I stepped inside and froze. Matvet looked worse than I imagined he would. A thick bandage wrapped around his head, stained dark along one edge. One leg rested on a pillow, swathed in gauze from knee to ankle. Bruises spilled across his collarbone, and fresh scratches trailed along his arm. His eyes stayed shut until the soft thud of the door behind me made them flutter open. He turned his head to me and offered a tired, fleeting smile.
“Hi.” I crossed the room, my steps hushed on the tile, and stood beside his bed. “What happened to you?”
“Hey,” he rasped.
I glanced around, noting the empty beds. It meant he was in an accident or a fight alone. If others were present, there would likely be soldiers on the other beds. “Was it an accident … or a fight?”
“Both.” He offered a wry half-smile.
“What kind of accident?” I pressed.
He stared at me for a beat, then tapped the side of his bandaged head. “Still trying to remember. I’ll let you know when it comes back.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, the sound breaking the tension. It wasn’t much, but he chuckled too.
“I didn’t know,” I murmured. “Everything changed so fast.” Matvet nodded like he understood more than I had said. “Did you hear about Renat?”
“He deserved it,” he whispered. “Don’t you think?”
“This life is a damn mess,” I said. “Everything keeps shifting, and no one tells you how to stand still. One day it’s calm, then the next, there are a lot of cracks.”
“You’ll find your footing.” He reached out and wrapped his fingers around mine. “Did you meet Dmitri?”
I didn’t want to talk about it, but the words slipped out. “I thought he was kind... but he’s not even close.”
Matvet didn’t press. His silence meant he already knew. I reached down to smooth the sheet over his legs, my fingers brushing the gauze. Of all the people in this place, Matvet was the only one who had ever been kind to me without asking for something in return.
“Do you need anything?” I asked, though I saw his eyelids drooping. He was fighting sleep and losing. A small laugh escaped me. “You got the powerful stuff, didn’t you?”
“Stronger than I imagined,” he mumbled.
“I’ll come back later,” I whispered. “Rest now.”
His lips curled into a faint smile as his eyes closed. I stepped away, quiet as a ghost, and slipped back into the hallway.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the phone. The last call I made was to Carina, and she never answered. Before that, I spoke to Mamma, who rushed through the conversation like I was an interruption. She said she was busy and ended the call as if I didn’t matter. Rodion had returned the phone to me, but holding it now felt pointless. It would have been better if I hadn’t gotten it at all.
The silence swallowed my footsteps as I walked until I was in front of the girls’ quarters. I pushed the door open and almost bumped into Clara on her way out.
“Hey. I saw you earlier,” she said, eyes lighting up. “You’re back.”
“What did I miss?” I asked.
Clara’s smile dimmed. “We’re getting ready for Renat’s burial.I was cleaning up. The relatives started arriving.”
“Relatives?” I repeated, surprised.
Clara nodded. “Grandma Regina, the boss’s brothers, and some family from Russia might arrive.”
My heart skipped. Dmitri could show up?
“Can I help?”
Clara didn’t hesitate. She looped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me with her. “Come on. Let’s go clean the rooms.”
We moved through one room at a time, dusting and smoothing out bedsheets. The scent of cleaning spray lingered in the air, mingling with the uneasiness of my reality.
“So,” I started, bending to straighten the edge of a bed, “how are burials around here?”