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Pierrot grimaced in displeasure as he sat on the ground. He carefully looked down, slightly lifting the edge of his trousers. As expected, a not-so-small wound on his shin. Unpleasant, but given his regeneration, the acrobat would be back on his feet pretty quickly. If needed, the Doctor would heal him, provided he was in a good mood.
The man was currently in one of the alleyways near the café where his beloved worked. He had managed to get free from the show early and immediately ran to her, hoping for a long-awaited meeting. The monster hoped he could watch her work, simultaneously keeping an eye on the café's customers, identifying dangerous ones, or, if he was lucky, tell her a myriad of stories about his adventures in the countries where the circus had stopped.
But fate was not kind to him. Pierrot had run into a gang of bandits. What they wanted from him, he never understood. Whether they were trying to rob him or were just more circus haters, it didn't matter. The main thing was that a fight broke out. Although it was hard to call it a fight. The monster just silently endured all the bandits' blows, after which they left satisfied, thinking they had "taught the criminal a lesson."
It was nothing. He had memorized them all and would definitely inform the Jester about this situation.
Most of the wounds he received were small and would be gone by morning, but the one on his leg… And here the man faced a dilemma. What should he do in this situation? On one hand, the Jester had ordered him to return to the circus immediately upon receiving any injuries, for safety's sake. On the other hand… He was so close to his beloved. Just a few steps, and the monster would see her.
Although, no, no, no. This was definitely a bad idea. What if he stained the café floor with blood, forcing her to clean it up? She would be tired and sluggish all day. Or would the girl simply be frightened by such a wound? It looked worse than Pierrot's previous injuries, and as he remembered, people were afraid of seeing the inside of bodies, even if it was just tissue and muscle. What if she found out that he had somehow harmed the attackers and refused to talk to the acrobat? What if…
Hundreds of thoughts spun in his head, causing the poor man to hug his knees tighter and tighter, until suddenly the door to his beloved's café opened. She quickly came out, holding a bag of rubbish. She had only managed to take one step when she finally noticed Pierrot.
"Oh, Pierrot, I didn't expect you to…"
Milana started to say when her eyes suddenly widened as she noticed the terrible wound on the acrobat's leg.
"Pierrot, you're hurt!"
She exclaimed. The man smiled awkwardly and tried to stand up to greet his beloved properly.
"My lady. I am so glad to see you…"
He began quietly, but his face quickly contorted, and he fell back to the ground, realizing he couldn't put any weight on his injured leg at all. The girl quickly walked over to the rubbish bins and threw the bag in.
"What happened to you? Who attacked you?"
"Nothing serious. Just the usual circus haters. I was unlucky to run into them today."
He replied, still smiling and watching Milana's movements. She clicked her tongue in displeasure and walked up to him, putting her hands on her hips.
"This is absolutely unacceptable! You need to go to the police. No matter what false rumours are spread, it doesn't give anyone the right to act like that."
"Oh, no, no, no, my dear, it's all right! It's not that bad. Besides, I fought them off, so I think we're even."
Pierrot quickly muttered, waving his hands. The girl looked thoughtfully at the wound.
"It's quite serious…"
She said quietly, then looked at the busy street.
"And you're far from the circus."
"Don't worry, my lady. I can make it to the circus."
He answered immediately, but his beloved seemed not to be listening, as a second later her face lit up. She snapped her fingers contentedly.
"I have an idea. Please tell me if it hurts, and I'll stop right away."
The girl said, smiling. The man blinked in confusion, tilting his head to the side. He watched without looking away as she approached him. Milana then crouched down, placing her hands under Pierrot's knees and back, causing him to become very embarrassed.
"Darling, what are you…"
He tried to ask, when he suddenly squeaked softly, his eyes widening in surprise. The girl had lifted him! She grunted a little and tossed the acrobat up once, not very high, to get a more comfortable hold on him. He didn't make a sound at this, only hugging her neck and continuing to stare in shock.
"Are you comfortable?"
She asked, and the monster silently nodded vigorously, pressing himself closer to his beloved. She turned and walked towards the café door. Reaching it, Milana hesitated awkwardly.
"Pierrot, could you help me?"
The girl asked awkwardly, and Pierrot, quickly understanding what was needed, stretched a little and opened the door to the building, then immediately pressed himself back against the employee. The girl nodded to him in thanks and went inside.
As it turned out, this was the staff room. Due to the café's small size, both the kitchen and the changing room were here. There was a small table, a couple of chairs, and six lockers for clothes. Milana carefully sat the acrobat down on one of the chairs. She breathed a sigh of relief, straightening up.
"You sit here for now. Unfortunately, our first aid kit is in the hall because of a couple of unpleasant incidents. I'll bring it now and try to help you at least a little."
The girl said to the still-silent man. Without waiting for an answer, the employee quickly left the room, leaving Pierrot alone. He continued to be silent for a while, until suddenly he blushed like a match, grabbing his chest with his hands. Apparently, it had finally dawned on him what had just happened.
His beloved had just held him in her arms like the most fragile creature on the planet! She had brought him into the staff room, where she definitely rested, where she definitely changed, and where her locker definitely was! It didn't matter how such a fragile-looking lady had so much strength; the main thing was that she had done it, and unfortunately, due to the shock, the monster hadn't been able to fully enjoy those minutes.
He quickly shifted his gaze to the lockers, looking for the right one. Quickly spotting his beloved's name on one of them, the man had already risen from his chair to get a closer look when footsteps were heard at the wrong time. Pierrot immediately returned to his seat, putting on the most pained expression in the world. A minute later, Milana entered the room.
