Careful with the tea

Part 2

I woke up to screaming. My brain must have realised something's wrong, and switched on the alarm-bell. My head was splitting, as if I had a hang-over. I felt I was still standing on my own feet. But suddenly somebody dig me in the ribs, I lost balance, and fell on my knees down to the ground.

Trying to find my balance again I relied on my hand upon the concrete, and something cut my palm, as I felt warm blood flowing onto my fingers. Then somebody took me on my waist, and set me upon my feet again.

„Little girl... Are you OK, sweetie? " the words called upon me, but with such echoes, that I could not even decide, whether they're coming from a man or a woman.

I tried really hard to nod. A sigh of relief was made, at a young man's voice this time.

„She'll make it now. I'll take her to the Tea House."

„Be careful." answered an older lady from somewhere behind me.

„Just as always I am." he laughed, and I felt him leading me away with two strong arms.

I had no problems with walking, but my eyes managed to wake up only very slowly. Gloomy spots were dancing in my sight, but I could not see a clear thing. My eyes could let me down, but all my other senses were razor-sharp.

I heard the wind blowing around me, the tree-leaves whispering above my head. I felt when we walked in shadows, or in sparkling sunshine. My hair went warm in the sunlight, and I turned my face into it, almost involuntarily. It felt so good, that I almost forgot about my aching hand and my stirred stomach.

All I could find out about my occasional guide that he's about a head taller than me. We passed a row of houses, one corner after another, but he did his best not to hold my waist stronger or to hold my hand longer than necessary.

„Here we are." he informed me silently, when we stopped. We entered a building quite high, ten stories at least. I didn't see clearly yet, I rather felt its size and weight above my head.

We climbed some stairs up, about three stories. Everything was covered in grey dimness, quite opposite of the brightness outside. The air was moist, almost sticky, as if we entered some greenhouse stuffed with plants. Then a flight of stairs came and something changed. The air went clear in a second, and my head as well. I blinked once or twice, and to my greatest happiness my eyesight returned. Maybe it was the air, I have no idea, but I suddenly started to gasp for breath, as if I was drowning. Sometimes it's too much of good air too.

I begun to feel dizzy after a few breaths, not to speak about my poor stomach.

The young man felt too, that my hand grasped his weaker and weaker, so he tried to catch me from falling.

„Hey, little girl, don't you dare fainting right now, you made it this far!"

Easy to say. My feet were fed up with climbing, and longed for some rest. I wanted to lay my head down so much. I saw the floor coming closer, but right before I could have found my rest down there, I was in his arms. My luck, just in time to keep me from dropping back one or two stories.

My ears were buzzing, but I heard him cursing very clearly.

„Sorry." I muttered, though it wasn't my fault to get into such a condition.

He didn't waste his time any further, he kicked the door in front of him with the simplicity of a gentleman, and he carried me into a room.

The rocking didn't help me either, but I calmed down as soon as he lay me down upon some bed thing. I searched around with my fingers, closing my eyes hard. I found out it wasn't any bed, rather only a sofa. Too narrow even for me.

I waited patiently until the world stopped spinning round. Only then I took a deep breath, and I could see the face of the ma to brought me here, clearly at last, right in front of me.

He had black eyes, and the hair just the same, his locks stuffed under a light brown straw hat.

He wore his brownish leather jacket with a patterned shirt and a violet tie. Such a weird combination of colours for me, but who was I to judge him?

Warmth was streaming out of him, if we consider the set of colours. He's watching me with a reserved but concerned look, speechless.

Warmth made me remember of being cold. I started to shiver, as if being thrown into icy water.

„Damn it, you have a shock!" he cursed again, then jumped up from the sofa to bring me some blanket.

The shivering kept on. I was sweat all over, as my body surrendered to panic. I couldn't order my limbs, what made me a bit nervous. I wasn't used to it.

He covered me, and made sure the soft blanket was around me closely. Then he pulled out my hand and started to rub it.

„Look at me... Look at me... " he repeated on and on, until he made sure I wouldn't faint again.

I made him this favour willingly, as it wasn't a bad thing to look into his eyes after all. I received his revealing smile in return. Then he took my other hand too.

The bloody one.

„Good Lord, why didn't you tell me?" he yelled at me angrily, as he realised the situation.

I felt ill. I had no intention to listen to his never-ending complains about me. I thought he couldn't expect me to make further excuses just because I didn't inform him about my bleeding palm previously. It couldn't be that bad anyway. I didn't feel it at all. It just pulsated.

„You could've bled to death under this blanket, you stupid woman!" he went on.

His unjust words shook me up in a strange way. Impoliteness used to piss me off at any time, giving me the feeling that I'm alive. I was good at fighting with anybody who dared behaving himself like this.

But I made an exception with him. At one hand, because he didn't seem to be like those, who kidnapped me from the theatre, and on he other hand... well, I didn't want to scare away the only company I had. So I decided to be polite.

„Get off me." finally I groaned, and he moved back immediately.

„I am sorry." he asked for my apologies with a remorseful face. „You might not even know, what'd happened to you..."

He stood up and brought some bandage, and a dish of water.

He went down on his knees next to the sofa, and started to clean my palm in silence. The wound wasn't too big, but bled awfully. No wonder he got upset a bit.

The sofa was snow-white.

He treated and dressed my wound, without a word all along.

„Done." he murmured when finished. All the time he avoided to look into my eyes, and I even saw his hat only.

„Thank you." I whispered looking into his eyes deeply, when he looked at me finally.

„Welcome." the answer came in a dull voice.

The shivering stopped, as I lay under the warm blanket, and as soon as my body relaxed, I could think clearly as well. Let's take a look – where we are?

I was kidnapped by some strange guys in suits.

I was saved by some strange men and women, wearing no suits.

I got hurt, but not badly, and I am at present in the apartment of a stranger.

Who looks to be my age, living here all by himself.

But where is here anyway?

I tried to rise but the dizziness returned, so I changed my mind.

„Hey, easy..." he stood by me again, softly pushing me back at my shoulder on the sofa. „No hurry needed."

„I want to go home." I made him the deal, not interested in any obligatory rest.

At my greatest surprise he nodded with a serious look.

„That can be arranged."

He took my word not to move an inch, and he simply left me there without any further explanation.