Chapter 23

„Rocky!" Adrian screams as she runs towards us. Thankfully by now Rocky has somewhat regained caucious. Behind her, two men in military uniforms run towards us.

„I´m good, everything´s good. I´m just really tired."

"Let´s get him to the hospital." I mumble as Ivan puts his hand around my shoulder.

„No. No hospital."

„What are you talking about, you´ve got to go. Please let´s just make sure, please." Adrian begs.

"Whatever you say, Mick." whispers Rocky. Adrian and my eyes widen as Rocky calls Adrian, Mickey.

Rocky and Adrian are taken away by ambulance, Pauli and Duke take a cab and Ivan and I ride in his car.

When we finally arrive, we can already see Pauli walking up and down with a cigarette in his mouth. „I need a drink. How long they gonna take?"

Duke just shrugs.

„What the hell´s wrong with him?! He always come through before."

"The man took the worse beatin´I ever seen." It´s only then when both of the men notice us.

"The hell he´s here for?" Pauli snaps.

"Would you please calm down. Ivan and I are together and as far as I know, he's the only one who speaks the language here."

Duke just nods at him and scoots over for Ivan to sit down next to him. He didn´t even had the chance to shower yet. All bloodied and beaten he just threw a zipup hoodie over him and drove me to the hospital.

Almost an hour later Adrian joins us so that Ivan can translate. Rocky is sitting in the middle of the room and his whole head is wired up.

„How are you feeling" I ask carefully standing next to Dr. Kruskin.

"With all these wires, I feel like a radio. I´m getting´tired here, Adrian."

Dr. Kruskin and Ivan start to talk in Russain and by the look that Ivan has on his face I can only guess that it´s nothing good as he turns to me. "He asks, if he wants to talk informally?"

In that moment Rocky also comes to us as we walk into another room where we all sit down. "What´s wrong with me, Doc?"

"Because of the … many violent strikes to the head, you have developed a condition called "Cavum Spetum Pellucidum" a hole in the membrane separating the ventricles. The brain surfaces neuron in this area have also been traumatized." Ivan translates while the doctor points to the pictures of Rocky's brain.

We all look at each other in confusion. „What´s this all mean?"

The doctor sighs and tries to explain it to us himself. „You have suffered damage tot he brain. The tests show the motor responses are impaired as well as memory."

Worried, I turn to Ivan, who looks guiltily at the floor.

„I remeber everything, Doc. Ask me somethin´, I´ve still got my mind."

"The test have concluded…"

"… I heard, so when does this get better?"

Der Arzt lacht kurz auf. "Better? I´m sorry to say this, but you have irreversible damage."

My heart skips a beat. Does that mean something?

"Rocky, you have to retire?" Adrian puts her hand on his shoulder and gently kisses his head.

„Retire? No, I don´t wannt to retire! Not like this, not in no office. I just fought the best fight of my life, I just did that!"

"You heard what the Doctor said", I try to support Adrian.

"He could be wrong! Anybody can be wrong! He´s not God. Only God ain´t wrong! I don´t care, I gotta see other doctors." He pauses for a moment. "I´m a fighter. A fighter´s supposed to go down… supposed to go down in the ring, not like this, not in here. It´s not supposed to end like this."

"Can this get worse?" I ask the Doctor as he looks at Ivan.

"If he continues, it can be fatal."

Adrian is trying her best to calm Rocky down as we make our way out Duke approaches us. "How ya feelin´, champ?"

"Real good."

"Beautiful. So, Rocko, let´s blow this country before they make us join the Army." Says Pauli as he keeps looking at the people walking around the hospital. Rocky slowly turns to look at me and Ivan. "Let´s go home."

"Are you sure? I mean…"

"No, Lex. We all go home." He states looking at Ivan nodding at him.