8

Enrique left, and we stared warily at the bottle between us.

— Well... Ladies first!—I said, for which I received a huge slap on the back of the head with a small hand.

— I'm wounded, and you're hitting me!—I snorted.

— Okay.—Lizzie sighed.— I'll drink it first. —

She grabbed the bottle and began to drink quickly, without stopping.

It took her just over a minute to reach the mark.

— It's fine. It can be lived through. The taste is not as scary as I thought.—Lizzie wiped her mouth on her sleeve.— Now your turn.—

I raised the bottle to my lips and squeezed my eyes shut. A prickly, bitter taste.

It's a cross between lemon and bitter chocolate. And if you add cactus needles to this.

Astringent-bitter, prickly-sizzling taste.

I coughed when I swallowed everything from the bottle.

— Well... Be careful...—Lizzie patted me on the back.

— I'm fine...—I suppressed my gag reflex.— There is little pleasure in such bitter nastiness, but... It's better than a foggy head and a constant feeling of intoxication, believe me...—

—Has there ever been a time in my life when I didn't believe you, Ghost?—Lizzie said.

An unexpected sense of awareness pricked me somewhere at the rib level.

— What did you just call me?—I asked.— You were at the bar! In Italy! You were at the bar when I got godlessly drunk once again!—

— Apparently, not so godlessly, if you still remembered it... I remember it very well... You were so drunk that you couldn't even sit still... And you smelled terrible...—Lizzie smiled sadly.

Enrique returned with a shirt in a bag.

— Let's go over there, to the park. There you can do the dressing without unnecessary witnesses.— He said, interrupting our series of memories.

— Darek, Lizzie, let's go over there, into those bushes. A very nice, unsightly place.—

Enrique splashed alcohol on my wound and I had to restrain myself from screaming.

It doesn't really hurt, but suddenly... And this suddenness scared me.

— Oh! Be careful... This can make the blood flow stronger...—I squeezed my eyes shut when Enrique parted the edges of the wound with a knife.

He seems to be checking how deep the wound is.

Lizzie turned pale and turned away.

I remember how she was very afraid of blood at a young age.

Enrique sticks a needle deep into my skin.

— If it hurts, tell me - I picked up a freeze from the pharmacy...—He said, watching me anxiously.

— It's okay... Do you have any smelling salts?—I asked.

— Yes, why? Are you feeling unwell?—Enrique paused before making a stitch.

— No, Lizzie... She's already the color of her terrible blue sweater...—I said and laughed when Lizzie hit me with the bag.

My shoulder hurt a little from the impact, but it made me feel good.

When Enrique bandaged my stitched wound, I began to feel a little sleepy.

But now is not the time...

— Well, Enrique? Are we going to move on now?—I asked.

— You need to rest. You're too pale right now... I don't want you to pass out on the way there...—

— I'm fine...— I leaned against a tree.— And it seems that the wound will no longer bleed.—

— Are you sure that you will go the way normally and will not pass out on the way?—Enrique took the bloodstained shirt from me and felt the seams under the thick layer of bandages.— There will definitely be no blood, I spent three packages of bandages on it. —

***

Sometimes I get some bouts of fatigue, but for now it can be completely ignored.

— Dariusz, you're burning up... Dariusz! Look at me! Can you hear me!—Lizzie took my hand.

— I'm fine! Everything is fine! I'm sweating from how many bandages I'm wearing...—I said, stopping for a while.

The crowd grows and increases like a wave. It's like she wants to dissolve us, wipe us off the face of the earth.

Sometimes we stop, crossing the road, we always hold hands - at any second a wave of people can knock us down and trample us.

Suddenly I let go of Lizzie's hand. I saw someone on the other side of the road who couldn't have been there at all...

They disappeared into the crowd so quickly that I didn't have time to catch it.

I ran in the opposite direction, pushing people in different directions.

The fact that I saw him gave me such speed.

I ran alley after alley, my legs starting to shake from fatigue.

— Cornelius!—I shouted my brother's name so loudly that I almost tore off my vocal cords.

Aren't these hallucinations?

***

When I reached my older brother, I slapped him on the shoulder.

— Cornelius?—My voice shook a lot when I called him.

— Yes?—He turned around.

My heart began to ache with laughter, longing and joy.

— Who are you and why are you looking at me like you've seen a ghost?—He looked at me and didn't recognize me.

But why? Why doesn't Corey recognize me?

— Cornelius... Cory... It's me, Dariusz! Do you really not remember me?!— my eyes started to sting a lot.

— Darek? Baby Darek? My little Dariusz...—He suddenly hugged me to him.— Darek, I thought he killed you!—

— No. Worse. He was holding me instead of a toy.