A/N: About 7,500 words here. Oh- and prepare! I'm issuing a emotional-yet-kinda-sappy moment alert for this chapter. There's a cliff, but if you wanna make it obvious for yourself, don't skim.
Riverside Ironworks Storage
Inside
4 PM
Dr. Kimishima and Dr. Sartre watched as the situation became more bleak by the moment. The syringe containing a small amount of fluid they didn't recognize was held firmly to Dr. Tachibana's neck. All three assailants remained standing freely, one official has already been shot dead, and the kidnapped doctor was out cold. The police behind them were only for show, since they were powerless as well.
The blonde man of the group, Christopher, spoke to the one who held Tomoe's hostage, "You're taking this too far." He looked to the silver-haired leader, who stood facing the infiltrators, and warned, "Don't you think this is enough...?"
The tired blue-eyes and blank expression was turned to him. Eric closed his eyes, conveying the message of agreement. He suddenly approached the one who questioned and pierced his arm using a syringe that he pulled out of his grasp. After injecting, he pulled out the syringe and threw it aside. His own syringe, was in his other hand. The whole action was done within a few seconds, and without a word.
Christopher fell back and landed beside the captured doctor. Though he felt nothing from what was put in him, the rapid movement of the needle caused bleeding to occur. "Dammit...you..." He looked up to the one who attacked him with some melancholy and said, "Who knew you'd be the one..."
The doctors and police watched in horror as the leader took down one of his own- the man wasn't dead, but it was clear that he could no longer take action. He was no longer a threat, but this was becoming unbelievable.
Matthias didn't move an inch; he showed no reaction, but it was clear that he wasn't eased from anything, either. He looked as if he came up with a conclusion as he said, "...I didn't think you'd be that cruel. You already killed one, and you almost got two more. How many more 'til you're satisfied?" The leader showed no reaction to his words at first, but he seemed to understand the meaning behind them.
While he was talking, his grip on Tomoe was weakened, allowing her to break free. Dr. Tachibana wasted no time in turning the hand with the syringe from beside her next into the enemy's thigh. She didn't meant for the syringe to pierce through anything, but there was enough recoil that it did so. With the advantage of standing, she instinctively pushed back the man. "Hah-"
"Aargh-!" The brown-haired man fell to the ground on his side- unfortunately it was the side where the syringe was stuck in his thigh. It slid as it hit the ground, causing the material to be injected and the needle to tilted. The result was an injured leg...maiming him. "That was careless of me...Damn." His other leg, however, was able to trip the endoscopic surgeon with a kick, which was done out of a reaction to the pain.
Tomoe was still recovering when she her legs were hit. She fell back and hit her arms on cargo boxes behind her while she was trying to find support. It wasn't severe, but she was hurt. She remained where she was- carefully watching the movements of the two in laying and standing in front of her.
"Tomoe-" Dr. Sartre was blocked by the medical examiner's held out arm. He knew that there was still one man left to deal with- though so far it seemed that all they had to do was watch. CR-SO1 looked to Alicia to check on her condition. "(She still is...)" He spotted the blonde man that was put down earlier next to her whispering something; he was unsure who he was talking to, since those around him were either unconscious or focused elsewhere.
Dr. Kimishima and the silver-haired man were still facing each other- their blue eyes were trying to figure out what the other was going to attempt next. Naomi had her cellphone out and ready, but she could hear noises beyond the entrance door of the warehouse- it wouldn't be long before someone came in without her call. Her other hand, which held the gun Tomoe passed to her, was lowered as she spoke, "Do you have any reason behind this?"
The man closed his eyes as he answered, "We do." He didn't give any more details other than the verification of a existence of a purpose. Eric stood with a quiet and motionless sense, the complete opposite of what he had when he went against his own. A revelation could be felt from him, but it couldn't be understood.
"Then tell us." Naomi stepped forward and continued, "What is it that you needed to accomplish by abducting that doctor?" She held the gun even tighter, seeing that the man's grip on the syringe was stronger as well. "And what is in that?" Her eyes swayed to look at the girl at the side.
Tomoe had her hand on a stacked crate and was still gasping as she glanced to the one across from her. To her surprise, she was up. To be more exact, she was in the same position she was in, panting and showing exhaustion in every other way. "A-alicia..!"
