Luka
I shot to my feet.
My legs immediately gave out.
It wasn't surprising.
I hadn't eaten, hadn't slept. There was barely any strength left in my body, but I forced myself up and hurried toward him.
"Doctor," I blurted out. "How is he?"
The doctor let out a tired sigh, pulled off his mask, and looked from me to Kazuo.
"He's alive," he said. "The surgery was successful. It wasn't easy, but everything went well."
I felt my lungs finally fill with air.
"Now we wait for him to wake up. That's when we'll be able to tell how well everything truly went."
Beside me, Kazuo let out a long breath.
"Can I... can I see him?" I murmured.
The doctor looked me up and down with an expression that made it seem like I'd asked the stupidest question imaginable.
"Of course not. We just finished operating on him." He shook his head. "Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in three days. I don't know yet. It all depends on how quickly he starts healing. The last thing he needs right now is unnecessary germs around him."
The doctor glanced over at Kazuo. Although he wasn't covered in blood, he was still dirty: his clothes were covered in dust and dirt from the warehouse.
"I'm not letting either of you anywhere near him until you've cleaned yourselves up," the doctor said firmly. "This is a hospital, after all, and you look like you've got no regard for the health of the patients. Go wash up."
Then his eyes settled on me again.
"And get some sleep."
"Yeah. Of course. You're right. Sorry. We'll clean up." Kazuo nodded immediately. "And... thank you. Thank you so much."
The doctor gave us a brief nod and turned to leave, but before he could take a single step, a familiar voice echoed down the hallway.
"Wait! Hey! Seriously? Is anybody gonna wait for me? What the hell's going on back there?"
It was Michael.
The doctor flinched and reluctantly turned around again.
"Oh, good," Michael said as he hurried over to us. "You actually noticed me." He stopped in front of the doctor, slightly out of breath. "So? What happened? How's he doing?"
The doctor let out a tired sigh, clearly doing his best to stay patient.
"As I told your friends, the surgery is over. It went well. Now we wait and see how well he heals." He glanced between the three of us. "If everything goes as expected, I'll allow visitors."
He took a small step back.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients who need my attention."
Michael gave him a nod.
"Right. Of course."
The doctor finally walked away.
Michael turned to me and offered a reassuring smile.
"See? He's gonna be okay. Ed's a tough guy. He'll pull through." He gave me a once-over and shook his head. "By the way, you look terrible. You need to sleep, and it wouldn't hurt to take a shower."
Despite his positive attitude, he, too, seemed exhausted.
"He's right," Kazuo said, giving me a worried look. "You really need to get some rest. So go—"
"Luka!"
A low male voice called my name, cutting Kazuo off.
We all turned at the sound of the voice.
A tall, broad-shouldered officer was walking toward us. The same one who'd been at the warehouse. The one who'd let me ride in the ambulance with Ed.
James was beside him.
With everything that had happened, I'd completely forgotten about him, so I was a little surprised to see him with the officer.
"Luka," the officer said again, looking me straight in the eye. "I heard the surgery is over. I think it's time to talk."
Kazuo stiffened immediately. He stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder.
"What the fuck do you need to talk to him about?" he growled. "Have you lost your damn minds? Luka needs sleep-"
The officer raised a hand, calmly cutting him off again.
"Don't worry. This won't take long. We need to interview the primary victim while the events are still fresh. If we don't, we won't have enough grounds to keep those men in custody." He looked back at me. "So I'm asking you, Luka. Please come with me."
Kazuo's hand never left my shoulder.
"I can't."
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
"I can't... What if he gets worse? What if somebody comes back to finish what they started?"
"You don't need to worry," the officer replied. "My officers are guarding the hospital." He glanced at Kazuo. "And if it'll put your mind at ease, your friends are welcome to stay here. Nothing's going to happen to him while you're gone."
"What if somebody attacks Luka?" Kazuo shot back. "Did you think about that?"
"I understand your concern," the officer said, his voice still calm. "But we know what we're doing. Trust us."
"Hey, fluffy." Michael nudged Kazuo with a grin. "The two of us can stay here and guard our wounded hero."
Then he turned back to the officer.
"You've got showers there, haven't you? Somewhere people can get some sleep? You lot work night shifts and all that. So you've got something, yeah?"
The officer gave a calm nod.
"Brilliant. Then our dear victim can answer your questions, have a shower, and get some sleep without leaving the station. You'll make sure he's looked after, won't you, Officer?"
"Of course. So, are you ready, Luka?" the officer asked.
"Ah, ah, ah." Michael wagged a finger in the air. "You're not going anywhere until you answer one question that's been bothering me."
He leaned toward James, rubbing his chin.
"My dear whiskered darling, do tell me. How exactly did you manage to summon this absolute unit and his mates when our lovely villains were so terribly confident nobody could reach us? It's been driving me mad."
He straightened up.
"I mean, I genuinely believed the bastard. Thought no one was coming. Then, out of nowhere, police sirens. So, do tell me, James. How on earth did you pull that off?"
James shifted uneasily, glancing at the officer, then at Michael. He rubbed his hands together, looking like he could not quite bring himself to say it.
"H-he is... my g-godfather." He said after clearing his throat.
He spoke quietly, stumbling over several words.
"He's been a close friend of my dad for years. And... well... I'm a hybrid, so I've ended up in... bad situations more than once. We have an agreement... If something happens, I call him."
He looked down at his hands.
"So... I called him…"
"And he kept the line open long enough for us to trace your location," the officer cut in, then he turned to Michael. "As for what that man told you..." He narrowed his eyes. "He wasn't lying about one thing. We have no record of anyone calling the police. Someone erased it clean. Whoever did it knew exactly what they were doing."
He looked back at James.
"So you're lucky James was with you."
Then he turned to me.
"Come on, Luka. Let's go."
I nodded and followed him.
Behind me, I heard Michael's astonished voice.
"Bloody hell, you've got some impressive connections, darling."
"They're not... they're not connections," James mumbled, as if trying to justify himself.
Their voices grew quieter and quieter until I couldn't hear them anymore as I walked away with the officer.