Lilith. Armando Lazzari

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СКАЧАТЬ time.

      I grab a piece of paper and a pen from the shelf, put on a jacket and hurry out to check for myself.

      Gone. Damn it, it's gone! Yet I was a missile and didn't give her time to disappear. Unless I dreamed her, but I don't think I've gone that stupid.

      I returned to the apartment and noticed that the front door was open. But didn't I close it? My eye falls on the couch: where did the cat go? I look for him, but he seems to have disappeared too.

      What is this, the evening dedicated to Houdini?

      Office

      Is it possible that in this period my office is always flooded with papers? Okay, let's take a coffee break and call Roberto's sister.

      "Hi, it's me: Davide. Any news of your brother?"

      "Hi. The doctors say he's stable. I managed to see him, albeit only for a few minutes, but what happened? Blessed God, I almost didn't recognize him!" Her voice trembles.

      "To tell you the truth, I was hoping you would know more, but listen to me: now you don't have to worry, he's being kept under control and you'll see that when he recovers everything will be back to normal and he'll explain everything to us."

      "I don't know... I'm scared, I've never seen him like this!"

      Can I blame her?

      "Because you've never been there during one of our beer nights!" Bluff, maybe she believes it.

      "Beer? But what beer! They didn't find a drop of alcohol in his blood, let alone traces of drugs!"

      He didn't believe it. Let's try to change tactics.

      "Did they mention the congenital disease hypothesis to you?"

      "Yes! And I'm super sure it can't be, we've always been healthy in our family. Then there's the matter of all that missing blood, and you want to know another weird one? Apparently the only place it could be leaking from is a bruise on her neck, and there isn't even a tiny hole to give it any logic!"

      "Ah!" Blown away. I try to baste something else.

      "You'll see... but yes, you'll see that before long the doctors will figure out what's wrong with her and everything will seem simple. Don't make things more complicated than they are, after all, neither you nor I have a medical degree. Let those who are more competent than us draw the right conclusions."

      "I'm trying, Davide, I'm really trying, but right now it's not easy to be optimistic. But you really have no idea what he might have been doing these days, or what company he was keeping? Maybe if we go back a few days before it happened, we could figure it out more."

      "I know something about a girl he was seeing..."

      Best to avoid specifics.

      "...but I haven't had a chance to go into it properly, I don't even know her name, or where she lives."

      "I understand... but if anything comes to mind, please tell me right away!"

      "Count on it, don't worry."

      Could I tell her that the girl is probably a nymphomaniac maniac picked up in the bathroom of a pub frequented mostly by exalted lunatics?

      Come to think of it, though, Sara might not have it completely wrong. What if you investigated this phantom lady x a little more? With any luck it might be relatable to the woman on the bike.

      It would take some sort of starting point that would reconnect the facts...um...maybe friends on the net. Yeah, if I could track them down, they could point me to the club he was at that night and maybe with a little luck I could meet her. From what I understand, the chick is guaranteed not to go unnoticed anyway.

      What was the name of the site where she was chatting? Damn my memory!

      I have to remember...

      I have to remember...

      Hospital

      "Hi Sara. Do you think they'll let me in to visit today?"

      She looks at me as if trying to get rid of a thought that had kidnapped her and taken her elsewhere. Probably, if I hadn't spoken to her, she wouldn't have noticed me. I get up from the bench and, occupying her entire field of vision, I help her to compose my figure. It works.

      "Oh, David! Excuse me, have you been here long?"

      "No, just now..." About three quarters of an hour.

      "Roberto? How is he today?" I investigate, but his face doesn't hint at anything good.

      "He's recovering, except for the amnesia." She is incredulous.

      "Amnesia?"

      Holy shit, is this getting worse instead of better?

      "Yes, the doctors say it's due to severe psychological trauma and that it's probably temporary. Davide, it honestly doesn't sound like amnesia to me. When I tried to talk to him he would stare at me with his eyes wide open as if he didn't understand." This might be within the range of normal.

      "Sorry, but at this point I'd like to check it out for myself. I don't know what my chances are of being recognized, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to try anyway."

      "That's fine, but let's try not to tire him out too much."

      I walk through the door of the room and contemplate in amazement the figure of the man who was once a great friend of mine. I struggle to frame him. Above the bed, with his back against the pillows, his gaze is immersed in the emptiness of the beige wall. His hair is completely white. Deep wrinkles run down the sides of his mouth and forehead. My God, he must have lost twenty pounds. A grimace of pain appears on his sister's face, I ignore it and gently make my way to the bedside.

      "Hi Roberto, how are you, do you recognize me? I'm Davide."

      I slowly enunciate the words.

      I manage to shake him out of his state. He turns his head, looks at me for a second and then, as if to say and who cares, goes back to silently staring at the wall that is probably more interesting than my words. I throw a half smile at Sara trying to reassure her. I have to find something that really gets her attention, even if it means destroying the damn wall with a spade!

      "You need to hurry up and get yourself together, otherwise the gorgeous girl you met will pick someone else to have fun with. What did you say her name was? Giulia?"

      It would be a miracle if I got her name right immediately. In fact, she doesn't respond. I turn the wheel and try again.

      "... no, no. Now I seem to remember: Francesca?"

      The most common female names throughout the peninsula. Nothing, this doesn't work either. It is useless to continue on this path. I try to touch his arm to shake him, but with a cold look he makes me understand that it is not even the case to touch it. I am more than a little embarrassed. I don't know what to do and I understand his sister's state of anxiety. Heck, now I'm seriously worried too.

      "Sniff! Sniff!" What СКАЧАТЬ