Chapter 18: The Emergency Protocol
Hana's breath came in ragged gasps as she dragged Ren's limp body across the threshold. He felt like dead weight, his skin clammy and cold. She managed to heave him onto the bed, her hands instantly becoming stained with his drying blood.
"Ren! Ren, look at me!" she wailed, her voice cracking with pure terror. "Stay awake! Please, don't leave me!"
Ren's eyelids flickered. His one remaining eye was glassy, unfocused. The white cat hopped onto the bed, sniffing at Ren's mangled face, but Hana frantically pushed it aside. She didn't have time for mysteries.
She ran to the corner of the room where an old, heavy metal telephone sat on a small stand—a relic of the Elite sector's retro technology. Her fingers trembled as she dialed Go's number, the rotary dial clicking painfully slowly.
"Pick up... please, pick up..."
On the other end, Go was at his own place, perhaps finally catching some sleep, when the piercing ring of the phone startled him. He picked it up. "Hello?"
"Go! It's Hana!" she screamed into the receiver. "It's Ren! He's... he's dying! There's blood everywhere, and his eye... Go, please help us!"
The silence on Go's end lasted only a second. "Don't touch his wounds. I'm coming."
Go slammed the phone down. He didn't even grab a coat. He snatched a satchel filled with high-grade potions and ran out the door. He didn't wait for a carriage; he sprinted through the dark streets of Tier 2, his speed blurring past the streetlights, his heart hammering with a mix of rage and fear for his friend.
He reached the apartment and kicked the door open. He didn't say a word as he burst into the bedroom. Hana was standing by the bed, shaking uncontrollably.
Go took one look at Ren—the empty eye socket, the shattered arm, the bruised ribs—and his jaw tightened.
"Hana, get out," Go commanded, his voice cold and clinical.
"What? No! I need to stay with him!"
"Get out, Hana!" Go turned to her, his eyes flashing with an intensity she had never seen. "The things I have to do to save him... you don't want to see this. You can't see this. It will haunt you. Go into the kitchen. Now."
He glanced at the white cat sitting on the edge of the bed. "And take that cat with you."
Hana hesitated, then saw the grim determination in Go's eyes. She scooped up the cat and stumbled out of the room, sobbing as the door clicked shut behind her.
Go took a deep breath, trying to steady his hands. He looked down at Ren, who was barely clinging to life. He began to pull out vials of glowing gold and deep purple liquids—concentrated Vane stabilizers.
"Alright, Ren," Go whispered, his voice softening just a fraction. "This is going to hurt more than anything you've ever felt. Just... try to stay with me, brother."