Sarah was quickly shifting to the delivery room, but she resisted it and asked to see her husband first. She still hasn't fully grasped the situation she has just gotten out of.
"Please, I need to see Matthew. Is he okay?" Sarah's voice quivered, the fear evident in her eyes.
While shifting, her thighs slowly bled through the bandages because of the poisoned Sai she was previously attacked by.
She was brought into the room, and preparations were started. She repeatedly asked to meet Matthew and if he's alright.
"Sarah, you need to understand, Mr. Miller hasn't gained consciousness, but we have to deliver the child right NOW," Dr. Nakamura insisted, urgency in her tone.
Suddenly, pain seized her womb, intensifying as Dr. Nakamura recognized there was no time left. The medical team rushed through the preparations, and the procedure began.
In the middle of the delivery, the lights flickered for a few minutes, causing a tremor of unease. This started scaring her when suddenly lights went out.
"Start pushing, Sarah. We need to get through this," Dr. Nakamura urged, his focus unwavering.
Lights returned in a moment, but the room was not same as it was before the lights went off.
Black clouds swirled abundantly, and an eerie atmosphere filled the air around the bed.
As the room descended into darkness, Sarah's anxiety deepened. As the delivery continued, evil spirits started flying and swirling the dark clouds as well, their laughter echoing in demonic shrieks in the room.
Moreover, the pain of childbirth was compounded by the surreal and horrifying spectacle unfolding around her.
The medical team seemed unaffected, returning to their tasks as if nothing had happened. No one except Sarah could see it.
But then, her eyes set upon someone. On the verge of succumbing to unconsciousness, a peculiar sight emerged.
It was the Shadow figure, again, staring at her with its horrifying glowing purple eyes.
Sarah's screams pierced the air, her fear escalating with every passing second.
"Why is no one else seeing this? What is happening?" Sarah cried out while pointing at the same corner she was seeing the figure, her voice a desperate plea for reassurance.
Everyone looks at the same corner but found nothing, thinking that Sarah is imagining things at this point.
In that fleeting moment, she witnessed something astonishing—tears streaming from shadow's eyes. It was crying ...
The sight pierced through the suffocating fear.
After all the screaming, Sarah fell unconscious, leaving only the haunting memory of those tearful eyes.
In the delivery room, panic swept over Dr. Nakamura and the other medical team members.
"Open your eyes Sarah, you can't sleep"
"Wake up Sarah..."
"Sarah....., shi-"
Sarah, unconscious due to the haunting echoes of her past, lay in a fragile state just as the baby's chances of survival began to dwindle.
Dr. Nakamura, faced with the critical situation in the delivery room, knew that immediate decisions were necessary to save both Sarah and the struggling baby.
However, the weight of this decision was not hers alone to bear. She turned to the nurse, asked her to convey a message ASAP...
"Mr. Miller, we're at a crucial point. We need to make a decision to prioritize either Sarah or the baby girl. Time is of the essence. What would you like us to focus on saving first?"
* * * * *
15 minutes later...
Matthew froze, disbelief written across his face after what he just heard from the nurse. This wasn't the scenario he expected.
The nurse stressed, "We don't have much time; Sarah's vitals are declining rapidly."
"We need to deliver the baby now," the nurse added, conveying the doctor's urgency.
Matthew felt a surge of panic. "I... I can't lose either of them," he stammered.
"We need your decision, Mr. Matthew. Time is running out," the nurse urged.
Torn between two lives, he took a shaky breath. "Save them both. Please, do whatever it takes."
"But-" Matthew faltered, his words trailing off into an inaudible murmur.
After a while, Matthew has made his decision...
The nurse leaned towards him, nodded understandingly and rushed back into the room.
Alone in the corridor, Matthew grappled with the weight of his choice, praying for a miracle that could defy the impossible.
"I hope you wanted it too, Sarah" Matthew murmured.
20 minutes later, the nurse called him.
"You can see her now, but be careful around her," Bracing himself, he entered the room, and there she was — Sarah, looking at him with a reassuring smile.
As she got off the bed, the warmth of her smile mirrored the newfound hope in the room.
With a glow of happiness, Sarah approached her husband, her eyes capturing his gaze.
"I knew you would make the right choice," she said, her words carrying an understanding that transcended the unspoken weight of the decision they faced together.
Moving the bed to the different emergency theatre, Dr. Nakamura shouted, "we can still save her, move fast".
In the midst of the urgency, Matthew seemed distant, his attention elsewhere, as if the gravity of the situation had momentarily suspended his awareness.
"You always knew, didn't you?" he whispered, his voice choked with gratitude and relief.
Sarah, holding back tears, nodded.
"I always had faith in you, in us."
Their hands found each other, fingers intertwining, as they exchanged a look that conveyed a thousand unspoken emotions.
"M-Mr. Miller..."
