Chapter 128. Mattress Mattress: a fabric case filled by deformable or resilient material, used for sleeping on.

You have to turn the mattress round from time to time. He pushed him electrocuted against the wire fence instead; the alarm went off and the guard came flooding the night with a strange sun. From the other side of the frontier they run away leaving the partner they believed dead behind. Lorenzo stopped for a while to have a last look at Noels body lay stand still on the ground. You are late The third man said two seconds before and we would catch them all. We lost the signal The first guard arriving said. You lost the signal? The sneak asked I might lose my life, you see the kind of people I had to risk my neck with.

He said it making a gesture of contempt to the corps, the guard looked down ashamed of not doing their duty, smelling the scent of the death he well knew. Noel didnt breathe. What do we do with him? The guard said still looking down. The usual, Im not interested in him, I wanted the ones that run away, thanks to you The third man stressed this must be the pack idiot. Idiot? Wasnt him the one that uncovered you? The guard asked looking at him right into the eyes.

The third man didnt like the remark of an insolent that wasnt able of being on time to cover his mistake. He left thinking up to where he could degrade him to teach him a lesson. Noel was still on the ground. Do we take him? One of the guards asked. Not today, let the brigade come tomorrow, we didnt fry him, we dont pick him up The guard ended without looking at the dead.

The following day the brigade had more work to do than pick up a useless uprised and Noel still was at the foot of the electrified wire fence resting on a mattress of damped dried leaves. Nobody cared about him, from the outside gave him up for lost, his body exploding against the wire netting had broken the night with a fatal thunder. From the inside they didnt know about his existence and if they did they shouldnt dare approach not even to bury him. He wasnt dead. He was sleeping. The shock knocked him out, in mind state talking. In a more physical talking it destroyed his neck and his vocal cords, it was a clean cut, almost invisible from the outside, it didnt even hurt. He realized when he opened his eyes and wanted to cry for help, since he couldnt do it, since he only could feel the silence without voice. That silence remained on him forever, even after his surgery at the clandestine hospital they had to improvise at the stone houses he couldnt recognize the voice coming out of his body as his.

Its a miracle The doctor said I had never seen anything like this.

He wasnt talking about the reconstruction surgery but the survival after such impact. Sure it is, he was able to stand up, come to us, they say he is like a cat An old Ral said. This cannot happen again, we cannot let someone of us dead around and not even know about it, Torroals should warn us before coming, they should warn he was knocked down Hana despaired I cannot even imagine this poor man suffering. Let it go Hana, this is not our war anymore Ral tried to calm her down.

Even he agreed with her, he knew they werent strong enough yet to make them listen, the only thing they could do was taking care of that drawn man, that stared at them, that couldnt focus the sight in one point, that studied every face trying to find a sign of familiarity. Keep the diet and change the bandage every five hours, not a single second afterwards, the hygienic conditions are delicate and we dont have the medicines needed to fight the infection The doctor explained.

And so they did, with punctuality well cared for, with extreme caution, with some kind of care too. But Noel didnt thank it, Noel didnt do more than think about the last image before the unconsciousness, his partners on the other side, he alone in front the traitor. The traitor he hadnt included in the group, the traitor he wasnt responsible for, the traitor he had uncovered and he didnt get any recognition, he was lying on an uncomfortable bed surrounded by unknown people instead. The resentment replaced his innocence, the lack of risky spirit, the laziness his spontaneity. He didnt because he wasnt able of trusting his people, he kept them because they were the only ones that could avoid that third man that made him grow up. enthusiasm his leave the city on working with he looking for

For the following months he slept in intervals, he closed his eyes and felt that feeling of thunder going through him, that losing the control of his body, that inevitable defeat. During the day he muttered around the place if he clashed with somebody, he wandered around his bedroom if they didnt ask him to leave. Hana got used to his bad temper, she understand the distance he needed to rebuild himself and maybe if she hadnt gone he would get it, but nor Ral knew how to fill her place nor he was willing to try it again. His relation with Hugo was complicated, in some extend he reminded the first Lorenzo, the funny one; on the other side, he looked like that third man he wished dead. On the calmer days he followed him, on the high-pressure days he locked himself on the inside not to make it worse. Youre right, we run all the risks Fran concluded agreeing with Hugo in that we took all the credit thing.

Then, wed better dont get involved Sal tried to step back I dont see clear the profit this story will bring. I dont know how you even dare think about helping a leaders husband.

Sal dramatized exaggerating the danger, they had helped former members of the government before and he knew they had usually done it in the past; but he didnt want to refuse Hugo that favour or feel like the traitor was beginning to be.