– CHAPTER 5 –
The Suspicious Samaritan
Antonio liked to see the good side of things, so he reserved part of his thoughts to being grateful that, despite the less than ideal conditions in which they had slept throughout the night, both Bella and himself were quite healthy in the following morning. A bit tired and sore, maybe, but that was it. Lovino, on the other hand, had come down with a fever. In retrospect, Antonio should have seen that coming; he had noticed that something had been wrong with Lovino since he had rescued him from Natalia.
"Maybe he has an infection?" suggested Bella, her voice tremulous with worry. "From his wound?"
"I don't know. It doesn't look infected to me," replied Antonio after re-examining said wound. He sat back down with a sigh. "Then again, I'm no doctor. You know, this would never have happened if we had just gone to Father Vinicius in the first place!"
"Shut the fuck up, you annoying bastard. Leave me alone," moaned Lovino, one arm slung over his eyes. Antonio was mildly surprised by the response; he had thought Lovino was either unconscious or too tired to speak.
"Lovino! Watch your language!" he scolded him, with a glance at Bella. "I thought you always made a point of not cursing in front of a lady."
"To hell with it. I'm just so fucking tired of everything," was the monotonous, sluggish reply.
Antonio sent Bella an apologetic look. "Don't mind him. I think he's delirious."
Bella blinked and smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind. I understand that he must be feeling very frustrated right now."
Antonio heaved another sigh. "He's not the only one," he murmured and lowered his gaze to his friend's motionless form, feeling his heart clench once again. He could barely stand to see him like this. Although he did feel a little jealous when Bella showered Lovino with attention while completely forgeting about Antonio's existence, Lovino was still the most important person in the whole wide world to him, and he hated to see him sick or in pain. It reminded him of their childhood, on the occasions when Lovino had been very sick and bedridden, but back then, Antonio had been reassured by people who knew what they were doing that his young friend would soon be all right. Now, he couldn't have that reassurance. It made Antonio feel helpless and scared, which he wasn't used to at all. The thought that Lovino probably felt even more helpless and scared only added another stab of pain to his heart.
Too distraught to sit quietly any longer, he stood up and began to pace. "I have to do something! Staying put like this won't get us anywhere. We need food, proper food, and... a horse, maybe. A doctor would be great, too."
"Well, one of those can be found in the woods, at least," Bella pointed out. "You could go and get us something to eat. Hey, maybe you could catch a rabbit! You do know how to make rabbit traps, right?"
"Bella, I can't just leave you two alone! It's too dangerous!"
"It's okay. I'll keep watch."
Antonio sputtered. Bella had a knack for saying some really absurd things; it was rather disconcerting. "You will keep watch? How are you going to protect yourself and Lovino if you're attacked by armed soldiers or—or wild animals? You don't have a gun any more!"
Bella laughed, as if Antonio were a silly child afraid of the dark. "It's been pretty quiet since yesterday. I think we can handle ourselves for one hour!"
Antonio considered that for a few minutes. Indeed, what were the chances that, after so many hours of utter peace, they would get attacked the moment they lowered their guard? It would be too unlucky! No one was that unlucky, right? Unless they were cursed, which Antonio didn't believe they were, despite the recent developments.
"All right," he finally acquiesced, albeit still a little reluctant, "but I'm leaving this sword with you."
"But how will you hunt without a weapon?" she asked, even as she clumsily took it from his hand.
"Don't worry, I'll manage somehow. I might make a rabbit trap, like you said. I'll think of something. Just—take care of yourself, and Lovino, too."
"You can count on me!" said Bella with an attempt at a serious, determined expression that looked rather cute on her.
oOo
After almost an hour, Antonio began to suspect that he would never catch a woodland animal, either because of his own lack of ability in hunting or because there just weren't animals around these parts that were big enough to make a decent meal. Before Antonio knew it, he was back to the road.
