In the hospital corridor, as usual, work was bustling. Orderlies hurried to wash the floors, nurses bustled back and forth performing assigned procedures, and doctors importantly moved from room to room, talking among themselves and holding stacks of papers. Only Anya, a young blond cleaning lady, moved at a different pace — softer, more attentive, more caring.
“Anya, what are you stuck on?” called Olga, a nurse nearing thirty-five with eyes tired from years and life experience. “Why are you fixing that old man’s pillow again? The floor isn’t cleaned yet!”
Anya carefully tucked the blanket around the dozing patient, then stepped into the corridor and quietly closed the door.
“He was uncomfortable,” she replied calmly. “He suffered all night from back pain.”
Olga rolled her eyes and pulled Anya aside toward the staff room.
“Listen, people are already whispering that you’re a bit strange,” she said with a slight smile, though there was worry in her gaze. “You put too much into patients. You’re barely hanging on yourself but still make sure everyone gets fully checked.”
Anya silently wiped her hands with antiseptic.
“Do you even realize what you’re doing?” Olga continued, lowering her voice. “Do you think anyone will thank you later? Maybe in a hundred years, you’ll get a cheap chocolate bar. And that if you’re lucky. People don’t appreciate it. To them, we’re just background, support staff… they don’t even see us.”
Her colleague’s words hurt Anya. “They don’t notice… just like my father didn’t notice when he left me at the orphanage,” flashed through her mind.
“Oly, I appreciate that you care about me,” Anya finally said, looking at her with her light blue eyes. “But I’m like this: either I do it well or not at all. So I prefer the first option.”
After a pause, she added:
“Would you want to be treated by someone who doesn’t care? Who does everything carelessly?”
Olga snorted:
“I try not to get sick at all to avoid that.” She sighed. “If you keep going like this, you’ll soon end up on a hospital bed yourself. You’re so young! You should be getting married, having kids…”
She winked meaningfully.
“Have you seen how our surgeon looks at you?”
“That’s Pyotr Ivanovich,” Anya shook her head. “He looks like that at all the young female staff. Just a womanizer.”
She knew Pyotr often allowed himself ambiguous looks and hints but tried to ignore it.
“Well, yeah, he’s been married five times,” Olga agreed. “But for a first marriage — the ideal choice! He has an apartment near work; no need to commute an hour and a half.”
She glanced around to make sure they were alone:
“And what’s wrong with being a womanizer? They all are. Only some just cover it up better.”
Anya knew that a year ago Olga’s husband had left her for a young mistress. Olga had endured his cheating for many months hoping it would work out, but in vain.
“If you want housing, my ‘pre-marital’ experience can be considered a failure,” she laughed bitterly. “I tried to get him back…” Olga ran her hand over her face as if brushing away memories. “Listen, my mistake was that I loved too much. I could’ve just saved money and not worried. Just don’t repeat my mistake — act out of benefit.”
Olga sighed, and Anya shook her head:
“I can’t do that. Everyone has their own path. You know…” she hesitated a little but decided to speak. “When my father put me in the orphanage after my mother died, I was even grateful to him. He didn’t pretend. It was disgusting when he pretended to care but really wanted to get rid of me.”
Her voice remained calm, without bitterness — just stating a fact. Olga sympathetically stroked her shoulder.
“All right, just take care of yourself, okay?” she asked.
“All right, I’ll try to be less noticeable. What I can, I’ll do myself,” Anya replied.
In the evening, sitting alone in the empty locker room, Anya thought about her future. She was just over twenty and had long dreamed of becoming a doctor. But studying requires time and money. Working and studying would be hard.
“Nothing so far suggests that this dream can come true,” she thought sadly, buttoning up her worn jacket.
She had a father, but he did not want anything to do with her. A typical womanizer, as Olga said, living only by his desires. After her mother’s death, he fully sank into debauchery.
Anya remembered their last conversation. She came to him at sixteen, eight years after he sent her to the orphanage.
“I remember who you are. What do you want? Maybe rich parents adopted you and now you came to help your poor father?” he said without even offering her a seat.
“No, no one took me. I’ve always been in the orphanage. Now I work as an orderly,” Anya replied, trying to keep calm.
“Well? What do you want? The state gave you housing, you have a job… I gave you life. I owe you nothing more. Don’t bother me anymore,” he coldly threw, standing in the doorway like an unwanted guest.
“I just wanted to know… Did you love mom? Why did you live with her at all?”
“I didn’t want kids. Your mother wanted to have them. So I agreed. Love?” He shrugged. “A normal woman, hardworking, diligent. It was calm, clean, well-fed… That’s all.”
