Chapter 2: Banana to the liver - no one lasts forever

I felt damp all over my body as the water continued to drip relentlessly down my face. With each passing second, the tingling in my left side, around which I felt warm, became more and more brisk. As soon as I opened my eyes, the water dripping from the roof of the tall house immediately hit them.

- K-how am I...still alive-f.

Trying to wipe my eyes led me to a shocking discovery. Instead of my pumped up arm, it was a small, childish hand, but I still wiped them and tried to stand up, which I did with difficulty. I was faced with a full body with a knife stuck in my left side, blood slowly dripping from it. The mere sight of it made me short of breath.

- Y-yes, why...

Such injustice to me did not please me. First the maniacs and the loss of a limb, and now I was in another body with a knife in my side.

I slowly started to get up, leaning on the wall, which was difficult. Trying to find help around me was not successful. I was now in a dead-end, dark alleyway between two buildings, with part of the roof of one of them shielding me from the pouring rain. I walked carefully and slowly toward the exit as the blood continued to ooze from my wound, leaving a trail behind me.

- What a bastard. He could have sprayed...

I finally left this gloomy place and found myself in a city alley where the locals were passing by.

- H-help me.

A woman just walked past me, ignoring me as if I didn't exist to her.

- Please.

I leaned my back against the wall, sliding down it to the sidewalk because of the increasingly distinct pain. The grimace of pain on my face and the knife scared away passing people to the point where they avoided me on the road instead of the sidewalk.

- Help me. P-please.

A tall and rather stout man walked by on the other side and stared at me sharply. From this distance, I could see the glinting round glasses on his face. After a couple of seconds, he quickly ran up to me and began to examine me.

Up close, I was able to get a close look at him. Wide nose, gray eyes, long smooth dark hair combed in a parting on both sides and a small mustache and beard. He was wearing a brown suit with a white shirt. The sight of him made me think of typical gentlemen from old movies.

- How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?

His tone was very calm and collected, which gave me hope for help.

- In my side.

He stared at the knife again, then gently lifted me into his arms, walking quickly through the streets of the gloomy city, reassuring me as he went.

- Don't worry, I'll take you to the hospital and remove the knife.

- S-thank you.

For a couple of minutes we went back and forth in a straight line, but finally we reached the building, where the man took me and laid me on an iron table covered with a dark cloth.

Fuck, I was just now realizing that I was going to be in a lot of fucking pain. Judging by the clothes of the people, the buildings, the lack of electricity poles and cars, this is about the 17th century, or maybe the 16th, so there's probably no anesthesia here....

A couple minutes later, the man returned in a white coat and medical devices: scalpels, tweezers, clamps. Their brilliant sharpness made me dizzy, and my anxiety began to rise.

Oh, fuck. Bitch, I don't want to.

- I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to tie your arms and legs to prevent any sudden movements.

I barely nodded, and then he tied my limbs together and held the stick to my mouth.

- Clamp it in your teeth and don't let go. Ready?

No, not at all, but I don't want to die, either.

I nodded, clutching the damn wood as hard as I could, bracing myself for the pain to come as the man wiped the instruments with a damp cloth that smelled of alcohol.

______

I lay on the table with my face completely pained while my mind was in prostration, trying to blot out the suffering I had experienced. When the doctor finished wiping at the site of the already stitched wound, he turned to me.

- Well done, you did it.

The words aimed to cheer me up and lift my spirits did not achieve their purpose, as I was still recovering from the surgery.

As he began to untie the ropes, I looked at the wound, which would now be scarred forever, though the cause of the injury would remain a mystery. The doctor tried to pull the wood out, but my jaw was still tense. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed my whole body and the wood fell out of my mouth.

- That's it, now all you need is rest and a bandage change if the wound starts bleeding. What's your name?

I don't even know whose body this is... Could it be that the soul that inhabited this body died and I took its place, or "evicted" it?

- Andrei.

The surgeon raised his eyebrows in surprise as he unfolded and cleaned the instruments from the blood.

