15
Chris brings more drugs. He wonders if they make him forget things as well. It's so strange, he hasn't thought about it before because up until now, he wasn't sure he even wanted to remember how much he wanted to forget.

16
When he wakes up in the afternoon, he hopes they have lowered the dosage permanently.

Viggo brings more blue eyes and the fulfillment of the promise from yesterday, that they'll start the exercises today. He brings some sort of a blue cushion with him.

"Have they told you exactly what your situation is now?"

They might have. Orlando doesn't know.

Viggo nods. "I thought so. You went through surgery and it was successful, but there's still some swelling around the spine, pressuring the vertebrae. You're here because we want to help bring the swelling down with some exercise and when it does, we'll also probably have to work a little on remembering how to walk. Sounds scary, doesn't it?"

Viggo waits for him to respond. Orlando does so by nodding.

"Yeah, I understand exactly what you mean. I won't promise you anything, Orlando. We'll do it together, step-by-step, but I can tell you that the most important thing is how dedicated to the process you are. So, how badly do you want to walk again?

Oh, God. He closes his eyes and tries to recall motion.

17
Viggo brings him a few cartoon strips. "I thought you needed it."

Orlando thinks he's right. He hasn't laughed in quite a while. The cartoons are of Dilbert and Calvin and Hobbes. They've been printed off the Internet. He reads one, smirking at the punch lines, while Viggo moves about in the room, getting some more of his stuff out, aligning them with the blue cushion in a closet. Definitely a score on caretaker bloke's part.

"Seen any family or friends since you've been here?"

"Barely," Orlando replies.

Viggo doesn't seem pleased. "Bit of a stifling crowd around here, wouldn't you say?"

"Somewhat," Orlando agrees in a serious tone, but his lips are curving up and he feels something of the bond between criminal accomplices start to form. He may be wrong, but he thinks he might like this guy.

18
"Not the blue cushion again today, then?" Orlando's amused voice at the sight of a check board wins him a mock warning look from Viggo.

"No, we don't want to do too much at the beginning."

"So we'll build up my mind instead?"

"Someone has to."

19
The night is full of surprises when Orlando listens to it. Andrew's nocturnal round of medications is running late and Viggo's got him open to the world again. He doesn't see the street, but he connects the dots of whoever's producing the sounds of night into a water-breathing dragon, whose kiss might mean eternal life.

20
Viggo brings books.

Orlando can see right through his caretaker's plan and he welcomes it. For tomorrow, he orders a movie. Something fun, he says. When Viggo smiles at his request, he feels like he's achieved a small victory.

21
"Is it true that you're only exercising and getting treatment half the time?" Andrew is curious and the pills are held in his curled right hand, water glass in the left one.

Orlando won't tell him a word about Viggo. Instead, he asks about different patients in this ward to keep a dreamless sleep a little further away.

To be continued...