At that moment, a woman of about forty with bright makeup and her own key entered the room and looked questioningly at Anya.
“She doesn’t understand that I don’t need her… Had to make it clear,” the father said with icy calm.
The woman who entered was clearly tipsy. She laughed loudly looking at Anya. She especially found the girl’s poor appearance amusing — worn clothes, unkempt hair.
“Put on makeup, dress better,” she advised, swaying on high heels.
“Thank you, but I don’t want to be like you,” Anya said, trying to keep composed though inside she was boiling with resentment.
“Did she just insult me?” the woman was outraged and reached for the girl’s light long hair, intending to grab it, but the father intervened. Although probably he just didn’t want extra trouble.
“Enough,” he sharply said to his friend. “Let her go. She won’t come back. I explained everything to her. Don’t worry — she means nothing to me.”
“Nothing… just an empty space,” these words firmly settled in Anya’s heart, and she never reminded her biological father about herself again. He showed her who she was to him. Just emptiness.
She could only count on herself. But how to realize her long-time dream — to become a real, good, kind, knowledgeable doctor?
That winter evening, Anya promised Olga to be more cautious and less noticeable, but fate had other plans. A patient arrived at the hospital everyone called “the drowned man.” They said he jumped from a bridge, but there was no exact information. He had no documents, and resuscitation efforts failed.
The situation was complicated by the fact that the man was poorly dressed, almost like a homeless person. The police didn’t even bother investigating whether he jumped or was pushed. They promised to try to identify him and notify if someone searched.
“Wait! There are cases when people survived long stays in cold water!” Anya tried to get the doctors’ attention, standing at the door of the doctors’ lounge. “Can’t we give him a chance? We can’t just send him to the morgue! Maybe his breathing is slowed or his temperature is too low?”
Something about this man touched her. Perhaps because, like her, he was unwanted by anyone.
But there was another reason for indifference — New Year was approaching, and many had already started celebrating. Nobody wanted to deal with a dirty, ragged patient who probably decided to end it all.
One doctor, gray-haired and important, laughed loudly:
“Look who’s trying to teach us — our Anya! Don’t be nervous, maybe it’s better for this bum to die than live like this.”
Anya stubbornly straightened her back:
“Have you noticed his hands? His teeth? He’s not a bum at all! They deliberately dressed him like that. Please, let’s at least try something!”
The doctors exchanged glances but no one wanted to get involved with this patient before the holidays. Finally, one shrugged:
“If you want — you handle it.”
He didn’t care: let the young orderly play savior. Dead is dead. Especially since the autopsy was scheduled for tomorrow, and tonight was the night shift — there was time.
Anya was left alone. The staff had gone home, the pre-holiday bustle took hold of everyone. Only footsteps echoed through the empty corridors.
“Don’t worry, you will live,” she whispered, taking the patient from the morgue and covering him with a thermal blanket.
After some time, she started chest compressions. It seemed somewhere deep inside she heard weak breathing. But Anya was not sure.
At that moment, surgeon Pyotr Ivanovich peeked into the ward, slightly tipsy.
“What are you doing, playing with a corpse?” he sneered. “It’s time to go home. And if you want… come to me,” he added suggestively.
“I feel breathing… very weak, but it’s there,” Anya lied a little, knowing he wouldn’t help otherwise.
“Are you serious? He’s officially dead!” Pyotr grimaced.
“If you don’t help and he survives, it’ll be a scandal. There are cameras here, by the way.”
The cameras were only in some areas, but the ward was paid — Anya had moved the patient there to attract attention.
“All right, just for you,” grumbled Pyotr.
He had complaints before, and he didn’t need new trouble. But he was angry — this girl ignored his flirtations and now set him up.
After several defibrillator shocks, no change occurred. Oxygen didn’t help either.
“Petya, dear, let’s try a couple more times. This is a living person!” Anya begged.
“All right, but you’re already on my nerves. So don’t expect to stay here long,” he growled. “And now you’re trying to blackmail me!”
“Not only does she ignore my hints, she dumped work on me,” thought Pyotr, extremely annoyed.
Suddenly, the patient twitched his leg. Then slowly began to regain consciousness. Pyotr looked on in surprise and cursed in disbelief.
“That’s it, you nasty girl!” he shouted. “What do you think you’re doing? Forgot who you are? An orderly! You took a paid ward! Made me work with a bum! And lied!”
But Pyotr knew the patient’s story well. Everyone in the hospital heard how he was pulled from the river. Because of the warm winter, the water hadn’t frozen yet, and two fishermen accidentally spotted him under the bridge. They almost became victims of an aggressive man waving a powerful flashlight and shouting threats. The fishermen quickly reached shore and called an ambulance.
