can manage that?” Lena was calm as never before. “But I need to eat. My stomach’s growling,” she put her hand on her stomach. “Want to listen?”
“Forget it!” Boris snapped. “What the hell am I supposed to do with your cabbage?”
Lena sent him the recipe for the pilaf. Two hours later, Boris brought her vegetable puree and apple compote. From the kitchen came the smell of pilaf.
“Boris, you’re a culinary genius!” Lena praised him, tasting the food. “I can’t even make it this good!”
Boris frowned, but only for show. In reality, he was about to smile. “Yeah, sure, next time you’ll start slacking, and everyone will be in charge of you,” he thought to himself. Lena noticed his confusion. But this time, she decided to stop giving him tasks.
“Borichka, the doctor also told me I can’t bend over for a month. And I smell dust,” Lena sneezed dramatically the next morning. “I need a big cleaning. Take down the curtains, wash them, mop the floors, shake out the carpets.”
“Sure, now!” Boris grinned. “Found a sucker! I knew this would start with the store and end with repairs.”
“Well, I guess I’ll do it myself!” Lena groaned as she got out of bed, headed to the bathroom, grabbed a bucket, and filled it with water.
“Ugh!” she groaned loudly, grabbing her stomach.
“Go already,” Boris kicked her out of the bathroom. “The last thing I need is to live alone for a month.”
Lena, slyly smiling, went to the kitchen to put on the kettle, and Boris started cleaning.
By evening, he was limping, but the apartment sparkled, the curtains smelled of cleanliness and freshness, and the carpets had given up everything they’d been holding onto for years. Before, there was no way to get Boris to beat them.
“Tea?” Lena asked him.
“Yeah, whatever!” Boris grumbled without malice. “I’m barely standing on my feet.”
“Really?” Lena feigned surprise. “But you said housework was a breeze!”
“Yeah, I said that,” Boris mumbled.
“And that was when you were at home. You didn’t work eight hours, didn’t sit through four university lectures, didn’t run to the store carrying heavy bags, like yesterday. You didn’t stand by the stove for two hours. And this is every day—work, shopping, laundry, cleaning, cooking. You always want something handed to you. I think Rita’s question—how do I still live with you—is very valid. I just hoped you’d show at least a little bit of conscience without a push. I guess I hoped in vain.
But I see you can manage everything perfectly. So from now on, if you care about the family, we’re sharing responsibilities. And you forget about those finger snaps like in a restaurant. Now, I’ll bring you tea. You’ve earned it.”
“Just tea?” Boris sighed sadly.
“For now, just tea,” Lena laughed. “I’m afraid my stitches will tear!”