He would have left it and gone back into the woods – after all, if animals were scarce enough in there, out here they would be even more unlikely to be found – but then he saw that there was someone riding a horse on the road, heading in the direction of Monterosso. Antonio kept himself hidden, but continued to watch the stranger until they were close enough.
It was a young man, blond hair, large built, a stern expression on his pale face. With his complexion and the rigid, proud way he carried himself, one might have taken him for a nobleman. However, his clothes weren't even remotely extravagant like one would expect from nobility. Then again, they looked very clean and nice, lacking a single spot or crease, so maybe this man was quite wealthy, after all.
"Hey, you! Stop right there!" shouted Antonio, jumping out of his hiding place to stand right in front of the man's horse.
The man looked mildly surprised by the sudden appearance, as told by the almost imperceptible widening of his narrowed eyes and the slight deepening of his frown. He quickly recovered himself, though, and gave Antonio a level, neutral look.
"What can I do for you, sir?" his voice was as stern as his looks, deep and rough, his tone all business. He spoke with a slight accent that Antonio couldn't quite place at the moment.
"I demand that you hand over all your money, food, and your horse!" said Antonio, doing his best to sound fierce and dangerous.
The other man's frown deepened again.
"What if I refuse?"
"Then—then I'll have no choice but to take it by force! I have a sword, and I'm not afraid to use it!"
The long silence that ensued cracked Antonio's resolve just a bit.
"Sir, contrary to your claims, you do not have a sword. I, on the other hand, do," said the man, gesturing the sword that hung on his waist. "How do you intend to fight me all by yourself without a weapon?"
Antonio balked. He had forgotten he had left his sword with Bella. If he had known he would have had a chance at robbery, he would have kept it. Then again, he didn't know if he would be able to rob this guy, even if he had a weapon. Not because it felt wrong, but looking at this man more closely, he was pretty scary – brawny, with that rough voice that belonged to a merciless general, and the kind of face normally associated with cold-blooded assassins.
"Err... I'm so, so very sorry, my good man," he said, his resolve breaking rather than just cracking now. "But can you give me your possessions, anyway? It's really important, I swear!"
"Have a good day, sir," the stranger dismissed him and coaxed his horse forwards. Antonio leapt out of the way and stared after him for a moment. No, no, he couldn't let this chance get away so easily! He needed to do something, but what? He couldn't attack him...
He dithered for a moment longer and then ran to catch up with the man's horse, taking a hold of the man's arm and virtually dangling off it.
"Please, sir, you don't understand! I really need those things! I'm stranded in the woods without any food or water, with a delicate young lady and a friend who's really sick! We need your help!"
"Let go of me!" shouted the man, now quite flustered.
"Please, I swear to God I'm saying the truth! We've been lost for days, and I don't know what to do! I'm really afraid we're going to die! How can you leave us to such a horrible fate? Have you no heart, sir?"
The man's face turned red as a tomato. "Look, even if you are telling the truth, I do not have the time to help you. I am on a very important mission that I must complete as quickly as possible. I cannot afford to delay myself on the account of complete strangers. If you want, I can send word to the authorities in Monterosso that there is a group of people lost in the woods requiring assistance, after I find the person I am supposed to look for there. I—I am sorry, but that is all I can do for you and your friends."
"You're looking for someone in Monterosso?" Antonio blinked. He was still dangling from the man's strong arm, but at least the horse had come to a halt, so he wasn't being dragged along any more. "I'm from Monterosso! Who is it you're looking for? Maybe I can help you find them! And, in exchange, you could help me and my friends!"
The man seemed to hesitated, as if wondering if he really should trust a total stranger who also happened to be desperate, but, in the end, he gave in with a sigh. "The person I am looking for is Mr. Lovino Vargas."
At first, all Antonio could do was blink. Of all names he had been expecting to hear, that one had been near the bottom of the list. "Lovino? Lovino Vargas? Really?"
