Into The Rose Garden

Bendyke led him to a three-story red brick house. There were endless others like this house in the neighborhood, and it was easy to get into the wrong one if you didn’t pay attention to the brass notice board that recorded the address number. It was a common form of housing in the city centre.

Opening the heavy, black-painted front door, Bendyke let Aeroc in and locked it behind him. One side of the dark foyer led to a passageway, the other to a staircase leading upstairs.

“This way.”

Aeroc followed Bendyke meekly as he led the way. The floor was carpeted with a patterned carpet that looked cozy. Aeroc was led into a modestly sized reception room, with a set of very homely china with floral and insect designs on neatly manicured sideboards. A small round table in the center of the room was covered with a white tablecloth, and in the middle of it was a single rose in a small vase.

“It’s plainer than I expected.”

“I’m a poor country bumpkin. City life is very expensive.”

There was no sting in the words, but for some reason, Aeroc felt even more uncomfortable than usual.

“I stand corrected. I meant I was surprised to find you unusually homely. Your taste in china is cute.”

“It’s the housekeeper’s taste, not mine, and I let her do as she pleases.”

With that, Bendyke went through a small door in the corner of the reception room. Aeroc paced the reception room, looking around. He imagined this house as a stark space, filled with swords and guns, safes and ledgers. But to think there was such a lovely reception room. It definitely didn’t suit the man.

“Kyaaaa!”

A woman’s tearing scream sounded in the distance. With thumping footsteps, a venerable old woman appeared, followed by Bendyke with a guilty look on his face.

“You’ve been shot! I knew this would happen someday! Get upstairs at once, and undress! I told you I had a bad heart, and if I have a heart attack and die, I’ll curse you at once, Master!”

After shooing Bendyke upstairs with a loud nagging, she looked at Aeroc and raised her voice.

“Why are you just there looking so stupidly? Can’t you see that a man is injured? Get a doctor right now!”

“Ah, he’s an aristocrat, he can’t go anywhere without a carriage. He’ll probably become a lost child if you let him out of the house.”

Bendyke, who was going upstairs, answered for him, and the old woman, who appeared to be the housekeeper, became more agitated. She flung off the apron she had tied around her waist and called out to Aeroc.

“This way is the kitchen. There’s clean water in the kettle, take it upstairs. There’s clean towels in the cupboard in the second room on the right from upstairs. The first aid kit is in the second compartment in the cupboard next to it. Wash the wound first, there’s antiseptic, but the doctor will take care of it. Don’t let it bleed any more until then. What are you staring at?! Get moving!”

The shouting voice startled Aeroc into a frenzy and he tried to run upstairs. The first aid kit was in the second room, second cupboard, second compartment, right?

“The kitchen’s that way, you have to get the hot water first!”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

With the housekeeper’s tantrum, Aeroc descended the stairs again and headed for the kitchen. Her orders were somehow hard to refute.

In the kitchen, which was even smaller than the reception room, he found a kettle of water on the table. Without thinking, Aeroc picked up the brass kettle and nearly spilled it. He hadn’t realized the kettle was so heavy, it was nowhere near the weight of his porcelain teapot kettle. Aeroc grabbed it with both hands and carefully carried it upstairs. There were four doors upstairs, two on each side, and Bendyke was in the first one on the left. He had already stripped off his clothes, and one side of his back was covered in blood.

“This is serious.”

“Did you bring water? And a cloth?”

As Aeroc set the water on the table, Bendyke held out his hand to Aeroc. Aeroc shrugged it off, then hurried back out and stood in front of the staircase. He glanced at the second room on the right and went straight to it. The cupboards were full. As instructed, he found a towel in the second cupboard and a first aid kit next to it. Aeroc took it back to the first room, and this time Bendyke took advantage of Aeroc.

“The bathroom is over there. There’s a basin in there, get it here.”

Aeroc didn’t feel good being treated like an errand boy, but he knew the other man was injured. When he returned with the basin, Bendyke poured water into it, soaked the cloth, and then reached back to wipe his shoulder. But he barely made contact.

“Ugh, shit.”

Bendyke spat a low curse as he rolled his face in pain. Sitting back in his chair, he stretched his arm again, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach the wound.

“Give it to me.”

It was a good-hearted gesture, but Bendyke returned the gaze with suspicion. Then Bendyke held out the wet towel. Aeroc wringed it out and gently wiped it around the perimeter. As he swiped from top to bottom, dark blood gurgled from the gaping wound. It was horrible, and the pain felt contagious. Bendyke grimaced, but didn’t groan through clenched teeth.

