Xavier and Daniel sat in the waiting room in the lobby while Liam was taken by the medical staff into the emergency room. As they were patiently waiting, Daniel leaned on the couch, intending to get some rest after the dojo ruckus. He doesn't mind the attention received from the visitors, staff, and patients, but Xavier seemed to take it in a different approach.

“How are you enduring this attention? We look like outcasts compared to everyone else here.”

Daniel with eyes closed and his katana laid by his side, extended his legs on the couch. “They're just curious. It is a natural thing, nothing to be worried about. You know, I was a former chief of operations. I deal with society every day.”

“It’s just strange. I’ve never dealt with such people for this long.”

“So, all these years of your life gaining much power, and you still can’t handle a few stares? Come on, get over it. Becoming notable in legacy requires environmental attention in any shape or form.”

Xavier leaned his head on the adjacent sofa, mumblingly ranting. “Man, what a pain.”

9.2

The patient’s room was pretty spacious for one. Air circulation was a solid breeze, with no sense of congestion or discomfort in the lungs. One of the rare feats of the City of Colemond was having top-notch hospitals for everyone. To make up for the status, every patient has a doctor available at their convenience. At most, they can handle a ratio of one to five patients at most throughout their current patients' directory at once.

However, not everybody came with the best mindset or mood when stepping foot into the facility. Perfectly matches well with Rebecca as she laid her entire left arm and shoulder directly on her recliner’s arm base. In her mind, she was irritated and uncomfortable because of the excruciating pain and sharp tenderness coming from her left arm.

Not wanting to make eye contact with the nurse who was filing the paperwork in front of her, she turned to the right where along the wall were two seats, primarily for visitors. Helda occupied the first seat. Her eyes were closed, and she wore a ragged jacket and tight jeans with sunglasses hanging onto her inner shirt.

“You got lucky that the police and medical were available at the site pronto,” Helda said with a concerned attitude.

“At least I saved most of them before the firefighters arrived. So, I don’t have any regrets,” Rebecca replied in an optimistic tone amid the pain.

“I'm more like a mother to you than just a best friend. When will you focus more on yourself first before helping others? Accidental death isn’t something to take lightly.”

“Is it better to leave them there?”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant if you had taken more precautions, the chances of injury would be less risky.”

Rebecca, for sure, did not want to admit it to hide her vulnerability, but in the back of her mind, she understood what she had entirely meant. She was still hooked up, so the nurse had to remind her to ease down when her heart rate rose. I hope I get discharged today. I’m tired of being in hospitals. Just wanted to get out of here.

Knock! Knock!

The door opened, and the doctor stepped into the room with the clipboard in her hand. Rebecca’s eyes focused deeply on her as she flipped through the papers.

“You’re not getting discharged.”

What?! Not another day here.

“But I have to because you have requested an early discharge.”

“By who?!” All in the room asked.

The doctor budged from the door and a suited man entered the room, followed by a fairly older guy wearing uncanny clothes. She found it slightly amusing while holding her chuckle inward. They are so fucking tall. Mainly the one in the suit. She found his face familiar, but couldn't recognize him. She saw the concealed swords in their grip, and the suited man placed one on the vacant bed.

“I was surprised because I didn't recognize the man until he presented his ID,” the doctor said, pointing to the suited man. “You have surprised me again, Daniel.”

Heh! That tall man is Daniel?!

“Impossible. It's only been more than a month. No way, the towering man is the same man I have known for a couple of years.”

Daniel unbuttoned his suit jacket, revealing a loaded tactical belt on his waist. He pulled out his phone from the suit jacket’s inner pocket and showed the group message that Rebecca was in.

Beep Beep.

Ooh. That hurts. Coming from the electrocardiogram machine, the noise escalated as the numbers immediately spiked, going from seventy-five to one hundred twenty. Rebecca jolted up from the seat while feeling the aggressive thumping from her heart towards the edge of her chest, spooking Daniel. He reacted by easing her down quickly back to her seat.

Damn it. It really is him. That fiery smell. Rebecca recognized the notable scent.

“You shouldn’t do that. Your body was overacting because of the wound. Relax…” He said slowly and in a low voice. He went to the empty bed and sat himself on it, which was when Rebecca’s numbers started to calm and simmer. “The arm needs the whole body to ease, so take it easy for a bit.”

“How? And where were you?! You were offline for more than a month, so you broke the promise!”

Daniel’s eyes glowed gold and flexed his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, but I was too busy.”

“Not even send a hi? Just one word.”

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“No, sorry,” Daniel replied. He then gestured at himself from the shoulder down. “This is all why. The clothes and looks. This is what I look like after going off-grid.”

Clearly, Rebecca, despite being calm, was still angered at Daniel for randomly appearing in the hospital.

She and the rest remained silent as the doctor reviewed the papers for any further statements that needed to be said about Rebecca’s current health. Before Daniel could mention anything, a rapid knock at the door abruptly opened. There came another nurse who held tight at the door handle and a blooded scrub.

“Doctor! We have an incoming Code Blue!”

The doctor sprinted out of the room, following the nurse, leaving Daniel and Xavier in the room with Rebecca and Helda.

Daniel glared at the door momentarily. The bed creaked as he stood up and grabbed his katana.

“Where are you going?” Helda said.

Daniel stopped, turning his head at her, and stared at Rebecca. And not giving a response, he turns the door handle, exiting the room.

Xavier, too, walked up to the door. “Apologies for the confusion. He’s in a fatherly mood. Please understand the circumstances. We’ll talk later.” He bowed to the two and departed the room.

