Street Beggars - Water
“Lena!”
Leo rushed to her side and rolled her over. His little sister moaned softly and opened her eyes to slits.
“Lena! Are you alright?”
“Brother… I feel dizzy…”
He quickly placed his hand on her forehead; it felt as if he had shoved it into a furnace. He hadn't noticed before, beneath all the dirt, but from her neck to her chest, her skin was flushed crimson, covered in bumps.
“Hold on, just wait. I'll heal you. Don't worry.”
He hurriedly helped her up and leaned her against the wall.
His mind was racing.
‘Hospital! Hospital! No, there are no hospitals here. Pharmacy? Clinic?’
Leo dashed out of the alleyway and grabbed the first passerby he could find.
“Excuse me! I'm so sorry! Do, do you happen to know where the hospital is? No, not the hospital, the pharmacy... No, actually... Ah! Do you know where I can find a doctor?”
The man, startled by the sudden grip of a street beggar, stammered, “I'm new here, I don't really know.”
Without another word, Leo ran around, grabbing anyone he could and asking the same question. Finally, an elegantly dressed elderly woman pointed him towards an apothecary.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
He rushed back to the alley, scooped up his unconscious sister, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
He hadn’t even run that far before he tasted blood in his mouth, his arms burning with fatigue. Lena was light as a feather, but Leo wasn’t exactly muscular either.
He shifted Lena in his arms, supporting her weight with his thighs as he continued his desperate trek, but his arms continued to sag. Her limp legs, thin as twigs, slipped down his thighs.
“Excu… Huff… Excuse me. Someone… Please help…”
Gasping for breath, he looked around, but the pedestrians all steered clear of the two beggars.
Just then, Lena, drenched in sweat and grime, weakly opened her eyes.
Her brother was carrying her.
His face swam into view as the world spun around her.
“Brother… I had a dream…”
Lena’s dry lips moved, but her words didn’t reach Leo. He continued his struggle, dragging and carrying his sister in turns.
How long had it been? After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived at the apothecary.
Sweat poured off Leo like rain, his limbs trembling uncontrollably. But the young man guarding the entrance blocked his way with an indifferent look.
“Huff… Excuse me, sir. Please, it’s Lena…”
Lena’s head lolled back, her limp body dangling in his arms.
The young man shoved Leo back coldly.
“Get out of here. Not unless you’re paying.”
“I don’t have any money, but I’ll do anything…”
“No money, no entry. Get lost.”
He shoved Leo again, this time with more force. Caught off guard, Leo tumbled backward, Lena still in his arms.
Laying his sister down, he pleaded desperately.
“It’s not like that, it’s just that Lena’s… I’ll, I’ll… This is the… How many times have I come here… Look… I, I’ll do anything…”
“What are you babbling about? Get out of here!”
Leo scrambled to his knees and clung to the man’s legs.
“Please, just… Just a moment! Lena’s… She… Earlier, she ate something from the trash… Please, I’m fine, but Lena… You don’t have to treat me, just… Just Lena…”
Suddenly, Leo saw stars. The guard had struck him across the face.
“Didn’t I tell you? No money, no entry.”
“Look, just! Ah! Please, wait! I got this recently… Please, just a moment.”
He fumbled with the necklace around his neck and offered it to the guard. The guard took it, looked it over, then tossed it back at the half-collapsed Leo.
“Don’t play games with me. Are you going to leave or not?”
Helpless, Leo looked around. The crowd that had gathered only stared at the fallen siblings. Whispers of “disgusting” and “pitiful” reached his ears.
The guard cracked his knuckles menacingly.
“I’ll count to three, then I’m throwing you out. One.”
Leo was too exhausted to even speak.
He just stared at the guard’s hand, his mouth agape.
“Two.”
“Excuse me.”
A woman in a vibrant purple dress pushed her way through the crowd. Gesturing towards the street urchins, she declared, “I’ll pay for them. Let them both in.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
The guard gave the woman a once-over, then scooped up Lena and disappeared inside. The woman approached Leo.
“Are you alright?”
“Th… Thank you. Gaah…”
He had forgotten to breathe.
His constricted airway finally opened, and he sucked in a huge breath. The guard reappeared, this time to haul Leo up and drag him inside.
As the tension drained away, Leo lost consciousness.
* * *
Leo woke up in a shoe shop.
He sat up in a daze and looked around.
It was a cramped space. He was lying on a small cot.
Shoes were piled high on the floor, and the walls were adorned with leather hides and tools of varying sizes. Everything but the cot was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Confused, he sat there for a moment, trying to make sense of the situation. Then the thought of Lena hit him, and he shot to his feet, yelling, “Lena! Lena!”
“…You’re awake? Come here.”
A low voice called from behind a door at the back of the shop.
“Lena!”
He threw open the door and rushed through, finding himself in a small, low-ceilinged room.
A narrow bed took up half the space. Lena was lying on it, washed clean and still as a statue.
A woman sat beside the bed.
Leo ran to Lena’s side and grabbed her hand. He touched her forehead… Still burning up.
“The doctor’s seen to her.”
Her voice was flat, devoid of emotion. She sat with her legs crossed, wearing the same purple dress.
He remembered seeing that dress in front of the apothecary. She was the one who had saved them. But his gratitude was overshadowed by the concern for his sister.
“What happened? Is Lena going to be alright?”
“What do those quack doctors know? Their healing magic can't hold a candle to a priest's… Honestly.”
“What do you mean?”
“I got the medicine, and I already gave it to her. The doctor said she probably ate something bad because she’s weak from hunger.”
The woman chuckled.
“Even I could have figured that out.”
For some reason, her words felt off, as if she were avoiding the point. Her tone was laced with a decadent weariness, as if everything bored her.
“So what should we do now?”
“Wait, of course. What else is there to do?”
“What if we found a priest…”
“If it was just a flesh wound, maybe, but healing magic for an illness like this costs a fortune. Sorry, but that's way out of my league. Even if I sold this entire shop, it wouldn't be enough. And I wouldn’t want to do that. This place is rather dear to me.”
“No, no, it’s alright. Thank you so much for your help.”
There was something strange about this woman, despite her youthful and attractive appearance.
Even as they spoke, her eyes never met his, nor did they land on Lena lying on the bed.
Still, she was the only one who had stepped forward to help them, the only one who hadn’t turned away from the sight of two dirty urchins.
“Don’t mention it. I did it because I wanted to. Anyway, you two stay here until she gets better. It’s not like I have any customers.”
She said it casually, as if it were nothing at all, then turned to leave.