3

Meanwhile, Parówa lowered the gun from my father's temple and aimed it at me.

"Any last wish before you die?" he asked, laughing sarcastically at his own joke.

Suddenly, in a single moment, my father kicked the gun Kiełbasiński was holding at chest level. I didn't even know he was so athletic. The gun fell right in front of me. In the blink of an eye, I grabbed it and aimed it at the murderer.

"Hands up," I said, pointing the gun at the would-be murderer while smiling at my father. I held the gun in one hand, took my cell phone out of my pocket with the other, and dialed my department's number.

A short time later, I returned home. I couldn't hide my happiness. My father was alive. I never missed him, but the thought of even his death brought me immense pain.

I unlocked the door and, after taking off my shoes, headed into the living room. On the desk, I saw a plate full of my favorite cookies, and next to it, a mug of raspberry tea. I was utterly surprised.

"Your favorites," I heard my fiancée say, standing next to the desk.

"Thank you, were you working at this time? In the middle of the night?" I expressed concern for Kasia. Looking at her, I imagined a sweet little girl preparing slippers and a newspaper for her father so he wouldn't be angry with her for the F she got in math. "

I'm back," she replied in one word, and I didn't want to hear any more. That was enough for me.

"Good, I'm so happy. And what about..."

"With Piotrek? I hope you'll forgive me. I'm so sorry.

" "How do you know that I know? Did you..."

"Yes, I talked to you, I mean, the other Paweł from the future. Tell me, what about her father? "

"He's alive, he's in the hospital.

" "Good, I was very worried.

" "Me too."

For a moment we looked at each other like little children offended because one took the other's lollipop.

"Shall we start all over again?" I didn't have to answer; I went over to her and hugged her.

Suddenly, Kasia curled up and clutched her stomach.

"What's wrong, Kasia? What's wrong with you?" I panicked.

"No, nothing, sorry..." She ran out of the room toward the bathroom.

Soon after, I put her to bed, and she fell asleep like a sweet baby.

I remembered the other Paweł; I should text him something. I went to the living room. Paweł was the only person available on Gadu Gadu. No wonder, it's five in the morning.

"Everything's fine. I saved him. He's alive," I wrote, proud of myself. I changed the future.

"That's wonderful. But nothing's happening," he replied immediately.

"How so?"

"Well, I'm still in my new house, alone...

" "What about those articles?

" "The same."

"Maybe we have to wait. Or it's not over yet."

"Are you suggesting Parówa hasn't given up on killing my, I mean, our, father yet?"

"I don't know. I'll go to the police station in the morning. I'll see how it all goes.

" I woke up quite late. Kasia had gone to the hospital earlier, to work. She just left me a note saying she was fine and would be back that evening.

A short time later, I showed up at the department. Admittedly, today was my last day of vacation, but I was consumed with curiosity about how the Parówa case had progressed.

"Did he escape? How on earth?" I couldn't believe the words of my colleague, Czarek, whom I found at the police station.

"I have no idea." The police brought him to the station and, after an initial interrogation, locked him up. When everyone arrived in the morning, they realized Parówa had fled. The search is ongoing. He couldn't have gotten far.

"Well, that's not bad, he wanted to kill my father, he almost killed me, and he just got away from you! That's the height of stupidity."

"Don't blame me, I wasn't here at the time." I'm surprised myself. You know what these new guys are like. Parówa probably treated them like brats and ran away.

"I see..."

I returned home that evening. For several hours I sat at the police station, waiting for my father's would-be murderer to be found. Unfortunately, nothing moved forward.

I turned on the computer. I'll text Paweł, maybe he can do something about it. Parówa is definitely planning something, that's why the future hasn't changed.

After opening Gad Gad, I immediately saw an unread message from him. Paweł had sent it several hours ago, not long after I left.

"Paweł, hurry up. The articles have changed. Now it's written in the newspaper that Parówa killed your fiancée. He attacked her in the on-duty room as she was getting dressed to leave the hospital. That's why the future hasn't changed. The rest of the story is the same. The murder took place just before 7 p.m.

I looked at my watch; it read seven-fifteen. I quickly ran to my car. I drove away with a screech of tires. On the way, I called the police department to let them know where the missing Kiełbasiński was.

I drove faster and faster. I called Kasia on her cell phone, but her phone was off.

My heart was pounding. Suddenly, I had the idea to call the hospital headquarters and ask them to check the on-duty room. No one answered. A moment later, I also realized that if anyone showed up there, they might be attacked by Parówa.

I stepped on the gas. Kasia was the only one who mattered to me at that moment. It had to work. It had worked with my father, and it had to work with Kasia now. It wouldn't be easy. Why did I read the message so late? I was sitting idly at the police station, waiting for Parówa to be found, when he was already planning an attack on my fiancée.