Matthias showed shock as well. Christopher, on the other hand, had already learned this. They both looked at Eric, realizing what has been done. Matthias, with a face showing ridicule and yet some contentment at the same time, grunted in a cunning way, "I take what I said earlier back, you're too kind." He pulled out the syringe from his thigh and stopped himself from yelping from the pain. "It's hard to believe you're the one in charge..."
The leader didn't give the man on the floor much pity as he glimpsed at him. The one next to the girl didn't have much to say, but the same words could be read from his face. Everyone could hear the girl mutter under her breath, "You're despicable."
The last assailant that stood turned around to face the kidnapped doctor and stated, "You're opinion is pointless." His eyes were closed- in a way that led the others to believe he accepted the insult without objection. He looked at the forensic expert and surgeon and advised, "We are willing to give it all...to see a small desire fulfilled. Though our means were not laureate..." The two men on his sides grew a resolute expression with his next phrase, "It was our decision and our risk."
The police and three doctors sent into the room fell quiet. They watched as Dr. Rosellini murmured to her attacker in her weak condition, "Then finish what you started."
That moment, the entrance doors were broke open. The other Resurgam responders and friends of the doctors in the room along with officials from the outside prepared to charge in. Dr. Kimishima, slightly disappointed by the fact the intrusion was done with out clearance, yelled, "Stay back!" She realized the chestnut-haired man on the floor had another gun that pointed at Tomoe- where the pistol came from was out of her knowledge.
Gabriel and Maria were in the front of the intruding group. They saw the scene and waited for a chance to get to Tomoe and Alicia. The diagnostician saw that the many guns directed at the last of the perpetrators didn't make things any easier and shouted to the police and forces behind him, "Hey, stop showing off the firearms, you're only going to make them wanna shoot more." Chief Wayne, who was far behind him, backed up on the statement and many listened.
Matthias, who had a gun pointed to Tomoe despite his position, muttered to Eric accordingly, "Hurry up, you indecisive idiot." Christian didn't add anything else other than, "Quit wasting time with talking."
The leader followed up on the words and without notice, charged at the girl. Surprisingly, not a single bullet was shot to intercept his movements- the defending doctor was on her own. Dr. Rosellini quickly dodged away from the crates behind her and to the side, at the same time she tried to pull the syringe from his hand. Once she realized the man's grasp on the item was too strong, it was already too late for her to let go. Instead, the man turned and pulled her hand inwards- causing the needle to be stabbed into his stomach; the recoil naturally caused Alicia to inject.
"Aargh-!"
His yell seemed the least violent of the three, but this injury was the most deadly of them all. Rather than a simple injection, it was a potential stab wound. He fell back, and the girl remained in a lowered standing position with her hand holding the syringe. The victim was mortified, but the attacker's face had little emotion besides the ones from the pain. Alicia dropped the empty syringe and took a step back. She trembled for a few moments, as she slowly regained back her composure, she silently fell to her knees without a word to her dying assailant.
The man who had the gun to Tomoe lowered it and slid it behind him calmly. "It's over." As the officers went to handcuff him and the others, he ignored the Miranda rights being stated and murmured to himself, "He really was an idiot..."
Maria, Gabriel, and CR-SO1 split up during the chaos to reach Tomoe and Alicia. Maria went to the endoscopic surgeon first, seeing the men going to the kidnapped girl. Tomoe sat down and rolled up her torn sleeves. The paramedic saw a few bruises on Tomoe arms and grumbled. "Damn it...Tomoe- what happened...?" She began to go through her pockets to see if she had anything that could help.
"I...fell on the boxes...but that doesn't matter, I promised to-" Tomoe raised her head and asked in a hurry, "How is Alicia?" She removed Maria's hands from her arms and said, "I will be alright, Maria...Please tell me how severe is her condition-"
"I didn't check on her yet...come on." Dr. Torres helped Dr. Tachibana up, careful not to bump into the bruises. "The kid and Gabe went to see her..." She made a path for her injured friend through the armed forces arresting the kidnappers to reach the other side, where their co-workers and victim were.
Dr. Cunningham was standing, taking note of the exhaustion easily read on Dr. Rosellini. He saw the two next to him and said, "I won't be too surprised if she faints now and wakes up days later; that fight and whatever they did to her was plenty enough to wear anyone out." He pulled out a cigarette and asked, "So what did they do with you...?" He received no response, which he didn't mind at all. He turned around and shrugged, satisfied that at least none of the cameras from the media were inside the building.