"Yes," said the man, a little uncertain. "I must bring him to my master."
Antonio felt cold at the sudden reminder that there were indeed quite a lot of people looking for Lovino at the moment. "Wait—wait a moment—you weren't sent by Natalia, were you?"
"Sir, I do not know anyone called Natalia."
"Her father, then? Any of the Russos?"
"My master has no children. And I do not know any Russo, either."
"Well, who is your master, then?"
"I am not authorized to disclose that information. I can assure you, however, that I have no ill intentions towards Mr. Vargas. Now, can you tell me about his whereabouts or not?"
Antonio considered him. If the man wasn't affiliated with the Russos, he couldn't really be a threat to Lovino, right? He had even said so himself!
"You won't believe it, sir, but Lovino Vargas is one of the friends I just told you about! He's with me!"
"You're right," said the man in a deadpan. "I don't believe you."
"No, it's true, Lovino is with me!" Antonio tugged at the man's arm, which didn't budge an inch. "Come on, I'll take you to him! Please! Pleeeease!"
"Fine!" barked the brawny man. "Fine, just make it quick. I really can't waste any more time!"
oOo
Lovino felt, to put it bluntly, like crap. He had been feeling that way ever since Natalia had whipped up that blasted gun and aimed it at his face. Actually, things had been going downhill for him ever since Antonio had knocked on Valentina's door that fateful morning. Being ambushed by a bunch of soldiers and then spending the night on the hard, dirty ground out in the open, with nothing but a thin cloak to protect him from the elements of nature, had not helped at all.
Nevertheless, after an extra nap, he felt a little better. Just a little bit. Enough for him to get up and act a little more like his normal self, at least, despite Bella's protestations that he should lie back down. Lovino tried to reassure her, claiming he wasn't sick, just tired. Because he really wasn't sick. He was just a little weak from exhaustion, anxiety (not fear), lack of proper meals, his injury, which hardly bothered him any more, anyway... He just couldn't afford to be sick. Not when it was imperative that they reach the next town as soon as possible.
Stupid Antonio just had to go and slow them down, though. If he had stayed with Lovino and Bella, they could have already made some progress. What was the point of Lovino pulling himself together and get ready to travel despite feeling like crap, if Antonio was going to go off on his own for who knew how long?
"Damn it," he muttered to himself. "Where is he?"
"He should be back in about half an hour, I think," said Bella. "I can't be too sure, though. Without a clock or the sun, I lose track of time easily."
"Half an hour," Lovino said under his breath, then repeated it out loud, "Half an hour! That's too long!" Rather than burst into another tirade, he fell silent and listened closely. For a moment there, he thought he had heard Antonio's voice. Bella seemed to have heard it, too.
"He's back! See? I told you it wouldn't be long till he came back!"
They both watched their cheerful friend come into the clearing, one with a welcoming grin and the other with an unimpressed frown. Then, both expressions morphed into alarm when an unknown, very strong, very scary-looking man emerged right after Antonio.
"Antonio! Who the hell is that guy?" Lovino demanded to know as he slowly backed away, his eyes never leaving the stranger. Oddly enough, said stranger was also staring back at him with a bizarre mix of disbelief and recognition in his cold eyes, which reminded him too much of Natalia's. Lovino shuddered; he didn't like the look of that man at all.
"Lovino, I met this guy on the road and he said he was looking for you!" said Antonio, as casual as if he were talking about the weather. "What a coincidence, right?"
"Of course he's looking for me! I'm a wanted man now, remember?" yelled Lovino. If Antonio hadn't been standing so close to that scary guy, Lovino would have moved to strangle him. Really, the depths of Antonio's idiocy never failed to astonish him.
"But he's not working for Natalia!" said Antonio, laughing Lovino's reaction off. "He said so!"
"And you believed him? Just like that?"
"Why would he lie to me?"
A light cough interrupted their argument and all eyes turned to the strange man, who had recovered from his apparent initial shock and now wore a no-nonsense expression.