“Trying to fight me?” the surgeon mocked. “I’m an experienced surgeon. I can take down a hundred like you. I’ll fire you!”
The next day Olga rushed into the locker room, looking worried:
“Anya, what have you done? Journalists arrived! The chief doctor is beside himself!”
“Sorry, but imagine if he just died in the morgue…” Anya began but stopped. Pyotr had blabbed to his journalist friend, and the story spread.
The result was predictable — she had to find a new job.
The chief doctor summoned her in an hour.
“Write a resignation letter. Don’t show your face here tomorrow! Clumsy! Incompetent! Poison! Got it?!” he shouted.
Anya silently nodded. At that moment, she realized — her dream of becoming a doctor had slipped even farther away. She wanted to please everyone, to show she was capable, that she cared… But the chief doctor only cared about paying patients.
But Anya couldn’t leave just like that. Before leaving the hospital forever, she decided to visit that patient — the man everyone thought was the drowned one — and say something kind to him one last time.
On the bed sat a young man — pleasant, neat, with brown eyes and light blond hair. Seeing Anya, he smiled.
“You saved me… Anya?” His voice was polite and educated, which made the girl doubt even more that he was really a bum.
“How do you know my name?” she asked, approaching.
“From the newspaper your friend Olga brought. And I remember how you persuaded the doctor not to give up when you tried to revive me,” he said softly, gratefully. “Thank you very much! How can I repay you?”
“Oh no, no help needed,” Anya blushed. “I saw your clothes…” she hesitated a bit, “maybe I can help somehow? At least with money?”
She was afraid to talk about the fact that he would be discharged soon and the question — where he would go in such a state.
“Wait, my clothes mean nothing,” he frowned slightly. “Believe me, I can do much more for you.”
The man looked out the window.
“Oh, my people have arrived! Don’t go! Olga said today isn’t your shift. So I’m lucky you’re still here.”
“Yes, I was just about to leave,” Anya replied quietly but didn’t explain that she was fired.
She didn’t understand what he wanted but decided if it was important to him — let him say or give what he intended. Even if now wasn’t his best time.
His name was Alexander, and for some reason she immediately felt warm next to him. She was glad she helped such a person. Although, of course, she would have done it for anyone.
Suddenly Olga ran into the ward:
“Anya! Help needed urgently! The corridor floor needs washing; there’s some motorcade with flashing lights! Everything’s upside down. The chief doctor is in panic. I don’t know what’s happening, but we can’t manage without you!”
“Of course, I’ll help,” Anya nodded. “Although today is my last working day…”
“Wait, you were fired for saving a person?!” Olga’s eyes widened, then she awkwardly added to Alexander: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. You were without documents, so we called you ‘the drowned man’…”
“No worries,” Alexander calmed them. “My acquaintances came. Not to scold you.”
The friends exchanged glances.
“May I bring you pajamas to greet your guests?” he offered.
Olga nodded and quickly brought clean pajamas — someone had left them after discharge, and they looked decent.
While Alexander changed, the girls waited in the corridor. Then they all went out to meet the arrivals.
Three black cars pulled up to the hospital. Men in strict suits stepped out of the first one; seeing Alexander, they clearly rejoiced.
“Alexander Ivanovich!” one tall and stately stepped forward. “Sorry, it’s our fault… We didn’t even know you were coming to the plant.”
This man was a local deputy.
“Oleg Lvovich, don’t worry so much,” Alexander calmly replied. “More important to find out who tried to kill me. They stopped me, dressed me in rags, and threw me in the river. If not for the fishermen and this heroic orderly Anya, I’d have frozen in the morgue.”
The chief doctor, who a minute ago seemed like an angry boss, suddenly turned helpful and friendly.
“Anya is the future of our hospital! We will definitely support her development!”
Anya looked at him questioningly but decided not to defend herself. The chief doctor hugged her shoulders and said pompously:
“We will send her to study! We need people like her! Let her become a nurse!”
Alexander noticed how the girl’s eyes lit up.
“Do you really want to study?” he asked attentively.
“I really want to be a doctor,” Anya confessed, blushing slightly.
“Then I will pay for your education,” he said confidently.
Anya froze. Her dream began to come true! True, the question of housing during study remained open, but that was secondary. “I’ll figure something out,” she thought. “I’ll work somewhere, just to study! I’ll do what I love, become a real doctor. And never be an empty space for anyone.”
