We had all been shocked by what we'd just witnessed. Out of everyone, however, only Nakamura's jaw hit the floor while he gasped in disbelief.
"What was that?!" He nearly shouted in awe.
The kid only looked at Nakamura, matter of factly. "Medicine." He declared again, followed by no explanation whatsoever. Attempting again, he handed Agawa the vial and motioned to Sato. "Drink." He commanded.
Utterly persuaded, Agawa popped the cork and held the bottle above Sato's lips. It was then that the door burst open with the force of a furious, middle-aged man.
"What the hell are you doing, Roman?!"
He was standard for a man of his age. Not particularly well-built and not overly out of shape. What did stand out were the darkened purple blotches that hung heavy under his eyes, as well as his horribly stained white overalls paired with dirtied beige trousers.
'He must be the father.'
Agawa threw the bottle down on a nightstand and, like me, readied herself for a fight.
He clicked his tongue in frustration. "Too loud." Roman said, glaring at us.
"Don't…make me repeat myself, " the man glowered at Roman.
Intimidated by who I assumed was his father, Roman angled his gaze downwards to avoid eye contact while fidgeting his fingers. Though it hadn't been even remotely warm within the room, Roman began profusely sweating. It'd been as if the kid had just stepped out of a sweltering sauna.
Veins pulsating and brow creased, the father stomped toward Roman and lifted raised his hand.
For me, seeing a grown man raising his hand to kin was all too familiar. It made me remember things. Things that I'd rather not think about. Despite my avoidance efforts, I could feel a geyser erupt within me. A geyser containing a molten fury formed from years of regret, neglect, abuse, and hatred.
I saw 'him' within the father and myself within the son. My breathing became untamed and my mind raced with thoughts of extreme violence.
I instinctively leaped toward the father in anger and readied a right hook of my own.
Astonishingly, though, a beating isn't what the father doled out. What he did do shocked me to my core, so much so that my feet seemingly became rooted to the floor.
Rather than pummeling his son into submission, the father knelt down, and wrapped his son in a warm embrace with worry painted over his face.
'What?' I stood there, dumbfounded. All of my anger evaporated into complete confusion and my fists lost their grip.
"What have you done?" The father asked again, softly this time. "Who are these people, Roman?"
The question was a difficult one. Given how he'd found us, the kid undoubtedly knew who we were and, for some reason, still decided to help us. That fact alone gave me reason enough to trust him. His dad, on the other hand, was an unknown variable. We had no idea if he'd turn us in or not.
I nodded to Agawa and Kamida; hopefully, they knew it was the signal to pounce and run if things turned sour.
Roman uttered a light sigh. "They're patients."
The father's eyes lit up in a fury again. "Don't lie to me!" He yelled, squeezing Roman's shoulders. "They're heroes, aren't they?!" His grip tightened even further, prompting Roman to wince slightly in pain.
Matching his father, Roman clenched his small hands and gritted his teeth. "So, what if they're heroes?! Aren't we supposed to help people?!"
The father widened his trembling eyes, revealing pure panic within. "Not them!" He continued by shaking his son fiercely out of desperation. "Anyone except for them!"
Kamida began to interject, as he usually does, but his services weren't necessary. Roman pressed ahead and threw his father's hands off himself. "Who cares if they're heroes?! If we see people in need, we help them." He pointed a hand toward his father in confrontation. "You told me that. "
With his son's words, the father that had boiled with anger slowly receded into a simmer. He slammed a fist against the floor, creating a deep vibration that echoed across the floorboards.
Pulling himself up from the floor, it became apparent that his fist was a puffy red with swelling from the impact. Then, standing, he glared at us like he'd been mentally piercing us with daggers.
"Get out." He ordered. "It's too dangerous for you to be here."
"No, dad, they're hurt!" Roman became frantic. "If we turn them away, that bandaged guy and the bearded guy could die!" He panicked, pointing at Sato and Nakamura.
The father glanced at both of them before turning to me, Kamida, and Agawa and growled in frustration. "Fine, "he relented, "one hour. I'll treat them and give you one hour to rest, then you have to leave peaceably. That's the deal."
Honestly, it was a good one. He'd treat our wounds free of charge, give us a place to rest, and let us go? What else could you call it if not a good deal?
Only I couldn't feel that way, considering the ultimatum he'd just given us. Getting ordered around was something that I couldn't tolerate. Even so, I knew I shouldn't cause trouble with these people, so I only returned his scowl in full force.