I was already close to the hospital, approaching.

My heart was pounding faster than ever.

The worst part is the waiting, if I'd already arrived at the hospital...

Meanwhile, the door to the on-duty room opened. Kasia, my fiancée, entered the room and headed for the table where her purse lay.

Suddenly, Kiełbasiński grabbed her and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Hush..." he said quietly, "Everything will be alright. You'll see your maker today."

Kasia tried to get away, but she couldn't. Finally, she bit the man's hand and jumped away. She positioned herself on the other side of the table. Parówa was aiming his pistol at her.

Suddenly, I stormed into the on-duty room. In an instant, I jumped at Kiełbasiński, and at the same time, he pulled the trigger. Right behind me, several armed police officers from my department ran into the room.

I stood up and approached Kasia, who had collapsed from the gunshot.

She was unconscious, shot. I wanted to call the ambulance, but I realized we were in the hospital, so I quickly shouted for the doctors to come.

A few hours later, Kasia's surgery was still ongoing. I sat there waiting for it to be over. It was my fault. If I hadn't been sitting at the police station so long and had arrived home sooner, I would have gotten the news sooner.

The surgery was finally over.

A doctor approached me.

"So, doctor? What's up with Kasia?" I asked, incredibly nervous. "

The surgery was a success. Katarzyna hasn't regained consciousness yet, but her condition is stable. Unfortunately, I also have some bad news."

"What happened?

" "Katarzyna lost the baby, I'm so sorry." He patted me on the shoulder and slowly walked away.

I sat down in a chair and held my head.

Of course, she got pregnant with Piotrek. It took me a moment to understand the doctor's words.

Suddenly, Piotrek and Marta entered the hospital. They ran to me.

"Paweł, what about Kasia?" asked my colleague's nervous wife. "

The surgery is over," I reassured my friends. "But she miscarried."

"Pregnant? Was she pregnant?" Marta didn't know what was going on.

"Will you leave us alone for a moment, we need to talk..." Piotrek grabbed his wife's hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"Okay, I'll go to the buffet and get you something to drink," she said, leaving.

"Let's sit down," I suggested to my friend.

We both sat down on chairs.

"Listen, Paweł, I want to confess something to you," he began. "

Piotrek, I know everything. About you, about the pregnancy...

" "Really? How do you know all this?"

"I found out... from Kasia. Just promise me you'll never do it again and that you won't hurt Marta either.

" "I promise." We both hugged in agreement.

I returned home late in the evening. A terribly difficult day was coming to an end. I felt incredibly tired, so I headed to the computer, wanting to write to my future friend that everything had worked out. Parówa had been arrested, Piotrek and Marta had reconciled, and I had reconciled with Kasia. We all promised each other that the days of arguments and misunderstandings would never return.

My friend repented. He told me he was having problems and had already signed up for meetings for hyperactive people.

Only a shadow of betrayal remained. I saw uncertainty on Marta's face. I couldn't be sure she believed everything would change now. She didn't know, couldn't know, if things would work out for them. But she had hope, or rather, trust in her husband.

And that's the best part. Kasia returned when I saved my father. That single moment changed everything. But if I hadn't saved my father and changed the future, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out the same.

I mean, I knew it wouldn't be the same hearing from my future self about how my life would unfold.

I kept wondering how we were even talking on Gadu-Gadu. It was a miracle.

I turned on Gadu-Gadu. I didn't get a single message. I started looking for Paweł. Unexpectedly, I couldn't find him on my friends list. I swiped my eyes across the screen a few times, but the message I was looking for didn't appear.

I checked the archive. Conversations with Paweł weren't saved, even though I hadn't deleted them.

I also couldn't find the files he'd sent me earlier.

Only one thought occurred to me: the future had changed.

Or rather, I had changed it.

I went to bed early today, and my mind was filled with a surprising peace. I could finally rest, and tomorrow I'd be back at work. But there's Kasia, whom I love and who will never leave me. And we're getting married next month.

A few weeks later, Kasia left the hospital. She's almost fully recovered. Parówa, on the other hand, was sentenced by the court to 10 years in prison. That's a good lesson for him.

I was sitting on the couch in the living room with Kasia, watching our favorite romantic comedy, "Fate and the Wild West." We were both laughing and in great spirits.

And our wedding was fast approaching.

I was devoting more and more time to Kasia, even though being an investigator is very time-consuming. But I loved her and didn't want to make the same mistake I had made before.

At work, I also noticed a change in Piotrek's demeanor; he became more calm and even-tempered.

"Paweł, I have an idea," my fiancée said.

"Yes, honey..."

"I think we should ask Piotrek and Marta to be our wedding witnesses," she suggested.

"Good idea," I kissed her.

"I love you," my fiancée whispered.

"I love you more," I replied, whispering in her ear.