Nacre's Promise

Chapter XXXXII : My angel

Matadepera, 1915.

Once the news had spread to the monastery, all the monks came to visit the miraculous. He couldn't stand up yet and was just starting to use his vocal cords normally again. He still managed to say that his name was Diego and that he had family to contact in Barcelona. Everyone wondered about him, but for him it was even worse. He didn't remember anything that had happened, or how he had landed at the foot of the monastery.

— Señor, we have contacted your family, Constantine told him. They will be coming very soon. I have no more information except that they have looked for you, everywhere and relentlessly, since your accident.

— Thank you very much, I am happy too. I hope this reunion will allow me to piece together the piece of my life that still eludes me.

The voice was still very hoarse, the words hardly came. Constantine saw that he still had difficulty carrying on a conversation. He continued nonetheless, taking time to form the words.

— Believe that I am grateful to you and also sorry for all the concern that I am causing you. Brother Armando and you saved my life where others would have left an unconscious person for so long.

— You are our miracle, God is witness to it, smiles Constantine.

— Please excuse me for my difficulty in expressing myself. I am still very tired and today my head hurts a lot.

Brother Armando had just arrived in the room and he answered Diego's remark.

— Seems pretty normal to me despite the weather due to the deep cut you had. Everything will be better when you get home. You had very serious injuries when we found you, almost unconscious, trapped in the bushes below the wall of the church. It was Brother Leonardo who heard your moans and looked for where this noise could come from. At the time he thought it was the wind or maybe an animal, a wounded boar. Luckily, he got into the undergrowth to check!

— I would be eternally grateful to him! It's amazing because the name doesn't ring a bell, I don't even know where this monastery is.

Armando nodded in agreement.

— I remember my name but that's absolutely it. No matter how much I search, I have no memory of who I am or what I was doing. How did I get here and especially where could I come from? And my clothes, how were they? And was I carrying something?

— Work clothes, gray-blue I think, because the material was not of the best quality. They were so damaged, smelly and bloody, that we had to burn them. In addition, you had nothing in your pockets and no bag or luggage, neither on you nor nearby. We combed the entire area below the monastery.

— And the injuries, asked Diego, how were my injuries? Did you think I was molested, or were they just the result of a fall?

— There were so many that I can hardly remember! According to Brother Armando, your injuries probably indicate that you fought, certainly in defense, because I don't see you as the attacker. It is also likely that you were in chains, and for quite a long time, because you had infected wounds, appearing to be from chains, to the wrists and ankles.

— It doesn't remind me of anything at all, Diego breathed in a sort of restrained sob.

The moral suffering after forgetting a part of his life was so strong that Armando thought the interview was over.

— Do you have any idea where I may have been detained? asked Diego, recovering after this moment of distress.

— No Alas. But you were definitely in a dark place because your eyes seemed unable to see at first. You might even have been tortured. You were then abandoned, in agony, in a place difficult to access, so that no one would find you. I think your attackers believed you were dead and that you regained consciousness with the pain of the fall. It was thanks to your moans that we were able to locate you.