Elric couldn't help but grin as he watched Ember's face light up. The reception to her singing was much better than she'd ever expected.
Even knowing that this group of listeners was biased and would've likely cheered even if it wasn't great, she couldn't help but feel joy welling up within her.
"Thank you, everyone!"
While the crowd was cheering for Ember, one of the lads walked over to where Elric was seated.
"Yo, Kind. I got into those drunkards' phones, check out what I found."
The dude held up the phone, displaying the history logs of a chat room.
The conversation started with a picture sent by the phone's owner. It was of Ember, and there was a caption below it.
"Angeline, this girl is that one you mentioned, right? She just walked in at the Grassy Bar, looks like she's singing."
A response was logged a few seconds after the image had been sent.
"Yep. She's a rude bitch, do whatever you can to ruin her performance."
Reading the rest of the conversation, Elric didn't find anything else of interest.
"Those dudes mentioned that this Angeline girl is a singer as well… hm."
Elric rubbed his chin, brooding over what he just read.
'Want to ruin my singer's performance? Hmph. Where is this girl performing next? I might have to pay her a visit.'
The room quieted down, and Elric looked up to see Ember hopping down from the stage. She walked over to where Elric was sitting, stopping in front of him and putting her hands on her hips.
"I want to sing more… but I think it's better to bring you in for a checkup."
Some of the hits on Elric's face were starting to darken, and he was sure that his chest and sides looked even worse.
Elric coughed into his hand before opening his mouth to tell her to sing a few more songs first, but her eyes opened wider.
"Blood! Look, there's blood on your hand!"
Her eyes started to look a bit watery again as she grabbed his hand.
"T- this is bad, right?"
Ember turned to look around the crowd.
"Can someone help me bring him to the hospital, right away? He's coughing up blood!"
Ember could drive, but she didn't have any experience anywhere other than in the small country town she grew up in.
After seeing the hectic traffic of the city, she wasn't confident she could make it to a hospital while avoiding accidents.
Luckily, a few of the surrounding dudes quickly agreed to help.
"I can help drive him there, but I'll be busy afterward. Someone needs to stay with him."
All of the surrounding dudes started saying similar things.
"Yea, I could bring him there… but it's my little sister's third grad party afterward."
"Same, but I'm going downhill skiing with my long-lost great-grandfather."
"Yep. Me as well, I'll be heading to the beach to look for treasure to pay the mortgage."
Ember was shaking her head as she heard everyone's prior obligations.
"It's fine, I just need a ride! I can stay with him afterward."
She wasn't sure why a few people started high-fiving as she refocused on Elric. A few of the burlier dudes circled around the counter to pick him up, then started carrying him out just as they had before.
To avoid any further injuries, instead of cramming him into his car, they placed him in the back of one of the vans.
Someone snatched the keys from his pocket and headed for his car. He would drive it to the hospital behind the van.
"What kind of setup is this?"
When Ember hopped into the back of the van with a couple of dudes and Elric, she looked around in confusion.
There were small plastic seats attached along the walls of the van, and a few bars running along the ceiling, similar to what one would see in a bus. Other than that, it was empty.
"The Boys transport vehicle. It's taboo to have a girl here, but we'll make an exception this time."
After motioning for Ember to take a seat on one of the side chairs, the lads lay Elric down in the middle of the van, placing him on a couple of seat cushions they poached from the passenger seats.
As the van started to move, a few lads crouched down around Elric.
"Sir! Are you alright, sir? What level is your pain right now?"
One of them withdrew his phone from his pocket, flicking the flashlight function on and shining it into his eyes.
"Ow, my eyes!"
"Eddielargphalus86969, get me some eye drops, stat!"
One of the men dove dramatically toward the front of the van, then ripped open a small medical box.
A few moments later, he spoke up with a panicked tone.
"ChiefSturgeon! We're all out of eye drops! All I have are Large-Green-Ogre-themed band-aids!"
A solemn expression fell over the group's visages.
"That… that'll have to do! Offbrandnutt*lla;), help me force his eyes closed!"
"Oi! Don't touch my eyes!"
One of the lads patted Elric's head softly.
"It'll be ok, buddy. We'll make sure you make it through this, though it may be difficult. Trust in the medical process."
Elric could only struggle feebly as band-aids were placed over his eyes. They didn't actually attach them to his eyelids, so it didn't really hurt.
"2 minutes ETA! The cops are on our tail, it looks like our lights aren't working! Prepare for evasive maneuvers!"
The van suddenly lurched to the side, nearly throwing Ember from her seat. Elric started sliding along the floor, but the 'doctors' quickly stabilized him.
After just a moment, the van lurched back in the opposite direction, and the medical box that'd been opened before went flying through the back of the van.
It smacked into 'Offbrandnutt*lla;)'s hand, causing him to lose his grip on the floor and sending him flying into one of the van's walls.
"Cough, I've been taken out. Continue on without me!"
"One minute ETA, I see our destination! Also, I lost the cops!"
Swerving into the parking lot of the hospital, the driver weaved between a line of cars, making his way to the ER entrance at a breakneck pace.
The rapid movements of the car caused another of the lads to lose his grip, and he slid off to the side of the van.
"ChiefSturgeon, you're the last one! Complete the mission!"
The driver slammed on the brakes, grinding the van to a halt.
"We've arrived! Thirteen minutes, that's a new personal record!"
While 'CheifSturgeon' was kicking open the back doors of the van, Elric managed to choke back the vomit that'd gathered in his mouth.
"But how? The nearest hospital was at least half an hour away!"
Running his hand through his hair dramatically, the driver grinned.
"This is what an A-rank professional driver looks like. Now, that'll be $132,009.51, please."
Before Elric had a chance to rebuke the driver, ChiefSturgeon scooped him up into a princess carry.
Thunk!
As he jumped out of the van, Elric's head smacked into the side of the van, and his head lolled to the side.
"Patient has lost consciousness!"
A regretful expression crossed the driver's face, and he quickly scribbled something down on a notepad.
Ripping off the top note, he passed it over to Ember.
"I'm sorry, miss. You are next of kin, correct? I can transfer the bill to you right away. No need to thank me."
Ember glanced down at the note, confusion on her face. She opened her mouth to question what it was about-
"Bleurrgh!!"
-And the nausea of the ride caught up with her, causing her to projectile vomit directly into the driver's face.