"I am sorry I doubted you. I can see that he is the one I have been looking for. Thank you for bringing me to him," he said to Antonio before addressing Lovino. "Mr. Lovino Vargas, I have received orders from my master to find you and bring you to him right away. Please come with me," he said, all business-like, and extended a hand to Lovino, who flinched and took a couple more steps back.
"Don't you dare touch me! Stay away from me, bastard!" He scoffed. "D'you think I'm stupid like that smiley moron over there? Even if you didn't work for the Russo, I'd never go with someone like you! I don't even know who you are!"
"You raise a good point," conceded the stranger, whose features slacked into a slight grimace, as if he were trying to smile and only managed to look even more frightening. "My name is Ludwig."
"That doesn't help at all! Shit, I should have guessed you were a goddamned northern outlander! I'm definitely not coming with you now!"
"Wait, what's wrong with being a northern outlander?" asked Antonio in puzzlement.
"I fucking hate them, that's what!"
"What? But—Why do you hate them?"
"I just hate them, okay?"
"You don't have to like me," said Ludwig, unperturbed, as if they hadn't been talking about him at all. "You only have to cooperate and let me take you to my master."
"And that's another thing," said Lovino. "If you're not working for the Russos, who is your master? Huh?"
"I am not allowed to tell you. My master said you should only learn his identity when you meet face-to-face."
"You can't even be bothered to make up some lie about who your master is! And you expect me to trust you?"
"You don't really have a choice, do you?" said Ludwig, ridding himself of that sad attempt at looking nice and harmless and assuming a glowering frown that, if possible, made him look even scarier. It was obvious that his patience was running thin, and the thought of what he might do when he snapped almost made Lovino regret resisting. "You're stranded in the woods in very poor conditions and, from what I've gathered, there is someone powerful after you with the intent to cause you harm. You need to reach the next town, but you will never make it there without my help. I can help you. I am your only hope right now. I understand your misgivings – I would be wary, too, if I were you – but you will have to trust me if you want to get out of these woods alive."
Somewhere in the back of Lovino's mind, he had to admit that Ludwig – assuming that was really his name – had a point there. However, he could barely bring himself to consider the truth behind Ludwig's words, both because he didn't want them to be true and because this headache that had been slowly building up for quite a while had suddenly exploded and made it so hard to focus and think. All he knew was what his instincts told him; he didn't like this Ludwig character, didn't trust him, didn't believe for one moment that he meant him no harm. It was so obvious to him, so obvious that even the dumbest creature on Earth – namely, Antonio – should have seen it.
"Lovino, please, just think about it," said Antonio, drawing nearer carefully, like one would approach an injured, cornered beast – which wasn't far from how Lovino himself felt at the moment, come to think of it. "If this man really wanted to capture you or—k-kill you, he would have already done so! He wouldn't be wasting his time trying to convince us to trust him!"
Lovino would have argued about that, but a sudden wave of nausea struck and he dared not open his mouth. Even after the feeling passed somewhat, he found he had completely lost any inclination to talk. He shook his head instead, but regretted it immediately afterwards when it only served to make him dizzy. He also felt hot all over. His fever must be spiking again, he realised. Of all times for it to happen, why did it have to be at the worst possible moment?
"Lovino, I think maybe we should give him a chance," Bella said.
Wonderful, he thought. Now even Bella had chosen to side with that bastard. They were all against him. This was just typical. It had been this way way all his life; no one ever took his side. Even his own grandfather had always—
His train of thought was abruptly cut off when a strange, numbing sensation took hold of him, surrounding his whole body. Bella was still talking to him, but it sounded like gibberish. He wanted to ask her to repeat what she had just said more slowly, but those bright spots of light here and there were really distracting.
Oh... shit.