Dr. Sartre got up from his lowered position next to Dr. Rosellini and said to the others, "We should talk about this later...we need to take her back to Resurgam..." He glanced down and asked, "Can you stand...?" As he said the question, a shout and cursing could be heard near the entrance to the building. The doctors turned their attention to the front as Alicia got up.
"You son of a-" "How did you..." The handcuffed criminals were struggling against the officers as they tried to get to Chief Wayne, the reason behind their sudden resistance was unknown, but had Secret Agent Navel and medical examiner Naomi Kimishima curious. They noticed the third man, the leader, didn't react as violent as the other two- instead, he spoke a few inaudible words as he passed by.
David Wayne had a confused face as he slowly walked to Naomi and Navel, "That was strange..." He looked out the door where the culprits were forced out and said, "Perhaps...they mistook me for someone..?"
"I would assume that's the case, Chief." Dr. Kimishima looked at David more cautiously as she asked, "What did that last man say to you?" Her arms were crossed in a serious manner as she looked at the ends of the room. The forces have already left the building, only the doctors and they stayed behind.
David took down his glasses and wiped it with his shirt as he answered, "'Expect a brutal retribution for what you all have done...'" He put the glasses back on and commented, "This man was well determined to succeed...whatever his goal may have been." He looked at the forensic expert and said, "I'll ask the FBI if they're willing to continue letting you handle this case..."
"Thank you." Naomi said with her back turned. She watched the Resurgam doctors exit and ordered to her agent, "Little Guy. Get me the identities of the kidnappers as soon as you can. And try to keep the media away from all of this, if you can help it." She went further into the room after hearing Navel take off. She bent down to examine the IV line that went up to the table."(...I wouldn't say their work here was incomplete...)"
As the Resurgam doctor went outside, they decided on who to transport the girl. Chief Wayne met them as they were debating and said, "I heard another hospital will be tending to the criminals... I know apologies will never make up for what has happened..."
"You have no need. They knew they wouldn't succeed, but they still tried." Dr. Rosellini interrupted with a weak voice. She was supported by Maria, who was looking around for their ambulances beyond the mass of people and vehicles.
"I see..." David was about to walk away before he looked back and noted, "Oh, Naomi will be continuing with this investigation..."
"We appreciate the news...but we gotta get back...you mind?" Gabriel said, scratching his head as he scanned the crowd of news reporters growing by the minute. "I don't wanna get interviewed..." He received a small laugh of agreement from the Chief.
"Alicia's coming with us." Dr. Torres announced when she spotted the ambulances. She pulled along the girl and called to Dr. Tachibana, "Hey Tomoe, let's go! You can bring your butler if you wanna..." She towed along Alicia with the two following from behind.
Before the diagnostician left with the surgeon, he mentioned to Naomi's boss, "Tell Naomi her kid's still at Resurgam-!" The man nodded, and Gabriel hurried along with CR-SO1 before any more reporters gathered in the area.
On the Road
Resurgam Ambulances
5:53 PM
Maria was at her seat, driving tirelessly. The pressure on the gas pedal was much less now, but the paramedic was still in a hurry. She noticed a news helicopter was following them and sighed to Tomoe, who was in the back watching Alicia's condition, "How's the kid?"
Dr. Tachibana was kneeling, her hand firmly against the wall for support as she saw the girl's eyes were closing. "Dr. Cunningham's prediction is very accurate..." She looked to the front of the vehicle and said, "How long until we reach Resurgam?" She steadied herself up, preparing to return to the passenger's seat. Hanzou remained at the watch for her.
"I'd say now that the traffic's cleared up...about five or less minutes..." The paramedic answered after inspecting the number of cars ahead. She felt as if she should evade the overhead media, so she passed several cars.
Tomoe waited for the car to stop turning before going back to her seat, but as she was about to navigate to the front, she felt something on her wrinkled lab coat was stopping her from going; she perceived it as a light tug. She quietly turned around, and discovered Alicia was still fighting off rest to tell her something. Putting out her hand to the wall for balance, she asked in a small voice, "Is there something you wish to tell me?"
