Some time passed after the noisy incident connected with the count's daughter's visit to the orphanage. By this moment the commotion had already died down, and the former calm had once again settled in the orphanage.
Nevertheless, this turned out not to last long.
After all, today something happened again...
From the very morning I felt that something was wrong. Amalia, who usually always got up before me, today woke up with great difficulty. I immediately suspected something was wrong and therefore checked her temperature.
And, as expected, Amalia had a fever.
A rather strong fever.
"Amalia, you're sick!" I exclaimed.
"Really? Is it that serious?"
"You have a fever!" I reported. "It looks serious. In such a state, how do you feel right now?"
"Well... my head hurts," she muttered. "And I feel weak."
I sighed heavily upon hearing this.
In fact, I wasn't even too surprised that Amalia had gotten sick. After all, considering the lifestyle she led, everything had been leading to this.
Amalia really was very busy and almost never rested. Even in the last days she had been very busy helping with preparations for the event that was soon to take place at our orphanage. So, considering the loads her child's body usually endured, it was no wonder she had gotten sick.
"Amalia, we need to go to the infirmary."
"No..." she muttered. "No need."
"What? Why not?!"
"I just have a temperature. There's no need to distract the nurse from important work because of this..."
Hearing this, I let out a doomed sigh.
And it was always like this! I don't know if this was somehow connected to the female lead syndrome, but Amalia always thought first of all only about others, and not about herself. And even now, when it came to her health. I was simultaneously admiring her noble spirit, but at the same time in such moments I felt annoyance.
"It's nothing terrible. It's the nurse's job to treat us. So let's go quickly!"
I tried to persuade Amalia to go with me to the infirmary, but she categorically refused.
"I'm telling you, it's nothing terrible. I'll get better soon."
Since Amalia stood her ground so firmly, and arguing with her was useless, I gave in.
"Fine..." I inhaled heavily. "But then, at least, today you won't go anywhere. You will stay in bed and rest!"
Anxiety flashed across Amalia's face.
"But what about..."
"I'll warn the caretakers about it," I interrupted her, not even letting her finish. "So don't worry about it. Just let your body rest."
Nevertheless, some kind of anxiety still did not leave her face.
"But I'm helping with organizing the event..." she muttered. "Will everything be all right if I'm not there today?"
I sighed heavily once again.
At the moment Amalia was helping the caretakers with organizing the event that was supposed to take place at the orphanage next month. It was a small celebration dedicated to the founding of our orphanage. And since there were only a few caretakers, and there was a shortage of working hands, they also resorted to the help of capable older children.
And Amalia, of course, was among them first of all. The caretakers constantly turned to her for help with something, and I knew that.
Honestly, it even angered me a little.
"Nothing terrible will happen in one day!" I declared. "Besides, they should be ashamed that they rely on the help of a twelve-year-old child!"
Amalia, having listened to my angry complaints, smiled faintly.
"All right... You've persuaded me."
In the end I managed to insist that Amalia not go anywhere today and stay in bed. And since she firmly refused to go to the infirmary, I decided to take care of her myself.
Having made sure that her condition remained stable, I left the room for a short while. I went to warn the caretakers about Amalia's absence today. I also wanted to meet Erica, but I didn't find her and therefore had to give up on that idea. After that, without lingering, I immediately returned to the room.
In the bathroom I filled a basin with water, took out dry towels, and sat by Amalia's bed.
I decided that I would change the wet towels on her forehead every half hour to bring down the fever as quickly as possible. Essentially, this was the only thing I could do for her right now.
"Try to sleep, and I'll be nearby."
Amalia, who now had a wet towel on her forehead, smiled faintly, looking at me.
"...Hazel, thank you."
I smirked.
"Don't mention it. If you're really grateful to me, then get better quickly and never get sick again!"
Hearing my grumbling, Amalia closed her eyes with a smile.
"...All right."
I also felt warmth inside when I looked at her peaceful expression in sleep.
***
Having sunk into a deep sleep, Amalia plunged into darkness, which was interrupted by flashes.
They were indistinct glimmers that rushed through her consciousness like some fragments. Darkness covered with motley spots. Blood red spots.
Muffled voices reached her.
"Well, well. This thing really was once a person?"
"Poor girl..."
In this pitch-black darkness Amalia could clearly distinguish only one thing.
Right before her eyes a terrifying sight appeared. It was a thing that had once been a human body. Bloody stumps, meat, flesh... Brown eyes that had always sparkled so brightly now darkened, as if plunged into absolute darkness.
"I understand that this is a great stress for you. But we need to identify the body..."
"..."
"Tell me, does this body really belong to your friend? Can you identify her?"
Amalia was stunned. She couldn't even distinguish the face of the person speaking with her. She saw only bloody stumps. And nothing else.
"I don't know... I don't know anything..." her voice trembled and faltered desperately.
"Please, look closely. Can you identify your friend's face?"
Face... face... her face...
Sunken brown eyes looked at her without luster. Dead eyes.
"Does this thing also belong to your friend? We found it next to the body."
Amalia looked at the bloodied wreath of white flowers extended to her.
"This wreath... I gave it to her..."
"Ah, I see? So that means we can still identify the body..."
Her hands trembled.
"No... no... no... NO!"
The mad riot of blood red colors once again swirled in the darkness.
Blood, darkness, blood, darkness...
It was like hell.
An endless pitch-black hell.
"NO!"
When Amalia awoke from the dream, she found herself in a room flooded with soft light.
It was their room.
She was breathing deeply and heavily, as if she had just escaped from the thickness of water. There was not enough air in her lungs, and in the first seconds after waking she desperately gasped. Her eyes were glassy from the horror she had just experienced, and she didn't even realize what she was doing right now.
Only one thing remained in her head now.
"...HAZEL!"
When Amalia turned her head, she saw an empty chair beside her bed.
No... no...
She experienced horror.
It was a paralyzing, primal horror. She could no longer control herself.
"Hazel! Hazel!"
Amalia fell from the bed and began to crawl across the floor, trying to crawl to the door. It seemed she had lost the ability to move normally. She could no longer follow common sense. Instead, she behaved like a madwoman.