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“He's mine if he's anyone's.”

Katyusha didn't expect she would find the cat's owner this soon, but she was glad. The boy, albeit skinny and slightly unhealthy, had a kind expression on him. Strangely, she couldn't help but feeling that she had met him before. A soft purring near her shoes told her that the cat had returned, interrupting her thoughts. The nurse crouched down and picked it up again, smoothing the furs. It seems the cat felt comfortable in her arms. She absentmindedly scratched its chin, smiling.

“What happened?” the boy asked, apparently realizing that there was something happened with his cat.

"Ah, I was walking near here..." the woman started, recalling all the details. "Your cat was crossing the street when a large motorcycle passed by. This poor kitty seemed frightened, but unharmed. So I hoped I could find the owner. Looks like you've been treating the cat well..."

The cat was particularly interested with one of her shirt's buttons. Katyusha kept an eye of it, just in case its claw stuck on the button. The paws left some dust prints on her clothes. Oh well, she could wash it later.

“Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar.”

The woman glanced up, looking at the building behind the boy. "I used to live here several years ago. Do you live around here? If yes, maybe we have crossed path once or twice." She approached closer to put the cat beside the boy. "My name is Katyusha. Also known as Katya." He was young, probably still in early years of secondary school. "I moved away about six years ago, so I'm not sure if you do remember me. My new home is not far, though."

The cat meows aloud, asking for their attention. "And what's this cat's name?"

Just exactly as the Ukrainian nurse approached the boy, a woman hurriedly ran from the other side of the hospital. The boy pouted seeing her coming closer, muttering his refusal to go with her. From the woman's words, Katyusha concluded that the boy's mother just given birth. The boy felt that his family had forgotten him, so he went to sulk here. The woman was his aunt, who said she had been looking for him around the whole building. Nevertheless, eventually they both left - the boy was reluctant, but Katyusha had helped his aunt in convincing him.

As they were walking away, she heard someone called her name. An ER nurse asked for her help in checking some patients. Thinking that at least she could do a quick check before going home, the nurse agreed.

The first patient she greeted was a boy no older than six, accompanied by a teenage girl who seemed to be his babysitter. She explained that he had eaten some parts of his toys and had been vomiting ever since. The treatment he got had stopped it and they were waiting for his condition to improve while checking if the toy's material had done more damage on his body. The second patient was a woman in mid-thirties who fell from her treadmill and injured her shoulder. She greeted Katyusha happily, cracking some jokes despite her injury seemed hurt badly. Soon a man claimed to be her brother came and talked to the woman, giving Katyusha a chance to move to another patient.

Then the third patient was a teenage boy. He looked terrible, to say the least. He had been in the ER for a long time, yet no one came to accompany him. Her question of whether he's going to have someone coming soon was answered with a shake of his head. So Katyusha took a chair and glanced at his name. "May I call you Wez... Westley?" she started with a simple question. Obviously he couldn't talk with that oxygen mask on his face. "I can call someone for you, if you allow me."

The sky outside was starting to turn from blue to orange. Katyusha was puzzled. Was it really that late? Her shift started shortly after the sun rose, and now it's already afternoon. The woman adjusted her buttons as the elevator she had been waiting for arrived. Katyusha pushed the empty wheelchair into it and pushed the button for the ground floor.

This was her last shift before weekend started. Which means there would be time to relax and try a new recipe or finish her knitting. Or maybe... she could call her mother. Sure the woman had been estranged since the nurse's childhood due to their clashing personalities, but she's still her family. After she had reconnected with Ivan and Natalya, Katyusha wanted to mend the relation between her and their mother. Maybe she could take a short vacation soon and fly back home.

Once the elevator arrived at her destination, she returned the wheelchair back and went to check the patients outside the examination room. There were about seven people waiting to be called, their faces lifted in a hopeful manner when she appeared with a map. A bit further than them was a lone blond boy. Katyusha's eyes were fixed on him when she called the first patient. The boy looked sickly.

Until the last patient entered the examination room, he was still there. Alone and seemingly unaccompanied. It saddened her seeing such a young person being alone and unhealthy. The Ukrainian woman had been there for a while, but she saw nobody talked to him. Feeling a bit worried, Katyusha let another nurse - who just emerged from the ER - took over her duty and approached the boy. Her shift was already over anyway; she had the rest of the day for herself.

"Hello," she greeted him softly. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Do you know anything else about what happened?"

"What... what happened..." Katyusha looked around the room. There were only the three of them in the bedroom, but she remembered another person was there a moment ago. A... friend? An acquaintance of Ivan, perhaps. She vaguely recalled that he introduced himself as one of Ivan's people. Incoherent rants in Russian slowly made their way to the surface of her mind, accompanied by panicked shouts and half dried blood.

"T-there was a... a brawl..." Katyusha shook her head, feeling unsure. Was that really a brawl? What did the other person say? She squeezed Natalya's hand. "I... I don't know. He said... he said Ivan was betrayed. I..." she glanced at the door, as if she hoped that other man was still standing there and take over the explanation. She had no idea when he left and where he went, but it didn't matter.

Katyusha took a long breath. "He... he was shot from behind, Na-Natalya..." She sobbed again, her shoulders were shaking. "T-there was so much blood and..." and I'm afraid he's dead already before he's brought here, she continued in her mind. Her chest rose and fall slowly, her breathing was heavy from all the weeping she held inside.

I'm afraid he will never open his eyes again.

There was a creaking sound from her bed when Natalya moved to sit beside her. The tears had seeped through her mask, her usually calm expression. Katyusha lifted a hand, hesitated a little before wiping Natalya's tears on her cheek. She wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, things would be alright and Ivan soon would open his eyes and they could see his smile again. But the words were chopped by an invisible blade in her throat, every syllable butchered into more sobbing.

The nurse laid a bloodied hand on her brother's lap. A muscle twitched under her palm. The blonde woman blinked.

"Ivan...?"