Kalina

'Those, who have hit the bottom, know what they are standing on.'

Kalina sits on the edge of her bed and looks out the window of her small, sterile hospital room. The snow beyond the glass has stopped falling. All surfaces, horizontal and sloping, are covered with a layer of pure whiteness, sparkling like crystals in the electric lights of the city. A curious tit perches on a branch, shakes off the white fluff from its feathers, and peeks into her chamber with a shrewd eye. In moments like these, Warsaw is truly beautiful — when it looks less like Warsaw, and more like a postcard from Warsaw.

Kalina involuntarily registers a mental image of the city panorama that will stay in her memory for the rest of her life — after all, it might be the last winter she'll ever experience. Her survival, just like her future, is uncertain. But it's not the risk of death she fears — it's what she'll do if she continues to live.

Before she was diagnosed with a severe case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome two years ago, her entire life revolved around track and field. She was both talented and passionate, dreaming of competing in the Olympics. And now? Even a simple, unassisted walk to the bathroom is harder than any race she had ever run… She's 19 now, full of regrets and shattered hopes. Even if she does overcome the disease, what will she do? She'll never be able to return to her former passion, since a full recovery is simply impossible — her nervous system is already destroyed beyond repair…

Kalina has learned the hard way that illness polarizes character, the more severe the more so; it either makes a person extremely thirsty for life, perpetually starved for sensations and experiences, or it simply snuffs out any flame of passion and ambition in them, leaving a person exhausted in body and soul — why couldn't she be the former one? Kalina hugs her knees to her chest and looks up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

People are born — not knowing what for. They grow up — not knowing what into. They live — not knowing why. They die — not knowing what comes next. A hundred-meter race has rules, chess has laws — but what are the unwritten rules in the game of life? Who wins, who loses, what are the criteria for victory and defeat? The bed on which she sits is for resting, the ticking clock on the wall — for keeping time, the trucks driving on the streets outside her window — for transporting goods; so what is her purpose?

Kalina shakes her head and buries her face between her legs, exhaling loudly through her nose. She hates this — being left alone with her own thoughts, trapped in a body that no longer feels like her own. It really feels like she's starting to lose control over her own mind.

After a brief moment, she picks up her phone and stares at the screen, the glowing display reflecting in her tired blue eyes. No messages. No missed calls. She scrolls through old messages, rereading conversations from a life that no longer feels like hers. She used to have a lot of friends — people who cheered her on, who promised they'd be there for her no matter what. But the longer she stayed in this hospital, the quieter they became... People don't like being reminded of things that can happen to them too.

And now, only three names remain in her life — her parents, and Guest. The only ones who still visit. The only ones who haven't left.

Her thumb hovers over Guest's name. She really wants to type something. A simple "Hey, are you busy?" or "Come visit?", but the words feel heavy and desperate. So instead, she locks the screen and sets the phone aside, exhaling sharply.

And then, as if the universe itself was listening — a knock at the door. Not the nurse's usual, absentminded tap, but something melodical. Something familiar…

Her breath catches. Her fingers tighten around the sheets.

"Guest? Come in!" Kalina calls out, her voice laced with fragile hope.