- An unusual name, but it's nice to meet you anyway, Andrei. I'm Grisha Yeager. Sorry for the impudence, but do you have a last name?

Maybe I should give my last name too, or forget it, because his reaction to the name is alarming.

- ... I don't remember.

He narrowed his eyes and lifted my head, then checked it for injuries.

- And your parents, do you know where they are? Where your house is?

- I don't remember.

- Strange, there's no damage to the skull, but there's memory loss....

He continued to watch me silently, stroking my chin as I stared at the ceiling with the tormenting, multiple thoughts that continued to fill my tired brain.

I'm in a child's body, possibly transported to the past, or to another world. I don't know anything about where I am at all, where I should go now. I don't know how to live my life right now. I hope that there are orphanages here, otherwise I will have to wander the streets like a homeless person. Just kindness and positivity.

- Well, if you have nowhere else to go, you can stay at my place, maybe we can find your parents.

This Grisha is very kind, even too much, which is suspicious, but to refuse such an offer is also impossible, because to stay in an unknown place is a terrible decision. We can only hope that he is not some maniac, as those in the previous life.

- If it's not too much trouble...

- All right, you lie down for now, I'll go and see the other patient.

He went into the corridor and put down his instruments, then left the building wearing the same clothes he'd found me in. I took a deep, slow breath and tried to lie on my side, but the pain in it prevented me from doing so, so I had to keep staring at the ceiling.

Haaaa, what madness I had experienced in just a few hours. First I got caught up with maniacs, died by a derelict, and now I found myself here. Of course, I've heard about all sorts of isekai, but I didn't expect that this could happen in real life, and they were kind, with all sorts of superpowers, harem of girls.... And this is fucked up, this is fucked up.

Who'd have thought it, but on the table where I'd recently had surgery, I wanted to sleep. I had no strength to resist this desire, so I fell into the familiar emptiness.

______

- I apologize for the sudden awakening, but we have to go, Andrei. But before I do, I'll change the bandage, it's already soaked with blood.

I woke up on the same table, trying to regain consciousness. When I finally woke up, Grisha had already picked me up and wrapped me in a sheet.

- Unfortunately, there are no clothes here, so I'll have to stay like this for now.

When I first found myself in this place, I was wearing brown shorts, which are still on me, and a yellow T-shirt, which the doctor threw out, because it was soaked with blood.

Grisha took an umbrella and left the hospital, carrying me through the streets of the city for the second time. Most of the passersby didn't pay attention to us, but there were some who stared unashamedly.

- You're-- Very kind.

The man smiled, but didn't say anything, staring ahead with a pensive face.

All the buildings in this place are very similar: two floors, similar construction, and the same appearance as the Khrushchevs. It's as if it was all built in a hurry to accommodate people. Sometimes carts with a horse-drawn carriage and not a single car passed by, which confirmed the idea of an approximate age.

I never realized if this was a different world or the past of the native one.

Soon we came to the same two-story house, where soft light from a lamp burned in the window, creating a cozy atmosphere. Grisha took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, getting rid of the unknown anxiety, and then entered the house with a confident step. On the second floor, to which a wooden staircase led, quick children's footsteps were heard.

- Daddy?

The child pronounced the last syllable questioningly and quietly, staring at me.

At the top of the stairs stood a boy with dark brown hair and gray eyes wearing dark gray pajamas. He looked to be about three years old. At the same moment, a woman with dark hair came out of the doorway on the right, staring at us with surprised light-colored eyes.

- Grisha, this is.... Who?

- Let me put him to bed first, and then we'll talk about everything?

- Okay.

She answered with a somewhat uncertain tone, calling the boy, who briskly descended the stairs and ran after the woman into the other room. Grisha carried me upstairs, where he opened the ajar door and put me on a small bed.

- You can rest, now I will bring water, but try to drink a little bit at a time.

- Okay.

The man left the room, leaving the door open, so that some of the light came in and I could see her better.

There were a couple of toys scattered on the floor, a table and chair with a couple sheets of paper and pencils, and a stack of drawings in the corner. I couldn't see all of them, because the extra movements caused discomfort, so I had to look only at the top drawing. It showed a giant man with a strange and disproportionate body: an oval head with a crooked mouth, a thin torso, and crooked, short arms and legs.