Helda stood from her seat and walked to the bed, sitting at the spot where Daniel sat earlier. She leaned closer to Rebecca. “Is there anything I need to know about him?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I meant anything else you haven't told me about him?”

Rebecca wagged her head. Fatherly? Sounds like him at work, but why now? She stared into space, prompting Helda to poke her cheek.

“I’m serious. We converse about this before frequently, remember?”

“Then why didn't you respond seconds ago?”

“It's just…I’m wondering what he is hiding from us. And that middle-aged man who was with him,” Rebecca said before switching topics. “What did he mean by fatherly?”

Helda leaned away, sighing. “That is what I was wondering. I thought you would know what he meant by fatherly. We are square one, then.”

“Let's just wait till they come back.”

The nurse who was with Helda and Rebecca made a final click on her mouse on her laptop. And she removed all the wires from Rebecca. “You're discharged.”

Rebecca was handed her clothes, and Helda assisted her up from her recliner. She strolled to the room’s bathroom, and Helda closed the door, leaving for her to dress up.

9.3

Rapid pounding on the soles of his feet. Daniel sped up through the hallways, catching up with the doctor, who was heading to the other emergency department across the sky bridge. The bridge led to the second building that was comparatively much grand blue, and the heavy traffic as Daniel saw the parking lot below. Xavier caught up to him and asked what was wrong. Not having much time, Daniel in response gave him a signal, pointing toward the sky bridge. Xavier nodded and his raised eyebrows followed by his eye slant gave the confirmation.

Yes, I got it right this time. Daniel turned and ran up beside her while Xavier kept a distance.

“Daniel?! Why are you following me?” The doctor asked.

“I have nothing to do while Liam is having surgery, so I’m joining in.”

“Protocol can’t allow you to go beyond the emergency lobby. I suggest you wait.”

He pressured on, doubling down on the refusal to leave. “I’m your former student and in your position as the head doctor and the CEO, you’ll allow me to enter through the forbidden grounds.”

The doctor slightly returned with a grunt face, only to turn sorrow with the confidence evaporated when Daniel glowed through his eyes again. The two are about to reach the entrance of the end of the sky bridge, arriving at the second building.

“Fine, we need to talk after this.”

His eyes and neck simmered. “Pleasure.” Daniel pleasingly muttered.

They abruptly turned right, passing through the occupied rooms. Daniel saw the billboard above, displaying the floor where the emergency was located. There will be a deep dive ahead. The doctor could choose the elevators, but that would have to go through another turn. She kept straight, stampeding through to the stairway. Daniel sped ahead of her, jumping down to the landing, and he ran down one floor and peeked down through the void. Since it was a rectangular staircase, at the bottom of the void was the ground floor and wide enough through the void to leap down. At the corner, he saw the floor number painted on the wall, currently in the eleventh.

A crazy idea, but he went over the railing and made the dive. He thrust both of his feet downward, creating the hot air for it to surround his entire boots. A sequence of gasps as he glimpsed a couple of people walking down the stairs.

Thump!

Next second, Daniel landed down on the hard concrete floor light as an ant. He lifted his boots, discharging a whiff of thin smoke from the heat. Under his boots, the floor lacked visible cracks. Nice. It all worked out. Or he thought it would. He turned left, revealing no doors but a rather wide entryway, making it all pointless. I wasted my qi on this crap.

He focused until he could see the doctor sprinting down the few remaining floors, along with Xavier one story above her. For her age, plus not above human levels of qi, she was impressively energetic in a breeze. In the next couple of seconds, she came down to the first floor, tapping his shoulder. He and her entered the emergency department, dodging through multiple working nurses and staff. They arrived at the lobby and the patient on the bed with multiple paramedics came through the doors.

Daniel’s mouth shuttered upon recognizing the patient. “Mother Elaine!”

He ran to the bedside as the paramedics pulled in, and the doctor took the opposite side. Everyone involved with this new code blue case was in a mix of disturbed and traumatized. All sprinted, taking unconscious Mother Elaine down to the operating room. Her wounds are beyond what even Daniel could imagine. The entire right of her shoulder was ruptured like a twig hanging on dearly to a branch. The shoulder bone was visible to the naked eye and torn tissue, spurting gold blood. A dislocated nose with a hemorrhage. The triage nurse arrived from the opposite end and, with a quick glance, he and the doctor gave a level two at the spot. As they turned into the operating room, Xavier made it in seconds, visibly distraught. He spotted the wounds and immediately went up, analyzing them. Daniel let go of the bed, taking Xavier away. The two were directed by nearby staff to head to the viewing room.

Once inside, Xavier forced Daniel’s attention on him. Coming from his face, his eyes were twitching, and the grip he was holding on Daniel’s arm. He quickly picked up his emotion, knowing it was a major problem.

“They took their damn time,” Xavier uttered in a whispering manner despite the two were the only ones in the viewing room.

Daniel sat him down and backed to one of the pillared walls, giving him a view of the operating room while being focused on Xavier. “What? Who?”

“It’s not safe here, but I can’t figure how to go back to my world,” Xavier stuttered, stifling his tears.

“We will find a way,” Daniel said. He glanced through the window, getting a slight peek of the torn shoulder. “Are you talking about the shadowy color surrounding the wide gash?”

Xavier, with his head down, while leaning forward, mentioned the color shaped into two pinnacles. They stuck out and pointed toward her corresponding arm. It quickly debunked to be two horns, but the approximate exact size from one another ain’t no accident.

“I would have never thought they would follow me back here. Or even dared instigate an attack to gain my attention. Now they nearly killed Mother Elaine. Our presence is known. ”

Daniel slid both of his hands through his pockets. “Are we prepared?”

“Maybe-”