Kael, although slightly interested in the setting outside his room, didn't speak and only tensed up as he was pushed into the elevator. He was too nervous thinking about the impending reunion. It had been drilled to him many times that his father was not in a good condition, but Kael in his stubbornness still wanted to see him, and now that it was the time, he was having second thoughts on the whole ordeal.
The elevator ascended and stopped at level 6, and the doors opened.
Venther, sensing Kael's nervousness, put a hand on his shoulder.
"Kael, your father is really not in the greatest of conditions. You should probably get yourself ready."
"I think you should keep your eyes on the path." Kael responded, pointing at the closing elevator doors.
Mr Venther widened his eyes and lunged forward to press the open button.
"…"
The doors slowly opened, and Kael was pushed out.
Following a sequence of long hallways, Kael was pushed to sector F.
Mr Venther let go of the handles and walked up to a reception table.
"I'm here to see patient 48."
"Do you have an appointment?"
As Mr Venther settled the logistics, Kael looked around. The walls were coloured in beige, and blue chairs lined up beside him. Curiously enough, nobody was sitting on them.
"Alright, we can go." Mr Venther came back to Kael and grasped the handles again.
"Why isn't there anyone here?" Kael asked as he was pushed forward.
"Sector F is the emergency section. It's only for treating the severest of injuries, something that doesn't happen often."
"Oh…" Kael looked away. 'So it's that bad."
To this, Mr Venther had no comment.
"Alright, we're here." Kael was stopped in front of the door, where the letters "6F-48" were hung in the middle.
Mr Venther stepped in front and pressed a button on the side.
"We cannot disturb the doctor and the patient while he operates." He told Kael, "so when we're inside, you must stay quiet unless the doctor gives you permission to speak. No matter what you see, you must remain silent."
Kael nodded, staring down at his lap. Kael had been fiddling around with his fingers from the moment they entered the floor, and now he was staring even harder at his hands as his fingers weaved in and out of each other.
10 minutes passed before the door finally opened, revealing a person dressed fully in a surgical gown. Gnarly bloodstains were splattered periodically, something that Kael was trying his best not to look at.
"Sorry for the wait, we were busy. You must be the guests. Come on in."
He motioned for them to go inside.
Without another word, Venther pushed Kael inside.
Kael, who expected to see his father right away, was surprised to see a relatively clean office. To the left, there was a large computer, and in the middle was a coffee table, with two couches on opposing sides.
"The patient isn't here, he's behind this." The doctor, sensing the confusion, pointed at a small door in front.
"In any case, you aren't allowed to enter. You'll only get to see him through the mirror." He points to an opaque wall to the side of the door. "It turns transparent when a certain password is typed in," he explained. "It's for the patient's safety, so I hope you understand."
Kael nodded.
Mr Venther had pushed one of the sofas away and wheeled Kael in its place, before leaning on the corner of the wall and whipping out his phone.
"Before I let you see him, I need to ask you a few questions." The Doctor was currently standing up and operating around a peculiar machine.
"Coffee or tea?" He asked.
"Coffee." Mr Venther answered.
"How about you?" The doctor turned to Kael.
Kael had never heard of these items before, and was not in the mood to consume anything. Nevertheless, the doctor still made an extra cup of coffee and set it on the coffee table.
"You can call me Dr Paulo. What's your name?"
"Kael. Kael Thorne."
"And what is your relationship with him?"
"He is my father."
"Father you say?"
"Yes."
"Would you happen to know his name?"
"Hmm?"
"You see," Dr Paulo responded, "we couldn't find anything regarding his identity, so I hoped that you might at least know something?"
"No…" Now that Kael thought about it, what was his father's name? Digging through all his memories, he only ever referred to him as 'father'. "I don't know."
"Thats perfectly fine. Cases of 'ghost people' who have no identity do happen in Garbage City."
Despite his reassurance, Kael couldn't get the strange thought out of his head. Who doesn't know his father's name at all?
"Next thing," Dr Paulo moved on, "You've already been told of the patient's situation, I presume?"
Kael nodded.
"Well, I'll break down to you exactly what happened to his body."
He pulled out an image of a human body from under the drawer.
"Let's go one by one." he pointed at the image, directing to each body part.
"First, his toenails and fingernails were ripped off. We've only stopped the bleeding, because the patient has more severe injuries. Nails can be grown back naturally, something that can't be said about other organs."
"Second, regarding his joints, we have repositioned them back to normal."
