Tykhon, who was sitting by Andrei, was so distracted by the game he was playing on the phone that he forgot to eat.

Maria pushed a piece of cutlet through his teeth with her finger.

“Finish your food.”

“Nina Petrovna insists you go to bed early,” said Andrei.

“Well, if Nina Petrovna insists,” said Maria, getting up from the table and turning on the coffee machine.

“And she said not to drink coffee after six.”

Maria froze, tamper in hand. Then she banged the portafilter hard against the metal sink, knocking out the used coffee. She inserted it, empty, back into the coffee machine.

Andrei was nervous about, and yet looked forward to, the moment it came to sleep.

At around two in the morning, she turned in bed, moving her legs and breathing heavily, as though she were walking somewhere. Andrei shook her.

“Masha, Masha!”

She turned to him irritably and held out her hands without opening her eyes. Her lips quivered and she passed her hands rapidly up and down over his shoulder blades. It felt like stroking, but the movement was too mechanical.

“Masha, wake up.”

“Behind you,” she said, barely cracking open her eyes. She groaned. He shook her again.

“Wake up. It’s okay. What’s behind me? Wake up.”

The rubbing continued. Her lament was that of a child being roused.

“It’s him. It’s him behind you.”

Andrei got up, fetched a glass of water and sleeping pills, moistened a towel with cold water, returned to their room, turned on the light and put the towel on her forehead. She opened her eyes and threw him a look of annoyance. She pushed aside the cloth.

“Turn off the light, will you?”

“You’re the one that woke me up.”

She said nothing to that, but looked instead at the ceiling, wrinkling her forehead, and squinting from the bright light. Andrei nudged her lightly and held out the pill.

“Do you remember my name?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t take your medication today.”

“I don’t want it anymore.”

“Go on. Take it,” he insisted, handing her the pills and water. She took them. Andrei turned off the light and waited for her to fall asleep.

These episodes recurred two to three times a week, mostly at night. Maria began to complain of headaches, even in the evening. Sometimes at night, she would wake up and walk around the flat with the kitchen knife in her hand.

Andrei would grab her, take away the knife, hug her tightly and then take her back to bed. And feed her pills. With that, she quickly slipped off to sleep.

It was late autumn. The city slowly succumbed to the freezing weather. Overnight, streets strewn with uncleared leaves and wet from the constant rain were lacquered by a crust of ice. Trees and houses stood silent in anticipation of snow. The days grew short, the nights long and dreary.