The two girls had already connected. Katya perched carefully on the edge of the bed, trying not to soil the sheets.

Valentin sliced up the apple and handed it to them.

“I see you two have plenty to talk about.”

“Dad,” Michelle said seriously, “can she stay? She can sleep on the couch. Just for tonight.”

Valentin hesitated. Then he relented.

“In the closet, you’ll find some clean clothes. Shower first. And come out looking human. I’ll tell the staff Michelle’s sister is staying. But don’t push your luck.”

Katya’s eyes lit up. She picked out a clean outfit and disappeared into the bathroom.

Once alone, Valentin turned to Michelle. “Are you sure about this?”

“Of course! And could you ask them to bring us hot tea?”

Surprised but pleased, Valentin nodded. He paid extra to keep Katya in the VIP ward. Something had shifted in Michelle. He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, but he noticed it.

That night, he barely slept.

The next day, he peeked into Michelle’s room. The girls were engrossed in a cartoon, giggling together. Michelle looked alert, present—alive. He hadn’t seen that spark in a long time.

He walked over and hugged them both.

Katya sniffled.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, concerned.

She shook her head. Michelle frowned. “Don’t hurt her again, Dad!”

He quickly reassured her.

Katya whispered, “I’m not crying because of that… It’s just, no one’s hugged me like that in a long time.”

A week later, Michelle was discharged. She was running, laughing, talking—thriving. The doctors were baffled.

In the meantime, Valentin had looked into Katya’s story. Her mother had vanished when she was two, likely dead. She’d lived with her grandmother until she passed away. The orphanage she ended up in had been unkind. After a caregiver hit her, Katya ran.

When the day came to take Michelle home, Katya packed up quietly and hugged her goodbye.

“Thank you… I’ll go now.”

Valentin looked at her. “Go where?”

“Back to the orphanage, I guess… It’s cold.”

Valentin smiled gently. “So I prepared that room beside Michelle for nothing? You don’t want to be her sister?”

Michelle squealed with joy and hugged her father. Katya, tearful, joined them.

As they left the hospital, the nurses watched, tearful. Valentin exchanged a glance with one of them—Alla—grateful and full of hope.

Six months later, life without Katya was unthinkable. Just as Michelle and Katya couldn’t imagine life without each other.