Valentin carefully parked his car in the only available space near the children’s hospital. As luck would have it, the place was especially crowded today – cars filled every available parking spot. Every day, he came here almost like it was a job: taking care of some business, stopping by his favorite café for a cup of coffee, and rushing to see his daughter, to spend at least a little time with her. For several months now, the girl had been in the clinic.
What exactly was wrong with the child, the doctors couldn’t explain. Valentin had taken her to the best specialists, but they only repeated one thing: the brain is operating on its own, controlling everything else. This drove Valentin mad.
“You’re just hiding your helplessness behind all these complicated terms!” he snapped one day.
The doctors could only shrug, lowering their eyes.
“It’s the result of enormous stress. The brain creates barriers that we cannot control,” one of the doctors tried to explain.
“I don’t understand anything! My daughter is fading away in front of my eyes, and you’re telling me she can’t be cured?! I have money, I’m ready to give everything! For Michelle, I’d give my last penny!”
“Money can’t help here,” the doctor sighed softly.
“Then what will help?! Tell me! I’ll find it, I’ll buy it!”
“It’s impossible to buy… Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it to you… Something special has to happen. Or, on the contrary, something must not happen, so the body… the brain… can reset itself.”
“What are you saying?! Maybe you’ll advise me to see a healer next?” Valentin exploded.
The elderly doctor looked at him carefully.
“You know, if you decide to, I won’t stop you. I’ll repeat: conventional methods are powerless here. We can only ensure peace, positive emotions… and support the body with medication. And I’ll say one more thing,” the doctor lowered his voice, “If I were you, I’d leave your daughter in the hospital. She’s been brought in by ambulance twice already. You see, when she falls into this state, there’s a risk we won’t make it in time before they bring her here. But under constant supervision, that won’t happen.”
Valentin clutched his head. He was terrified of losing his wife, feeling that it could happen at any moment, and couldn’t even imagine how he would survive her loss. Michelle adored her mother, and he… he worshiped both of them. Now, he had to forget his own grief and focus on saving his daughter, also Michelle.
Surprisingly, the girl calmly accepted that she would have to stay in the hospital for a long time. She stroked her father’s cheek and quietly said:
“Dad, don’t worry so much. I won’t cry, and you’ll be able to work in peace instead of staying with me all the time.”
Valentin didn’t know whether to be happy or to cry. His eight-year-old daughter was speaking as if she were an adult.
“Hold her! Man!” Suddenly, a shout rang out. Valentin jumped and looked toward the noise. A girl was running toward the hospital from the street, out of breath, and a panting security guard was chasing her. It looked like she had stolen something. As she ran past Valentin’s car, she glanced at him in terror.
“My God… they couldn’t even spare a bun for a child?” Valentin muttered as he got out of the car just as the guard caught up.
“Stop! What’s all the shouting about?”
“I’ll deal with you in a minute! Get out of the way!”
Only now did the guard notice Valentin and his car.
“I need to catch her! She stole!”
“What did she steal?” Valentin smirked.
“A bottle of water and a bun… And who knows what else she’s got in her pockets!”
Valentin pulled out a few bills.
“This amount should be enough to settle up and even reward the return of the stolen goods,” he muttered to himself, watching the guard walk away.
After that, Valentin headed toward the doctor’s office. Their conversations were usually formal, but today, the doctor kept him a little longer.
“Valentin Igorevich, there’s one thing… Today, Michelle asked if she could talk to other children in the ward.”
“And what does that mean?” Valentin asked cautiously as he sat down.
“To me, it’s a good sign. She’s starting to take an interest in what’s happening beyond her room. However, not all my colleagues agree with that view. Many think that after such a long period of isolation, immediately interacting with a large number of children might be too much for her psyche. I can’t refute that argument, though I don’t fully agree with it. You need to think about it, talk to Michelle, and make a decision – whether to allow it or not.”
“I see, you want to shift the responsibility onto me,” sighed Valentin.
The doctor took off his glasses, cleaned them, and sighed as well.
“Yes, you’re right. We really want your daughter to get better, but… we understand that if something happens, you’ll crush us. And there are more than fifteen children in the ward.”
Valentin stood up and started heading toward the door, but stopped in the doorway.
