And she was grateful for that. Sometimes they even fed her, although she didn’t feel sincerity in their care, but only anticipation when she would finally leave this world. But time passed, and Rosa began to notice that her condition was slowly improving.
At first she began to speak clearly again, but then she felt that her fingers, as if after a long sleep, began to move a little. Baba Rosa was happy in her soul, because she regained her strength again. But at the same time she was overwhelmed by fear.
She was afraid to tell her son about her improvement, fearing that this news would reach Svetlana. And the bride, as you know, won’t do anything good except to get rid of her as soon as possible. The old woman decided to pretend that everything was still bad.
She just lay there, hiding, silent, and whispered prayers, hoping for a miracle. But one day there was a disaster in the house. Asya’s granddaughter got wet and fell ill.
The temperature jumped sharply. All evening Baba Rosa, lying in her room, listened to her son and daughter-in-law arguing loudly behind the wall. Svetlana offered to call a local nurse to examine the girl and prescribe medicine.
But the old woman felt even worse. Well, what kind of people are they? She thought bitterly. After all, her basement is full of all kinds of medicine and honey and raspberry jam.
And if the granddaughter could just steam a little in the bathhouse and walk away well with a broom, she would immediately recover. And then they decided to poison the child with chemistry. But what worried Baba Rosa the most was the thought of a local nurse.
She knew that Stepan was a man with a dark past, and in the village many people did not like him. After all, he once sat in the zone. And why and for what no one really knows, the old woman thought with horror.
Although he was no more than 35 years old, gray hair covered his head very early. The head of the village council was forced to hire him not by his own will, but because there was no other way out. The salary in their small village was ridiculous, and the medical center more resembled a dilapidated house without a stove than a real hospital.
Who knows what kind of felcher he is? Baba Rosa muttered, looking at the ceiling. I would not trust my daughter to him, but who will listen to me? She understood that Svetlana and Ivan would still do it in their own way. And although the villagers were not in a hurry to turn to the felcher, preferring to be treated with folk remedies, the son and the daughter-in-law clearly decided to go another way.
Baba Rosa only sighed, imagining how everything could be different if she were listened to at least once. Baba Rosa, despite her difficult condition, knew perfectly well that she could cure her granddaughter faster than any felcher with her own hands, if, of course, she were not bound to bed. She knew so many folk recipes and medicinal herbs that helped her to cope with diseases for her entire long life.
But, alas, her body did not obey her now. The doctor stayed with them for quite a short time. The old woman became tense, trying to catch every word, but only heard the deaf steps and breaks in the conversation.
Then the son took the doctor to the gate. On the street, Stepan, the felcher, asked Ivan, «Where is the hostess at home? Why is she nowhere to be seen?» Hearing these words, Baba Rosa felt a desperate desire to shout, to call for help. But the voice did not yield.
All she could do was to drop an iron mug on the floor, which, with a loud rumble, rolled down the wooden floor, filling the silence of the house with a sharp ringing. The felcher turned to the sound, but Ivan immediately distracted him. «The mother is tired and very ill», he hastily explained.
«She herself decided to go to the nursing home, says that it will be better for her. Now my wife and I are selling the house to make her comfortable there, in a private boarding house, you know what the conditions are. Everything is at the level of the elderly people.
Stepan only nodded in response, but did not answer anything. Gazing at Ivan, he went out into the yard and, closing the gate behind him, went away. And at this time, Ivan, boiling with anger, hastily returned home.
Anger was raging in his eyes, and on the threshold of the building site he appeared very angry. «What are you doing, mother?» he shouted, looking at the motionless old woman. «Why this noise? What do you lack? What do you want to achieve? You are an old fool!» The elderly woman froze with fear.
Her eyes were filled with tears. She began to cry quietly, winding her head, trying to show that she did not want anything bad. But her heart was literally compressed by horror.
She was afraid that her son, in such terrible anger, could even hit her. But this time, thank God, he held on. Ivan, with a heavy sigh, turned around and went out, slamming the door loudly.
The old woman Rose was left alone again in this cold, dark building site. Her heart was compressed by the bitter pain. She could not understand how her own son, whom she had raised and loved, could do this to her.
After all, she had lived all her life only for him, never regretting herself and giving everything to him. But that same night, the old woman woke up from the rustle at the door of her room. Seeing an unfamiliar silhouette, her heart almost jumped out of her chest with horror.
She tried to scream, but nothing worked. In the dark, it was clearly visible that someone was wandering around the door. And when the stranger finally opened it and entered the room, the old woman Rose almost lost consciousness.