Dr. Rosellini had a barely noticeable smile as she almost whispered, "I..need to ask you a favor..." Her smile disappeared for a moment as she confessed, "I couldn't get Dr. Sartre his lunch...I don't think he'll appreciate it if I was the one to give it to him now.." It seemed as if she laughed as she asked, "Do you mind getting him something to eat when we return?"
Dr. Tachibana nodded, mouthing 'of course' when she had a feeling Maria was getting suspicions. She went back to the seat and put on the seat belt after pausing for a moment- she was surprised from the request, after all the events, how could she remember such a thing? She glanced back, only to witness that the girl was resting. Alicia was in a sitting position; her back leaning against the wall. Her head tilted to the right and her silver hair was set on her lap. That faint, warm smile could be detected on her face, but the hint regret was seen easier.
When Tomoe turned away, her butler standing in the back of the ambulance looked down at the doctor. To his astonishment, the girl opened her eyes- her face were drained of any joy, a bitter frown replaced the tiny smile from before. He may have not known what had happened, but from her face alone he could tell she had done something she will forever remember. He noticed her murmur something, but the only word he could read was 'sorry.' Minutes later, the girl's scarlet eyes were closed once more and she was fast asleep.
In the other ambulance, a conversation was sparked when Dr. Cunningham noticed the chopper marked with a news channel number apparently following Maria's ambulance. He couldn't help but mutter, "She's more popular than ever..." He tried to stay directly behind the other ambulance by passing any cars between them. "Some 'angel with black wings'... whoever made that title up is colorblind..."
Dr. Sartre saw the diagnostician grumbling and looked to the opposite direction, not wanting to be involved in such a discussion. He was busy trying to guess what the purpose of the kidnapping was. He then heard Gabriel say to him, "You know, that title fits you a lot more than the other kid."
He didn't comment on the wild accusation. Looking out past his window, he tried to ignore the driver. Gabriel continued on with a cigarette planted in his mouth, "Though I wouldn't necessarily call you a messenger from God..."
CR-SO1 finally gave in and asked, "Where did the symbolism come from?" He never thought much about Alicia's other name, since after all, she despised every part of it. "Why would they use an angel?" The color 'black' gave him a few worries as well.
"Beats me. Maybe they think she'd pretty or something-" Gabriel paused and corrected, "Or...probably some guy with a few screws loose..." He shrugged nonchalantly and smirked at the surgeon, "I don't think it's the same brilliant guy who gave Naomi the name 'corpse whisperer.'" He focused on the road and noticed a car swerving in front of him. "Woah-" His first reaction was to turn to the side , avoiding collision.
The car honked as it sped on forward. Gabriel muttered 'geez' and switched lanes. He saw the kid next to him was completely unaware of the close call and sighed, "Man, I can see why you will never get a driver's license..."
"...The title...it came with the first incident...right?" Dr. Sartre murmured as he looked forward in the seat. His face showed some complexion, to what the diagnostician thought. The surgeon saw that Gabriel was being quiet for longer than usual and asked, "...Do you actually know?"
"That Death's Greed thing...I heard...a kid from that was the one that started the idea..." Gabriel admitted. He didn't really know why he held back the first time, but it didn't seem the surgeon minded. "That's what was on the papers. He got interviewed...you know?" He noted that the passenger was satisfied with the answer and stopped. He added, "I guess it does make sense for him..."
"And the black wings?" CR-SO1 looked out the window at the afternoon sky out of curiosity for the answer. He couldn't help thinking if that had to do with him being bailed by Dr. Rosellini. "Did the people simply add that?"
"No. This might be a shocker, but the whole title was from the kid." Gabriel said as he tightened his grip on the wheel. The surgeon looked at him with surprise, but was disappointed later when her heard the diagnostician say, "That's all I really know on that. The kid wasn't colorblind, I mean, who can get white mixed up with black?" The cigarette in Gabriel's mouth was thrown out as he guessed, "If I had to make up an explanation, I would say...uh..." His yellow eyes wandered as he thought of an idea. "Hallucinating? Maybe he accidentally said it, I dunno." The diagnostician gave up and went back to his job to driving. "You got a clue?"
"...maybe...myself?" Dr. Sartre disliked his weak response, but somehow the diagnostician found it a good one. "That child..."
