Perhaps because my mind was addled with drugs (painkillers), I did not notice that from the start I was being manipulated. In fact, now I wonder if the reason why my health got worse was because of the injury I received at all.
Certainly, under normal circumstances, I would have been more suspicious of Helena, the nurse who looked after me.
However, back then, she was just an unexpected flower which bloomed in the midst of that hopeless degradation, a welcome break from the sterile smells around me.
Her touch was surprisingly cold to my skin, but perhaps it was just my body becoming insensitive. Helena did more than look after me; she cared about me, listened to my requests, and when I joked that I would like to hear her read me some light novels, she did just that. Honestly, even then, I momentarily sensed that it was strange that I would be getting so much attention from a nurse, and from a woman with a beautiful voice no less, but I wrote it off, in my mind, as some sort of divine irony that would be getting some recognition on my deathbed.
Gradually, I lost control of my voice too and could only make some strained sounds without hurting my throat. I am not making excuses, but my mind was not exactly in pristine condition when Helena suggested to me that I sign up for some experimental treatment. When asked if I wanted a lawyer, I still had enough sense to grunt the word “yes.”
Some time later, I could hear two voices talking outside the corridor of my room before entering it. I could say that one voice belonged to Nurse Helena, and I could recognise the other. It was my lawyer, whom I had already met, to settle with what would happen to my meagre property once I was gone. Naturally, I entrusted most of my belongings to a fellow otaku friend and instructed that my hard drives be destroyed.
The lawyer who arrived was a young woman; I could say that much from her lively, sharp voice, but more striking was the angry tone with which Helena spoke. I heard the click of the door opening.
“As Mr Raynar’s lawyer, no, as a human being!” started the lawyer. “I cannot let anyone agree to a contract such as this! It’s basically a slave contract! The only reason it’s barely legal is that it’s a military contract! It’s a complete joke.”
“Now, now, Ms Tanaka. Let’s not get too hasty. I already explained to you the situation in which Mr Raynar is right now on the phone before you got here. This project is his last ray of hope. Are you going to take that away from him to lead him to certain death? What kind of lawyer are you?”
Over the last month, I had become a consummate admirer of her sweet voice, but although it sounded the same, I could sense a warning in her tone of voice.
“Look here, nurse, I could ask you the same, but I don’t have anything to say to you. I request, no, I demand some time alone with my client!”
“I am afraid I can’t do that. For the patient’s safety, I’ll have to remain present at all times. Besides, it’s not up to you, it’s up to my darling if he wants to speak with you alone, but you wouldn’t send me away to talk with some other woman, would you, Raynar-sama?”
Helena held my hand in hers, and I could feel her breath on my ear and her voluptuous chest on my arm. I would have loved to say it was fear which I felt at the time, but no, I suppose a lifetime of bachelorhood had made me vulnerable to this sort of attack. Well, I suppose it was such an unlikely attack vector.
“Disgusting. Fine, then just stay there. I am still going to do my job.”
The lawyer grabbed my other hand, and although her chest was flatter, this was not a good position for a man on his deathbed; my heart started to beat faster, and it hurt. Helena let go of my hand and pushed Ms Tanaka off of me.
“Get off him, you are hurting my darling!”
A scuffle of some kind followed, and I could hear implements in the room being thrown around, some of which hit me. I believe that hospital staff alerted by the noise broke into the room to drag my lawyer out of the room.
Later that night, not heeding the protests of my lawyer, who tried to warn me about some of the clauses on the agreement, I signed it with Helena’s help as she held my hands in hers. As a reward, without saying anything to me, Helena poured some wine into her mouth and then kissed me, transferring the liquid into my mouth. I didn’t question this. The only thing which reached my declining mind now was Helena’s voice. Besides, it’s not like I had ever placed much importance on myself back when I was healthy, so why worry about it now when I was surely going to die except by some miracle or curse?
