Svetlana was sure that the investigation would sort things out and find the true culprits. Without much thought, she decided to get a job as an orderlies at the same hospital. Of course, it wasn’t a prestigious job, but she had nothing to hide—she was acting strictly according to protocol. The main question was who and why had falsified the prescriptions.
At first, the investigator was skeptical of her words. That’s when Svetlana pulled out her phone and showed him the photos.
“I have a habit of photographing tests and prescriptions,” she explained. “I like to think things over and weigh possible treatment options at home, in a calm setting.”
“Maybe you deliberately took those photos to swap them later?” the investigator suggested.
“Why would I?” Svetlana was surprised.
“Who knows?” he shrugged. “Things like that happen. I bet you have a lot of photos like this?”
“Not really. I delete them after the patient is discharged. These are the last twenty-four.”
The investigator carefully reviewed the photos.
“May I copy them?”
“Of course.”
Svetlana felt that the accusations would soon be dropped. Now the main task for the investigation was to find out who altered the prescription, which caused the patient to fall into a coma.
The investigator asked Svetlana to keep the photos secret.
“If we don’t find the culprit, this situation could repeat itself.”
“I’ll remain silent.”
“And also,” the investigator lowered his voice, “you’ll have to temporarily stop practicing medicine.”
“I understand. But can I still work as an orderly? We’re always short on them.”
“You’re an extraordinary woman,” the investigator smiled. “The hospital put you in a tough spot, and yet you’re ready to clean floors here.”
“It’s not about the hospital,” Svetlana replied. “My grandmother and mother worked here. Someone… I’ll try to find them.”
“No, no! No way!” the investigator panicked.
“You don’t understand,” Svetlana reassured him. “I just want to observe.”
“Svetlana, don’t interfere! Otherwise, the entire investigation will be ruined!”
So, the doctor with twenty years of experience had been working as an orderly for a month. Young doctors often turned to her for advice. The orderlies noticeably improved, working faster and more politely.
Tension hung in the hospital. A girl with a mysterious diagnosis arrived that morning. The individual symptoms didn’t seem dangerous, but together they posed a serious threat. The girl was brought in a critical state, nearly in a coma. Doctors from different departments fought for her life all night, and by morning, her condition improved. Now, she was sleeping under sedatives.
The girl was in the department where Svetlana used to work. She had always treated such cases with special attention and now regretted that she couldn’t participate in the treatment.
Svetlana quietly entered the room. The girl stirred and opened her eyes.
“Where am I?”
“In the hospital, dear. Everything will be fine. You’ll get better.”
Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes.
“I don’t want to get better!” she whispered. “Tell my stepmother that I… died. That I’m very sick and will never be discharged.”
“Can you really wish such a thing for yourself?” Svetlana asked, frightened by what she heard.
“Yes. I don’t want to go home… She’s there… It’s better to die,” the girl whispered.
“Is your stepmother hurting you?” Svetlana sat at the edge of the bed. “Maybe you’re exaggerating? Tell your father everything.”
“I would tell him, but… Dad’s not home. He’s in the hospital too. Maybe he died… I heard her saying on the phone that they would inject him with something today, and she would become a wealthy widow. And then she would get rid of me.”
Svetlana’s eyes widened. “What nonsense? Or is it true?”
“What’s your father’s last name?” she asked. “I’ll try to find out how he’s doing.”
“Pavlov. Mikhail Mikhailovich.”
Svetlana paused. Mikhail Mikhailovich Pavlov… That was the patient who had been in a coma, the one she was accused of poisoning. If the girl was telling the truth, then the stepmother had tried to kill both her husband and her stepdaughter. Which means someone from the medical team had been helping her? But who?
“That night, Oleg Sergeevich, Inna Mikhailovna, and Valery Andreevich were on duty,” Svetlana remembered. But these people were her colleagues and friends, and they had supported her during the investigation. She didn’t believe they were involved.
The girl fell asleep. Svetlana left the room. Oleg Sergeevich was walking toward her.
“Svetlana Karpovna!” he greeted her with a smile. “Did you already check on Dasha?”
“Yes, she’s sleeping. Her pulse and breathing are normal.”
“Great. But I’m still worried. Check on her later, I’ll show you her medical history. There’s such a mess…”
“Okay, Oleg Sergeevich, I’ll definitely stop by. But first, I’ll finish up here.”
“Svet, how’s the investigation going? Any updates?”
“They say we have to wait,” Svetlana shrugged.
“Same old: ‘wait,’” Oleg grumbled. “We’re all vouching for you!”
“Thanks, Oleg. I’ll come by later.”
