Even though he had not slept the night before, the young man did not feel tired, and he was running full of power and energy, as if Nina had given birth to him also.
He saw a lilac bush, darted to it, and started breaking the branches to make a bouquet.
«Hey,» he heard, turned back, and became confused seeing a municipal police jeep stopped near him and a few patrol officers looking out of the vehicle. «What do you think you are doing?»
«All the shops are closed,» Vlad explained. «But my wife gave birth to our first child.»
«Son?» asked one of the policemen.
«It’s a girl!» Vlad exclaimed gleefully. «A baby girl!»
«Then why are you so happy about it?» wondered another officer. Vlad did not reply. He always wanted to have a daughter, but he was smart enough not to start discussing it.
«Don’t mock the poor lad,» cut in the eldest policeman. «Maybe next time they will be luckier. Guys,» he addressed his colleagues. «Let’s bring this daddy to his ladies.»
«Daddy, daddy, daddy!» Enjoying this word, Vlad closed his eyes for a second.
So, instead of giving him a ticket, the policemen gave him a lift and treated him with vodka. Though Vlad did not drink alcohol, he could not refuse, and drank a couple of glasses, mechanically chewing a salami sandwich offered by one of the officers.
Honking, the policemen dropped Vlad off in front of the hospital. Holding the bouquet of lilacs, he entered the building.
Near the registration desk he saw a table displaying pictures of the women who had given birth to their children in this hospital, and, from the top, he immediately snapped up the photo of his wife.
Holding her napping newborn baby, a fatigued Nina was looking right into the camera, and her dark brown doe eyes, overwhelmed with emotion, seemed to take up half of her face.
Not feeling his legs, as if in a dream, Vlad strolled to the registration desk.
«Lapina,» he panted, as he addressed the nurse. «Nina Lapina. I’m her husband.»
The medic checked her book and, nodding, she took his bouquet. «I’ll send the flowers up to her, but you have to wait. All visits are only after 10 a.m.»
«But I need to see her,» murmured Vlad.
«After ten.» The nurse smiled with understanding. «I’m sure she’s sleeping now.»
Vlad dashed out and ran around the building, gazing at the hospital windows, trying to guess where his wife was.
«Nina!» he bellowed, looking up. Unaccustomed to alcohol, the young man had lost his usual shyness. «Nina!»
The windows started to open. People shouted at him, but he saw and heard nothing.