"Third, his teeth. We've also just stopped the bleeding. With special treatment procedures, he can regain them, which I will dive into later. Otherwise, he'll have to use dentures."
"The same can be said about his destroyed voicebox, tongue, eyes, ears, and penis. We're doing the best we can to preserve his life. Any other restoration procedures, you will need to buy special treatment."
Dr Paulo pulled out a clip board from the drawer and started writing.
"With arcana, special arcanists can create artificial organs that recreate the functions of real organs. However, these arcanists are rare, and only a select few are trusted and adopted by this hospital. The creation of artificial organs in itself is costly and needs time, so I hate to tell you this, but treatment for organ restoration will be expensive. If you cannot pay for them, we won't be able to secure your father one amidst the waiting list. This is to ensure fair distribution."
He wrote a few numbers on the clip board and turned it to face Kael.
"I hope you understand."
He pointed at the written words one by one.
"You've already paid the operation fee to preserve his life. To restore his teeth," Kael looked down at the doctor's fingers, and felt his eyes almost pop out from their sockets. "Its 10,000 gold coins per tooth."
10,000! Per tooth! As his eyes travelled frantically to read the rest of the numbers, each one became more unbelievable than the next.
"To restore his voicebox, 100,000 gold coins. To restore his tongue, 100,000 gold coins as well. To restore his penis, it would be 500,000 gold coins. For each eye and nose, it will be the same price of 500,000 gold coins." Dr Paulo finished explaining. "Please understand that these prices are necessary."
"..."
If Kael had any thoughts that his 900,000 gold coins could solve his father's problems, reality hit him in the face. He would need more than 3 times his current amount to help his father fully recover.
The thought made him dejected.
"Can I see my father now?" He asked after a little while.
"Yes, of course. Just don't make any loud noises that might startle the operators." Dr Paulo stood up and walked to the wall with the door, where he keyed in a few numbers. Slowly but surely, Kael could see the wall becoming less opaque and more translucent.
The first thing Kael saw was many other people dressed in blue surgical gowns hunched over a metal table. As Mr Venther pushed Kael closer to the window, he almost hurled his breakfast.
There was his father. Four limbs securely strapped down. There was a gas mask on his face, connected to a tube.
A lump of flesh. That's the only thing that could describe him. None of his physical features could be seen at all. His body was just flesh. No eyes, no ears, just… smooth. It looked… so wrong. Like it shouldn't exist.
Staring at the scene, Kael was reminded that his acceptance into the inner city did come at a steep cost, a cost so great that Kael almost wished he was still back in Garbage city, living a peaceful life with an intact father. Unknowingly, tears started to drip down his cheeks.
Dr Paulo stepped forward to turn the wall back, but was stopped as he felt someone put an arm on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Mr Venther that stopped him.
Mr Venther pointed at Kael. "I think we should give him some time to sort out his feelings."
Dr Paulo turned back to look at the crying Kael. His eyes, full of sorrow, guilt, helplessness, anger, and… determination?
Yes, the more that Kael saw his father, the more determined he became. His father had gone through hell to get him to the capital. 'I will not waste my father's pain. I will make the most of the opportunity.' He thought back to Garbage city, to the truck, to Rahzel. 'First, I'll pay my father back. I will make enough money to pay for his operations.' He clenched his fist. 'Then, I'll hunt down the fucking bastard. I'll kill Rahzel.'
Meanwhile, Mr Venther continued to lean on the wall with his phone in his hands. However, no matter how much he tried to look at his phone, his eyes always wandered away to take quick peeks at the boy.
Mr Venther remembered the Headmaster's proposition. To take Kael in as an apprentice. Seeing Kael's struggle to sort out his emotions, he felt his previous rejection falter ever so slightly.
Kael continued to stare at the scene. Half an hour passed. Then an hour. Then two hours.
Mr Venther's phone rang. He excused himself outside and answered it, only to be met with Ms Phina's cold voice. "Where are you? It's been more than two hours. Get back this instant."
After exchanging a few dialogues, which was mainly Venther trying to justify the lateness, he returned and walked up to the Doctor.
"I think it's time to stop." He whispered in his ear, Dr Paulo nodded, and walked over to turn the wall back to its opaque self.
"Kael, it's time to go back to your ward." Mr Venther reminded, "its been more than two hours."
Kael nodded. Whispering a quick thanks to the doctor, he allowed himself to be pushed to the exit and out of his father's room.