Everywhere around him turned hazy and the room spun as he staggered, losing his balance and clashing into whatever and whoever blocked his path.
"Dane!" Jerry exclaimed. "Dane! Relax, man."
Jerry had already caught his friend. "Somebody call an ambulance!"
The venue erupted into a chaotic scene as their colleague had fallen to the floor.
Dane was bleeding from every orifice on his face — eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
His vision went from hazy to black.
Within a couple of minutes, Dane Morgans was dead.
DING!
< You have died >
< Beginning binding sequence >
Strange messages started to float in the air, but Dane was unconscious and couldn't acknowledge.
It didn't seem to matter if he acknowledged them or not because what these strange texts wanted to achieve continued to run even with Dane being dead at the moment.
Because it was a call placed from a Grey Corps event, it took a shorter-than-average time for the ambulance to arrive and carry Dane's unconscious body.
Despite their resuscitatory attempts to save him, it was futile but that was not an announcement they could afford to make public.
Leon Grey and the higher officials of the company knew that because of their status.
Otherwise, they were no different from the rest.
The paramedic team took Dane's body and rushed to the nearest hospital where they still continued to try and resuscitate him.
It was in the course of this road resuscitation that a miracle seemed to happen.
"I got a pulse!" one of the paramedics exclaimed as she continued her CPR, pressing down on his chest while frequently looking at the monitor.
"1mg epinephrine!" she instructed, needing no more than she already said to get things going.
———
Cassie, just like everyone else, was surprised by what happened.
She was nearly drawn to tears, finding comfort in the arms of her cousin, Layla.
"And we are nearly close to being friends," Layla said as she stroked her cousin's hair, seeking to comfort her.
Cassie tried but couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes as they freely dropped.
Jerry, whose suit was somehow stained with Dane's blood, sat on the same spot outside of the venue.
He was too traumatised to even realise and at the same time, he was unwilling to stand.
He continued looking in the direction the ambulance went, his heart beating fast in fear that his friend and colleague was truly dead.
Just like that.
Someone he was bantering some minutes ago was now dead.
Jerry scratched his hair in anguish, sobbing and trying his best to comport himself.
The rest of the staff held their breath in shock at what had happened, unable to fathom what was playing before their eyes.
Of course, everybody had their own opinion but no one knew exactly what would have caused this event.
"Was he sick or something?"
"I don't think so. Dane was very friendly this evening."
"Yeah, I agree. He didn't look sick to me at all."
"Oh my gosh! It's a pity...such a hot guy—"
"Sandra!" the rest around her chided her.
Hearing what they were discussing behind them, Cassie and Layla spared a second to look back at the small group of gossiping staff.
Their gazes alone were enough to shut them up and strike a cold whip squarely on their back.
They could barely hold eyes with the Greys, looking away and fiddling their hands.
Layla hissed and returned to her role of comforting Cassie whom she found rather weird.
As Layla stroked her cousin's hair, she couldn't help but wonder why she was crying.
It was not like she was dating Dane or anything.
Even though she could confirm that Cassie had a tender heart, this was still too much coming from her.
Layla shook her head and exhaled deeply.
———
"Charge...!"
"Clear...!"
"Shock!"
The doctors repeated this about three times just to jumpstart Dane's heart and yet nothing happened.
However, on the fourth try, they managed to get a reading on the monitor that told them that Dane was no longer pulseless.
< Cardiac activity optimised >
< Brain activity optimised >
< Scanning... >
< Multi-organ damage still existent >
< Overall health status: 57% >
< Beginning organ reconstruction >
< 0%... 34%... 67%... 83%... 100% >
< Host status: Alive >
< Cost of resurrection: $1,000,000 >
< Host will live but is in debt of $1,000,000 >
"Page the intensivists!"
With proper resuscitation initiated and Dane's chances of survival having markedly increased, the ER doctors were certain that Dane would benefit the most from intensive care and thus, he was moved there.
The doctors were relieved at getting Dane's heart beating again.
That, in itself, was a good sign that he was alive and there was hope.
Unbeknownst to them, if it was only medical intervention that was in play, Dane would indeed be dead.
However, thanks to this strange power in action behind the scenes, Dane Morgans survived the ordeal but was still unconscious for some days.
———
BEEP! BEEP!
The monitor attached to Dane for consistent observation within the ICU continued to beep with every reading it took from him.
The sound became more and more audible with every second that passed as Dane started to struggle with opening his eyes.
He struggled for several seconds and eventually succeeded in opening them.
The beeping sound caused his head to bang even more than it should.
His vision was blurry and he could barely utter a word.
Dane noticed shadows moving to and fro but he couldn't make out who was who.
He tried to call out to some, but his voice failed him as nothing came out of his mouth.
After much effort, he was able to flicker his hand and in tandem with that, one of the nurses stationed to him noticed that he was awake.
"He's awake!" she alerted the rest while rushing towards Dane's side.
Dane was too weak to do or say anything.
Even though whatever the nurse wanted to know right was a pain to his ears, they were important but unfortunately, he couldn't help her.
If anything, Dane wanted these people away from him so he could narrow his problems down.
After a few minutes of staring into the open and his vision eventually clearing out, Dane painstakingly looked to his sides before uttering his first words since "dying".
"I'm... thirsty..."
"Sorry, Mr. Morgans, but we can't offer you anything now until the doctor assesses you."
Dane looked at the nurse with scepticism as he tried to move his lips to satisfy his urge to drink.
"H-How... long have I... been out?"
The nurses looked at each other.
They were hesitant as if waiting for the boldest one to speak up on their behalf.
"Tell... m-me."
"A little over two weeks now, Mr. Morgans."
Dane's eyes grew extra wide.
"Huh?"