"Oh. Maybe that kid had a relative from the bio-attack or epidemic. When he figured out the background of who saved him, that's when the idea hit him. That kid's pretty smart...eh." Gabriel smirked at the surgeon and commented, "Not a bad guess."
The ex-convict lowered his eyes and looked away from the one giving small praise. "That was just an assumption." He turned away from the subject by asking, "How much farther?"
"Almost there." Dr. Cunningham answered as the smirk vanished from his face. He'd rather go home, knowing that the kids and Hank would make fun of him after seeing him on TV.
Resurgam First Care
6:18 PM
Hallways
"Her brain and organ activity dropped a lot. If we waited any longer, she could've been in a coma." Dr. Cunningham reported to the group waiting outside of Dr. Rosellini's office. He closed the door and saw Dr. Tachibana with a lowered head and Dr. Torres growing a bad mood. Not to mention Chief Patel with an extremely disappointed face after she gave everyone a lecture on how long they took to come back. "I'd say she'll be up in a day...though her next appointment will have to wait for a week." Gabriel sighed as he walked past the women- Dr. Sartre was in his office silently reading something and Hank was managing the kids for him.
Tomoe disappeared as Gabriel went past her, making Esha mumble to the paramedic, "Hey Maria, what's up with Tomoe? She's usually the cheery one." Gabriel stopped to hear Maria's answer out of curiosity.
"She got some bruises...but..." Maria said with her hands on her hips. She heard the diagnostician chuckle for a second and asked, "What's so funny Gabe..?"
Dr. Cunningham was turned away when he said, "That's strange. Last time I saw her, she still has that emotional scar...I guess she doesn't like it when people get hurt for her or something..." He immediately continued walking down the hall, not at all noticing the two women both with bitter expressions. He stopped and grumbled, "Still, I heard it was impressive what she did, don't know why she's upset about it."
Hanzou appeared between Gabriel and the women and responded as they reacted to his arrival, "That may be true, but please consider that before she was not able to save the one that mattered to her the most."
"I wasn't in need for a history lesson..." Gabriel turned around to face the butler. "So you came to tell us what is really going through her mind? I don't wanna know." Hanzou apologized and glanced back at the Chief and paramedic.
"Hey, Alicia's still alive, she just isn't able to get up right now..." Maria said when the air became silent. "Even if she could stop the kidnapping-"
Hanzou interrupted, "Yes, Dr. Rosellini is still living, but with her condition, is this what Milady would consider 'well?'"
"Apparently not." 'The Master of Deduction' murmured in reply. After his response, the butler bowed and disappeared as he came. "...Still can't get used to this." He sighed as he spun back around and went down the hall.
Chief Patel scratched her head and said, "Well Maria, I'm glad the kid's back, but next time, I'm not going to be this patient. I'm just happy that no reporters showed up here..." The sound of high heels tapping on the ground was heard as Esha walked away.
The paramedic was about to go the same path, but she looked back at the office door. With a long sigh, she followed the Chief and turned at the corridor- as she went, she noticed the other kid was in his office. CR-SO1 looked more as if he was brooding rather than reading at his desk.
The surgeon set down the book and pushed away from the desk, causing him to slide back in his office chair. He was ready to face staying over at Resurgam for the night. Standing up, he glanced to the side and noticed a large brown bag atop his bookshelf. It was easily figured out to be Tomoe's delivered meal, but he realized it was someone else. Tomoe would always announce that she left the food there; it was the butler..?
Nevertheless, Dr. Sartre went over to check the insides of the bag- there were two meals. He knew he missed lunch- but it was a mystery how Tomoe could remember such a thing, after everything that happened.
Dr. Cunningham's Office
6:21 PM
"Huh?" When Gabriel entered his office, Joshua was the only person inside. "Hey, where's Hank and the other kid...?" The boy looked...rather melancholy, after seeing his favorite doctor on TV. Gabriel couldn't shrug off the gloomy face and grumbled after a moment's thought, "I remember telling Hank to get you two lunch..."
The boy looked to the side and said, "The big guy got a call and took Alyssa with him out, she just left..." He was sitting at the diagnostician's desk, his face looked as if he woke up too early. "We already ate..."