Just as realisation was dawning on him, the lights became so bright that they completely overtook his fiend of vision and swept his thoughts away.
oOo
"Lovino? Lovino, are you listening to me? Are you all right?" Bella asked the unresponsive young man whose eyes had rapidly dulled into a glassy stare.
Antonio only had one second to realise what was going on and stiffen with dread. That look was all too familiar to him. So familiar, in fact, that when his friend's eyes rolled backwards and he collapsed to the ground, his whole body shaking and thrashing, Antonio's body moved of its own accord long before his mind registered it. One moment he had been standing several feet away, the next he was kneeling down next to Lovino, his hands holding him and turning him around so he was lying on his side.
In the mean time, Bella had started to scream and step back until she was next to Ludwig, who also looked rather alarmed and confused.
"What's that? Oh, God! What's wrong with him! Oh, God! Oh, God! What's going?" she asked shrilly, eyes wide in horror.
"C-calm—calm d-down—calm down—no n-need to p-p-panic—" stammered Antonio, shaking almost as badly as his friend. He would probably have had better luck convincing anyone if only he could take his own advice and pull himself together.
"Is he possessed? Is he dying?" Rather than calming down as suggested by Antonio, Bella seemed to be growing more and more hysterical. She whipped around and grabbed Ludwig by the front of his shirt. "Go fetch a priest or a doctor or both or someone quickly please can't you see he needs help please sir—"
"Bella, really!" shouted Antonio, this time succeeding in keeping his voice relatively steady. By now he had got to rest Lovino's head on his lap, like he had been taught to do many years ago. "It's okay! He's not dying and he's most definitely not possessed. It's just an attack of the falling sickness. It'll be over in a moment."
"Shouldn't we try to hold him down?" asked Ludwig uncertainly.
Antonio shook his head. "No. I used to think so, too, but he told me that it only makes it worse. He said I should just leave him be and make sure he doesn't hit his head," he tried to speak with that cool, professional voice that Father Vinicius would use in this kind of situation – it had never failed to comfort Antonio, even if just a little – but he was unsuccessful. Rather, he sounded as helpless and uncertain as he felt. It was no wonder that Bella burst into tears and began to sob on Ludwig's shoulder, the burly man awkwardly patting her back and looking completely out of his depth.
Despite his words about how they should stay put, Antonio itched to do something – anything – other than just sit here like an idiot. He wanted to get up and comfort Bella properly, since Ludwig was doing such a poor job of it. He wanted to hold Lovino down and force him to stop shaking, because watching this was too horrible and painful. He wanted to run back to Monterosso and ask Father Vinicius to make this all better. He wanted to go after Natalia and make her pay for causing his friend all this pain. He wanted to go back in time, back to his peaceful, carefree life in the monastery...
He also berated himself for not seeing this coming; he should have recognised the signs minutes ago. No, much longer than that. The malaise that had been afflicting Lovino since his confrontation with Natalia had probably been a prelude to this all along.
After what felt like an eternity, but had was probably only another minute or two, the spasms racking Lovino's body finally died down and he went limp. After making sure he was breathing and would be all right, Antonio breathed a deep sigh of relief and wiped sweat off his drenched forehead. "Thank God!" he exclaimed, directing his gaze skywards for a brief moment before it landed on the mildly disturbed Ludwig and Bella, who looked scarred for life.
"Wh-what—" Bella sobbed and sniffled, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. "What now?"
"Now he'll sleep a lot and won't wake up even if Armageddon comes. B-but he's going to be all right!" he hurried to add when Bella let another heart-wrenching sob escape. Antonio smiled, because even if he wasn't happy all the time, as Lovino seemed to believe, he still took pride in being an optimist through and through. "Look on the bright side," he said, "at least now he won't struggle at all if Ludwig joins us and escorts us to the next town!"
oOo
Moving an unconscious Lovino was trickier than any of them had imagined. First of all, there was only one horse and they were a party of four, one of them being a lady. Like Antonio and Lovino earlier, Ludwig wasn't inclined to let Bella walk the whole trip, no matter how much she insisted she didn't mind walking. Be it as it may, they quickly came to the conclusion that someone would have to ride along with Lovino so he wouldn't fall off. Once that point was brought up, Bella immediately changed her mind and volunteered to support Lovino.
