Chapter 1

The railing vibrated in Nonna's palms. What was taking them so long to replace it? She had complained for the last two months about it, and they still couldn't come up with the funds or the drive to do something so simple as replacing a railing!

A purge was in order, she mused. Katyusha would have a field day with this one. She was always gunning for a purge—not that she ever got one, but a change of pace would be nice anyway, something to break up the routine.

What was it with that adorable little midget's obsession with purges? It was an endearing quality, to be sure, but there was a reason nothing ever came of it. She, Nonna, was more tame about it all; after all, she had but to stand over someone to get them to crack.

The railing! Why had they made it so short? What did they think Pravda girls were, five? Katyusha's voice rang in her head: "Don't treat me like a child!"

So lost in these thoughts was she that she failed to notice how far she was leaning over the railing. From behind her a voice said:

"Careful, Nonna."

As she turned around to face whoever it was who had spoken, she finally lost her balance. She toppled over the railing and found herself falling. Everything felt like a blur. Her life, her time with Katyusha flashed before her eyes.

The impact with the deck below was unlike anything she had expected. It was a good four decks. She all but pancaked on the metal surface, and suddenly her body was filled with shooting waves of agonizing pain that made her physically sick. She tried to move but couldn't. It hurt too much. Even breathing was a chore. She must have punctured a lung or something, or at least broken a rib.

"Nonna?" Katyusha's voice sounded close by, for real this time. "Are you all right?"

She tried to answer but only coughed up blood. A little red trickle ran from the corner of her mouth and dripped onto the steel of the deck.

"Nonna, answer me!"

Nonna's eyes filled with tears. It hurt more than anything she had ever felt, and it hurt even more to see Katyusha defenseless. She felt like she had betrayed her little friend by allowing this to happen.

"Nonna!" Katyusha's voice had a forlorn whine to it. Nonna wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but she couldn't. Everything was pain. It rendered her unable to breathe. Her vision grew foggy and then faded to nothing as she passed out.

"Where is she? I have to see Nonna!" Katyusha charged into the hospital waiting room, making heads turn sideways first, then down as everyone pinpointed the source of the interruption.

"She's in a coma. She was in really bad shape when we brought her in. You'll have to wait until she's conscious," the doctor said as he blocked the door. "We've already conducted an emergency operation to fix her lung, so she won't be ready for visitors for a little while."

Katyusha looked around for someone to back her up, but found that she stood alone. She looked up at this six-foot man blocking her path, contemplated her own diminutive stature, realized she had no one to lift her onto their shoulders, and burst into tears.

The doctor crouched down in front of her and placed his hands reassuringly on her heaving and shaking shoulders. "It'll be all right. She'll come out of it eventually, just not today. Okay?" Katyusha nodded, unable to scold him for treating her like a child or anything like that. She was struck dumb by the situation, as helpless as she had been as a first-year. She wiped up some of her tears with her sleeve, not that it really helped.

She turned and plopped herself down in a waiting room chair, intent on waiting until the exact moment when Nonna would come back to her. After all Nonna had done for her, Katyusha was going to be there for her at the very least.

There she waited for hours, until at last a familiar face walked in. Klara. The one who always spoke Russian. She was struck by the gentle concern on Klara's face, especially compared to her own blind determination and fragility.

Klara exchanged a few words with the receptionist before looking for a seat in the waiting room. Her eyes met Katyusha's, and she changed course for the only other friend Nonna had in this world.

She sat down in the open seat on Katyusha's left. They said nothing but sat there in silence and waited.

It was late. Dinner time had come and gone. Katyusha sat curled up in her chair, asleep, with Klara's jacket spread over her as a makeshift blanket. A nurse approached them.

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come back tomorrow. We only have so much space, you know."

"Okay," Klara replied, sounding a little disappointed. "I'll wake her up and we'll go." She lifted Katyusha's sleeping form and the tiny girl yawned.

Katyusha's eyes blinked. "What's happening?" she demanded groggily.

"We're coming back tomorrow. She's still in a coma. From what they told me, Nonna was a hair's breadth away from death."

"Nonna? How? I thought she was strong!" Katyusha was awake now.

"You were there. You saw. Four decks. People have died from shorter falls."

Katyusha fell silent. So Nonna was strong. Hopefully she would be all right.

After a pause, Katyusha spoke up. "What about dinner? Nonna always gets me something for dinner."

Klara grimaced a little, but quickly relaxed so Katyusha wouldn't notice. So this was what Nonna had to handle every day, the irritating side of Katyusha's cuteness. Nonna must have had Stockholm syndrome from dealing with this. Oh well. As long as Katyusha was happy, everyone was happy.

