Lena didn’t sleep for the third night in a row. The little girl she met on Wednesday couldn’t get out of her head. Tiny, as if she was half a year old, almost motionless, with a gray veil in her eyes…
Two adult sons, a calm and measured life, work, husband, house, household. She wanted her daughter so much — cheerful, mischievous, smiling… But will that little girl be able to become like that?
And instead of common sense, one thought was pounding in my head: this girl is my daughter. And she needs help. Urgently.
– You heard me, do you understand that she is blind and deaf??
– Yes, I’m fine with my hearing! — Lena felt that she was losing her temper. The decision was not easy, and I absolutely did not want to prove something to someone, I was afraid that there would not be enough arguments — I heard everything and understood everything. I signed the consent, this girl is my daughter.
– Yes, she does not hold her head, at 11 months!! We would have waited a month, we would have registered a disability…
Then Lena suddenly exploded for herself:
– So that’s why the child was not even examined for six months! That’s why no tests have been done! Were you just waiting for her to be officially recognized as a disabled person so that the orphanage would receive more money for her maintenance?! Did I understand you correctly?!
The manager silently turned on her heels and left, slamming the door. Lena inhaled, exhaled. Her baby is not an invalid at all. Everything can be solved. Everything will be fine, it will definitely be. They can do it together.
It was a difficult time. Doctors, examinations, doctors, change of treatment protocols. To operate on the eyes — and this should have been done a long time ago!! — to begin with, it was necessary to be completely healthy. And the girl clung to the sores one by one, in a circle… The husband could not stand the strain and left … But contrary to all forecasts, the «recumbent» baby sat down at home for a couple of months, crawled, stood at the support and began to take the first steps. And one day, when the courier brought her new clothes, she was startled by the sound of the intercom and began to cry. Startled by the sound!! She hears!!
Lena was sitting in the hospital room, stroking her brave girl’s hair — she was just waking up after surgery, her face was covered with bandages. The surgeon sat down on a chair next to the bed and said very quietly and seriously:
– Forecasts are still unclear. A lot of time has been lost, congenital cataracts need to be corrected as soon as possible, you understand…Atrophy of the optic nerve is possible. We will not give you any guarantees…
He carefully began to remove the bandages layer by layer. Lena felt the anxiety growing inside her with each turn. What awaits her? What will be the result of all this struggle? What’s under the bandage?
The last layer of tissue remained in the hands of the doctor. The air seemed to ring with tension. The baby blinked several times, squinted from the bright light, but did not cry. Slowly she turned her head to the right and left, senselessly glanced at the doctor’s face and turned to Lena. The eyes at first habitually scattered to the sides, but still caught the focus. A one-year-old baby, who had just recovered from anesthesia, looked the woman straight in the eyes and smiled.
It was the first time in her life she had seen. She finally saw her mom.
This story is not a fiction, I am familiar with Lena and her tiny girl Angelina.
By the way, it was Lena who called me a year and a half ago and said that she was offered to meet a rejected boy, and she was looking for a girl. And then I found my son Nikita.