Gabriel chuckled, "I knew RONI was useless, but I gotta say I'm lucky that you didn't jump out the window after being here for almost the whole day..." He went to the couch and disposed his cigarette. "Did you see everyone on the news...?" He looked to his computer assistant and discovered that it was turned off.
The boy spun around in the office chair and grew a small grin, "Yeah, you guys were cool. I hope that Alicia will be okay-"
"Quit worrying, she's fine..." Gabriel leaned back on the couch and stretched his arms. He sighed, "So you guys watched the whole thing...hopefully the reporters didn't say anything bad about me smoking there..." The diagnostician mumbled to himself.
Joshua laughed for a second, then the bittersweet face came back up again. He put his hands on his lap and started to say,"Hey doc...there's something..." He got interrupted again.
"Oh great, what did they say about me?" Gabriel said, not noticing the grim look on his son's face as he looked at the sun about to set through the window. "It's nothing that you'd believe, right?"
"N-nothing...I was just..." Joshua spun back around in the chair and sighed. "The...phone in your office rang twice..." Joshua stood up and glanced back at the sitting doctor, who recently grew a serious look.
Gabriel pushed himself up from the couch and said, "Let me guess...your mom wants me to take you home or something? You don't need that face to tell me that." As he hung up his lab coat, he looked at the boy standing next to RONI with a sad face too uncommon to ignore. "What's wrong...?" He had a feeling Joshua was going to cry in a second.
"...I'm...not gonna come here anymore."
"What?" Dr. Cunningham quickly recovered from his shock, but he too grew the depressed face. He always thought baby-sitting in his office was the last thing he ever wanted to do. But today of all days, and after this long...he kind of got used to having a kid (or kids) running around in his office. It was hard to admit, he had to ask, "Why?"
Joshua's eyes looked away. "Mom never said. I mean, after you found out what made me sick and made me better...we moved away. But when Mom got sick, she decided to move back... I told her I didn't wanna move anymore, so she promised not to. And..."
"You don't need to tell me all of that. Just..." Gabriel combed his hair back and asked, "Does it have something to do with..." He looked at Joshua in surprise and continued, "She isn't... Oh god...It's not Alicia is it?"
Joshua had a confused face, but as he said before, he wasn't told. The boy could only say, "Alyssa and the big doc don't know..." But his words didn't seemed to be heard; Gabriel was furiously questioning and cursing to himself, the assumption never leaving his mind.
Then his cellphone went off.
The diagnostician checked the number and clenched his teeth. He flipped the phone open and put it up to his ear. "You can't do this. Not after this long." His other hand, which would usually be stuck in a pocket, was out and against the wall.
Joshua watched in silence, guessing that the one calling was his mother. He stayed at his spot, listening to every word that came out of the doctor's mouth. Every detail of the diagnostician had evidence that he was not happy.
"I'm not letting him go until you give us a good reason that you're-" Gabriel paused. After a few seconds of listening, he angrily responded, "That isn't what I'm-" He was cut off again. This time, he couldn't say anything, since the call had ended. "Dammit..!" Gabriel slammed the phone shut and raised his hand to throw it across the room, but then held back.
"What did Mom say?" Joshua asked after waiting a long time. He watched the diagnostician shove the phone back into his pocket. He got no answer and said, "Mom...is here, right?"
"Uh...Yeah." Gabriel wasn't able to murmur anything else. He stood before the door with a lost gaze, his eyes strayed from meeting Joshua's.
There was a knock on the door and Dr. Freebird's voice from the other side, "Joshua? You mother's here to pick you up." But little did the orthopedic surgeon know that this was the boy's last visit. His voice was too casual, which was enough to start tears to roll down Joshua's eyes.
Dr. Cunningham turned around and said, "He'll be out in a minute, Hank." He tried to maintain a normal voice. Hank responded with a hint of surprise, but listened to his friend. Gabriel turned around to face his son, who still had no idea about it despite the time he spent stranded in the hospital.
But to the father's surprise, Joshua was already growing emotional and had ran up to hug him. "You're the best doc ever..." The boy let go and declared in his teary face, "I'm definitely gonna be as cool as you! And when I become a doc- I'll...I'm gonna..." More tears came up, and he couldn't continue his statement.
