That was the moment Nina fully understood the trap she was in. This was no longer just a false complaint from an angry, powerful patient. It was a coordinated effort to remove an inconvenient witness.
In desperation, she turned to the hospital’s chief physician, Ivan Targobat. He was a decent man who had devoted twenty years to local medicine. He listened to her, grew visibly grim, and let out a long breath.
He admitted, honestly, that he was powerless. Dremov’s relative represented the highest local authority, and in that part of the country no one openly challenged people like that.
The chief doctor told her that even talking about the matter out loud could ruin a person. The only help he felt he could safely offer was a strong character reference for court. But he warned her plainly: once this machine started moving, it would not stop.
Pulling herself together, Nina wrote a formal complaint to the regional authorities. In it, she laid out the facts of the abuse, the medical findings regarding the wound, the chart note, and the pressure put on the nurse.
She sent the letter by registered mail through the local post office. No answer ever came. Later it became clear that the correspondence had been intercepted before it ever left the district.
The fabricated criminal case moved ahead at suspicious speed. Investigator Kislitsyn carried out the assignment from above like clockwork. As part of the formal process, he questioned the entire hospital staff.
To a person, they described Nina as honest, capable, and deeply respected. Not one of them believed she was capable of theft. But the investigator had no interest in those statements.
In his folder, he already had what he needed: the complaint from the “victim” and the statement from the frightened nurse. That was enough to support charges. On October 15, Nina was formally accused.
She was charged with felony theft of valuable property. The law allowed for a prison sentence of up to five years. The trial was quickly scheduled for November 5.
Pending trial, she was released under an order not to leave town. That was the first night in her life she lay awake until dawn for reasons that had nothing to do with emergency medicine.
She lay on the sagging couch in the call room and thought through her situation with cold clarity. The local court would not save her. The judge, prosecutor, and defense lawyer all answered, directly or indirectly, to the same power structure.
The whole legal apparatus depended on the people who wanted her buried. Her witnesses had been intimidated. Her one appeal for outside help had vanished into the local system…