"Huh, "the father noticed me, "if you don't like it, then I could just kick you out right now." His threat was accompanied by a grunt of intimidation.
Now he'd done it. I was about to let loose when Agawa grabbed me by my collar and yanked me backward. "No, we definitely appreciate anything that you'd do for us! Right?" She asked me, though it seemed more like coercion than a request.
I forced an ugly, twitchy grin. "Y-Yeah, "I replied, subduing my anger, "I really appreciate it…."
The father kept his hostile glare, but proceeded to finish what his son, Roman, had started.
His work was as efficient as it was speedy, captivating Nakamura in awe. Mere moments after he'd appraised Sato, he sterilized Sato's wounds and applied that clear tar from earlier to them. After applying it, the gel hardened, almost like a plastic scab.
The father finished by administering the red fluid and replaced Sato's musty bandages with pristine ones.
pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ 'So this is what a doctor is capable of?' I was slightly impressed. Taking a glance at Nakamura, I could only hope he was as competent as this one.
Next, he leaped to Nakamura's side and analyzed his discolored leg. "Hmm, "he rubbed his chin, "I won't even ask how you managed to contract Green Blight, but have you visited another doctor? The wound appears to have been cleaned and dressed, makeshift as it may be."
Nakamura restlessly rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I'm a doctor as well." His awkward reply was far from the pride he'd exuded when he greeted us back in the mansion.
The father briefly hummed in intrigue while he pulled a metallic flask from a drawer nearby. Then, returning to Nakamura, he applied a smooth, transparent ointment to the bite. Sighs of relief left Nakamura, and his leg regained a bit of its natural color.
Once he'd finished, the father then tightly wrapped sterile white cloth bandages around the wound and stapled them together with a holding pin.
The father groaned to stand up. "That should do for a while." He affirmed, then threw a flask of more ointment to Nakamura. "Apply a dollop of that whenever the pain returns. By the time you empty it, you should be cured."
Finished with his task, the father took hold of a reluctant Roman and headed out the door. He stopped, just shy of opening it. "The deal. You all remember it, right?" He hadn't turned back to meet our eyes, but I could tell his expression was that of intimidation by the subdued fury in his voice.
"Of course," Agawa said, "and thank you very much!"
He grunted at her appreciation, like son like father, and motioned to Roman. "Thank him, "he demanded, "If it weren't for him, I would've thrown you all out already."
Agawa and Kamida bowed to Roman, speaking in perfect sync. "Thank you very much!" She then nudged me and hissed. Though I mumbled it, I managed to utter a sentence that vaguely resembled a 'thank you' too.
Roman recoiled in unease with their gratitude. Avoiding more embarrassment, he hurried out the door with his father and closed it behind them as they left. Now alone, we four exchanged unsure glances on how to proceed.
The first to move was Nakamura. "Well, let's check on Mr. Sato." He said, swaying to his feet.
"Wait, "Agawa protested, "you shouldn't move yet!"
"I'm fine, "he eased, "I'm not sure what they did, but my wounds feel a hundred times better." He smiled and paced up to Sato. Once Nakamura reached him, he excitedly studied the father's work with intrigue.
Assessing Sato myself, it was obvious that his condition vastly improved after the father got a hold of him.
Though slowly, the color of his skin was rebounding back to life from its deathly pale hue. Not only that, but his breathing was also becoming more stable and less strained with each passing second.
We were all joyful at his survival. Agawa, however, was the only one who took physical action with her excitement.
She bolted past Nakamura, hugging Sato's still unconscious body. "Thank god…" She paused. "Thank god you're okay!"
Nakamura laughed. "Yep, I think he'll recover just fine with whatever that medicine was." He brought a finger to his chin. "I find it hard to believe such crude-looking ooze is more effective than what I had access to, "he shrugged. "I guess it should be expected, though. We're in a new world, after all!"
What he said was a fact that I had yet to accept. How could I? A new world? That was absolutely stupid! With everything that we had been through, however…I don't think that I could argue it anymore.
Carefully peering beyond the sheets covering a nearby window, I lost myself in the still starry sky. 'I guess it's true.'
The urgency of Sato's condition gone, we were ready for an official strategizing session to escape this hell. Not that planning was really my thing.
I preferred to hammer things out of the way with force; there'd be less complicated stuff that could go wrong that way. Though we'd only have an hour before we had to leave, our determination to escape, like our bodies, was renewed with new vigor.
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