Gabriel kept his composure as his hand ruffled Joshua's green hair. He was able to smile for a tiny moment. "You're gonna try to find me, huh? Not too shabby of an idea. But you got many choices...don't just copy-"
Joshua took Gabriel's hand off his hair and said, "I already made up my mind, I'm gonna be a doctor." He wiped away his tears and happily said, "I want to be able to save people like everyone in the hospital." He smiled to his best ability.
The father was speechless for a moment. He was weak against those types of inspirational lines, so he could only respond, "Well...Good luck then, Joshua..." He reached for the handle of the door as he added on, "I guess I'll look forward to the day we could...um...save lives together, heh? (Come up with a better line, idiot...)"
Joshua didn't even glimpse out into the hall as the diagnostician opened the door, what Dr. Freebird waited behind the entire time. "Yeah- don't forget me, doc!" He waved to Gabriel as he left with Hank. Gabriel did the same, his smirk was dissolving as Joshua went farther and farther. He and Hank were out of sight once they turned halfway down the corridor.
Gabriel closed the door and had himself against the wall with a strong regret. "Damn everything..." His hands were both made into fists, all because of the frustration of a few truths:
Why didn't he go to see Joshua off? He was a coward. A simple, pitiful coward that had zero courage as a father.
Was it because he didn't want Lisa to spill the truth yet? Lisa wouldn't tell Joshua; she would never do it. Instead she gave her ex-husband the chances to do so. They were wasted.
Why should he worry about breaking his son's heart? Didn't Joshua wished for this truth the most? It's just that...he was too ashamed- Joshua had always needed a father, and he wasn't there.
"As long as you're both alive, you still have a chance..." Gabriel muttered RONI's words, in an attempt to regain himself. It took no effect other than making the situation worse. "He'll grow up to be just like you...he'll find you, and you'll be able to work together." His second-person way of speaking filled the office room. He then laughed at himself, "Yeah, if one of you didn't have a stupid smoking habit." The father threw himself on the couch and continued, "I'm probably not gonna be here by the time he even graduates..."
The Rapid Organization Networked Intelligence only added to the silence of the room, as it was turned off- and could only be turned on by the Chief's command at this time. Gabriel knew that but conversed with it anyway, "No words of wisdom today, huh RONI?" He mocked the computer to his content and eventually confessed, "I don't think I'll ever be able to tell Joshua that one truth. Even if it only takes three words, I can't do it. I might not even do it if the world was ending or something."
Gabriel wondered what RONI would say. Would she apply the algorithm or just throw in some complicated reasoning? He laid on the couch, reluctant to return to his apartment. "You know what? Life sucks. "
Next Day
Conference Room
Chief Patel held up a report by Dr. Cunningham in the front of the room with only four doctors that arrived. "Gabe has an appointment right now, so I'll read what little thing he had to say..." To her expectations, there was only one small paragraph for her to read out: "'The girl's condition just got worse. I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't get out of bed in several days. Don't freak out, but don't get too comfortable, either.'" Esha lowered the report and was the first to show a defeated but quiet expression. She threw the paper onto the table- it flew to the other end, where Dr. Sartre and Dr. Tachibana stood.
After a long moment of silence, Esha said, "Her operations are going to be divided and taken care of by everyone...I'm not gonna put her back on the job until she's completely better." She sighed, "But I'm gonna have to charge her for the stays." She was prepared for any objections.
"Chief!" Maria was undoubtedly the first to oppose the statement. She saw that Esha had no choice and lowered her head. "That isn't right..."
Dr. Tachibana, still ridden with guilt, blurted out, "I'll pay for them- it was my fault that Alicia was..." She then saw the Chief shake her head from the voluntary statement. "But I-"
"Tomoe, I know you want to make it up, but I'm pretty sure the kid can pay much more than what the hospital's charging her. And seriously, you're not at fault from anything." As Chief Patel spoke, she took up all her files and prepared to leave. "That's all for conference. If you have anything else, talk to me later. I have to organize the kid's patients." Esha left the room accordingly.
Dr. Freebird was about to ask something- he changed his mind after seeing that the others aren't welcoming questions at the moment. He gave his goodbye and went out of the room without another word.
The paramedic retrieved the diagnostician's note and reread it. "Damn." She crumpled it up and threw it into a bin beside the door as she dashed out the door. The other two watched, but had no comment.
