Xabat’s thoughtful expression met Allyce’s eyes and she knew that Xabat must have noticed something unusual too.
The next second, Xabat addressed her directly and asked: “Madam, tell me directly, what’s wrong, boss?
What did Xabat mean by that?
Allyce kept thinking that whatever was wrong with Severo, Xabat had to know about it.
He asked Allyce in such a way that she wasn’t sure if he was deliberately testing her or if she really didn’t know anything, Allyce had to say with an innocent look, “What’s wrong with you? Has something happened?”
Xabat froze: “Didn’t you ask what we did?
So the lady wasn’t asking because she had heard something and was suspicious?
Allyce smiled: “I’m just asking, you take care of it, I’m going.
With that he turned and walked out.
Xabat stood there with a puzzled look on his face, not understanding what Allyce was up to.
From Kimdis, Allyce wandered aimlessly through the streets.
If I had asked Severo directly, would he have said anything?
The obvious answer was that he would never say anything.
Severo was always thoughtful and thorough.
He knew what to do and what to say at any given moment.
That’s why he knew even better how desperate Allyce was to know what was wrong.
But he never mentioned it; he had no intention of telling Allyce.
The bad things she never told Allyce voluntarily.
As before, after finding out about the baby, she allowed herself to have an emotional breakdown and lose sleep at night, but she still didn’t tell him, she just suffered in silence.
Allyce took a deep breath, what should she do?
There was no way she could find a clue as to what he was really trying to hide from her.
Reflection was her strength and her weakness, something she loved and hated at the same time.
…
West of the city.
A black Bentley drove slowly into a villa area.
Inside the car, Severo was sitting in the back, his eyes slightly closed as he took a nap.
The car stopped in front of a new-looking villa.
The driver looked in the rear-view mirror and found Severo’s eyes slightly closed. He was not sure if Severo was asleep and opened his mouth without daring to make a sound.
Severo was not asleep, and when he felt the car stop, he opened his eyes and his voice was slightly muffled: “Are we there?”
The driver’s tone was respectful: “Yes, we have arrived”.
The driver got out of the car and opened the door for Severo.
Severo got out of the car and headed straight for the villa, the driver stood outside waiting for him.
He approached the door and took his fingerprints, then opened it and walked in.
From the outside, the villa looked like any other residential house, but when he entered, the hallway was empty, without a single chair and with snow-white walls all around, as if it were an empty house that was unoccupied.
Severo climbed the stairs to the first floor.
A metal door came into view and was again fingerprinted.
The door opened automatically and the sound of instruments rang in his ears.
Victorino, in his white coat, had his back to Severo and did not know what he was doing, even when he entered.
This was the research room that Severo had secretly built for Victorino in the camp.
Only when the door slammed shut did Victorino stop what he was doing and turn his head to look at Severo: “Why haven’t you been here for days?”
Severo took off his lab coat and leaned back on the lab table, tapping his eyes, and said: “I had to go to Ciudad del Cielo for an emergency.
He moved expertly, as if he had done it many times before.
“Are you done with the medicine?”
“Mmm.”
Victorino pushed up his glasses and frowned slightly, a tinge of discontent on his unsmiling face.
Victorino had never been satisfied with Severo as a restless patient.
I had asked Severo to come for regular check-ups, but he had some urgent business to attend to, and I had told him to take less medication and work less, but he had not listened.
It was difficult for any doctor to be satisfied with such a disobedient patient.
After the usual disinfection, Victorino began his routine examination of Severo.
Shortly after Victorino finished his examination, he stepped back to compare the results.
Severo turned around and sat down, without immediately putting on his dressing gown, with a hint of confusion in his expression.
After a few moments, he asked Victorino: “Well?
Victorino took a deep breath and spoke seriously: “What do you think? The medicine I gave you will sustain you for a while, but the side effects of this medicine are so great that when your body begins to experience them, you will no longer be able to use it.
Rapid ageing.
Severo looked at his hands, the lines on the back of them were dry, like trees lacking water for nourishment, less alive.
Yesterday he had finished his medicine, and he thought it was just for one night, that there would be nothing unusual.
But this morning he woke up and looked at himself in the mirror, as if he had aged ten years, and felt only bewilderment.
His hair was turning grey, his forehead was wrinkled, and it all confirmed what Victorino had said, that one day he would really age dramatically, and then he would be greeted with death.
Fast, swift, consuming his life.
“As I said last time, you don’t have much time left, you’d better make up your mind now”. Victorino’s face was serious, as if he had no sympathy for Severo’s ordeal.
Severo’s voice was slightly muffled: “I need time, I still have a lot to deal with.
Victorino’s unsmiling face finally showed a hint of anger as he raised his voice and shouted: “At this rate you won’t even have a hope!
Severo’s voice was calm and cold: “Even if I do nothing now and stay in bed every day, one day I will die, and that day will come soon, and even if you can’t find a medicine to suppress the symptoms, who else can?”
Victorino kept silent.
Severo was a symptom I had never seen before.
It started with occasional stiffness in the limbs, and one day, suddenly, the symptoms of senility appeared and worsened day by day.
It was as if he had pressed an accelerator bar, and every day I could see the signs of ageing on his face.
This frightened Victorino.
It took three days and three nights to find a drug that would briefly suppress the symptoms, but the side effects were too great.
Victorino’s eyes lit up with a sudden thought: “Maybe Grizzi’s ‘k7’ pharmaceutical team can help you? And I suspect that this symptom of yours is also because someone has drugged you”.