…The words were distant and indistinct.
"Muscle stretch and elbow contusion… She needs rest for a minimum of two days, and she'll be fine…"
Candy turned her head to the voice and struggled to unstick her eyelashes. She saw the doctor disappear behind the door, and Neil – yes, it was Neil in a white lab coat – came up to her bed.
Miss White tried to remember how she ended up here. Ofcourse – mister Albert! He'd left! She had to find him!
"I have to find mister Albert…" whispered Candy, when Neil bent over her. "Perhaps it's not too late yet…"
His brown eyes got larger, and Legan blinked several times in surprise. Then he crashed down on a chair, holding up his hands to heaven.
"Dear God! Woman! At least for now, don't freak me out, bothering about your lover in my presence! I don't know where he is now, and I don't care! I lied to you! Maybe he sailed away, maybe he drowned or went down somewhere else, the hell with him! I hope I never see him around again."
"Why do you hate him so much?" Candy asked quietly.
"Oh, that's an easy question. I hate him because he is your lover!"
Only hearing this word for the second time, the girl understood its meaning, and she resented, forgetting everything that had troubled her a few seconds ago:
"What a lot of rubbish! How dare you say such things? That is nonsense!"
"I just call a spade a spade."
Candy abruptly sat up in her bed, wincing with pain in the bandaged arm.
"You're mean. I'm leaving. I'm scared of you. And if you follow me, I will scream and call for help."
She tried to move her legs off the bed, and a sharp twinge of pain cut through her knee.
Neil was looking at the girl with his eyes half closed. He seemed to be watching her attempts with curiosity.
"Don't be silly. You won't go far anyway. What a restless lady! Go to bed and try to get somes leep. And…" his face suddenly became serious and concerned. "Are you really scared of me?"
Miss White moved away from him.
"Yes, Iam."
"But why?" he seemed to be sincerely surprised. Candy looked into his face and could not understand, how on Earth could a man be so insensitive, so self-assured and so rude without realizing all this.
She sighed.
"I must find mister Albert. Imust!" Candy clasped her hands. "He must be all alone right now… He hasn't taken any money."
Neil sighed in turn.
"You are incorrigible. Stop wet-nursing him, he's a grown-up man. He can take care of himself. If he left, then it was his decision. He'll handle it. I'm not going to listen to you whining about your lover, that's nonsense! That's humiliating!"
"Are you mad? Who do you keep calling him my "lover"?" Candy lost her patience. "How dare you call him my lover? How dare you call me… like that?!"
"Like what?"
"Well, like what you said."
Of course, he shouldn't have called her a slut. It surely wasn't the best thing he had ever said. Neil took a deep breath and smiled disarmingly.
"Well, I'm sorry," he wanted to pat her cheek, but Candy turned away. "I shouldn't have done that, it won't happen again. But you, my love… don't freak me out by telling me about your lover's health. It's not always a pleasant thing to hear, you know."
"HE'S NOT MY LOVER!"
There was something in her vehemence that put him on the alert, giving rise to an insane hope. Carefully breathing, Legan put a toe in the water.
"Not…your lover? Who, then?"
"He's like my elder brother," Candy replied, not understanding why. Memories surrounded her. "I owe my life to him… When… when I ran away and fell asleep in the boat, it fell down the waterfall. He saved me. That's how we met… He's kind, he loves animals… And when… when I felt sad, he'dalways cheer me up!" A tear rand own the girl's cheek. "But some people see only filth I can't leave him now, I can't! Now that he's left because of me."
"Maybe it was not because of you. Maybe he just couldn't live among normal people. You said he's better off with animals," Neil vented spleen upon his rival.
But Candy seemed to perceive it as a simple piece of information, not a scoff.
"Perhaps you're right. All these responsibilities, this upper class… And this status of Head of Andrew clan. It has always been strange to him. And moreover, we had a fight. Ugh, it is all my fault."
"I don't think it's your fault," Legan showed nobility, feeling that the girl was deep in her thoughts and realizing that now it was his chance to ask the questions that were carved with fire every night in front of his eyes.
He reached out to pat Candy on the hand, and only shivering fingers could give away his anxiety. "I'll keep calm…" he thought. "I'll keep calm whatever I hear."
Candy sat still, most probably thinking of where her "elder brother" could have gone.
"You couldn't have offended him on purpose, could you?" Neil continued. "You were so close to him… You must have seen each other quite often."
"Not really," miss White uttered pensively. "He would always appear, and then disappear again… But he was always there for me when I felt upset."
"And then you, too, helped him, right? When you… when you were living… together?" Oh, how agonizing it was to say these words! They hadn't come cheap. The shiver in his fingers got stronger, and if anyone had looked in Neil's eyes, they would have shrunk back. But Candy was looking in to the distance.
"Yes, I sat at his bedside. He lost his memory, and they refused to treat him in Hospital. It was horrible! I couldn't have left him!"
"Of course you couldn't have," Neil gnashed, breathing out slowly. Another try…
"And when… when you were living together… it was so great, wasn't it? Did he meet you in the evening?"
Miss White smiled warmly.
"Yeah, sure. He cooked delicious dinner!"
"And did he kiss you when he saw you?"
Candy came to herself and looked at Neil with resentment.
"Kissed? What, no, of course not!"
Legan gave another smile to her, trying not to frighten her.
"Why such heat? What's wrong if he, say, kissed you when meeting you? I would do it!"
The girl sniffed and turned away.
"He's not so mean as you are."
Oh, this jealous heart! It hopes so much that your beloved person led a monastic life before you!
"Well, of course he's not so mean," Nei lagreed hastily. "And when you went to bed, did he say good night to you?"
Candy looked at Neil as if he had gone mad. His glance became frightful, and she once again moved back to the wall, away from him.
"Good night…?" she asked, feeling her heart was beating like a bird, caught in a clap-net.
"Well, yes. Good night," Legan's voice was strangely calm, but this chilling glow in his eyes scared her more and more. "Did he kiss you good night?"
"Of course not! What kind of interrogation is this?! I'm scared of you, Neil, stop it!"
"There, there, Candy, don't be afraid…" Neil tried to laugh and smile to make the girl calm down, and he was almost successful in it. Candy was looking at him cautiously, but he had already turned back to normal – the dreadful glow in his eyes had disappeared, and she even thought – why had she been so scared?