The Sibirian Express - COMPLETE

Chapter 26

"Rocky!" Adrian screams at the top of her lungs as she runs towards us. Thankfully by now, Rocky has somewhat regained consciousness. Following her were two men dressed in military uniforms. 

"I'm good. Everything's good. I'm just really tired."

"Let's get him to the hospital," I mumble as Ivan touches my shoulder. 

"No. No hospital."

"What are you talking about, you've got to go. Please let's just make sure." Adrian begs. 

"Alright. Whatever you say Mick", Rocky whispers still half out of it. Adrian and my eyes widen as Rocky refers to Adrian as Mickey. In a rush, Rocky and Adrian are taken away by the ambulance. Pauli and Duke take a cab and Ivan and I drive in his car. 

Once we finally arrived at the hospital we could already see Pauli walking up and down with a cigarette in his mouth. "I need a drink. How long are they gonna take?"

Duke just shrugs at him.

"What the hell's wrong with him?! He always comes through before."

"The man took the worst beatin' I've ever seen." It's only now that both of the men notice us. 

"The hell he's here for?" 

Pauli snaps at Ivan but I'm quick to jump in between. "Would you please calm down? Ivan and I are together and as far as I know, he's the only one who speaks and understands the language around here."

Duke gives him a nod and scoots over for Ivan to take a seat next to him. He didn't even have the chance to shower yet. All bloodied and beaten, he just threw a zip-up hoodie over him and drove me to the hospital. Almost a grusome hour later Adrian joins us so that Ivan can translate for us. As we enter the room I can see Rocky sitting in the middle of the room and his whole head is wired up. 

"How are you feeling?" I ask carefully standing next to Dr. Kurskin. 

"With all these wires, I feel like a radio. I'm getting tired here, Adrian!"

Dr. Kruskin and Ivan start to talk in Russian and by the look that Ivan has on his face, I can only guess that it's nothing goof as he turns to me. "He asks if he wants to talk informally?" 

Rocky also comes to us as we walk into another room where we all sit down. "What's wrong with me, Doc?"

"Because of the ... many violent strikes to the head, you have developed a condition called "Cavum Spetum Pellucidum" a hole in the membrane separating the ventricles. The brain surfaces neurons in the area have also been traumatized." Ivan translates while the doctor continues to point at the pictures of Rocky's brain. 

We all look at each other in confusion. "What's this all mean?"

The doctor sighs and tries his best to explain it to us himself. "You have suffered damage to the brain. The tests show the motor responses are impaired as well as memory."

Worried, I turn to Ivan, who looks guiltily at the floor. 

"I remeber everything, Doc. Ask me somethin'I've still got my mind."

"The test have concluded..."

"...I heard, so when does this get better?"

Dr. Kruskin just looks at him. "Better? I'm sorry to say this, but you have irreversible damage."

My heart skips a beat. Does that mean?

"Rocky, you have to retire" Adrian puts her hand on his shoulder and gently kisses his head. 

"Retire? No, I don't want to retire! Not like this, not in no office. I just fought the best fight of my life, I just did that!" 

"You heard what the Doctor said" I try to support Adrian.

"He could be wrong! Anybody can be wrong! He's not God. Only God ain't wrong! I don't care, I gotta see other doctors." He pauses for a moment. "I'm a fighter. A fighter's supposed to go down ... supposed to go down in the ring, not like this, not in here. It's not supposed to end like this."

"Can it get worse?" I ask the doctor as he looks at Ivan. 

"If he continues, it can be fatal."

Adrian is trying her best to calm Rocky down as we make our way out Duke approaches us. "How ya feeli'champ ?"

"Real good."

"Beautiful. So Rocko, let's blow this coutry before they make us join the Army." Pauli keeps looking at the people walking around the hospital. Rocky slowly turns to look at Ivan and I. "Yeah, let's go home."

"Are you sure? I mean..."

"No, Lex. We all go home." He states looking at Ivan and nodding slowly at him.