However, just as he was about to stand up, he heard some officers talking again.
"That's it, if we can't find him today, we're leaving tomorrow!"
The other officers agreed as all of them walked away. They were getting tired of waiting for the boy, and they had to report back to the higher-ups soon.
Shiro smiled weakly.
'Just one more day and I'll be free…', he thought to himself.
After making sure those officers were nowhere near him, he ran with all his might towards the sea and drank all the water he could cup inside his hands.
This time, he was happy that this torture would be over.
The next day, Shiro woke up when the sun was shining directly above his head.
He felt weak and dizzy. He sat up slowly and realized, that today he was able to go home!
Shiro wanted to stand up, but his legs were numb. Instead, he slumped down onto the sand.
'It's okay, I'll take a break first…', Shiro consoled himself. He started rubbing his legs gently, trying to ease the numbness.
His eyelids became heavier and heavier. Shiro fought the feeling to pass out just after waking up, however, his body was too weak. Finally, he fell onto the sand, unconscious.
Unbeknownst to him, someone was looking for Shiro as soon as the people from Anti-Pirate Fed. left, without knowing what the officers had done.
It was Mornil, the doctor!
An hour ago, he decided to pay a visit to Loyola's house because he had not seen Shiro in a long time. Mornil was away for a few days, he had gone to the next city, so he didn't know about what had happened here.
However, when he arrived near Loyola's house, he was shocked to see the amount of blood at the front door.
He immediately dashed inside the house only to find more blood, not knowing how to react, he ran out and then began asking the people nearby.
Almost all of them refused to speak, probably they were forced not to say even a single word. Mornil even begged them to reveal what had happened, but none had the guts to go against the officers after looking at their brutality.
Mornil sensed that something was wrong, so very wrong, and thus, ran towards the seashore, hoping to meet Shiro.
He wasn't sure if he could meet anyone, but somewhere down there, in his heart, there was this faint hope which reassured him that Shiro and/or his family would be near his hiding spot. As he would go to search for them, he would definitely find them there – this was his delusion and hope, at least, something that pushed him forward to search for them.
"Shiro!", Mornil yelled at the top of his lungs. He kept looking for Shiro even before he arrived at Shiro's usual hiding spot.
When he reached the hiding spot, he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Shiro behind the rocks. Mornil immediately rushed towards Shiro.
"Shiro?", Mornil asked as he shook Shiro.
Unfortunately, Shiro did not respond.
Since Mornil was a doctor, his first thought was to check Shiro's breath and pulse.
"What is he doing here? And why is he unconscious? Did he not have any food?", Mornil asked no one in particular, after being reassured that Shiro was fine but just weak and unconscious.
Mornil began inspecting Shiro's face while tapping softly on his cheeks.
He saw Shiro's chapped lips and pale face. Everything clicked together. Shiro must have been here for a long time, and he must have been dehydrated!
"Shiro? Wake up!", Mornil asked urgently, tapping on his face a bit harder this time.
Seeing Shiro with no response no matter how hard he tried, he carried Shiro and rushed back to his clinic.
'Please be okay, Shiro…', Mornil begged quietly.
Shiro was unconscious even until Mornil arrived at his clinic. Mornil quickly placed Shiro onto one of the beds and inserted an IV needle into his crook.
Then, he rushed to the pharmacy to get some medicine for Shiro to take.
While all of this was happening, Shiro was stuck in an endless nightmare. His memories kept replaying over and over again.
He kept seeing his mom getting shot. Her eyes looked at him with disappointment, resentment, and a sense of danger including hope.
Sera was running in the background, but then she was stabbed by a stranger. Sera yelled out in pain.
Shiro tried to stop all of those things from happening, but he couldn't do it at all. Even in his dreams, he kept failing to save his family. It was because he was tied to a chain in his dreams, that limited his movements. These chains were nothing more than his childish nature, small body, and indecisive mind in reality.
Mornil had brought the medicine he needed and rushed back to the clinic. Only to see Shiro twisting and turning in bed.
Mornil walked toward Shiro and saw his desperate emotion. It seemed like he was having a nightmare.
Mornil could not help but sigh at Shiro. What had Shiro gone through that was so traumatizing?
Mornil decided to prepare the medication and give it to Shiro, in hopes Shiro would finally be able to escape the nightmare he was having and wake up.
He gave him water first, to drink which would rehydrate his body before it could take any medicine.
After giving the medicine, Mornil stayed by his side, for an entire day. He couldn't help but sigh as he saw Shiro fight in pain, in his nightmare.
Mornil ended up sleeping just beside Shiro, hoping he would wake up.
The next day, at dawn, Shiro jolted up from the bed and yelled, "STOP!", he was sweating profusely.
Mornil opened his eyes, only to find Shiro sweating profusely. He held him and calmed him down. Shiro was breathing quite fast the entire time.
"Shiro, come on. Breathe in and out slowly…", Mornil instructed almost immediately after waking up, without even actually properly wiping his own eyes. Shiro did as told and eventually, he found the perfect pace to breathe.
Mornil patted Shiro's head gently. "Are you okay now, Shiro?"