Orel slowly covered his face with his palms. He touched the scar but didn"t take his hand away, just moved it a little. Orel"s lips pressed to Nikto"s lips very carefully.

Orel froze for a moment but continued when he felt no resistance. Closing his eyes, he kissed Nikto harder with trembling lips, pressed his mouth to Nikto"s, sucking on it. Impulsively he squeezed Nikto"s head twining his fingers through Nikto"s white hair. He pushed his tongue into Nikto"s mouth, pressing Nikto down with his body. Nikto slipped down on the bed under Orel"s weight. And at this moment they heard insane shouts in the corridor. Tol broke into the room without knocking.

"Arel! Arel! Help me!" he screamed like crazy. His eyes were full of tears. He didn"t even notice Orel and Nikto start back from each other.

"Tol! What happened, fuck you!" Orel yelled at him so angrily that Tol stopped wailing and looked at him in fear.

"Arel," he muttered, then looked at Nikto as if just realizing he was there. "Nikto! Arel! Help me!" he started crying.

"What is it?" now Orel was frightened, too.

"Asa! Asa!" Tol bellowed. "She"s dying! She took my stimulators. Shot herself my stimulators while I was asleep! It"s because we laughed at her. We said no matter how well she fought, she was a woman and not equal to us. She decided my stimulators would help her. But they are too strong for her. She"s dying!"

"Fuck your mother!" Orel got up dressing quickly.

"Arel, Nikto, please save her!" Tol continued moaning. They ran out of the room and met Lis and Enriki in the corridor.

"What happened?" Lis asked. "Why is Tol yelling so?"

"Asa overdosed stimulators," Orel said quickly.

They entered Tol"s room that was in a complete disorder. Asa lay on the floor in the middle of the room without any sign of life. Tol"s medicines were scattered on the floor around her. Orel kicked them away.

"Why didn"t you hide them, cretin?"

He bent over Asa, pressed his fingers to her neck.

"She is alive," he said to his friends. "So far."

Tol whined. "Help her? Help!"

"Lis, bring a doctor," Orel ordered. Lis left without a word.

"Arel, help!"

"Stop whining, Tol! It"s your fault. She is yours and you didn"t watch over her. How can I help you? You should"ve thought first. If she dies, you"ll be to blame."

"If she survives, she"ll be paralyzed," Enriki added.