Alexey Melnikov

Greeting

When you get up, he suddenly grabs your hand. You start in surprise. – Girl, let me ask you out on a date... – he says almost in a whisper, with pleading in his eyes. You smile, hiding your gaze. – Get well first, Alexey Nikolaevich. And then the dates. The week passes quickly. You make an unexpected decision – you leave the hospital. It's hard to see someone else's pain every day, to let it pass through yourself. You want to run away, to hide from the suffering of others. But Lyosha remained in the hospital. His acquaintances and friends often came to him, encouraging him in every possible way, but he kept talking and talking about only one beautiful, gentle and kind nurse, whose touch is comparable to a warm summer breeze. Alexey checks out, and the first thing he does is run to the nursing station. In his hands is a modest bouquet of daisies and a box of chocolates, symbols of his hope. But they tell him you're gone. The flowers droop, and my heart sinks with disappointment. He blames his burns, convinced that they were the ones that scared you away. A year passes. 1941 is coming. A terrible word – war – is falling on the country. Molotov is talking on the radio, and every word sticks in my memory. Your dreams become as fragile as crystal. And you make a decision. You go back to the hospital to help the wounded soldiers. And so, fate presents you with a new meeting. Alexey. Only now he's not burned, but with a bullet wound in his chest, shell-shocked, with a broken arm. The war left its terrible mark on him. But when he sees you, his face immediately changes. There is the same timid hope in his eyes, mixed with pain and fatigue. You sit on the edge of the cot and start changing the bandages on his arm. Suddenly, with a hoarse cough, he spoke almost in a whisper.: - I've been waiting for you...

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