"We're in luck! The boss just restocked it recently, so new medicine will be used for you."
She said, shaking the first aid kit weakly in her hands. The man nodded and, blushing slightly, smiled at the girl with a silly grin.
"My lady, you are incredible!"
He said, clapping his hands and starting to rock slowly. The employee tilted her head in confusion.
"Hmm, I don't think helping an injured person is anything unusual. Anyone in my place would have done the same."
"No, no, my lady, I mean…"
Pierrot breathed quickly, blushing deeper and clutching his costume in his hands.
"You are just… you are so strong, I… My dear, you are simply a miracle!"
"Oh, that…"
Milana became embarrassed, crouching down in front of her interlocutor and opening the first aid kit.
"Well, it's just that when I worked at the post office, I sometimes had to move a lot of heavy packages. And I sometimes had to deliver them too. So I might have gotten a bit of a workout back then."
She replied, taking out a bottle of antiseptic.
"This might hurt a little now…"
After this, the girl stared at the wound on his leg.
"Or maybe more than a little. Anyway, if it gets too painful, tell me, and I'll stop disinfecting."
"As you say, my lady."
Pierrot said, resting his head on his hands and his elbows on his legs, looking at the employee with adoration. She nodded and carefully began applying the antiseptic to the wound, periodically removing excess blood with cotton wool. When the excess blood was cleaned and the antiseptic stopped fizzing, Milana began carefully bandaging the victim's leg. It didn't take too long, even despite the size of the wound, so after a few minutes, the girl smiled contentedly and stood up.
"Well, we're done with the main wound; let's do something about the rest."
She said, taking out more cotton wool and moistening it with the liquid. The acrobat, who had been silently watching the process the whole time, nodded, still smiling foolishly.
"Okay, dear."
He replied, tilting his head slightly. The employee calmly treated the other cuts on her client's body, mentally thanking him for being so tall. If it weren't for that, she would have had to bend over too often, and her back certainly wouldn't have thanked her for it. Periodically, Milana would stick her plasters on the larger scratches, so that by the end of the procedure, Pierrot looked quite… cute.
"Done! I tried to do everything in my power."
The girl said, closing the first aid kit. The acrobat chuckled softly, looking at his hands, which his beloved had touched.
"Thank you, my lady, for your help."
"Pierrot, maybe you should still go to the hospital?"
The employee asked worriedly, shifting her gaze to her interlocutor.
"Your wounds looked, to put it mildly, bad, and who knows, you might have wounds hidden inside you?"
"Don't worry about that, dear."
Pierrot shook his head, placing his hand on his chest.
"We have a Doctor at the circus, and he heals magnificently. By the next performance, I'll be standing firmly on my feet."
Here he awkwardly looked away and cleared his throat.
"If, of course, he isn't too busy with his experiments."
The man muttered more quietly. After all, sometimes his friend was too obsessed with his research, causing him to not notice anything around him, even if it concerned his work.
Milana thoughtfully scratched the back of her head. Although the circus where her interlocutor worked did indeed have a doctor, the girl… didn't really trust him. Honestly, she thought it was more of an image than that he actually was one. Although maybe they did have a doctor, but he didn't appear in public? Then she could probably let her friend go and…
"Milana, come here, please!"
The boss's voice sounded, causing the employee to jump involuntarily.
"Oh, right! I completely forgot!"
She babbled, then looked at Pierrot, putting the first aid kit on the table.
"In that case, go straight to your doctor. If you want, you can wait until the end of my shift, and I'll carry you there, but I don't think that's the best idea. The sooner you get help, the better."
Milana said and, after receiving a slow nod from her interlocutor, quickly ran out of the room back into the hall. The man watched her go sadly, then, sighing, stood up from the chair. He really, really wanted to stay and watch his beloved work, but unfortunately, he couldn't.
He truly needed to return to the circus, if only to prepare for the next performance. The girl's shift would only end in a few hours, and Pierrot would most likely be searched for, which would create many problems for him and his dear. And one shouldn't forget about the circus haters. What if they saw his beloved helping him, putting her in danger!? So it wasn't worth taking the risk.
Carefully standing up from the chair, the man involuntarily shifted his gaze to the girl's locker. Quickly looking towards the exit to the hall, the monster moved to the object of his interest in one leap. Unfortunately, it had a lock, so he couldn't just open it, and breaking it was too risky. His beloved might notice, put two and two together with Pierrot's visit, and…
The acrobat quickly drove away the dark thoughts, pressing himself against the small gap in the locker, trying to at least get a look at the items inside. He examined everything for a few minutes, frowning slightly. Surprisingly, the locker was too empty. Perhaps the girl had only recently started working at this place and hadn't had time to settle in yet.
The man narrowed his eyes when he saw something glittering in the corner of the locker. He noticed a small bottle at the very bottom with some kind of label. The monster pressed himself even harder against the door, trying to read the label. Aminocaproic acid. Apparently, it was something medical, as the shape of the bottle was similar to those the Doctor had.
Pierrot stepped back worriedly. Was his beloved sick with something? Was it something serious? Judging by the look of it, she used it often. Why wasn't such a bottle in her home? Had he examined her home poorly and missed something like that? And how serious was it? What if she was dying, and the acrobat didn't even know it!
The man, without thinking and ignoring the aching pain in his leg, quickly turned around and walked towards the back entrance. He immediately went out, closing the door behind him, and then ran towards the circus.
He needed to urgently find out from the Doctor what it could be and how he could help his beloved from this unknown but certainly terrible ailment.