But something else alarmed her even more — the boy was gripping his knitted hat tightly with both hands and repeating through his groans:

— Don’t take it off… please… don’t take it off…

At first, the mother thought he was just cold or that it was some childish quirk. But the stronger the pain became, the more desperately he clung to the hat. He writhed and cried as if he feared she would tear off part of his head along with it.