Love Knows No Sides

Chapter 37

I raced up the stairs and probably would have flown into his apartment if it hadn't been clogged with German soldiers who were looking at me in an unpleasant way. Nervously, I retreated downstairs and stayed there until the Germans left but by the time they did the sun had completely set. I headed back upstairs with Matthew. He knocked first but there was no answer.

"Well, he's probably asleep and can't hear the knocking."  Mateusz guessed and was ready to come back downstairs.

"Why don't you try again?" I insisted and he knocked again but still no answer. 

"Alex?" He opened the door slightly and peeked inside then making sure no one was there we both entered German's apartment. The apartment was dark so it was hard for us to move around. Fortunately, Mateusz knew where the switches were and turned on the light. He looked around the apartment and headed in the direction of Alex's bedroom. Of course, I wasn't going to stay in the staircase so I followed him, trying not to step on the creaky floorboards. The whole apartment looked deserted, yet the furniture remained in its usual places unmoved. Mateusz scratched his head in embarrassment and slowly turned the door handle that led to the bedroom. The door creaked slowly and something on the bed moved uneasily. The whole room was bathed in darkness, only a certain shape stood out on the bed. I flicked the light switch, and the entire bedroom was flooded with a rather dim light bulb.

Alex was laying in his bed and when he saw us he tried to cover himself with sheets.

"Hey, are you alright?" Mateusz asked approaching him slowly. I was still standing next to the door.

"Uhm, yes, yes. I'm... fine." Alex replied in a strange voice.

"Are you sure?" Mateusz inquired.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me, Matt. I'm good." Alex assured him but something about his behavior was odd to me. He didn't have to pull the duvet up to the tip of his nose because the light bulb wasn't that bright.

"Alex ..." I said finally. He looked in my direction with visible confusion in his eyes. While I was approaching his bed he seemed to hold his breath. When I was standing by him, he looked into my eyes, sighed and  gently removed the duvet from his face on which a grimace of pain was painted. There was one more bizarre thing about him. His hand was missing...