That Ibecamethe monster.
The fact that Svetlana feels the need to stand between Anika and potential danger when it’s clearly taking a toll on the old woman.
I should have known.
I should have held back.
I should have been strong enough to resist.
Seeming to regain a semblance of control, Anika lifts her head.
Her brows buckle as she looks down at Svetlana with troubled confusion. “Babushka, what are you doing wandering the halls without your wheelchair?”
Svetlana gives a cackle. “Just taking my nightly stroll.”
“Come, let’s get you back to your room,” Anika murmurs, wrapping a supportive arm around the woman’s waist.
Svetlana nods, wobbling dangerously as she turns around, switching hands so she can brace against the wall with her left and hold the cane in her right.
Anika steadies her, moving carefully at the old woman’s side as she hovers protectively to ensure she doesn’t fall.
They take several steps together before my beautiful wife casts a single, sad glance back at me over her shoulder.
Then she leaves me standing there, trapped in a tomb of guilt.
26
ANIKA
“What were you thinking, walking all this way?” I ask, concern tight around my chest as I watch Svetlana totter precariously back toward her room.
The journey clearly took it out of her, and I’m worried she won’t make it back. But I don’t dare leave her side to fetch the wheelchair in case she falls and hurts herself.
“You needed my help,” Svetlana insists, her frail voice cracking as she starts to breathe more heavily.
My heart feels like it might burst with the amount of love I have for this kind old woman.
She might be the single most selfless person I’ve ever met. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her, and it brings tears to my eyes just to consider it.
“Thank you,” I murmur, a tumult of emotions roiling inside me, threatening to explode.
“You never need to thank me,vnuchenka,” she promises, huffing to catch her breath as we finally reach her door.
I pull it open and take her hand to offer my full support now that the wall is gone. “Let’s get you to bed,” I suggest, helping her take the last few steps to the nearest place she can rest.
Svetlana sighs in relief as she settles onto the edge of the mattress and allows me to take her cane.
By the time I turn to face her again, she’s managed to shuffle back beneath the covers, several pillows propping her up.
“Come, talk to me for a minute,” she suggests, patting the open space beside her.
Desperate for some human connection, I sink onto the bed and rest my head in her lap so I’m looking at the small peaks of her toes beneath the blankets.
Svetlana’s gnarled hands gently stroke my hair, calm and soothing as she smooths it down and tucks it behind my ear.
“Will you tell me what happened?” she asks gently.
I hesitate, unsure of where to begin exactly. I’m still trying to sort out what happened.
