Exhausted from fending off the persistent Ethan, Dawn slept until morning. He didn't hear any strange noises, which was unusual and oddly peaceful. For the first time in years, he'd slept soundly and undisturbed.
Dawn sat up, glancing at the other side of the bed where the spirit had slept, curled up next to him. Even without body heat, its presence had been unsettling. But he was gone, where is he? Did he gotten bored of clinging to him? Dawn uncovers the blanket from him, noticing his neck felt hot and bit sweaty. Had he caught a cold from the rain last night? "Great," he muttered.
Dawn did not have time to see the little girl again, after last night her family cremated the young man's body. Hopefully, her spirit will go with her brother. He turned his head when he saw the door to his room open from the outside. Emily came in holding a tray with a bowl of porridge and orange juice for him.
"Hey, you're awake, did you sleep well?" Emily asked bringing in breakfast for Dawn.
Dawn saw Emily approaching him, placing the tray on the table next to the bed. Emily looked closely at Dawn's face.
"Look at your face, it's already eight o'clock, take breakfast and then get ready to go. Pops and I are very busy here, two bodies arrived this morning."
"So, I don't have to go right, Em?" Dawn asked impatiently.
Emily smiled. She pinched the tip of Dawn's nose excitedly.
"Who said that, you still have to go, I'll call a cab for you. Doctor Regan said he would take you home himself. You have to thank him, he said he would pick you up but I said no need, his house is on the other side of town, it will take a long time before he comes, you guys will be stuck in traffic later."
"No one asked him to do that anyway, He was just spending too much free time"
Dawn pursed his lips.
"Em, I'm fine, just a little tired, sleeping will also make me fit again. I don't think I need to go there"
Emily pulled her lips. She took Dawn's hands and her eyes started to tear up. At that moment Dawn immediately knew that his aunt would start weeping again, as usual. He pulled his hand.
"Yeah, fine, just two hours, right? After that, I'll go for a little walk to the mall." Dawn thought he would do something important today.
"Nope, you ain't allow for that, you have to go straight home after therapy, listen to what the doctor said"
"Um, I've followed your wishes, at least let me walk around for a while, Doctor Regan doesn't need to take me home, I can go home myself, there are lots of taxis and buses everywhere, why needs to bother him?"
Emily looked at Dawn who looked a bit upset. That's right, she might have pushed him too hard.
"Okay, you can go for a walk, but don't take too long, if you're not home at five I'll call the police."
Dawn pursed his lips.
"That's exaggerating, Em, you think I'm a little kid?"
Emily couldn't help to pinch Dawn's cheek, he was so cute.
"This brat, yes, forever you will always be my cute little Dawn. Look, your body is starting to get warm, then put on a thick jacket, okay?"
"Yes, Em"
….
The city of Lumino was bustling that morning, just like any other day. It was brilliantly sunny; the sun blazed from early on, which was a relief to Dawn – plenty of sunlight meant fewer wandering spirits. Her taxi pulled up in front of the hospital lobby at precisely 9:55 am. Clutching his cloth shoulder bag, Dawn joined several other visitors in the elevator of the city's largest hospital.
There were five people inside, including Dawn, but two spirits floated at the front and back.
These hovering spirits were usually half-spirits lingering after a recent death. But judging by the dark smoke and energy emanating from these two, Dawn guessed they'd been gone a long time. They lacked emotion; even the emotional residue clinging to them was minimal. The elevator eventually stopped on the fifth floor, where Dr. Regan's room was located.
After checking in at reception, Dawn headed straight for the therapy room at the end of the corridor. Luckily, this floor was far from the emergency room and, more importantly, the morgue, where he'd find a much larger concentration of spirits. However, there were a few spirits that drifted around statically, seemingly following the doctors and staff.
"Here, let me take your jacket," said the young nurse who escorted Dawn to the room.
Dawn removed his bag and took off his jacket. Just then, his phone vibrated; it was Emily, who'd been checking up on him constantly
"Yeah, Em?"
The pretty young nurse pointed to the bed where Dawn was to lie down. While holding his phone, Dawn lowered himself onto the bed, propping himself up with a high headrest.
"Yeah, I know, I'm here. Don't call again.
The pretty nurse attached the blood pressure cuff to Dawn's arm and tightened it. Then, gracefully but meticulously, she moved to the other side to prepare the IV. She patted Dawn's arm, searching for a suitable vein.
Emily stood behind the desk taking care of registering the new body that morning. Black Orchid Funeral Home was quite busy that morning.
"How else, my dear nephew never leaves the house alone, have you seen Doctor Regan?"
Dawn looked around, but he didn't see the doctor. The nurse returned with a tray, with long needle equipment for IV drips and medicinal fluids. She smiled when she saw Dawn looking around the room.
"Doctor Regan is on his way, he just attended a funeral," answered the nurse while dabbing cotton wool with alcohol on Dawn's arm.
Dawn winced slightly as the nurse began to insert the long IV needle into his arm.
"Ah"
He looked away, he had always hated needles.
"You heard that, Em, that's it, bye"
Emily pursed her lips as Dawn hung up on her phone.
"That brat, he thinks he's an adult now, doesn't need his aunt anymore?" the woman grumbled.
Emily smiled when she saw her guest that morning, having been waiting since earlier.
"Pardon me, so where are you going to lay him? We have two transportation options, do you prefer one large vehicle for the whole family, or use the family's car?"
The needle was so long that it had entered his veins, and then the nurse removed the plaster to hold the needle in place.
"I'll administer low-dose sedation, you will sleep during the process and wake up after two hours. Doctor Regan has prepared everything, he will arrive in a moment, maybe he will be in the parking lot by now."
Dawn bit his lip, the nurse's hands were so painstaking, she was fast. "Doctor Regan didn't say he had an appointment, if he did I wouldn't have to bother him."
The young and pretty nurse smiled. Her face was shining and always smiled sweetly.
"Yeah, Doctor Regan just got the news this morning. He prepared the data and everything you needed and left in a hurry so he could come back on time. That's his patient's burial process. So he needs to come, after all the location is not far, it's at the end of this road"
The nurse removed the rubber tied to Dawn's arm when she inserted the needle. Get ready to carry out the next process.
"Oh, his patient"
The nurse nodded.
"Yes, that's right," the nurse was ready to insert the needle into the ampoule when suddenly her hand slipped and the needle fell.
"Oh, dear, excuse me, I'll get a new needle, please wait a minute"