Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko

Author:Sasha Filipenko
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Europa Editions
Published: 2021-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

“Wait, Sasha, I don’t completely understand. You mean your wife died, but the doctors decided to save the baby?”

“Yes. Maxim thought Lana would die in late May or early June. When in July, Lana was still alive despite everything, it became clear that it was possible to save the baby. Max came to the hospital room a few weeks before Lana’s death and said that, considering the stage of the pregnancy, he wanted to propose something. He wasn’t promising anything, but he believed we could try. As he explained, the cancer cells affected only the brain and, therefore, there was a high probability the rest of the organs should be capable of functioning even after death.”

“And Lana agreed?”

“Yes, she was happy. Actually, we couldn’t have dreamed of anything more. It became clear with time that Lana wouldn’t last until her seventh month, and that we’d have to rely on doctors.”

“My God . . .”

“That night when I came home, I turned on the TV and watched documentaries about space exploration on the Discovery channel. A famous actor was talking about new expeditions to Mars. It was fascinating. And it was a good distraction. The next morning, I went back to the hospital, sat next to my wife, and, accompanied by the noise of the monitors, I told my daughter that traveling to Mars was a real possibility. I told her that a Martian day lasts for 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 35.244 seconds, which is very close to a day on Earth. The monitors continued to beep as I told her that the seasons change on Mars, just like on Earth, and that the temperature at Mars’s equator was sometimes +20°C. Mars, I went on, has an atmosphere and water. So, life is possible, guys, life is possible.

“In the hospital’s courtyard, I would look up at the sky, see a passing plane, and imagine that one day, maybe twenty years from now, my daughter would go to Mars. I imagined that a quarter of a century from now, when even the most intractable problems would be solved, when pharmacologists would make their money off something new, when cancer, having exhausted its financial potential, would be treated like a runny nose, our daughter would lead the first expedition to the red planet and she’d find her mom there. Why? Because several weeks before we’d agreed on that.”

“It must have been a tough time.”

“It wasn’t easy. It was more like a dream. When rumors about Lana’s death started to circulate, it got even harder. Almost every day, I had to discuss what was going on with someone new. Her friends and relatives were coming to the hospital. Everyone wanted to pay their respects to Lana but, to my great relief, Maxim ordered all visitors to remain in the waiting room. Journalists tried to visit, and so did idle gawkers who pretended to be old friends of Lana. Even her ex showed up. He put a few carnations on a chair and hugged me as if we’d been friends all our lives.

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