Katyusha's tiny hand tugged her sleeve. It was getting dark. "I'm really hungry. Can we go get something?"

"Okay, Katyusha. We'll get some dinner. Best make it light, though."

Presently they happened upon a little hole-in-the-wall of a place. "'Nazdrovia Pizzeria,'" Klara said, reading the sign. "Sounds sketchy. At any rate, they're open late. Let's go."

The pizza had too much cheese for Katyusha's liking. She wasn't a big fan of Italian food as a whole, but it would have to do. Of course, there were other options, but this was the closest one to their route.

What were they doing to Nonna in the hospital? Was she in pain? Was she even awake? Alive? What would become of her? These questions swirled through her head, overwhelming her attempts at optimism, as she silently reached for another slice.

Out in front of the dorms, Klara breathed a sigh of relief. She was done dealing with Katyusha, at least for the night. She could handle being Nonna's backup, but taking on the role in its entirety was proving to be a bit too much. It had been a long day, but now she could finally get some rest.

Or so she thought.

Katyusha emerged from the dorm. "Aren't you going to come in? Nonna always tucks me in at bedtime."

Well. Nonna was in deeper than Klara had thought. She would hardly have been surprised by anything at this point.

"Come on, I need someone to help me at night!"

Klara looked at Katyusha with an expression that said, Of course not, I'm tired and I'm going to bed!

Katyusha's face fell, and she slowly retreated through the door, closing it behind her. Klara bit her lip as she realized her mistake. She thought about trying to correct it then and there, but she couldn't muster the energy to follow through.

She turned and headed for her own dorm, utterly spent.

Klara did not see Katyusha the next morning. After breakfast, she headed for the diminutive commander's dorm and quietly let herself in.

Katyusha was sitting upright in bed, her hands clutching a teddy bear, her eyes staring into space, and her mouth slightly open, as if trying to say something. She was shivering a little, and the dark circles under her eyes told Klara why.

As Klara entered, Katyusha's head whipped around toward the door, a whimper escaping her lips. "Katyusha's sorry..." she whispered hoarsely. "Not a wink of sleep."

"You mean you sat up all night worrying?" Klara was incredulous.

Katyusha just looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Well, come on. Class starts in an hour. Better not be late. Get up and get cleaned up!"

"Tired...so tired..."

"You and me both. Come on."

Katyusha slowly slunk out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Klara went back out the way she had come. Katyusha would have to figure it out herself today.

How was Nonna doing? That question had been in Klara's head all night. She would have to go and check at the hospital later. That would have to wait. Now was not the time.

Katyusha sat in class, unable to focus. It was basic stuff—gas law calculations were usually easy as pie. Today, it was next to impossible.

"Screw this," she muttered to herself. She reached into her pocket and drew out her phone. She had Nonna's medical record login. She began to type it in. This would be her lifeline, even if she couldn't be at the hospital all the time!

A ruler cracked across her upturned wrist and a hand seized the phone. The teacher was shouting something at her, but it didn't matter what it was. It felt like Nonna was slipping away from her with every passing hour.

Katyusha sat despondently in a corner for the rest of class. Surely they were all talking about her, gossiping about what the trouble was.

Was Commander "Drifting Snow" Katyusha really this weak in time of crisis? Would Nonna have allowed it?

"She's still not awake. Looks like we came here for nothing," said Klara as she returned from the front desk at the hospital later that day. "There's no telling how long a coma can last."

Katyusha's mouth twitched into a frown as she realized what Klara was saying. There was a possibility that Nonna would never come back to them.

"Bu-but she'll be all right, won't she? What's going on with her?"

"I don't know exactly what they're doing in there, but I'm sure they wouldn't want us to interrupt."

They left the hospital and returned to their dorms, each wondering how long this was going to take.

This went on for a week. Katyusha was listless by then. Klara was obviously a student of Nonna's in that caring way, but nothing quite beat the real deal. This was worse than if Nonna had been killed outright—at least there would have been closure. Now she was hanging in the balance between recovery and brain death. She was getting the worst of both worlds: the uncertainty of the outcome coupled with the feeling of loss.

At last, when Katyusha and Klara walked into the waiting room and Klara approached the front desk, she came back with a smile on her face.

"What is it? What is there to be happy about?" Katyusha asked dejectedly.

"She's awake. They just have to do a couple things and she'll be ready for visitors."

Katyusha could have jumped for joy, but thought better of it when she saw everyone glancing over at Klara. "It's been too long, Nonna! Katyusha missed you!" she said.

"Here's the bad news: she's not going to be released for another month."

"What!"

"Yeah. A month."

Well, that was no help at all! What was the point of these daily visits?

A nurse opened a door and called to them. "She's ready for you."