– Antonio López.

 

–What?

 

Pronounced in a very premeditated breath, in a feeble voice, were Erendi's first words. At mid–morning, Raku began to get out of bed to check how the preparations for the Planet Assembly were going, now that Erendi seemed to have a steady look and recognized them. For their first words, they seemed really strange. Raku wondered if they were delusional, or if they had suffered severe cognitive damage.

 

–What are you saying my love?

 

–An…tonio…López… – Erendi had a hard time distributing the breath between the syllables after weeks without doing so.

 

– They painted... the painting... a thousand years ago, – they whispered.

 

–Is that so?

 

Raku was very excited to learn that Erendi had chosen their first words showing that they not only had their mind in order, but that they remembered fine and entirely useless data. They deduced that what they wanted to convey was that they were perfectly fine, and that it was all just a matter of time.

 

– Xurde brought it. Do you remember Xurde?

 

Erendi nodded. Raku was happy. Their memory was intact, both long and short term. "They are here," Erendi said.

 

–Yeah. This is their house. But they haven’t come to see us. How do you know they are here?

 

Erendi outlined something similar to a smile. Raku was amazed that not only they retained their cognitive abilities, but also their empathic ones. They thought that it would be good for Erendi if Xurde visited them, since Erendi remembered them. Raku wondered why they hadn't come in all these days. Raku had supposed that they might find it inappropriate to make themselves so present at this time. But the truth is that Raku had been a bit annoyed that Xurde ignored them when they were just beginning to get to know each other. In any case, what Raku was most concerned about right now was Erendi's recovery. The next stage of recovery was movement. They decided to ask Xurde for help, because everyone said that they were the one who had the greatest somatic wisdom in the house. Although Erendi had it too, they were going to need assistance. Raku felt confident in their ability with words, but in the somatic aspect they did not have the same confidence. Besides, they didn't want to have to deal with Erendi alone, since they needed to work in the Planet Assembly, which was just over a month away. Although everyone in the house had been willing to help, Raku wanted someone closer to plan and carry out the care. They didn't want a lot of different hands groping Erendi, for they were a reserved person, and they knew that that would be very embarrassing for Erendi. They supposed that Xurde would also find the plan to be perfect.