but I expected that out of his delirium. “Right. Well, you can’t sleep here in this chair. Come on,” I pulled at his shoulders. “Let’s get you into the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“No,” Dane answered. “Fine with floor…you’ve had a long…trip. Need your rest too…”
“Doctor’s orders. Into the bed.”
“Can’t…need floor. Too heavy for you to…pull. Used up energy…getting here. Floor…fine.”
I sighed, glancing around for the best spot, somewhere that he didn’t have to go far to find. “Alright, well…if you insist. We’ve got to get you out of this chair, though. Down you go.”
Helping him ease out of the chair, I pulled one of my spare blankets aside and spread it out across the floor. “That’s right, down you go,” I repeated, helping him crawl onto the makeshift bedding. I lifted his head and placed one of my pillows beneath, then found another blanket to cover him. Finally, I set the bowl beside him, just within reach.
“You sure about this?” I asked, concerned.
“For the…best…wait until…morning,” he answered. “Goodnight…doctor.”
“Goodnight, Dane,” I replied, crawling back into bed. I stared at the ceiling for several minutes, wondering about these recent events, until I could hear his breathing as he started to slumber.
Exhausted from everything earlier, it wasn’t much longer before I drifted to sleep as well.
~
The following morning, I awoke slowly, gradually. Stretching my arms and curling my fingers, I took in the unfamiliar feeling of the bed and the blankets. Oh right…Romania , I thought to myself. Mustering the strength to open my eyes, I gave a large yawn as I stretched again, sitting up in bed.
My eyes lazily glided towards the chair across the room, and the memories of the night flooded back into my head. Throwing myself to the edge of the bed, I cast my gaze down to see…nothing.
The blankets were folded and sitting on the small table in the other corner. As for the pillow, it was back in my bed.
Well, that’s odd, I thought to myself. That guy was clearly in no condition to be moving around.
Climbing out of bed and briefly surveying the room, I poked my head out the window. There was no sight of my mysterious overnight guest anywhere.
Fine then.
Bolting the door shut and closing the windows, I changed into my clothes for the day – a light outfit accustomed to the warm climate. I thought it was about time that I took stock of the village, so I pocketed a small handful of coins, locked the door behind myself, and knocked on the hut next door.
Camilla answered almost immediately, a smirk on her face. “Up already?”
I glanced up at the overhead sun, directly above. “I thought I’d get an early start on the day.”
My guide chuckled pleasantly. “I take it you wanted to go into town? Buy supplies?”
“If you’re not too busy…I can come back later.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.” She gave a quick smile before glancing over her shoulder and speaking quickly in Romanian. There was the sound of an elderly woman from inside, mumbling something loudly, and Camilla replied back. They exchanged a few more words before my guide finally stepped out, closing the door behind herself.
“My mother, she is… difficult , sometimes. Very difficult. But this is good, she needs supplies too.”
“Yeah?” I asked, falling into step beside my guide. We began to walk down the path towards the gathered buildings up the hill, passing an elderly couple who were lost in Romanian conversation.
“Yes, she needs eggs, bacon, things like that. We have pigs before, but we ate one and the sow grew sick. Needed sow for litter. We will barter for extra sow later, but for now, we buy pork from farmers’ market.”
“You eat a lot of pork here?” I asked her, stepping aside for a middle-aged man on a bike to roll past,