part 20
Brill quickly knelt down on his lap and put her hand on his shoulder.
- Sir, are you hurt? - The man twitched from her touch and she felt him rise slightly.
He turned his head a little, continuing to mumble to himself. His husky voice was scratching the silence of the tunnel, rough from the smoke and crying.
- Christine? Don't leave me... please," the man wheezed and fell to the floor again, now on my back. His eyes were tired of closing. A dry cough shook his body and he moaned again.
Brill hesitated to hear the familiar name and then put her hand on his forehead. His skin was hot to the touch, but Brill felt shaken by the chills as if he were cold. When the man abruptly pulled his head away from her touch, Brill changed her posture, putting one hand on his chest to attract his attention. She ran her fingers over the rags left over from what was once a cotton shirt and suddenly found his clothes completely soaked in water. "No wonder he was sick, his clothes were all wet.
- Monsieur, you have a fever. And if you stay in this smoke for too long, it will damage your lungs. Can you stand up? - Brill took his hand in hers and pulled it carefully.
The man let out a deaf roar, and his eyes flashed brightly, opening again. The feverish luster was gone, and he looked up at her fiercely - in the weak flame of the torch, his eyes sparkled almost in black coal.
- Leave me alone, you little woman," his smoky voice sliced through the air. - Can't a man rest in peace? - The man hit her on the hands, unhooked them from his hand and kept quiet again.
Brill sighed irritably, but his breath quickly turned into a violent coughing attack. "There's no time for that. I can barely breathe because of the smoke. You can't stay here any longer. We have to leave. When she came to this conclusion, she leaned over and pulled the man by the arm, bringing him into a seated position. He turned around, and Brill felt rather than saw that he was frozen in amazement, shocked by her cheeky behavior.
- I cannot leave you here, monsieur. And we cannot stay. - She was standing there, still holding him firmly by both hands. - So you have to get up before we both suffocate.
Brill felt that the man's eyes were looking fiercely at her through the haze, but he was still silent, probably trying to concentrate despite the fever. Apparently, he wasn't used to arguing with other human beings, let alone a strange woman. He tried to release his hand from her grip again, but the little hands of Brill clung to his biceps with pliers.
- My well-being is not your concern. It would have been preferable for you to leave immediately. I don't have the slightest desire to move," the man growled, letting the foggy voice threaten his words. Unfortunately, it didn't make the right impression on Brill. However, his threat only strengthened her resolve.
- Your desires are not my concern, monsieur. But since I came across you, your life is my concern. Now get up, or I will have to drag you by your hair! - Brill shouted. When he heard that threat, the man was silent: the shock immediately made him compliant, allowing Brill to influence his legs before he realized what had happened.
Brill let go of the man's hand and carefully wrapped her hands around his waist. He moved away from her touch, but thank God he remained so.
- You can put your hands on my shoulders, monsieur," she said, in a calm and gentle tone developed during her time as a volunteer in the local hospitals. A few steps behind, the torch released the last tongue of flame and finally went out, plunging the corridor into total darkness. With all her courage, Brill continued with the same soothing tone: "The fever has exhausted you. Lean on me if necessary.
Feeling the hesitation of the man who made him freeze to a place, Brill carefully bowed her head and put his hand on her shoulders, for the sake of making a decision for him. After a hard breath, the man leaned on her; the warmth of his fever-burning skin, penetrating through a wet shirt, warmed her up, despite the cold air. With a slight turn of the head, Brill shuddered when her top hit the tip of the man's chin - apparently, he looked down on her from top to bottom through the collapsing darkness. Barely tilting her head away from him, Brill realized that her height was perfect for a man to lean on. Their bodies fit together like pieces of a mosaic. It was a rather disturbing discovery, even though it was extremely useful at the moment.
Brill felt the flaming look with which the man continued to burn it. She was shivering under that look, feeling uncomfortable as an object of so much attention.
Brill looked up to where she thought she'd be hiding in the shadows of a stranger's face, and then slowly stepped forward. Brill dragged him on herself, clenching his lower back tightly with her palms, forcing him to move. The mysterious man also stepped forward, but suddenly tripped, his knees bent. The couple was staggering, but Brill gathered strength and took on the increased weight. The man swore fiercely under his nose when she kept moving forward.
- Didn't I make myself clear that I wanted to stay here? And now, because of your stubborn behavior, madam, I was humiliated by being driven... - A coughing attack caught a dark-haired man by surprise, without letting him prove what he was about to do. Contrary to his apparent resistance to the idea, his body fell even more on Brill as they continued down the hall.
As the aisle rose to the surface, the smoke became thicker, forcing him to fight for every sip of oxygen. Brill's eyes started to burn with caustic air, and she felt the man next to her coughing quietly. She knew they needed to find a way out, and soon. Despite her confident manners, Brill still had no idea how to get out of the maze under the opera, and time was running out. Forcing herself to do step by step, she silently calculated how long she would be able to act in the smoke-filled air before giving up on fatigue and inhaled smoke.
to be continued...