For several days, newspapers wrote about the miraculous rescue. Alexander gave the fishermen money for a new boat, and Anya came under his protection.
Olga sincerely rejoiced for her friend, congratulating her. Anya’s father even came to the clinic — with a fake smile and a crumpled box of chocolates.
“Well, daughter, now you can come to me,” he offered sweets.
Anya looked at him coldly.
“Why? What have you earned?” she asked evenly.
“You can take care of me,” he continued smiling. “Why do you need the institute? Come, cook, wash… Replace your mom. I’m getting old,” he said, as if offering something obvious.
Anya stared at this man for a long time. There was no pain inside, only the realization of how distant he had become.
“Listen, biological father,” she said firmly. “You are nobody to me. Please, don’t bother me anymore. We’ve long been disconnected. You gave up on me yourself.”
The man’s face twisted with anger.
“Oh, now you sing, you bastard! Well, live with your money and forget your old dad!” He looked around for support, but only Olga was nearby. “Let everyone know what an ungrateful person you are!”
Olga, who silently watched, stepped forward decisively.
“Please leave,” she said firmly. “Don’t come back. We love Anya. And you are a traitor and a scoundrel.”
When the door closed behind the father, Anya hugged her friend and cried. She had long mentally said goodbye to him, but the pain from his words remained.
Olga wiped her tears:
“Don’t cry, dear. Look, you have guests!” and pointed to the entrance.
It was indeed Alexander. In his hands, he held a huge bouquet of white roses.
“Will you go on a little date with me?” he smiled. “Your shift is over, right?”
They ended up in a cozy central restaurant. Anya in her simple dress felt out of place, like a random guest among wealthy clients.
Alexander looked at her attentively and suddenly asked:
“Anya, I learned a little about you… I found out where you live. And thought: how will you live during your studies?”
His voice showed sincere concern.
“I have hands and feet,” she smiled, trying to be confident. “And some kind of housing will be found. Everything will work out; I’ll manage.”
Alexander nodded, but his face said otherwise.
“You’ve already done a lot for me,” Anya continued. “If not for you, I wouldn’t even dream of medical school. Honestly.”
He shook his head:
“That’s nothing compared to the life you saved.”
“I would do it for anyone,” she softly objected. “I couldn’t go home knowing you might still be alive.”
Alexander looked at her seriously and pulled a delicate silver purse from under the table.
“Then accept this gift just like that, no conditions. Promise you’ll take it. It’s important to me.”
He paused and added:
“There’s something I want to tell you. But I can’t until you accept the gift.”
He looked straight into her eyes, and Anya’s heart pounded.
With some hesitation, she took the purse, opened it, and saw thick stacks of five-thousand ruble bills. She wanted to give it back but remembered her promise — just accept the gift.
“All right,” Anya sighed. “Of course, money will come in handy. I have to live somehow all this time while studying. Besides, there’s almost no furniture in my apartment,” she admitted honestly.
“So what’s your secret?” the girl finally dared to ask.
Alexander suddenly became shy. His confidence disappeared, and he reminded her of that very shy boy from the distant past.
“The thing is… there are two,” he began, stumbling a little. “First: I also grew up in an orphanage, but I was five years older than you there.”
He looked carefully at Anya as if waiting to see if she recognized him.
“Remember Sasha Yastreb?” he asked and blushed.
Anya gasped, covering her mouth with her palm.
“Yes… you defended me when my father put me in the orphanage!” memories flooded suddenly, as if it happened yesterday. “If not for you, it would have been very hard there. You know…” she blushed slightly too, “I even dreamed of becoming a beauty and marrying you.”
She laughed, but her eyes shone with unshed tears.
“You did become a beauty,” Alexander said in surprise. “Don’t you feel it?”
Anya glanced at the waitresses in impeccable dresses and sighed:
“It’s just clothes and hairstyle. Everything external.”
“But you saved me in rags, not afraid to lose your job,” he said seriously. “That means you know how to see the main thing.”
After a pause, he cautiously asked:
“Well, now… do you like me at least a little?”
Sasha again resembled that boy who used to stand up for her in front of everyone, even the caregivers. They were then teased as “the groom and the bride.”
Anya smiled:
“If we imagine we’re equals… then yes, I like you very much. But that’s not true. I can’t even allow myself to dream of something more.”
Alexander took a deep breath as if before jumping into water.
“Then the second secret… since I have at least a small chance…”
He pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket, carefully unfolded it, and began reading, stammering from excitement:
“Anya, I loved you then… maybe childishly, but now I realize — I never stopped. I’d like to start over, court you, get to know you again… But you don’t owe me anything.”
