Armando Lazzari - Lilith

"Ah!" Blown away. I try to baste something else.

"You'll see... but yes, you'll see that before long the doctors will figure out what's wrong with her and everything will seem simple. Don't make things more complicated than they are, after all, neither you nor I have a medical degree. Let those who are more competent than us draw the right conclusions."

"I'm trying, Davide, I'm really trying, but right now it's not easy to be optimistic. But you really have no idea what he might have been doing these days, or what company he was keeping? Maybe if we go back a few days before it happened, we could figure it out more."

"I know something about a girl he was seeing..."

Best to avoid specifics.

"...but I haven't had a chance to go into it properly, I don't even know her name, or where she lives."

"I understand... but if anything comes to mind, please tell me right away!"

"Count on it, don't worry."

Could I tell her that the girl is probably a nymphomaniac maniac picked up in the bathroom of a pub frequented mostly by exalted lunatics?

Come to think of it, though, Sara might not have it completely wrong. What if you investigated this phantom lady x a little more? With any luck it might be relatable to the woman on the bike.

It would take some sort of starting point that would reconnect the facts...um...maybe friends on the net. Yeah, if I could track them down, they could point me to the club he was at that night and maybe with a little luck I could meet her. From what I understand, the chick is guaranteed not to go unnoticed anyway.

What was the name of the site where she was chatting? Damn my memory!

I have to remember...

I have to remember...

Hospital

"Hi Sara. Do you think they'll let me in to visit today?"

She looks at me as if trying to get rid of a thought that had kidnapped her and taken her elsewhere. Probably, if I hadn't spoken to her, she wouldn't have noticed me. I get up from the bench and, occupying her entire field of vision, I help her to compose my figure. It works.

"Oh, David! Excuse me, have you been here long?"

"No, just now..." About three quarters of an hour.

"Roberto? How is he today?" I investigate, but his face doesn't hint at anything good.

"He's recovering, except for the amnesia." She is incredulous.

"Amnesia?"

Holy shit, is this getting worse instead of better?

"Yes, the doctors say it's due to severe psychological trauma and that it's probably temporary. Davide, it honestly doesn't sound like amnesia to me. When I tried to talk to him he would stare at me with his eyes wide open as if he didn't understand." This might be within the range of normal.

"Sorry, but at this point I'd like to check it out for myself. I don't know what my chances are of being recognized, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to try anyway."

"That's fine, but let's try not to tire him out too much."

I walk through the door of the room and contemplate in amazement the figure of the man who was once a great friend of mine. I struggle to frame him. Above the bed, with his back against the pillows, his gaze is immersed in the emptiness of the beige wall. His hair is completely white. Deep wrinkles run down the sides of his mouth and forehead. My God, he must have lost twenty pounds. A grimace of pain appears on his sister's face, I ignore it and gently make my way to the bedside.

"Hi Roberto, how are you, do you recognize me? I'm Davide."

I slowly enunciate the words.

I manage to shake him out of his state. He turns his head, looks at me for a second and then, as if to say and who cares, goes back to silently staring at the wall that is probably more interesting than my words. I throw a half smile at Sara trying to reassure her. I have to find something that really gets her attention, even if it means destroying the damn wall with a spade!

"You need to hurry up and get yourself together, otherwise the gorgeous girl you met will pick someone else to have fun with. What did you say her name was? Giulia?"

It would be a miracle if I got her name right immediately. In fact, she doesn't respond. I turn the wheel and try again.

"... no, no. Now I seem to remember: Francesca?"

The most common female names throughout the peninsula. Nothing, this doesn't work either. It is useless to continue on this path. I try to touch his arm to shake him, but with a cold look he makes me understand that it is not even the case to touch it. I am more than a little embarrassed. I don't know what to do and I understand his sister's state of anxiety. Heck, now I'm seriously worried too.

" Sniff! Sniff !" What is she doing, sniffing me?

My God, this has reached the end of the line.

"You! You've met her!"

Okay, I managed to get him talking, or rambling....

"Met who? Maybe, Roberto, you're referring to that girl you were telling me about?"

"You've been with her! You, you touched her, you touched her, you touched her..." He continues obsessively, in a frenzy. What is he saying? I have to calm him down.

"No, trust me, I swear...I've never seen her."

Oh my God! He's shaking. Sara looks at me hallucinating. If she keeps this up, ten to one she'll burst into tears....

"Enough David...now leave the room..., please!" That's it, exactly: a flood of tears.

My heart clenches at that plea.

"Yes, of course. I'll be right out."

I get out of bed and look resignedly at my friend.

"Get well soon..."

A barely whispered phrase, who knows if he heard me.

With my hand I make a sign to Sara.

"I'll wait for you outside, I need to talk to you." Nodding, she gently strokes her brother to calm him down.

Minutes pass and I try to reorganize my few confused ideas.

Sara walks out of the room and wipes her eyes, now contoured by a black halo of loose makeup. I get up and walk towards her. She looks soothed again.

"I'm sorry if I was a little abrupt earlier, it's just..."

"Don't worry, it's okay."

In her shoes, I might have even been less diplomatic.

"I wanted to ask you something." I take time to phrase the request in a way that doesn't give her false hope.

"Here, I was wondering if you could give me the keys to his apartment...you know, I have some ideas to try to figure out what happened." I nip her question in the bud.

"It's nothing concrete, I'd just like to take a look on her computer, maybe I'll find something interesting."

Her facial muscles relax. I convince her.

"Yes, that's fine. But please, whatever you find out, you'll have to let me know right away." Depends.

"Of course, of course!" Categorical as a maybe.

Six more floors to walk: freaking elevator!

I pick up the set of keys Sara gave me. I weigh it: it's going to be a pound! With all these key chains attached, it looks more like a defensive weapon.

Sixth attempt: I finally guessed the right key. I open the door and enter. Pitch darkness.

I turn on the light and...god what a mess! The last time I went in, I hadn't noticed that Roberto was so messy. Wait a minute, the laundry is fine, but the shards on the floor of the lamp really seem excessive. After all, the way he looked, he may have been so sick he couldn't make it to clean up. I can smell a nauseating odour, maybe it would be better to open the windows and let it air out.

I have to remember to tell Sara to come and clean up: this house is really pitiful!

Here's the computer, I turn it on. Luckily no password, blessed ingenuity.

Let's see if there's something interesting in the documents folder.

Nothing. Okay, go with Internet Explorer, I doubt he has Firefox or Chrome installed or familiar with it anyway.

Let's check the history: anthology of witchcraft, necromancy, demonology... but what the heck kind of sites does he visit? He's completely nuts. I wonder if I can find anything useful.