94 Showdown

Nazar Yartsev:

A fairly young man, maybe even younger than me, sat behind a massive desk filling out paperwork. After we entered the office, he looked up and gave our formal attire a surprised glance, but didn't comment on it.

"You're here about Matveeva?" His brows drew together sternly.

"Yes," Ann managed to answer. This whole situation had completely thrown us off balance.

"Come in." He pointed at the chairs in front of his desk. "Elena Egorovna has already been here and asked me to bring you up to speed on the patient's condition."

On unsteady legs, we walked over to the indicated seats. I took Anya's hand. It might have looked like I was supporting her, but the truth was, I needed it just as much.

"Maria has acute lymphoblastic leukemia that has already reached a fairly serious stage. The girl previously underwent several courses of treatment, but she stopped attending therapy quite a long time ago. During that time, the disease progressed significantly."

"Tell us the prognosis," I asked the question that had been tormenting us, feeling Anya squeeze my hand hard.

"The prognosis is very relative," the man sighed heavily and rubbed his face. "If she remains untreated, the mortality rate is one hundred percent. And in a very short time frame. A month at most."

"We're going to treat her!" my beloved hurried to say, turning impossibly pale.

"That's good, but again, relatively speaking. Masha's condition has already reached a stage where treatment in our hospitals is fifty-fifty, if not worse. Foreign clinics show very favorable results in cases like this. They cure up to ninety percent of such patients."

"We'll go to the ends of the earth if we have to," I immediately declared, making the doctor look at me in surprise. "Give us the address and referral to the best clinic where they can actually help her."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" the guy stunned me with that question.

Apparently my thoughts were written all over my face because he quickly explained himself.

"I mean, Masha already had a guardian, and you see where that led. There's no time to waste. State guardianship will take over again, and she'll be treated here. Yes, the chances won't be as high, but at least there will be chances. Because if things continue the way they were before..."

"We are absolutely going to treat her!" I stared the doctor down. "She's as dear to us as a daughter! Hell, we already consider her one! So write whatever papers need writing and send us wherever we need to go!"

"Nazar," Anya said, stroking my shoulder. "Don't get angry. The doctor isn't our enemy. He's just being cautious. You saw what happened with Masha's aunt. Tell us, what's her condition right now?"

"We artificially raised her dangerously low blood counts, and for now she's stable. Moderately serious, but stable."

"Can we... can we see her?" Anya asked plaintively, and once again I saw fresh tears gathering in her eyes.

"For a short while. But only in the presence of a representative from social services."

We left the office, and a worried Vicky was waiting for us in the hallway.

"I brought you some clothes so you could change into something more comfortable," the blonde said, pressing her lips together. "How's the little one?"

"It's bad, Vicky." I looked at my brother's wife sadly. "She has leukemia, and she hasn't attended treatment for a long time."

I saw the shock in the woman's eyes and how she covered her mouth in horror. Tears gathered along her lashes, but after looking at us she quickly pulled herself together.

"That's awful! God, she's still just a child!"

"How's Luka?" I changed the subject before another woman started crying.

"He only just fell asleep. He was terribly worried about his sister." Vicky sighed sadly. "He's such a sweet, good boy."

We exchanged a few more words with our friend and changed clothes. We promised Vicky we'd keep them informed and headed toward the room where Masha and Elena Egorovna were.

My heart painfully clenched when we entered and saw our little girl lying there so pale, with countless IV lines attached to her.

She was still unconscious, but her steady breathing was comforting in a way.

I was amazed by and proud of this girl. She was still so little, yet already so strong in so many ways.

While we were filling out paperwork with Elena Egorovna, another detail surfaced, one carefully planned by our clever and resourceful daughter.

September eleventh had been her birthday, not Luka's.

She had deliberately switched their birth dates so her little brother could have his first real birthday, one he would actually remember. Masha knew we'd throw a celebration and gave it to her brother as a gift.

I couldn't help admiring and loving this little warrior, and I'd do everything in my power to make sure she lived.

Anya sat down beside the blonde girl and looked at her with sorrow. There were tears in her eyes again as she gently took the girl's hand and squeezed it.

"She's so cold..."