“Thank you for your honesty. Perhaps you’re right. I’ll talk to my daughter.”
It seemed to him that the doctor sighed with relief. Before entering the room, Valentin tried to stretch his lips into a smile. He couldn’t walk in with a grim face. But no matter how hard he tried, the smile was forced. Now he would see his little girl, who had hardly gotten out of bed lately and couldn’t eat – not because she didn’t want to, but because her body refused to accept food.
The door creaked softly, and Michelle turned her head. At first, she looked at him in fear, as though she didn’t recognize her father, then smiled.
“Hi, Dad!”
Was it just him, or had a light blush actually appeared on her cheeks?
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
Suddenly, Valentin felt a strange sensation, as though his daughter wanted him to leave quickly. But that was impossible – she hadn’t seen anyone except the nurses and teachers assigned to the VIP ward. He sat down on a chair by her bed and started pulling out some treats.
“I stopped by the store… Look at these beautiful apples!”
“Oh, yeah, thanks, Dad,” Michelle replied quietly.
Valentin froze, his hand hovering over the small table. There were plates – dinner had just been brought in. But what surprised him wasn’t that, but this: the plates were completely empty.
“Michelle, what’s going on here?”
The girl sighed and said something to the side:
“Come out, don’t be afraid. I have a kind dad.”
And then Valentin saw a girl emerge from behind the curtain – the same one who had run past his car. She looked at him fearfully, and Michelle spoke up:
“Daddy, please don’t make her leave! I’m begging you! I’ll even share my apple with Katya. Where will she go? She has no one, and it’s cold and dark outside, and she was hungry and scared…”
Valentin stared at his daughter, confused. She was sitting in bed, biting her lip, and her cheeks were betraying her with a flush. He turned to the girl, who seemed to be a year or two older than Michelle.
“Are you Katya?” he asked.
The girl nodded.
“My name is Valentin Igorevich, I’m Michelle’s father.”
Katya nodded again, then hesitantly asked:
“Are you really Michelle? What a beautiful name!”
Michelle smiled faintly.
“No, I’m Masha. But my mom called me Michelle, and I always answered…”
“Oh, right… Mom’s not here anymore,” Katya sighed. “I don’t have a mom either, but that was so long ago I don’t even remember her.”
Valentin silently watched as the girls found common ground. Katya carefully settled on the edge of the bed, pulling back the sheet to avoid dirtying the bed with her worn-out clothes. “She really looks the part,” Valentin thought, cutting an apple into slices. He handed a piece to Michelle and Katya. The girls took them, continuing to whisper. Valentin couldn’t help but smile.
“I see you two have a lot to talk about.”
His daughter looked at him pleadingly.
“Dad, please let Katya stay! She can sleep on the couch over there. And we’ll talk a little more.”
Valentin thought for a moment. The girl seemed harmless, but you never knew what might happen.
“Listen, Katya, in the closet there are some of Michelle’s clothes. Take what you need and hurry up to the shower! And make sure you come out as a human. I’ll tell the doctor that Michelle’s sister is here and will stay the night. But you’d better watch out for me!”
Michelle clapped her hands happily.
“Thank you, daddy!”
Katya quickly darted to the closet, opened it carefully, and gasped in surprise. She chose some light pants and a T-shirt. “I’ll be quick!” she called out and disappeared behind the bathroom door.
When the door closed behind Katya, Valentin turned to his daughter.
“So, how are you, little one?”
“Dad, today was so boring! I even wanted to cry. I asked if I could join the other kids, but the doctor said I needed your permission. Then I crawled through the window to Katya… can you imagine? The window was so high!”
“Yeah… Are you sure you want her to stay?”
“Of course! When you leave, ask them to bring us some sweet hot tea.”
Valentin’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He just nodded. He had to work hard to arrange a place for Katya to stay. He even paid for the VIP ward. The doctor shook his head.
“I don’t know… It’s up to you, of course, but just keep in mind…”
“I’ve heard you. I’ll come in the morning for breakfast. Michelle asked for hot sweet tea… two cups. Who should I ask?”
The doctor looked at him in surprise.
“Two? For the girl and for yourself?”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll arrange it… You know, better safe than sorry.”
“What do you mean?”
