Santa Cristina Hospital (12:00 PM, October 3rd)
"Not this again... This place, why? Why?" – His thoughts raced as he sat waiting for an answer.
White walls, checkered floors, and a strong smell of alcohol, it was definitely a hospital and he had been in this situation before.
This sick joke of the world – his anxiety was evident in his tapping foot.
Those who had passed through that empty corridor felt sorry for the man sitting there, the extent to which his anxiety grew, the feeling of guilt consumed him.
"Ahhh." – A moment of relief escaped his lips as he thought about counting sheep. It might sound strange, but it was what his father had taught him.
His relief was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, all his anxiety and guilt returned much greater than before, his whole body tensed, when finally, the doctor came out of room A23.
"Excuse me, are you Jonathan?"
A man in a white coat, with a clipboard in his hands, stood in front of him.
"Yes, that's me." – Jonathan said as he stood up from the bench.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news…"
Only a short moment had passed, but for Jonathan it was an endless eternity of anguish, anxiety, and guilt, without even noticing how uncontrollably these feelings had grown.
"… Your friend is in critical and mysterious condition, something I've never seen before." – The doctor was indifferent to the situation, while Jonathan sat down again.
"Critical condition?" – The answer he had been so longing for was now just a bitter taste, the only reality he was in.
Room A23 (4:16 PM, October 3rd)
The atmosphere was warm, with Albert lying in a bed, intubated and without any apparent miraculous improvement. Beside the room window, Jonathan was placing roses in a vase.
"You know, this is kind of ironic, Albert…" – Jonathan said, as he pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed.
"I… In this place again, where I was with my father yesterday, in a bed and today I'm with you." – His words were filled with sadness and guilt.
Knock, knock.
"Come in, I'm almost done."
With a certain resilience, the door finally opened and a young man entered the room, his hair was brown with a green-dyed streak and it was messy.
"Good afternoon." – The young man's face clearly showed discomfort with Jonathan's presence.
His eyes continued to investigate, noticing a suitcase in the young man's left hand, his black hoodie was wrinkled, the interior seemed to be green as well, he was wearing black jeans and green Max Blade sneakers.
"Sorry, I didn't know anyone would be here."
"It's okay, but… Who are you?"
"Huh?" – That question made the young man more tense, even though he tried to hide it.
"I'm a long-time friend of Albert's and I don't remember you." – As he spoke, he crossed his arms.
The young man's discomfort with the fact was becoming more obvious every second, however, he was not shaken by it, as if everything was fine for him.
"I'm just an acquaintance."
"I understand, but what's with the suitcase?" – Jonathan didn't believe the conversation, but he disguised it much better than the young man.
"It's for a job." – he tried to recover from the challenge, while cold sweat ran down his face, trying to sidestep the issue.
"What kind of job would a young man have?" – his right eyebrow raised and his eyes fixed on him.
Time seemed to slow down for a second, what for the young man was an endless interrogation, had to be paused by a call, where Jonathan left the room to answer.
"Finally, that guy's gone." – a sigh of relief escaped the young man, as he placed the suitcase on the bedside table.
He put his hands on the locks and a small green aura emanated, with the locks opening and, inside, there were several talismans, a brush, paint, and blank sheets of paper.
"Let's get started." – his words came out as he picked up a blank sheet of paper.
Some time later.
Once again the door opened, Jonathan was looking at his phone, typing something, finally raising his head and his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him.
"What are you doing?" – his sentence came out a bit muffled by the shock of the scene.
The young man placed a talisman on Albert's forehead, there was another on the door, and finally one on the headboard of the bed.
"Huh? Actually, I'm leaving now." – with his suitcase in hand he tried to pass Jonathan with his head down.
"You're going to explain to me what those things are." – he grabbed the young man by the arm, with a serious face.
Clearly, the young man was surprised, it was impossible to say why, but he looked around the corridor and made a sign for Jonathan to come in.
"What did you do? I can't get in." – he tried to enter, but it was as if there was a wall.
I just put up protective talismans, why can't he get in? - at the same time as he thought, he put his hand on his chin.
"Sorry, but I think we should talk somewhere else."
Back of the hospital (4:47 PM).
"Just tell me, what were you doing?" – his sentence was cut off by a punch.
"Shut up, cursed user." – the young man had his fists clenched and a serious face.
"What? What are you talking about?" – while asking, he wiped the blood from his nose.
At that moment, another punch was thrown, however, this time it was fast and precise, the young man's arm was deflected to the side.
"Huh? Glup..." – because of his hesitation, he had been punched in the stomach by Jonathan.
"You don't want to tell me what you were doing and you want to fight, you better be prepared." – throwing his suit on the floor, as he positioned himself to fight.