Sarah was looking at Nakamura as she interrupted her talk, but later continued,
"After everything we went through I thought you might have changed your mind, but you saw right through me, Mattey"
Matthew, his voice breaking with emotion, responded, "No, Sarah. Never. You're my strength."
"Mr Miller..." Doctor interrupted.
Matthew smiled and confessed "I can't lose you," his voice was breaking.
"Mr Miller, your wi-" Doc interrupted again,
Sarah touches her forehead with his when she closed her eyes and continues,
"this is what We wanted!".
"Mr Miller!", Dr. Nakamura shakes him off,
"Be a good father, Matt, I love you. It is going to be lonely without you dear."
Finishing her last words, Sarah turned back and saw some unexpected guests, Emma, Alex, and Marie. She smiles and looked at Matthew, crying with his eyes closed.
She cradles his face.
"Oh pretty boy"
At last, she disappeared into shimmering sparkles, fading away into the sky.
Snapping back to reality, the doctor's somber voice cut through the air, delivering the heart-wrenching news that Sarah had passed away.
The baby, however, was in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), safe and sound, like he decided 20 mins ago.
The doctor, with genuine remorse, apologized and assured Matthew that she had done everything within her expertise.
Matthew, trying desperately to hold it together, felt the ground beneath him crumble.
He had lost the love of his life, the one he had fought all the battles for, and the weight of that reality bore down on him. Numbness engulfed him as he processed the profound loss.
'In echoes of silence, love's melody is gone,
A soul dances with memories, in a world withdrawn.'
As he reached the end of the corridor, tears streamed down his face like a relentless cascade.
The weight of the world pressed on his shoulders, and with no comforting shoulder to lean on, he crumbled to his knees on the unforgiving hospital floor.
Beside him, a cell phone erupted in persistent rings. Matthew curiously glanced around, uncertain of its owner.
He chose to ignore it, chose to remain immersed in his sorrow, the emptiness left by her absence lingering in his life.
A passing ward boy, towing an oxygen cylinder, advised,
"Pick up the call; it won't ring again."
As Matthew stared at him walking away, the cell phone continued to ring, each tone reverberated through the corridor. The call was from an unknown number.
Matthew picked up the phone. His gaze were fixated on the mesmerizing hues of the setting sun.
After listening to the anonymous person on the other end, his face turned emotionless, staring right at the sunset.
He ended the call without saying any word. On his way back, he crushed the cellphone and threw it in the garbage can. He knew what he had to do now.
* * * * *
"What? What the hell do you mean 'he's nowhere to be found'?" Officer Asahi's jaw tightened with frustration.
The nurse, her expression conflicted, responded,
"Last time Dr. Nakamura talked to him outside the delivery room but he's gone now."
"What about his newborn?" Officer Yamato inquired.
"His child is still in the NICU, due to her weak physical conditions."
Without wasting a moment, Officer Asahi and Yamato rushed to the NICU, only to find it empty. The sudden disappearance left them shocked and extremely disappointed.
"Do you even know why we're here?" Officer Asahi demanded.
"His house reportedly had two bodies, excluding him and his wife's. They were carrying deadly illegal weapons, and there are predicted to be more."
"You know Tokushima is a small town so the closest police station is 50 km away. We had a fax from Rapid Rescue Team a few hours ago."
"We've even seen pictures. However, by the time We arrived, all the bodies were disposed without leaving a single drop of bloodstain."
"Matthew Miller is a key witness and a potential suspect we have to investigate."
The nurse, disbelief in her eyes, stammered, "I... I didn't think..."
Officer Yamato interrupted, "You youngbloods think that you know everything, dont you. I told you that we shouldn't let him go, Asahi-san"
Officer Asahi, stern but understanding, continues, "Your actions have consequences. We need to find Matthew, and fast."
Though shaken, the nurse acknowledged the gravity of the situation. "I apologize. I didn't mean to complicate things."
As they left the NICU, Officer Asahi muttered, "This case just got a lot more complicated."
The nurse, determined to help, said, "I'll assist in any way I can. But we have to find him before it's too late."
* * * * *
Somewhere in the demon realm...
Amidst the carnage, a tall man with white hair stood, dual swords painting the ground red with blood. His expressionless face betrayed weariness that echoed in his tired eyes.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, water streaming down his face continuously. Confusion clouded his face as he glanced at the crimson red sky and muttered in exhaustion,
"Was I... crying?"
Rain poured, washing away the blood and pieces of meat on his body and swords, the blood stains swept away by the downpour.
"No, it's just rain," he assured himself, blinking away the water.
He stood amidst the refreshing rain, like a lone figure in the aftermath, standing upon the mountain of bodies mercilessly.
Gazing at the fortress on the lava, encircled by a huge volcano, demons swirling in dark clouds filled with loud thunder, like they were celebrating the happening of 'some event'.
He tightened his grip on the swords. Determination etched his tired voice,
"Wait for me... Tomoe."
To be continued...