The hallway to the hospital room smelled like bleach and uncertainty. John arrived just after noon, hair still messy from rushing, his bag slung carelessly over one shoulder. His heart hadn't stopped pounding since he got Misa's text.
"Kana collapsed again."
The text itself may as well have been a bullet to the chest and on seeing that he made sure to get his early tickets to Yukimura as fast as he could.
On getting to the hospital, he was directed to the ICU unit where he saw Misa seated on the hallway bench, hunched forward, hands between her knees. She didn't look up at first as she was lost in thought and was constantly tapping her feet on the ground before she noticed John standing beside.
Misa: You came. I was starting to think you wouldn't since you live so far away.
John didn't say anything. He just stood there, catching his breath. His gaze moved to the door beside her, heart tight.
John: How is she?
Misa: The nurses and Ms Jane said she was struggling to breathe.
Misa rubbed at her eyes, trying to ease away the tears.
Misa: They said it was a panic attack. And she was struggling to breathe… if Ms Jane didn't show up then…
John looked at Misa with a face that calmly urged her to calm down which she did after taking deep breaths
Then the door creaked open, Dr. Kennedy appeared from the ICU wing after what felt like a full hour.
Dr. Kennedy stepped into the hallway, his white coat slightly wrinkled, a clipboard tucked under one arm. His expression was calm but serious; the kind that instantly made both Misa and John stop breathing for a second.
Misa stood up, her voice quick and shaky.
Misa: Is she okay?
Dr. Kennedy gave a slow nod.
Dr Kennedy: She's stable. Her vitals have calmed down, and we've administered medication to ease the panic symptoms. Right now, she's resting.
John's shoulders dropped with relief, but his jaw remained tight.
John: Can we see her?
Dr. Kennedy paused.
Dr Kennedy: One person at a time. She just woke up, and her body's in a fragile state. She doesn't need too much noise or stress.
Misa glanced at John, then gestured toward the door.
Misa: You should go.
John hesitated.
John: You sure? She's your best friend…
Misa gave him a tired smile.
Misa: And you're her boyfriend… She'll want to see you first.
John nodded, his throat tight, and started to step forward.
But Dr. Kennedy stopped him with a firm voice.
Dr Kennedy: John. Wait… there's something else I need to tell you… both of you…
John turned.
Dr. Kennedy shifted his clipboard under one arm and looked him straight in the eye.
Dr Kennedy: Kana's phone was found on the floor next to her when she collapsed. It was still unlocked, open to her Twibbler feed. She'd just seen a post; a particularly cruel one.
Misa lowered her eyes and John's fists clenched again.
Dr. Kennedy continued, more gravely now,
Dr Kennedy: This wasn't a one-time thing. From what I've gathered, she's been receiving these kinds of posts for over a week. Nasty & personal and from the looks of it, they're escalating.
John's fists clenched.
John: She told me she was fine…
Dr Kennedy: Whatever's going on online… It's hurting her deeply. And I don't think this was the first time. I'm afraid that this keeps going…
Dr Kennedy couldn't finish his sentence but he didn't need to as both Misa and John understood what he was trying to say.
John stood for a while and then opened the door and walked into the ICU wing, leaving Dr Kennedy and Misa there in that hallway.
*****
Kana's room was dim and sterile, lit only by the soft midday light bleeding through the blinds.
John stepped in quietly, but the moment felt anything but calm. The rhythmic beep of the monitor filled the silence, steady but too loud, like it was mocking the panic that still clung to his chest.
Kana lay pale against the pillow, her small frame seeming even smaller beneath the sheets. The oxygen monitor glowed faintly on her finger. Her phone sat on the nightstand.
John picked it up and instantly went to her Twibbler and it was her most recent poem.
And beneath it — a flood of bile.
"This ain't poetry. This is a cry for help."
"Lmao what even is this?"
"She's still alive?? Thought she croaked already."
"Hospital girl out here farming sympathy likes again."
And then, the one that made his blood run cold:
"Nobody's gonna remember you when you die alone, hospital girl. You're just fake poetry and pity likes."
John stared at the screen and his grip tightening around the phone. Something cracked inside him.
He looked up as Kana's eyes were open. She'd been watching him the whole time.
John: Hey
Kana: Hey…
He tried to smile, but it faltered under the weight of his fury.
John: You scared me.
Kana looked away.
Kana: I was scared too.
He sat beside her and took her hand. Her fingers twitched, but she didn't pull away.
Then he said quietly.
John: I saw the post.
Kana closed her eyes.
Kana: Don't...
John: No, I need to say it. Kana, this… this is messed up. It's not just random people anymore. It's targeted. It's been going on for almost two weeks and you're—
Kana: (snaps back) I know, John. You think I don't see it every day? You think I don't hear their voices when I try to sleep?
John swallowed hard.
John: Then let me do something. Let me report them, track them down—
Kana: No. You promised me.
John: I promised before you collapsed on the floor, Kana!
His voice rose despite trying to compose himself.
John: I promised before I saw you lying here, hooked up to monitors, because some miserable lowlife decided to break you for sport!
Kana: I'm not broken.
John: You nearly died.
Kana turned her face away.
Kana: So what? You think hunting down some anonymous account will fix that?
John: I don't know! But sitting here and doing nothing clearly isn't working!
Her voice was sharp now.
Kana: And what? You're gonna play online detective? Message random people? Get yourself dragged into a mess I already told you not to touch?
John stood up, breathing hard.
John: You're seriously going to tell me to just let it go? After this?!
And then she shouted back, as her voice began to crack.
Kana: Yes! Because this is my life, John! Not yours! I get to decide what I fight and what I don't!
Silence rang loud in the room after that.
Kana's breathing was shallow. Her hands trembled in her lap. John looked at her, his chest heaving. He wanted to say more, to scream, but all he saw was someone already fighting harder than anyone should ever have to.
John: (mutters) I hate this.
Kana: Then leave.
He turned away for a second. Pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. Then he sat down again, quieter this time.
John: I'm sorry. I just— I hate seeing you like this. I can't stand it.
She said nothing.
After a while, she whispered,
John: Promise me you won't do anything. Promise me, John.
He hesitated.
Then...
John: Okay. I promise.
She nodded slowly.
Kana: Thank you.
John stayed with her for over an hour after that, holding her hand in silence. Misa eventually poked her head in to check on them but said nothing.
Soon after, Kana closed her eyes and went to sleep, but as soon as she did, John glanced once more at her phone. His eyes scanned the username again.
@saucy1012.
He had seen that name before, always at the center of the threadstorms. Always the one tagging others, fanning the fire.
John clenched his jaw as he looked at his arm and saw the bracelet Kana had given him. He had promised her, but something inside him had already decided that he couldn't let this go.
Not until he found out who was behind it.