“Oleg couldn’t be involved. That’s for sure,” Svetlana thought.
She peeked into Pavlov’s room. Empty. When a patient stays in the ICU for a long time, you get used to them. The nurse wasn’t there, and the monitor was flashing with chaotic graphs. Svetlana set down the bucket and approached the patient.
“Mikhail Mikhailovich,” she whispered, “I’m sure you can hear me. Your daughter is in danger. Your wife wants to destroy both of you. Please come back. Only you can help Dasha.”
She looked at the monitor. Suddenly, the pressure spiked, then dropped, and then rose again.
Hearing footsteps, Svetlana quickly turned off the machine and stepped back. A nurse entered, looking flustered.
“Oh, Svetlana Karpovna… I stepped away for a minute…”
“Lena, your ‘minute’ could cost someone’s life!” Svetlana said sternly. “Call Oleg Sergeevich! Something’s definitely going on here!”
The nurse glanced at the monitor and ran out.
Svetlana leaned over the patient again.
“Mikhail Mikhailovich, come back. Dasha is waiting for you.”
When the doctors arrived, she was already cleaning the floor. She gave the patient one last glance and left.
She locked herself in the storeroom and called the investigator.
“Sorry it’s so late… I need to tell you something.”
“There it is!” the investigator said after listening to her. “I had a feeling there was a connection! We made you the main suspect, and you turned out to be just a random link in this chain. Now everything’s clear. Are you at work? We’ll be there soon.”
Svetlana heard noise in the hallway. Someone was yelling loudly. Noise was prohibited in their department. She stepped out. A well-dressed woman was trying to force her way into the ICU. Two nurses were blocking her path.
“You can’t! It’s not visiting hours! And you can’t see Dasha at all!”
“Get out of the way!” the woman shouted. “Do you know who I am?! I’ll cause you so much trouble! Call me Varfolomeev!”
Something clicked in Svetlana’s mind. Varfolomeev! The deputy chief physician, a gynecologist who sometimes substituted for their department head. How could she have forgotten about him? He had just started working at the hospital and had already become disliked by the entire staff. He tiptoed around, appeared unexpectedly, and nitpicked at small things.
“What’s going on here?” Varfolomeev’s voice rang out.
“And who are you?!” the woman sneered at Svetlana. “Oh yes, you’re that fool who almost killed my husband?”
“It wasn’t me, it was you,” Svetlana replied calmly. “You planned to get rid of both your husband and his daughter in one blow.”
“What are you saying?!” the woman paled. “Now you won’t even get a job as an orderly! But you’ll be arrested… they’ll definitely arrest you!”
“They’re unlikely to…”
The woman charged at the nurses again, but they stood firm like a wall.
“You can’t!”
“Oh, you’ll regret this!” the woman threatened. “You’ll all regret it!”
She turned around and froze. Police officers were approaching them. The investigator was leading the group.
“I want to file a report!” the woman rushed to him.
“On what, Vitalina Egorovna?”
“Oh, don’t call me that! I told you!” she whined. “A report on this doctor! She almost killed my husband! And she’s insulting me!”
“Yes, I lost my temper,” Svetlana said. “But I had to stop her somehow.”
“Mrs. Pavlova,” the investigator addressed the woman, “now you’ll have plenty of time for complaints.”
“What?” she didn’t understand. “Worse? Misha, now Dasha… She’s like my own!”
“I know,” the investigator nodded. “May I take your purse?”
He dumped the contents onto the windowsill. Among the cosmetics and trinkets, there was a syringe filled with medicine.
“You’ll have to come with us,” the investigator said, taking Vitalina by the arm. She went limp and fell silent. “We’ll arrest Varfolomeev too.”
“Well, no matter how the rope twists…” Svetlana sighed.
“Svetlana Karpovna! We always knew you weren’t guilty!” the nurses shouted.
On her next shift, Svetlana was already working as a doctor. She entered Dasha’s room.
“Hi! How are you?”
“Oh, it’s you!” Dasha smiled. “I thought it was a dream… Did you save us?”
“Of course, Dasha,” Svetlana smiled. “It would have all come out eventually. I just sped up the process a bit.”
“We’ll call you our angel,” a male voice said.
Svetlana shuddered. She hadn’t expected to hear him here. Only now did she remember that the chief physician had allowed the father and daughter to be placed in the same room. “What a nice father Dasha has,” Svetlana thought.
“No one’s ever called me that,” she smiled. “Well, if you want… Now, let me examine you.”
While they were recovering, a real bond developed between them. Six months later, Dasha led Svetlana, her mother, and her saved father down the aisle.