It was an awkward arrangement – even more so than before – but once she got the hang of it, Bella looked a little too happy to have Lovino leaning on her. Antonio considered this with mixed feelings, but he didn't have a better idea. Ludwig wasn't much happier with it, either.
"This is really troublesome. It'll take us too long to get anywhere on foot," he rumbled. "I told him. I told my master that I should come with a carriage, but he said no, said it would only slow me down. He never thinks things through!"
"Sounds like your master is very eager to see Lovino," remarked Antonio. "What's the hurry, anyway?"
All Ludwig did was shake his head, with a heavy sigh, to make it clear that he did not want to talk about this. Antonio could be wrong, but he suspected this reticence wasn't only due to an order to keep his master's identity a secret, but also because he didn't approve of his master's reasons in the first place. Every time his master was mentioned, Ludwig assumed this look of profound frustration and dismay. Antonio reckoned that possibly his master was a rather eccentric man. That made Antonio even more curious about him.
"By the way," said Antonio when he remembered another thing he had been wondering for a while, "how come you were so sure this was the person you were looking for the moment you saw him? You didn't want to believe me when I told you."
"I was given a physical description of him, and he matched it perfectly," was Ludwig's only answer. Antonio wanted to ask him to elaborate a little more, but Ludwig cut him off, "At any rate, we cannot continue our journey to my home town in these conditions. I propose we head to this little village to the east. It is off our course, but not far from where we are, and it should give Mr. Vargas a chance to recuperate. I will also buy more horses for our party so that we can make our trip faster when we resume it to make up for the time we have lost here."
"Sounds like a plan!" said Antonio, nodding in approval and relief that they had finally found someone sensible who knew what he was doing. He had known from the beginning that this Ludwig fellow was reliable and practical; it was written all over his intimidating face. "We'll do whatever you think is best."
"I just hope we're not attacked again," said Bella.
"Attacked?" Ludwig tensed ever so slightly and looked at Antonio. He just looked at him, not even having to say anything to make it clear that he demanded an explanation and that Antonio would provide a satisfying one if he knew what was good for him. Antonio laughed nervously.
"Yeah, that's how the three of us wound up lost in the woods. We were attacked by this group of men and we lost our horse in the confusion."
"Robbers?"
"Nah, soldiers. They were hired by the Russos. You see, Lovino got into trouble with—"
"Antonio!" Bella interrupted him chidingly. "If he won't tell us anything about his master, we shouldn't tell him anything about Lovino, either. Not without his consent, at least. It's only fair, right?"
"If your friend is a fugitive and someone is going to attack me to get to him, then I have the right to know," argued Ludwig. "I need to know, so that I can protect you all."
"No one is going to attack us again," said Antonio. Not that he knew it for a fact, but he believed that if he really wished for something to happen and repeated it out loud often enough, it would eventually come true. That was true to his optimistic nature. Lovino was a pessimist, and look where it had got him! They had to think positive if they wanted to make things work out for them.
oOo
Antonio's faith must have paid off, because they were not attacked at any moment on their way to the village of Pontebianco. It had been a very short trip, true to Ludwig's word, but it still hadn't helped Lovino's condition at all and he had yet to wake up. Fortunately, the priest at local church agreed to grant them asylum for as long as they needed. They even prepared for him a mattress on a more secluded part of the church to make him as comfortable as possible and rest at ease.
"I thought you said he would only sleep for a few hours," said Bella to Antonio. "It's been almost a day!"
"Well, normally, he would wake up after a couple of hours or so," he replied. "But there's something wrong with him."