He put the paper aside and looked at her hopefully.
“Why didn’t you say it right away?” Anya finally managed to say.
“How ‘why’?” Alexander frowned. “Imagine meeting someone you loved as a child and just saying: ‘Hi, how’s life? Want to go on a date with me?’”
He frowned like a hurt boy, and Anya couldn’t help laughing.
“Probably it’s really hard. If I had recognized you immediately, I’d be confused too,” she nodded, then asked the question that worried her most: “Why all these expensive gifts?”
Maybe he just buys her attention? The thought was unpleasant.
“That’s different,” Sasha happily explained. “I wanted to thank you as the person who brought me back to life. And at the same time, I didn’t want to offend the woman I like. So first I paid my debt, then found out you’re not indifferent to me either… It turned into a whole puzzle.”
“Interesting approach,” Anya smirked. “Just don’t take me to places like this again. Better to go to a cafeteria or fast food. I don’t feel comfortable here,” she looked down. “And please don’t give expensive gifts.”
“All right,” Sasha nodded. “Honestly, I don’t really like this pomposity either. It’s just that my mother, who once abandoned me at the maternity hospital, found me and insisted I become the heir to her business. She’s a good woman, though I still can’t get used to her being my mother.”
Anya was silent. Birds sang in her soul, although outside it was cold rain mixed with snow. She hadn’t hoped Sasha Yastreb would ever remember her. Everyone in the orphanage said he had a rich relative who gave birth to him young and hid him from the family.
And now he sat opposite her as if resurrected for her. She was even scared to think what would have happened to her if he hadn’t come to.
Olga was right — deep down she always wanted a family, a husband, children… and to stop being lonely.
Two years later
Alexander nervously paced the corridor of the medical university. Today was an important day — Anya was taking the nurse course exam and preparing to enroll in the medical faculty.
“Well?” she popped out of the auditorium, beaming with happiness. “I got ‘excellent’!”
Sasha embraced her and spun her around:
“I never doubted it! You’re the smartest!”
Carefully setting her down, he looked seriously into her eyes:
“Listen, I thought all night… I need to tell you something important.”
Anya frowned:
“Did something happen?”
“No… well, yes…” he was clearly nervous. “I wanted to wait until you finished studying, but I’m afraid I can’t wait.”
He dropped to one knee right in the corridor and pulled out a velvet box:
“Anya, will you marry me?”
Passing students and teachers stopped, smiling. Someone was already filming on their phone.
“Please stand up,” Anya whispered bashfully, looking around. “Are you crazy?”
“I want everyone to know how much I love you,” he replied, not standing. “And I won’t get up until you say ‘yes’!”
Anya laughed:
“All right, yes! Of course, yes! Just get up already!”
Rising, Sasha put a simple but elegant ring with a small diamond on her finger:
“I remember you don’t like ostentation.”
“I love you,” Anya simply answered and pressed herself to him.
The corridor rang with applause.
Among the congratulators, Anya noticed a familiar face — it was Olga. She quietly approached and watched the proposal.
“Olenka!” Anya ran to her friend. “What are you doing here?”
“Sasha called, said today is an important day,” she smiled. “I’m so happy for you, baby! Both for the exam and the proposal!”
“You know, I also decided to study further,” Olga suddenly said. “I applied for advanced training courses. Your example inspired me.”
“Really?” Anya hugged her friend. “That’s wonderful!”
Sasha stood nearby, looking at his beloved’s happy face. How lucky he was that she was on duty that cold winter night. That stubborn, kind-hearted girl who wouldn’t let him die.
“You saved me twice,” he said as they walked to the car. “The first time in the orphanage — you gave me the strength to fight. The second — you literally pulled me from the dead.”
“And you saved my dream,” Anya squeezed his hand tightly. “And myself… from loneliness.”
Sasha hugged her shoulders:
“You know what’s most amazing? That all these years we were important to each other without even meeting. I looked for you when I got back on my feet but lost the trail…”
“And I thought of you when it was especially hard,” Anya confessed. “Imagined what you would say or do.”
“And what did I say?” he asked curiously.
“That no one has the right to make me an empty space. That I’m worth fighting for,” she answered quietly.
Sasha stopped and turned her to himself:
“And I will repeat that to you every day of our lives. Because to me, you are the whole universe.”
This story may not have a clear moral, but it contains one simple truth: in a world where people often pass by others’ pain, genuine care can work miracles. And even if the whole world considers you nobody, there will be someone for whom you become the whole world.
And it’s worth remembering: love lost in childhood sometimes finds its way back, even if it means passing through icy waters and rising from the dead.
