The tension caused by the uninvited visitor could certainly be cut into pieces. Tabby looked at David in alarm, who, although his face showed the nervousness of the unexpected moment, waved his hand to her to hide behind him. Then he straightened up again and hissed angrily.
"What do you want from us?" One of the young men who arrived chuckled contemptuously and replied.
"You heard our friend a moment ago, didn't you? You're picking forbidden fruit and you'll get punished for it.
And I'd advise the young lady to move away, it won't do any good to her blue eyes. And you'll remember once and for all where your place is, you bastard!" David clenched his hands tightly into fists and turned to Tabby.
"Please go home, I'll take care of this myself, I don't want you to get hurt!"
"No, I'll stay with you! This isn't fair! You don't want to face such a superior force alone? You bastards! Leave us alone!"
Tabby shouted desperately. He frowned at her and gritted his teeth angrily.
"Didn't you hear me? Go away! Stay out of this!"
She shook her head in disbelief at the change in his behavior, but she preferred to listen to him. But she didn't run home, she decided that he would probably be angry. She desperately thought about what she would do. As if on purpose, no one showed up here at this late hour. She hid among the trees and from afar, hidden behind the trunk of a massive oak, she watched in horror what was happening nearby. Fortunately, she noticed that David seemed to master some elements of self-defense. She bit her lips almost to the point of bleeding in excitement, and her heart was beating like a church bell.
But the odds were too great, and this wasn't an action movie where the main character would pile up all his opponents in one blow. David's strength was visibly waning, and after the last blow, he suddenly fell to the ground. The thugs were frightened and disappeared like shadows in the darkness. Tabby let out a strangled scream and ran to David. He was lying on the ground, his eyes closed, curled up in a ball, breathing heavily, and a trickle of blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth. A menacing-looking bruise was slowly forming over his left eye. She knelt down to him and gently took his head in her hands.
"What's wrong with you? Wake up, please! What did they do to you?" He hissed weakly and opened his eyes. He even tried to smile.
"It's nothing, it'll be okay. You'll just have to help me a little, I can't get up..."
She helped him up and watched with concern as he closed his eyes for a moment and staggered.
"Come on, I'll walk you home, Dad will look after you, he's a doctor!" He shook his head dismissively.
"No way, that's out of the question, he already has enough worries about me, I don't want to give him any more. If I can ask you, help me get home. I probably wouldn't be able to do it myself. It's a short distance from here, only about five minutes away. But it'll probably take a little longer now..." he smiled guiltily.
He was right. The journey took more than a quarter of an hour and then they finally found themselves at David's house. But all the windows were dark, the house looked deserted. Tabby frowned slightly and whispered.
"You're home alone? You didn't tell me! If I knew, I would run for dad!"
"You're not saying that. My parents are on an internship in America. Here, here are your keys and please unlock them, I can't move my fingers right now."
She unlocked them with a shaking hand and, supporting each other, they reached his room. She turned on the light and looked for the bed with her eyes. It was right under the window and after a moment she finally managed to put David on it. She briefly glanced around the room. She noticed with amazement that it was furnished similarly to her own. Simple pine furniture was combined with rattan and colorful rugs were lying on the floor. Lots of pictures and photos hung on the walls and elephant statues were everywhere she looked. But now was not the time to look around.
"Where is your bathroom? I need to treat you." She noticed that he was shivering slightly from the cold and threw a woolen blanket over him.
"And the kitchen too, you need to warm up, I'll make some tea." She said sternly. He smiled and wiped the blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Well, yes, you can tell. A nurse in action. Okay, the kitchen is on the right and the bathroom on the left, if you can't do otherwise... and sorry, what happened in the park before I got the pickle wasn't planned, it just happened, I couldn't control myself..." She looked at him with a sad look. He must have been feeling terrible, but despite everything he was still smiling.
"It's okay, I felt the same..." She smiled awkwardly and ran away. In a moment his wounds were treated and David was holding a mug of tea in one hand and an ice pack to his eye in the other. She got up and started looking at the pictures on the wall. There were strange drawings that she didn't really understand and lots of photos of exotic places in Egypt, India and China. They were amazing, she stared at them with her mouth open.
"Who took these photos? They're beautiful!" She trailed off after a while.
"I..." he replied shortly between sips of hot tea.
"What? You've been everywhere?" She asked in amazement.
"I have, I study archaeology and this is my hobby, and also part of my studies. Don't you like it?"
"No, no, it's amazing, you really can take photos." Then she turned and looked at him. His tanned skin stood out even more in the white sheets. She couldn't resist and asked.
"Why did those bastards call you a sausage?" He was silent for a moment, then set the cup down on the table.
"I sometimes have a problem with that. My mother's father, my grandfather, was from Nepal. She was born there, but when she was little he came to Ireland to work and stayed here. But he died recently…"
"Oh, now it's all clear to me. It was quite rude of them. See, and I thought you were passionate about solar!" She laughed. He shook his head in amusement.
"Of course, that's only for sleazy guys like yours in the hospital. I'm like that everywhere, even without a sunbed. Do you want to take a look?" He grinned and sneered mischievously. She blinked awkwardly and quickly answered.
"No...no, I'd rather not, I believe you! Look, you should rest and get some sleep. And put that compress back on, or you'll look like Quasimodo tomorrow!"
"Yes, nurse, I will, you can't be resisted..." he replied mischievously. She covered him with the blanket up to his chin and his mention of Ted flashed through her mind. Her heart ached painfully and at the same time she was overcome with anger, because she still couldn't shake the feeling of who was behind the attack...
"Okay, now you're sleeping. If you want, I'll lie down with you and stay until morning, tomorrow is Saturday and I'm free. I'll take care of you. I'll just write to your dad so he doesn't worry. You won't keep this a secret anyway, I know he's treating you and when he sees you, he'll definitely ask. So, do you agree?"
He frowned slightly and nodded silently. He was wondering how much she actually knew about him. When she settled down next to him and snuggled up to him slightly, he sighed weakly.
"This isn't a good idea, if you're this close, I'll probably have a problem..." She pulled away and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, I didn't realize you were still hurting all over..." And she moved to the other side of the bed.
"Hm...That too..." David whispered. Fortunately, she didn't understand his remark and after a moment he heard her sighing contentedly. He turned his head and watched her in amazement in the light of the lamp. He had never seen a girl sleep before. Her cherry lips were softly pouting, her loose hair slightly covered her face and her chest rose and fell regularly. He tried to chase away the thought of what was hidden under the taut fabric of her blouse. She was amazing, he fought the urge to touch her and, remembering their first passionate kiss, he tried in vain to overcome the natural reaction of his body, which had come anyway. There was nothing left to do but to really breathe. He turned off the lamp, folded his hands under his head and before he fell asleep, a painful thought flashed through his mind that it would probably be better to leave it to the other person. Maybe today's unpleasant affair in the park had come at the right time. And he was leaving for the Himalayas in a week anyway. He didn't want Tabby's affection to grow too strong, it would be all the harder and more painful for her when that terrible moment came when his illness would overcome him and...he sighed weakly. His eyes wandered to his desk and he was amazed. A faint glow seemed to be coming from the place where the maps lay. He focused his gaze more, but soon the room was again covered in bluish darkness. He glanced at the sleeping Tabby for a moment and lightly touched her hair with his fingers. It was soft as silk. He gently pushed it away from her face and after a while sleep overcame him too.