radicalducati 37 Frozen Frame
37 Frozen Frame
I'm rushing downstairs, my heart wildly pounding in my chest. I don't know if Lukash is capable of any drastic actions, but I can't shake off the premonition of looming trouble.
" Bianca, where's your car? " I bark as I reach the street.
" Over here," her voice trembles. She looks pale, but little do I care.
I quickly follow her and sit next to the driver's seat.
Kovalek sits beside me and starts the car. She clearly knows where to go. I don’t waste time. I dial Andriy. But he doesn’t answer.
" Listen, " Bianca finally speaks up. " No matter what, Andriy and Lukash practically grew up together.
Fool! Used to blindly trusting Lukash. She doesn’t even entertain the thought that he could do something questionable, stubbornly believing it's all just a misunderstanding. Ridiculous.
" So?" I ask skeptically. " What does that change? It didn’t stop Lukash from getting into serious trouble, did it? I just don’t understand why. What drove him to do this?"
" I still don’t believe it," Kovalek insists.
I'm angry, but I realize it's pointless to try to convince her. I have just become certain of one thing: Bianca is most likely innocent, except perhaps for that incident with the documents. Clearly, Lukash used her.
Finally, as we drive past a building with large panoramic windows, Bianca points to it:
" They should be here.
I called Andriy again. This time, luck is on my side.
" Yes, I'm listening, " he answers in a businesslike tone, and I realize he’s not alone. Lukash must be nearby.
" Andriy, I'm here, "outside the restaurant with Bianca," I exhale. Silence on the other end. " I've found something. Lukash is involved.
" You don't know that, " hisses the witch.
" Hm…" Andriy just coughs.
" Did you hear me?" I ask anxiously and unfasten my seatbelt with my free hand.
" Yes. Yes, we'll talk about this in more detail soon.
And that's it. Brief. Abrupt. No frills. And my intuition screams that something here is very wrong. Does he understand? I hope so.
I can’t delay any longer. I open the door and rush to the other end of the street, toward the restaurant.
There, I see the doors open, and Andriy steps out, followed closely by Lukash. They continue to talk and smile as they walk. Then he looks up, and our eyes meet. As if pulled by a magnet, I move towards him. For this encounter. I do not break this special, tense eye contact with his beloved turquoise eyes.
Someone calls Lukash, while Andriy heads towards his car. I keep walking towards him. My heart beats intensely, fiercely.
We’re now just about ten meters apart. Andriy flashes his characteristic smile, full of warmth and secret promises. My soul flutters and sings, and the world around me seems to come to a standstill. To not disturb this sacred moment.
This moment... This eye contact. This connection. So special.
We understand each other without words. We don’t notice anyone else around. Even Bianca and especially Lukash slip from my mind.
But the moment passes. Or it remains slow, then frozen…
Because in the next"an earth-shattering explosion cuts through the air, scattering everything around...
The clear image of my beloved being swept away by the blast remains before my eyes, as everything else feels frozen. And then I realize, it’s not only him…
Next, "emptiness, filled with flashes and fragments.
A woman leans over me. Her face is unfamiliar.
Darkness again, in which only one word, "Andriy", "Andriy" echoes...
Good God...
I barely pry my eyes open. I try to focus my vision. But my head is spinning. I feel nothing. Only my eyes are inexplicably full of salty tears.
Why am I crying? Why?
Darkness again…
"No! No! No!" A loud denial echoes in the dark abyss where I find myself. I don’t understand where I am, but this darkness frightens me. In my tormented brain, only the thought that I need to open my eyes beats.
Lord, why is this so hard?
Eventually, I force myself to unstick my eyelids. But bright, flashing lights strike my eyes, and the silence around feels like I've descended to the ocean floor, the water pressure squeezing my eardrums.
I pass my tongue over my dry lips. A metallic taste, and I can’t fathom it. Finally, my brain offers an answer. Blood.
Logic kicks in. Where is the blood coming from? Why are these flashing lights irritating my eyes, which just wish to close?
Again, someone leans over me and brazenly flashes a light in my eyes. Damn it.
I can’t move. Tears begin to gather in the corners of my eyes and slide down my cheeks from a sense of helplessness and frustration.
I finally try to turn my head a bit to understand where I am. I catch a glimpse of people in uniform, a familiar uniform, paramedics…
They are bending over someone some distance from me. Providing help, I realize.
At last, my tired gaze stumbles upon a familiar female figure kneeling there, by the paramedics and by the one they are helping. I know her.
It’s Bianca, it suddenly hits.
But why is she crying? Why?
Questions with no answers echo in my head and flood my being with panic, as I finally recover enough to remember the moments before the explosion.
No-o!! No!! No!!
Sobs burst from my chest. I sob, and through the tears that veil my eyes, another unfamiliar female face appears again. A paramedic, I realize.
She leans over me, whispers something gently, and then I feel something prick me. I have no strength to resist. My heart yearns for my beloved. But in another moment, my body becomes completely limp, and my eyelids heavy.
I turn my head, and the last thing that imprints in my memory is seeing him transferred onto medical stretchers, then I plunge into darkness. Blessed oblivion for now.