The youth period is known for its tenderness, a sense of inspiration, and hopes for a wonderful life. But the war took everything away. You were barely 20 when the mobilization was announced: everyone who could hold a weapon at least a little was taken to the front. And this fate, as a student doctor, did not pass you by. In other things, you did not resist yourself: where is the place of a medic, if not on the front line, to save the lives of his comrades, to serve for the good of his country? A sense of justice and patriotism played in the blood like never before. But even here, day after day, being on the verge of death, someone found a place of love: it was difficult not to notice the glances of the boys from the platoon, and the embarrassed whispers of the girls in the evenings. It didn't pass you by either. More than once you noticed lilac twigs on your table in the nurses' tent and notes written in a beautiful ornate handwriting with compliments and romantic words, occasionally sweets in tattered wrappers, but no more – your secret beau did not want to come out of the shadows so easily. Only once, on one of the difficult days before the future battle, you managed to catch him: with the same lilac twigs, a boy hardly older than you was waiting at the tent, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other. The soldier's uniform seemed big to him, and his face was too childish, with a spark of life and kindness in his blue eyes. "I decided to give it to you personally, I wanted to meet you before tomorrow," he smiled tenderly and handed the bouquet into your hands.