EDIT: January 4, 2014

PART 4: The fork of a path

The total time that Antonio spent in the hospital was just three days. The first day was meant to make sure that the patient actually has total bed rest and the following day was for monitoring. As surmised by the attending physician, all is well with the Spaniard.

During those two days, Gilbert had always showed up and visited his friend. He visited once in the morning and once in the afternoon. However on the day of the discharge, the man failed to show up. Antonio received a text message saying that Gilbert was sorry and he had something important to do.

Yesterday afternoon, as noted by Francis, Gilbert was acting strangely; well stranger than the usual. The man was fidgeting and he was consistently moving from one corner to another. The French had scolded his friend because the constant movement made him dizzy.

"I'm sorry."

After that, Gilbert had left the room and Francis excused himself and made a half-baked reason. Antonio just gave a knowing smile and let the man go. The Frenchman then began to tail after his friend.

While Gilbert was walking the hallways of the hospital, for the first time, he hated the heads that looked at his way. If this was a different day, he will saunter with pride and let people ogle at him until they tire but today, he was not in the mood.

Francis was just walking closely behind but not too close that he would be detected. When the French had seen Gilbert walking outside of the hospital's premises, he was alarmed. Just a little bit. The reason was it would be more difficult to follow the red-eyed man. He had to be very discreet.

The walk was unexpectedly short; Francis hid behind a corner when Gilbert took a turn to a nearby dumpster. The Frenchman could hear a conversation going on.

"Bastard, you're fucking late!"

"It was only a few seconds."

Francis was sure that the other voice was Gilbert's but he did not know who the owner of the other voice. The conversation dropped from there and both began to walk further to where Francis was standing. However the unfamiliar voice spoke and the statement sent shivers down the spine of the Frenchman.

"You're a dead man Gilbert."

Francis went back to the hospital and never disclosed to Antonio what he had heard. When he was asked why Gilbert had suddenly left, the French only gave an ambiguous reply.

"Maybe he had a stomach ache?"

Antonio just laughed and this was a chance to change the topic.

"Oh Antoine, we spent our time here in a hospital when we should have been roaming the streets of Venice. We could have been looking for a beautiful Italian woman who will be our bride but we are here inside this monotonous room."

Antonio just laughed more and the two did not talk anymore about Gilbert.

Back to the present day, Francis could only pray that his friend was doing well.

0-0-0

"Come on now Lo-"

"Shut up Gilbert!"

The platinum haired man was talking to an Italian, who was protecting him, with a fiery temperament and refused to be called by his real name.

"Bastard, I agreed to help in covering for you but I cannot do it any longer. I will be leaving Venice soon. I can secure with another person but…"

"But this person has an affiliation?"

The Italian nodded.

Gilbert sighed. This acquaintance of his was a walking example of a very complicated person. Romano, the man he was talking to, did not associate himself with a particular syndicate or gang but he works for freelance with these same syndicates and gangs who vie for him to join them. This makes Romano a very volatile character between the power struggles of the different underground organizations.

The reason that Romano had not been attacked by other syndicates/gangs was because of his intelligence networks. As Gilbert remembered, Romano mainly traded information and sometimes narcotics.

'I think he calls himself a dealer?'

Platinum locks fell across his face. He could not believe that his life would be one of constant running away.

'You can return you know?'

'But do you really want to create more drugs?'

His mind beckoned at him.

An instantaneous recalling flashed across his mind. He remembered how he had met the Italian.

At that time, Gilbert Beilschmidt was in his final year at a medicine school in Germany. He found Romano half-dead due to drug intoxication near his house. The student then rushed inside his house along with the near-unconscious body. Making the winded encounter short, Gilbert had saved Romano's life and the Italian was returning the favor by saving his life.

"Hey, thanks for helping me reach until this far."

"Don't speak like you're about to die. Anyway, this other person, he can come up with a new identity for you and smuggle you to London."

"I'll think about it."

"If your idiotic brain decides to take the offer, let's meet 250 meters east from here. Around noon time and if I won't be here by an hour, let's call the transaction off. Understand?"

Gilbert nodded and said a thank you.

Both men then parted ways at opposite directions. Their rendezvous strategy was a safe net to make sure they would not be traced.

Gilbert would have wanted to stroll around Venice but it was impossible with his situation. He had made himself an enemy to a Russian syndicate and currently fleeing for his life. A sigh of discontent left his lips. Sleepless nights and endless studying at med school resulted into a life like a fugitive.

The only good thing that happened was he was able to cross boundaries without thinking about those document shenanigans.

Gilbert made several detours, making sure he was not followed before returning to his hideout. The place was a basement of an abandoned house and the decrepit nature made the man feel disheartened.

That night, the man allowed himself to sleep deeply.