"Of course there's something wrong with him!" she snapped, making Antonio flinch.
Bella suddenly realised she was losing her temper and coming very close to yelling in a church. She turned to look at Ludwig, who seemed to be surprised and disconcerted to be the sudden target of her glare.
"Sir, can you excuse us for a moment? I'd like to have a word with Antonio in private," she requested, trying to be as polite as possible. With a nod, he marched out of the room, seemingly all too glad to get away from them. When Bella turned back to Antonio, he looked like he was bracing himself for a beating, which was just silly, for Bella was neither violent nor strong enough to even scratch a man like Antonio.
With a disappointed sigh, her features softened and she took a step closer to him, her hands on her hips.
"Antonio, how long have you known about this sickness of his?" she demanded to know.
"Oh!" Antonio seemed to relax a little when no yelling or beating was forthcoming. "Well, I guess he'd been feeling a little under the weather since Natalia almost killed him."
Bella paled at the knowledge that Lovino had come so close to death. She had been aware of the dangerous situation he was in, but not the full extent of it. And how could Antonio talk about it in such a casual tone of voice?
She shook her head, determined not to let her mind stray off the topic and scare herself even more.
"Don't play dumb with me!" she huffed. "I meant the other sickness—what did you call it? The falling sickness? You must have known about it for some time!"
Antonio scratched the back of his head, reluctant to speak.
"Well, yeah, I've always known. Ever since he was a kid."
"I've known you both since we were children, too! How come neither of you ever told me?"
"Well, it's not the kind of thing you bring up in casual conversation. And I guess he didn't think it was necessary to tell you," said Antonio, with a shrug that only added insult to injury.
"Not necessary? Of course it's necessary! What if you hadn't been around when that happened! I wouldn't have been able to help him! Because I'd have no idea what was wrong or what I could do to help!"
"I know!" he sighed, growing as exasperated as Bella. "But he doesn't like to talk about it! He hates it when I even mention it to him in private! Besides, he was supposed to be cured!"
"Well, he's obviously not!"
Antonio grimaced and shook his head. "Don't even remind me. He's going to be devastated when he wakes up and hears about it. I'm just praying that this was an isolated case brought on by all the stress and fear and that it won't go back to being a regular thing."
Bella's heart lurched at the thought that the horrible scene she had witnessed in the woods, such a a terrible, cruel affliction, could be a regular occurrence. Going through it once must have been bad enough, but regularly? And he had been suffering from it since childhood? Bella still couldn't believe she had been kept ignorant about it all these years. She had always considered both Lovino and Antonio two of her closest friends, and she had naturally assumed they felt the same way about her. Yet they couldn't even trust her with something as important as this.
"Umm. If that's all, I'm going to get us some food, okay?" said Antonio, inching towards the door. Bella didn't pay him any attention, still lost in her thoughts.
oOo
Bella and Antonio took turns looking after Lovino, and the priest also offered assistance whenever he had the time. Ludwig mostly kept watch outside, making sure there was no one lurking around the church that might pose a threat. Occasionally, he would drop by to check on them, looking more and more distressed every time. Surely he was anxious to go home and get this job over with.
Lovino had been mostly quiet all this time. It was now Bella's turn to watch over him and she was about to doze off when she heard Lovino stir and moan. She jerked awake and leant closer to him, wondering if he was finally waking up.
It turned out to be quite the opposite, though. If anything, he looked worse than before, mumbling incoherently and shaking his head restlessly. Bella brushed a few strands of hair over his clammy forehead and felt how he was burning up. Alarmed, she fetched some cool water, where she dipped a cloth, and pressed it to his face. It didn't seem to help much at first.
"G-Grandpa... Grandpa..." he whimpered, and Bella watched in horror as a few tears trailed from his eyes. A feeble yet heart-wrenching sob escaped his mouth. "Grandpa... I'm so... sorry..."
"Lovino..." she whispered sadly and leant a little closer again.