Arkady and the nurse watched in horror as Irina's arm began to redden and swell and she began to wheeze.

"Epinephrine, stat!" the nurse called, and several seconds later, another nurse arrived with a bag of clear liquid. She suspended it from the I.V. pole and re-inserted the needle into Irina's vein, and right away her symptoms subsided. A moment later, she blinked and opened her eyes.

"What happened?"

"You were in a terrible car crash, darling, but you're going to be all right." Arkady sat beside his wife and clasped her hand.

Irina gasped, and her eyes grew wide. "Kady..."

"He's fine. Just worried about you, like we all are."

Irina frowned as she looked at the bandages on her arms.

"You received some rather deep lacerations," Arkady told his wife. "It will take those awhile to heal."

Irina's eyes filled with tears.

"Are you in pain? I'll ask the nurse for some more medication..."

Irina shook her head. "Do you suppose the scars will look very dreadful?"

"Nothing that can't be covered up with make-up, sweetheart. However serious they may turn out to be, they won't detract from your beauty one iota. To me, you'll always be the loveliest thing in the world."

Tears flowed freely from her eyes now. "I love you, Arkasha."

He kissed her cheek. "I love you, too. Rest, now."

"Hello," said Natalie as she entered Irina's hospital room. "I was so sorry to hear what happened to you. I hope you're all right."

Irina gave a weak smile. "It was another case in which the cure almost turned out to be more deadly than the disease."

Natalie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"They gave her ampicillin, to which she's very allergic," Arkady explained. "I can't bear to think of what might have happened if I hadn't stopped them."

"She dropped her bracelet in the laundromat," Natalie told Arkady. "I took it right to your apartment and gave it to your daughters."

"I know," said Irina. "Julia brought it to me. I'll have to get the clasp fixed as soon as I get out of here."

"I would take it for her now, but I don't want to leave her side for even one minute. Memories of the last time something like this happened are just too fresh in my mind."

"It was only a couple of years after we were married," Irina told Natalie. "i had a minor infection, and Arkady took me to the clinic. He'd just stepped out to buy me a magazine when they called me back. I told them right away that I was allergic to ampicillin, but this stupid nurse injected me with it anyway. I swelled up and couldn't breathe. I'd never been so scared in all my life! I lost consciousness, and they thought I was dead, but then Arkady came in and saw me move."

"Ever since then, I've been reluctant to leave her in the care of medical professionals," said Arkady.

"No wonder!" Natalie gasped. "I can't believe they could have been so careless!"

"It's one of the reasons we returned to the United States," said Irina. "The quality of medical care is so much better over here."

"I've heard it's pretty bad over there," Natalie agreed.

"It was especially bad right after Communism fell," Arkady told her. "Everything was just in such a mess for so long, including health care.'

"I can imagine!"

Irina was released from the hospital several days later. A couple of months passed, and one day, Natalie passed her on the sidewalk in front of the apartment complex. Irina waved and grinned. "Come on! I want to show you my new car."

Natalie followed her back to her apartment, where she saw a brand spanking new silver Honda Accord sitting in the parking spot in front of it. "We bought it with the insurance money," Irina explained. "There's even enough left over for us to visit Russia again this summer."

Natalie thought about her 2006 Kia Rio and felt a twinge of envy, then noticed the still-pink scars on her friend's arms and felt her envy dissipate. "I hope you'll send photographs," she said.

"Of course we will!"

"You should see Irina's new car," Natalie said to Ralph over dinner that night.

Ralph glanced up, and his pale blue eyes met hers. "Is that your friend who was in the accident?"

"Yes. They got a really big insurance settlement, enough to buy a brand new Honda Accord and take a trip to Russia this summer."

"That's nice." Ralph lifted a fork full of peas to his mouth. "I heard from Mom today. Brandy has mono." Brandy was Pam's fifteen-year-old daughter."

"Well, I hope she's better soon." Natalie speared a piece of steak with her fork.

"So do I."

"Peas! Peas! Peas!" Luke sang, banging on his high chair tray with his spoon.