April 26, 1986, 10.58 p.m: Mikhail awaits in the lobby of the hospital. His little girl is yet to be born, even though his wife has been in labour for the past seven hours. He feels a little restless but he has promised himself not to complain. So, he waits patiently. In order to divert his mind, he starts thinking about the first time when they got the news. Instantly, Samara’s smiling face appears in front of him. “Oh, how happy she was!”, he thinks to himself. He remembers from that day onwards how careful she had become of everything- her health, her movements, her diet, everything! She would drink a kale smoothie every morning and make Mikhail drink a glass too. Mikhail too, in spite of hating it would drink it with a big smile just to see the satisfaction on Samara’s face. How much have they gone through in these nine months? Mikhail keeps on going down the memory lane. He reminds himself of the first time when they got the first USG picture of the baby and Samara couldn’t figure out where to put it up and cried incessantly for an hour, the first time when the baby kicked and Samara called him back from work thinking she was going into labour. He remembers about so many “firsts” that he loses count. The only thing that worries him is the baby’s name. It’s not like they did not discuss it but they had never really settled on one. Most of the times Samara had rejected most of his suggestions. So, now he starts to think afresh. Suddenly, his phone rings disrupting his chain of thoughts. It’s the chief!
“Hey, Mikhail! I am sorry to bother you on this day but there’s a huge fire at the No.4 nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. We are running short of men. You have to be here anyhow!”
“I’ll be there as soon as possible.” , says Mikhail.
Just as he was about to get up, a nurse arrives bearing the news of his wife that she is being taken for the surgery. Mikhail stands still for a moment and thinks about how beautiful it could be if he could go in and hold Samara’s hands but then he thinks, duty calls first! He asks the nurse to give the news to Samara that he would be back on time to see his baby girl’s face and rushes out.
Two days later, Mikhail wakes up in the hospital bed. He finds that he can’t open his eyes properly, his mouth feels dry, there’s a pungent smell all around him and the last thing he remembers is trying to stop the fire. Somehow, he manages to half-open his eyes and feels Samara’s hands on his face. But, what is happening? Why does his face burn when Samara touches it? This never happens. And slowly he starts to feel the deadly pain, the burning sensation in every part of his body. He still forces his eyes open and sees Samara standing with their baby girl in her arms. She is saying something…something about the fire, some radiation, some Russian girls’ names, some “pleases”. Finally, it dawns upon him! He was in the scene where the explosion happened, he is one of those unfortunate firemen who thought it was just a fire, he is one of those people who would die in a matter of hours and then will be buried under concrete. His entire life flashes in front of his eyes- their plans, their future and then the fire!
“ Name her Tatiana. Will you, Samara? Please!” he closes his eyes.
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