"I'll...continue to bring you two all the meals." Tomoe said to the surgeon next to her. "I'm sorry that you are forced to stay at the hospital...Please give Alicia my best regards..." She hesitated between her phrases, but when she finished, she departed as well. CR-SO1 did the same in the following minute.
Four Days Later
Dr. Rosellini's Office
Afternoon
After her lunch delivery to Dr. Sartre, Tomoe went across the hall to Dr. Rosellini's room. When she touched the knob, she realized the door was not even shut- it was opened up by a simple push. "Alicia, I brought lunch-"
To her surprise, the girl was fully working at her desk. She was typing on a laptop with glasses on- the former hospital gown replaced with her regular clothes and lab coat, as if nothing ever happened. "Oh- Thank you very much, Tomoe..." Alicia said as she closed the computer promptly. "Hopefully this will be the last time you have to run an errand for us..."
Dr. Tachibana shook her head and said, "I don't mind. Please, whenever you need help, I will be happy to assist..." She then noticed a check on Dr. Rosellini's desk and said, "The Chief already told you about the charging?" She had a slight frown as she spotted amount of writing on it.
"That?" When Alicia received the bag, she placed it beside the check. She only smiled when Tomoe showed concern about the cost of the stay. "It didn't change a thing. Don't need to grow upset about it." She took off her glasses and folded it as she placed it in her lab coat pocket. "So, I suppose the entire hospital has yet to hear that I'm well..?"
As Tomoe answered 'yes,' Dr. Sartre entered the room with several patient charts in his hands. He didn't have much to add into the conversation, and therefore decided to leave after setting the files atop of Alicia's computer. But before he turned around to leave, the endoscopic surgeon already gave her farewell and exited before him.
"There's something I wanted to ask you."
CR-SO1 turned around to face the doctor talking to him. He heard the girl wavering as she asked, "Ever since the moment we met until now...You don't curse the fact that I'm the cause for all the misfortune?" He watched her walk up to the window as she spoke.
His immediate answer was 'no,' but she countered with another question, "You have an explanation to support your answer?" Alicia had a slightly mischievous smirk as she spun around. Dr. Sartre didn't answer straightaway as last time. He paused a few times in his answer, "I...wouldn't have been able to remember...what the Professor may have erased..."
Dr. Rosellini returned to her office as she listened to the surgeon's response. "If you were me...what would the answer be now?"
The surgeon traced back the question and murmured, "I...caused misfortune to..." He then discovered the meaning behind the idea-:
If Alicia never stumbled upon him, the prisoner with an unfair sentence, then she would've died from her virus then. She would've not went through the long process of regaining her memories, most she would have wanted to forget. Perhaps she wouldn't encounter her husband and other acquaintance... Also the virus she lived with grew more unbearable by the day...
But if it wasn't for her, many would die from those events only she could've solve- not to mention his own life was spared... She didn't consider that misfortune, did she? And was his presence all there was to blame?
The surgeon didn't know how to put his realization into words. He saw the girl close her eyes as she stated, "I don't consider helping anyone and suffering from the consequences a misfortune. I want you to know that, as Tomoe, you are not to be blamed for anything. No matter what I face, including death, the last thing I would want is everyone here regretting it." Her expression turned hopeless as she said, "Though I fear that this is not the end of the chain of events..."
Dr. Sartre listened to every word, but had nothing to respond with. He heard approaching steps and looked to the door. It was the green-haired diagnostician; he entered with a face of amusement at seeing the girl was well. He greeted, "Hate to ruin your conversation..."
Alicia responded fast, "As if you care." She stood up from her desk and asked in a stern voice, "What do you want?" Her voice was cold and unfriendly, which led the surgeon to believe that they had a conflict on their last meeting.
Gabriel never had any positive sign on his face from the beginning. He said informatively, "You might want to hop over to my office to see this. Or we could go to the conference room, just...get to somewhere with a TV like everyone else..!"
The surgeons were hesitant. It sounded as if it was the media completely losing control and committing libel. The girl showed suspicion as she heard the words. She said, "You could just tell us what they're reporting about."
The diagnostician paused for a minute, then sighed as he rolled up his sleeve, "This."
Ending note: I'd love to hear what you think it is. Though I find if super-obvious if you read this and the last chappy carefully (despite those typos I can't seem to catch...) This is the entrance into the last 'mini-arc' of Retribution (meaning longer chapters...xD).