X-Guard headquarter.
In one of the medical rooms buried deep within the X-Guard facility, Ethan lay motionless on the hospital bed.
Thin wires and clear tubes clung to his body like silent sentinels.
A heart monitor hummed steadily beside him, its rhythmic beeping the only sound breaking the sterile stillness.
His face was pale—too pale—white as fresh snow that had never known sunlight.
Renata stood beside the bed.
She had been standing there for so long that even she had lost track of time.
Arms crossed tightly, shoulders tense, her sharp eyes fixed on Ethan's face as if sheer willpower could drag him back from whatever dark place he had wandered into.
If staring could wake someone up, he would have punched his way out of unconsciousness hours ago.
After a long while, Renata finally exhaled, her breath trembling as she let it out.
She pulled the stool closer and sat down heavily beside the bed.
