TS 2 Part VI Chapter 25

Chapter 25

May 23^rd, 2012

Zurich

“I appreciate you have taken some time to see me, Dr. van Horn,” Konrad said as he sat in the cardiologist's elegant office. For a brief instant his eyes got lost in the lake's glistening waters, visible from the large window.

“My Griffin, I have to thank you for coming so promptly.”

“I imagine what you have to tell me are not good news.” Konrad preferred to go directly to the point.

“Partly. We performed several tests on Guntram and we still have to do some more. His general condition is worse than before,” the old doctor said and Konrad closed his eyes because of the pain. “Nevertheless his heart condition is stable much to my surprise.”

“I don't understand you.”

“I'm shocked with the success of his intervention. I would have never believed that an ABS could do so much for him. As I told you before, this is an experimental procedure still and not performed in young people like Guntram, but in his case, he reacted very well to it. Adding an ICD as a prophylactic measure has significantly reduced his risk of sudden cardiac death.”

“But?”

“He is well below his weight, suffers from high blood pressure and probably the heart tissue is scared. He felt much better after his intervention and didn't pay much attention to his heart, dropping his medications, especially the beta blockers. It's acceptable for older people to do this, but in his case, it poses a serious risk. He's not cured and with all the tension he has been subjected to, the arrhythmia is back. We still need to check with the defibrillator's results. We will return to a treatment with ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers.”

“Is that not what we had before?”

“Yes, it is but he's underweight, his catecholamines levels are on the roof, suffers anaemia and the reduction of the intra-ventricular gradient is less than you would achieve by performing the same procedure to an older person. He needs to return to his medications, rest as much as he can, gain weight and see a psychiatrist.”

“Will he become better?” Konrad asked in disbelief. “Is he not going to die?”

“Everything points in that direction, although I can't approve the risk that he underwent by accepting this. Considering his original condition, his chances of dying during the intervention were over 40%, sir. Too high in my opinion. It's a miracle he's alive, but once we stabilize him, his life quality will significantly improve.”

TS 2 Part VI Chapter 24

Chapter 24

May 18^th, 2012

Zurich

A soft cooing awoke Konrad and he looked around, disoriented for a second, until his eyes found the slim form curled and buried under the covers, peacefully sleeping next to him. He looked the only visible raven strands over the pillow and got lost once more in his thoughts. 'I wonder why his hair is black. Was this Repin's idea or his? He looks older but more sexy.'

Still dressed with his trousers and shirt, he sat on the bed and remembered that Guntram had looked terrified when he started to remove his clothes and he had preferred to keep them on and sleep on top of the covers. “Maus, I'm only here to look after you and wake you up if you have nightmare,” he had told the frightened man. “I'll sleep on top of the bed or in the sofa, if you prefer it.”

The cooing transformed into a inquisitive laughter and Konrad looked at the baby's crib, where he was standing, securely clutching the railing and looking at his father's direction. “Dada!” the baby shouted and Konrad took him in his arms to be rewarded with an ample smile as a small hand touched his face.

“You have certainly inherited your father's temper, little one,” he said kindly to the baby. “I'll take you out for breakfast but let your father sleep for a bit longer. He's very tired,” he explained while he went out to the corridor. “I'm sure there must be something for you in the kitchen,” he mumbled as he closed the door with great care.

“You could also use a change in your life,” he grimaced when his hand felt the heavy diaper “and I know the right man for the job; your godfather Goran,” he added with a smile and the baby smiled too.

'Your brothers are in great troubles as you are certainly cute. Not even Karl looked so well as you do and he never interacted so much with people. I will have to get a tank to keep people away from you, little one. Women are very foolish nowadays and respect nothing,' Konrad thought as he held his now “youngest child”.

The Art of... Dating?

The Art of... Dating?

October 27^th, 2007

Zurich

That morning, Konrad von Lintorff was on edge.

'It’s a date. Yes, that's what it is.'

'With two toddlers included in the “romantic” outing,' his own inner voice clearly reminded him. 'The hippo enclosure’s perfume is so delightful, too!'

“He only offered to accompany me to the zoo,” the Duke mumbled as he laced his shoes with more energy than the action required. 'After he invited me to go to the parent-teacher meeting, on top.'

He rose from the unmade bed and circled his bedroom several times before walking into his dresser.

