Alena washed her hands thoroughly with harsh soap, scrubbing away the last traces of the toxic lotion. Only then did she go to her son, and Arsen trustingly pressed his little palm to her wet cheek. She broke down quietly under the unbearable weight of what she now understood.
When they got home, Alena put the sleeping boy down and immediately called Katya to tell her the truth. Hearing about the toxic cream, her friend sank onto a kitchen chair in shock. She admitted she had bought the suspiciously cheap batch from Zinaida at the drugstore to save money.
Katya realized with horror that her own son had also started sleeping worse around the same time because of that same cream. That evening the two friends sat at Alena’s kitchen table and talked through everything, staring at the beige bottle that had caused so much damage. Their friendship changed that night, becoming something more sober and adult, built on shared responsibility instead of easy assumptions.
The next morning an angry Mike marched into Zinaida Pavlovna’s drugstore and dropped the toxic bottle on the counter. The pharmacist tried to defend herself by saying the low-quality cosmetic had not harmed adults. Mike told her coldly that he had already sent the cream to a lab and filed a police report.
A month passed, and warm May weather finally drove the last traces of snow from the fields. Arsen began walking confidently through the kitchen and one day clearly called Alena “Mama.” Katya called with relief to say her own son’s health was improving too.
At the end of May, Alena drove out to Vera’s alone just to sit and drink herbal tea with her. Quietly, she asked how Vera had known that particular chemical smell so well. Vera said only that she had once had a son too, and Alena, out of respect, did not ask any more questions.
