After they shot Saka…
after I killed the vendor… and the shop owner…
the lab started collapsing.
I went to Saka. Tore the restraints off him.
He screamed at me. Not from anger. From pain.
He tried to talk, but the blood was speaking for him.
"I said… those things… so they would let you go.
Why did you do that?
Do you think… I meant it?
You're not my student… you're my son."
That made it worse.
My tears wouldn't stop.
I picked him up. I ran.
Every step was wrong. Heavy. Dangerous.
He was dying in my arms.
The red door. Again.
Inside it… another door.
I opened it.
Trash. Bodies. Waste.
I pushed Saka in first. Then followed.
Narrow. Long. Dark.
We fell out near the river.
I rolled. Tried to stand.
Saka slipped before me… into the water.
I went after him.
I couldn't see him.
I followed the blood.
Pulled him out.
Then the rain came. Hard. Cold. Night.
How many days was I inside that place?
Nino.
I saw her.
I hid. Behind a shop.
She must not see me like this.
The hospital lights.
"Hold on… please… just hold on."
Five meters.
Is he going to make it?
The street was crowded. Too many people.
The hospital is right there.
Move. Move.
I kept walking. Still carrying him.
He leaned toward my ear and whispered:
"If I die… don't forget me.
And… I want cigarettes."
Everything stopped.
I couldn't answer him.
My body stopped listening to me.
I entered the hospital…
and fell on my face.
What is this?
This feeling…
Strange. Familiar.
Then the voice inside me said:
"Prepare for the consequences."
—
I woke up on a hospital bed.
Wires again.
My head. My body. Pain.
Right side. No one.
Left side… Saka.
Then he disappeared.
The nurse came in crying. Ran out screaming for the doctor.
Same doctor.
Angry.
"Didn't I tell you not to push yourself? Your heart can't handle this! You brought something worse than before!"
Nino rushed in.
Crying.
"I was scared you'd leave me. You said you wouldn't. I'm glad you're alive."
I didn't care.
Saka.
I tried to speak. Nothing came out.
The doctor said:
"You can't talk for a while. A week. Maybe three days.
The man who came with you… he's in surgery. He'll wake up soon."
The weight on my chest moved a little.
Nino said:
"That's good news. They said his case was bad.
Oh, Tai… I joined the music club. I play piano now.
The best thing I can play is Moonlight Sonata."
There was a pen and paper next to me.
I wrote:
"How… in three days?"
She read it.
"It's been a month and a half.
You were missing for a week.
The rest… you were in a coma."
Two days passed quickly.
Nino kept playing for me.
Only Moonlight Sonata.
Again. Again. Again.
Then…
They told me.
Saka died yesterday.
End of Chapter 24