"Roger Zelazny - Amber 01 - Nine Princes In Amber" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

Nine Princes In Amber
Chapter 1

It was starting to end, after what seemed most of eternity to me.
I attempted to wriggle my toes, succeeded. I was sprawled there in a
hospital bed and my legs were done up in plaster casts, but they were still
mine.
I squeezed my eyes shut, and opened them, three times.
The room grew steady.
Where the hell was I?
Then the fogs were slowly broken, and some of that which is called memory
returned to me. I recalled nights and nurses and needles. Every time things
would begin to clear a bit, someone would come in and jab me with something.
That's how it had been. Yes. Now, though, I was feeling halfway decent. They'd
have to stop.
Wouldn't they?
The thought came to assail me: Maybe not.
Some natural skepticism as to the purity of all human motives came and sat
upon my chest. I'd been over narcotized, I suddenly knew. No real reason for
it, from the way I felt, and no reason for them to stop now, if they'd been
paid to keep it up. So play it cool and stay dopey, said a voice which was my
worst, if wiser, self.
So I did.
A nurse poked her head in the door about ten minutes later, and I was, of
course, still sacking Z's. She went away.
By then, I'd reconstructed a bit of what had occurred
I had been in some sort of accident, I remembered vaguely. What had
happened after that was still a blur; and as to what had happened before, I
had no inkling whatsoever. But I had first been in a hospital and then brought
to this place, I remembered. Why? I didn't know.
However, my legs felt pretty good. Good enough to hold me up, though I
didn't know how much time had lapsed since their breaking - and I knew they'd
been broken.
So I sat up. It took me a real effort, as my muscles were very tired. It
was dark outside and a handful of stars were standing naked beyond the window.
I winked back at them and threw my legs over the edge of the bed.
I was dizzy, but after a while it subsided and I got up, gripping the rail
at the head of the bed, and I took my first step.
Okay. My legs held me.
So, theoretically, I was in good enough shape to walk out.
I made it back to the bed, stretched out and thought. I was sweating and
shaking. Visions of sugar plums, etc.
In the State of Denmark there was the odor of decay...
It had been an accident involving an auto, I recalled. One helluva one...
Then the door opened, letting in light, and through slits beneath my
eyelashes I saw a nurse with a hypo in her hand.
She approached my bedside, a hippy broad with dark hair and big arms.
Just as she neared, I sat up.
"Good evening," I said.
"Why - good evening," she replied.