"Good heavens, you're bleeding!" whispered Neizan, fully awake and positioning himself next to Lovrenco, his hands on either side of his face, trying to stop the bleeding.
Lovrenco put his hands to his nose, and Neizan's proximity did little to stop the bleeding. He tried to wipe it with his hands, and after a short time, it stopped completely. Neizan got up to give him some tissues, and also brought cotton balls and rubbing alcohol. He stood beside him, contemplative, and then got up again and left, telling him he would make him some warm porridge.
Lovrenco groaned in frustration and lay back down on the bed. Missed opportunity, he thought, although he was surprised there had even been one.
It had all happened so fast, and Lovrenco would have said yes to anything that came out of Neizan's mouth at that moment. A bit sudden, considering they'd only known each other for seven days. But when life had been on the line, it seemed those seven days of rest had become ideal for a deep and meaningful connection. At least for Lovrenco. Most likely, Neizan didn't want anything to do with him. He was just trying to be... polite? A quickie was polite, sort of. Maybe it was a way of making things worse for Lovrenco.
Lovrenco felt stupid for thinking he could have interested Neizan. That's why Neizan had made up an excuse to leave at the first opportunity... he wasn't interested. Why would he be? Lovrenco was a furry stranger in his own house. It was enough that Neizan had even let him stay...
Little did Lovrenco know that Neizan was also suffering in silence because of the decision. He had left, and as soon as he reached the hallway, he had leaned his back against the wall, his hand covering his mouth. What had he been thinking? Him, offering something like that? It wasn't like him. He'd kept his composure, yes, but had Lovrenco noticed how desperate he was to do so? The urge he'd had ever since the day with the hose, when Lovrenco had told him he didn't need to demonstrate a perfectionism that no one was asking of him?
Neizan took a deep breath. What idiocy! he thought. What a disgrace... to treat a wounded man like that!
When he returned with the porridge, he considered whether he should apologize, make some excuse, but instead remained silent, believing that keeping quiet about what had happened might make Lovrenco forget.
Lovrenco detested every second of that silence.
They ate quietly, then Lovrenco rested a little longer. The next day, as he stood looking at himself in the mirror, he realized how much his physique had changed in a week. If not muscular, he was at least somewhat larger, his stomach had filled out a bit, and he no longer had the dark circles under his eyes and the gaunt face he'd had before. He had to start exercising, he thought, although he didn't mind having a belly either; he missed it, that roundness of his. Neizan was feeding him properly.
The young man was surprised to realize he'd been relaxed for a week—a relaxation he thought he'd never experience again after the accident.
The following days, he did the housework with Neizan: tending the garden, watering the plants, feeding the animals, and that cow, which was already looking much better.
Neizan went to get some chicken feed and asked Lovrenco to go with him. Lovrenco mustered his courage; perhaps this was the moment Neizan would confess something about what had happened that feverish night... but Neizan simply looked away and said, in a soft, measured tone:
"I have to go to the village tomorrow. Will you be alright without me?"
Lovrenco felt his heart miss one of its usual beats, as if swallowed by the void. He stammered.
"My memory..."
"About that..." Neizan inhaled sharply, biting his lip. He looked so beautiful in the silhouette. "Perhaps you should talk to a doctor, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, I don't know. It doesn't sound like a sensible thought."
It wasn't, of course. It was a curse, brought on by the accident. The strange thing was... the curse lessened in Neizan's presence.
"I'm fine, it's just that you can't leave, I'll forget..."
"I don't think you will," Neizan interrupted gently.
"Yes, I will. Don't leave me, Neizan."
Neizan hesitated.
"I'll only leave in the afternoon."
"It'll be a blank afternoon for me, then."
"Don't you have any friends, family, to go back to?"
"No. My pack... my family kicked me out."
Neizan sighed.
"I'll think about what to do about that... for now, you can stay."
Neizan left the next day. Lovrenco thought about following him, but held back... he had made a promise. He didn't want to frighten Neizan any more than the poor man must already be terrified.
Once again, amnesia consumed him.
He only learned that Neizan had come back when his memories of Neizan's departure returned. And then Lovrenco looked around; he was in a cold, dark, enclosed place... the shed.
And he was bleeding.