More nervous than ever, he distractedly took a bow tie out of its rack and began to tie it with precise movements around his neck over his sport shirt. 'Two weeks ago he would have poisoned me without any kind of remorse, and now he invites me to go with him to see that old, dry bone of a headmistress.

'Is it possible that Guntram may have started to forgive me?' His hand just grabbed the first light brown jacket he saw, and he put it on.

'Yes, that must be it. He never held a grudge for a long time. He's too generous to do it, and maybe, now that he's not so stressed over university work, he has started to think on us and realised that I had nothing to do with his father's death.'

Konrad checked himself in the mirror to see if his attire was correct and noticed how ridiculous the black bow tie looked with the casual attire he was wearing.

“Damn!” he mumbled as he almost strangled himself with it as he furiously pulled from one of its ends. Still cursing his own lack of attention, he opened the first two buttons of his shirt and took a scarf from one of the shelves.

'It is of no consequence,' he reminded himself once more. 'We are only taking the boys out.

'Just like before, when we were a family.'

Konrad crossed the room and sat on his bed, already exhausted from a day that had not even begun. 'Let's look at the hard facts. He came to me and asked me to go with him to the school meeting, not I. He could have gone and borne the teachers all by himself. He doesn't need me at all.

'On Friday, he was having breakfast with Armin, and I said that I was taking the boys to the zoo, no second intentions at all, and he offered to come with me. Normally, Saturdays are a “tutor’s” free day, right? He always disappears in the afternoons with Antonov or Goran.

'In short, he asked me out twice.

'Perhaps his own stubbornness is taking its toll on him. He knows I hold no grudge against him. It's all in his hands. Dr. van Horn has told me several times that his heart condition is not improving and that all this stress is very bad for him. He's almost dead on his feet at nights, even if university is over.

'I'm sure he feels lonely because he goes nowhere or sees no one but Antonov and Goran. He only corresponds with two of his former schoolmates and occasionally talks with his one single friend from university. Before all this, he was always coming to me to speak with or just to be in my company. He hates to be alone.'

'Just like you,' once more his inner voice chirped.

'I'm used to it, and honestly, I prefer it that way.

'This is not a date, just taking the boys out. Let’s hope we survive the day,' Konrad told to himself firmly, before leaving his bedroom with long strides.

* * *

TS 2 Part VI Chapter 23

Chapter 23

May 17^th, 2012

Zurich

The tall man almost overran the doorman trying to open the door to the elegant building: his greeting to the illustrious visitor died on his lips as the Duke simply ignored him and his bodyguards almost pushed him aside, taking positions in the lobby and only one following his superior to the elevator.

“Stay here,” Konrad grunted and entered alone in the elevator, keeping a blank face till the door closed and he could lean his forehead over it, drained like never before. 'This can't be true, but it's Goran. He wouldn't lie to me.”

He recomposed himself when the elevator stopped and looked exactly as always as the ice man all his people knew. His long strides took him to the door and when he was about to ring the bell, a woman dressed as a maid opened the door for him. She smiled broadly and only said “Mr. Pavicevic is in the living room, your Grace.”

He followed her after she took his coat and entered in the spacious room, modernly decorated with huge libraries, brimming with books and almost Spartan taste in the white leather sofas around a coffee table over a white carpet.

“My Duke,” Goran greeted him, but Konrad didn't hear him.

“Where is he?”

“Resting as he is exhausted. He should sleep a few hours more while we speak, my Griffin.”

“Later, Goran,” Konrad said, ready to walk toward the private area of the flat, but his path was blocked by a small toddler crawling at full speed in Goran's direction. His heart stopped as Konrad took in the soft features of the infant, his blue eyes and blond, nearly white hair. His head followed him as the baby reached Goran, his little hands clutching his trousers to use them as level to stand up.

“Not in front of the Griffin,” Goran said with a soft voice at the same time he removed the boy from his trousers before he could grab them. “He still does not stand up all by himself or walk on his own. You must be careful; he pulls down your trousers and dirties them.”

“Who is he?” Konrad croaked with a raspy voice.

“Not mine, my Duke. We must speak before you see the father.”

“Guntram's?”

“Yes. His full name is Konrad Goran de Lisle Guttenberg Sachsen. He asked me to be the baby's godfather. We will have to change his papers too. He appears there as Conor Tarasov,” Goran picked the child in his arms and he giggled at the dark haired man, grabbing his hair with his little fist. “Be careful also, he bites if he is hungry. Runs in the family,” Goran added, smiling in return to the baby.