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“Katya, maybe it’s time for you to start your maternity leave,” Galina Petrovna said gently. “Just look at yourself—you’re pale, your hands are shaking. And judging by the dates, it’s already long overdue.” Katerina automatically lowered her eyes to her fingers, which really were trembling slightly around a mug of tea that had gone cold … Read more

People still tell me that I took too great a risk that day. That I had no right to step outside the rules. But if I had done only what the protocol allowed, one tiny little girl might not have lived until morning. I had already pulled off my gloves after the shift when a … Read more

“ Tanya, where have you been? Mom and I have been waiting and waiting for you, and you’re still nowhere in sight,” she heard her husband say impatiently over the phone. “I’m coming. They kept me late at work,” Tatyana replied, not mentioning that in truth she had simply been walking slowly, enjoying the last … Read more

“We’ve been in here for two weeks already, and not a single person has come to see that elderly lady in the corner,” Olena, my hospital roommate, said quietly. She was about thirty-five, strong-built, and spoke with the kind of softness that made people listen. I nodded. The same thought had crossed my mind more … Read more

“Mom, you don’t really need anything, do you? You already have everything. I keep telling Igor that the best present is simply being there. Isn’t that true?” my daughter Natalia said to me. “Of course, sweetheart,” I answered calmly. “Come on Sunday, around two o’clock. I’ll be happy to see you.” I ended the call, … Read more

That Tuesday, Dunaivtsi was waking beneath a soft May rain. The little town stretched along the Ternava River and usually moved at an unhurried pace, but inside a third-floor apartment in an old Khrushchyovka on Shevchenko Street, the air itself seemed to hum with tension. “Where are my keys? I’m asking you!” Stepan’s voice cracked … Read more

“Even if I gild my parents’ walls with gold, it’s still my money! And your mother can clean up her own debts. If you want to help her, do it yourself…” Marina stood by the wallpaper display, carefully sorting through the samples. Her parents’ apartment had needed repairs for a long time, and she had … Read more

“You deceived me!” Nikolai stood in the middle of the living room, shaking with fury. “What do you mean, deceived you?” “You knew! You knew you couldn’t have a child, and you married me anyway!” “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride,” her mother said, straightening the veil as Antonina smiled at herself in … Read more

Evening always seemed to arrive without warning. One moment, the last rays of sunlight were still clinging to the glass high-rises outside, and the next, the city had sunk into a dense velvet-blue dusk stitched with yellow-lit windows and neon signs. Olga sat in the silence of her living room, inside her own small kingdom—a … Read more

“Either you forgive me for cheating, or you leave,” Igor said, without even bothering to move his plate aside. “Say that again.” “If you forgive me, we stay together. If you don’t, pack your things and go to your mother’s. I’m tired of all these scenes.” “With who?” “Katya from my department. It wasn’t anything … Read more