“Volodya... I’ve been in an accident.”
“Sveta, do you understand how much this meeting cost me?” her husband snapped, breaking the silence in the hospital. “I told you I was busy today!”
“Volodya,” I cut in, squeezing the hospital phone so hard that my fingers went white. “I’m in the hospital. There was a serious accident.”
“What do you mean ‘serious’?”
“A crack in my spine. The doctor warns of possible complications. I need surgery, and I...”
“Good Lord, Sveta!” he blurted out, and for a moment I thought he had finally understood. But his next words destroyed my hope. “When is the surgery? I have an important project presentation tomorrow. I can’t just—”
“Tomorrow morning,” I whispered. “At eight.”
“Well, all right,” he sighed, and I could hear him flipping through papers. “I’ll try to free up. But this is terribly inconvenient.”
Inconvenient. His discomfort. My possible disability was an inconvenience for him.