“That must hurt.”

“Not much. This is nothing compared to that pain from before.”

“You’re bluffing.”

Aeroc tried to scoff, but it didn’t come out right, because he had a serious injury. Aeroc cleaned the wound with great care. When he had cleaned it enough, Aeroc could see the bullet lodged in the center of the wound.

“I see the bullet. Luckily, the wound is not deep.”

“You can see it? Then take it out.”

“What?”

Bendyke opened the box Aeroc had brought and pulled out a pair of forceps. “Are you serious?” Aeroc asked, surprised.

“The doctor would do the same thing anyway. The doctor will stitch me up, but you can at least take out the bullet. If I keep bleeding like this, I’ll pass out. The bullet needs to be taken out before the bleeding can be stopped.”

Shocked, Aeroc swallowed hard. With trembling hands, he used forceps to pick up the bullet. Halfway through, the huge back twitched. He was clearly in pain, but he didn’t moan or scream except for ragged breathing. He had amazing endurance.

Creak.

Aeroc picked up the half-lodged bullet and dropped it into the basin, tossing the forceps in at the same time. He sighed, but the blood was still gurgling. He grabbed several clean, dry towels and pressed them firmly against the wound.

Meanwhile, Bendyke opened a small box on the table, and inside were several small brown vials, identical to the ones Aeroc had seen before. He downed two of the bottles in quick succession. They reeked of the bitter odor of a nasty drug.

“Mmm.”

After downing the potion, Bendyke touched his forehead with his free arm and made a low throaty noise. That was all the scream he could muster. With a long sigh, the wounded man’s back rose and fell slowly. He had lost a lot of blood and must be in pain. Aeroc wanted to talk to him, but decided not to. Bendyke needed rest.

The awkward silence stretched on for a long time before he heard a shuffle from downstairs. The smell of blood was choking Aeroc, and the housekeeper who reappeared seemed like an angel. The doctor who followed her in was a familiar face.

“Count?”

“Ah, doctor.”

“Is the Count wounded? And I heard it was a gunshot wound?”

“No, not me, it’s this person.”

With that, Aeroc slowly removed his hands and stepped back. The doctor set down his house call bag and carefully picked up a towel with a circular bloodstain on it.

“I pulled the bullet out, it was shallow.”

“You’ve done it well.”

With that, the doctor opened the house call bag and took out a stethoscope. Placing the rounded end against Bendyke’s back, the doctor was silent for a moment, then placed the stethoscope around his neck. The doctot tapped Bendyke, who had been quiet since the beginning.

“Mr. Bendyke? Mr. Bendyke?”

There was no answer to the call; he hadn’t stirred from earlier, his chin propped up by his uninjured arm and his eyes closed.

“His breathing and pulse are normal, and the hemostasis was successful.”

Looking around, the doctor spotted two empty bottles. He picked them up, saw that they were empty of their contents, and stared at Aeroc in amazement.

“He drank two bottles as soon as I took the bullet out. I was told it was for headaches.”

“These? One bottle of this is enough to knock out any bull in a single bound. I told him to take it one spoonful at a time, and he drank two bottles in one sitting! He must be trying to kill himself!”

Aeroc had no idea, Bendyke had drunk the whole bottle before. The doctor was furious, but he didn’t dare to hit the seriously injured person, so the housekeeper came to his defense.

“The master tried to control himself. Even today he only drank a spoonful, and then he went out for a walk to relieve his frustration. Then something unfortunate happened, though I don’t know what.”

The housekeeper shot Aeroc an accusing glance. Aeroc opened his mouth to make an excuse, but then shut it. It felt hard to explain. It was better to let Bendyke handle things on his own when he came back to his senses. Other things were more pressing.

“Just what disease does he have to be using such a strong drug?”

It was the housekeeper who answered Aeroc’s question.

“You can go back now. As you can see, my master is in no condition to entertain guests.”

“I will stay until he comes to his senses.”

“Please come back again later.”

Due to the housekeeper’s repeated firm demands for him to leave, Aeroc reluctantly redirected his unfaltering steps.

“There is a carriage downstairs that takes the doctor here, you may take it. I can’t see you off for far.”

The cold housekeeper shooed Aeroc out and closed the door behind him. He stood in the dark hallway for a moment, staring blankly at the closed door. He had never been treated like this before. He tried to protest, but that will was gone. Unwanted as it was, Bendyke tried to help but got hurt in the process. Moreover, his condition was critical. Although there was no threat to his life, lecturing someone injured about etiquette felt absurd.

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