What kind of monster is this? Apparently, this was that child's room; did he have such a wild imagination?

I heard light footsteps outside the room and stopped at the door. The child looked up at me from the doorway, a glass in his hands, which he placed on the table, still staring at me.

- ... Uh, what's your name?

It's easier to make friends as a child than as an adult, because kids are more open, but the boy was still hesitant.

- Eren. I'm going to go, I was told to go to bed and not to disturb you.

- Oh well, have a good night's sleep.

- Uh-huh.

He left the room and went somewhere to the side, where I heard the creak of the door and the rustle of fabric. Downstairs there was a barely audible conversation between Grisha and, apparently, his wife, which I couldn't make out, but it was probably about me. I reached for a glass, sipped some water and lay down again.

Yeah, lying on my back all the time was so uncomfortable and unaccustomed, especially when you slept on your side. But I'd have to lie like this, and I hoped I wouldn't get sleep paralysis, because life had taken its toll on me.

I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, but it was hard to get my head out of my head, so I stayed awake for about an hour, thinking about my life before I got here.

Sunlight started to break through my closed eyelids, which it eventually succeeded in doing, so I woke up and was about to stretch when I remembered all the events. There was no blood on the bandage, which of course pleased me. I sat up carefully on the edge of the bed and sipped my water, staring out the window at the people of the town.

- So you're awake now, good. Let's check your wound. Good, it's healing nicely, but you should leave the bandage off for now. Here you go.

Grisha removed the sheet, which was still with me, and then took the drawing with the monster on the table and began to look at it.

As everything heals, you should definitely take up sports.

- Andrei, do you remember anything about this city?

- Uh, no.

I have no idea.

- Okay. Well, let's go downstairs, but try not to make any sudden movements, even though the knife didn't damage any important organs, you don't want to stretch the suture.

- I-I got it.

His words scared me a lot, before yesterday's event I had never had surgery before, so it was all new to me.

The man supported me from the back, and as I walked up the stairs, he supported me from the front.

That's a lot of care, it's embarrassing.

In the end, I washed up and changed clothes, and then I was in the kitchen, where the table was already set, with my wife and child sitting at it, staring at me.

I think it would be better to appear as a modest and shy child, such a thing usually always evokes pity.

Grisha sat down next to his wife, while the only free seat was left with a small kid who was looking at my left side. Since there was nothing to do, I sat down while the man adjusted his glasses.

- I think everyone should meet each other. As you remember, I'm Grisha Yeager, this is my wife, Carla Yeager, and our son, Eren Yeager. This boy's name is Andrei, and unfortunately he has lost his memory and has been stabbed.

The mother of the family looked at me with sadness and pity, Eren was still looking at my left side, while Grisha continued his speech.

- So, can we keep him with us? Carl? Eren?

In that moment, I realized that I needed to take action. Back in my past life, when I wanted to get something but my mom wouldn't buy it, I learned how to make a super-pity face that no grown woman could resist (P.A. I apologize, but... Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha). After the super pity face, Carla's pity for me was more clearly visible on my face.

- Oh dear, poor baby. Let's keep it.

The boy looked at my face, but after a second he smiled and nodded to his father.

Yeah, well, you wouldn't turn down a possible friendship with someone who lives a few meters away from you.

- Fine, then let's get to breakfast.

In the plate in front of me was rice porridge, which, by the way, was my favorite, only millet I did not like. Having eaten breakfast calmly, I returned to the second floor, where Grisha was waiting for me to check the bandage once again, but it was just as clean.

- Well, since everything is fine, I'll go about my business. Eren! Play for now, but try not to bother your mother.

He beckoned to his son and then left the house, while Eren came to me and held out his hand, still flashing a smile. Without delay I shook it and smiled as well.

- We're friends now.

He said it with a childlike kindness and enthusiasm that made me feel something like that myself.

- Of course you are. By the way, who is that giant in the drawing?

___________

From the author:

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