“I won’t say anything for now. Let’s see how tomorrow goes. Then we’ll talk.”
Valentin felt that something had changed with Michelle today. But whether it was good or bad, he couldn’t tell. That night, he slept uneasily, waking up several times. Eventually, he called the on-duty doctor, Mikhail Petrovich.
“Sorry for calling so late.”
“No problem. Honestly, I was expecting your call sooner. Everything’s fine. They were chatting until midnight, until Alla chased them off. Now they’re sleeping. Michelle’s blood pressure is normal, no fluctuations. She drank her tea herself.”
“Thank you, Mikhail Petrovich,” Valentin sighed with relief and immediately fell into a troubled sleep.
The hospital had that characteristic smell: milk porridge and something indefinably childlike. Valentin carefully made his way between the little patients who were darting down the hallway. Surprisingly, those on crutches moved as fast as those with only a bandage on their head.
Finally, he reached Michelle’s ward and sighed with relief. Just as he was about to open the door, it suddenly swung open. Standing in the doorway was Alla, the nurse who had been taking care of Michelle. This kind-hearted young woman always inspired trust. She looked at Valentin, quickly wiped away a tear, and quietly said:
“You’re not just a father… You’re the best father. No one would guess that this is exactly what she was missing.”
With those words, Alla left, and Valentin, stunned, watched her go. “I’ll figure it out now,” he thought, and froze in the doorway. The girls hadn’t noticed him. How could they, when all their attention was focused on the TV screen, where a cartoon mouse was tormenting a cat?
They were sitting on the bed, with their legs curled up, each holding a plate of porridge. Laughing as they devoured it, porridge sometimes spilled out of the plates. Michelle’s clothes were clearly too small for Katya – he’d have to figure something out.
Valentin carefully watched his daughter. She scooped a spoonful of porridge, put it in her mouth – and nothing happened! Michelle calmly swallowed and went on laughing at the cartoon.
Katya noticed him first. She quietly nudged her friend with her elbow and nodded toward her father. Michelle turned around. Valentin couldn’t hold back a surprised sigh. Just yesterday, her gaze had been empty, as if she didn’t want to see or hear anything around her. But today, sitting before him was a lively, happy little girl… though completely worn out.
“Daddy!” Michelle exclaimed joyfully.
He silently walked over to the bed and hugged her tightly, then hugged Katya. Yes, now he was ready to do anything for this strange girl. But then Katya suddenly sniffled. Valentin became worried.
“Sorry, did I hurt you? Did I hug you too tightly?”
Katya shook her head, and Michelle firmly grabbed her hand and looked at her father sternly.
“Dad, don’t hurt her again!” she declared.
Valentin quickly nodded. Katya wiped her tears and quietly said:
“I’m not upset because of that… It’s just that no one has hugged me like that in a long time.”
A week later, Valentin took his daughter home. All this time, Katya had been by her side. Michelle had noticeably recovered, running down the hall with the other kids and chatting cheerfully. While the doctors, stunned by the “phenomenal” recovery of the girl, were doing a full check-up on her, Valentin focused on Katya.
Katya’s mother had disappeared when she was barely two years old. No one knew where she had gone, but everyone was sure she was no longer alive. She had lived anything but an innocent life. After her disappearance, Katya had stayed with her grandmother, but she passed away six months ago. The girl was sent to an orphanage, where she had a conflict with one of the nannies. The woman had raised a hand against the child, and Katya ran away. That was the sad story of her life.
When Valentin arrived to take Michelle, Katya had already packed her modest belongings. She stood up, hugged her friend tightly, then hesitantly glanced at Valentin.
“Thank you… I’ll go now…”
“And where are you going?” he asked.
Their eyes met.
“Probably to the orphanage. It’s cold outside now.”
Valentin thoughtfully replied:
“Does that mean I set up a room next to Michelle for nothing? You… don’t want to become her sister?” he asked gently.
Michelle was the first to squeal with joy and throw herself into her father’s arms. Katya followed, sobbing, and hugged him as well. When they left the hospital, all the nurses who had gathered to see them off were crying. But Valentin only saw Alla and her kind, understanding gaze.
And six months later, he couldn’t imagine his life without Katya. Just like the adopted sisters – Michelle and Katya – couldn’t imagine life without each other.
