Intertwined fate

Chapter 33

..."Stay with me, Reid!"...

..."Come on!"...

..."We are here for you."...

Voices stir up the remaining life inside the freezing body. Reid was determined to grab a hold of the fragile fragment of his now fading consciousness with all his might. The nearly closed vision captured the figures of Theodore, who were determinedly focusing on the wound. If he is as calm as he appears to be, then why can he feel the light shaking of those experienced hands? The blurry sight of a red-haired girl busily working with the medical equipment and Lily. It is his family. Finally, he is here, home, to once again be embraced in the warmth of love. Three days away from them is already enough for every cell in him to yearn for home. Quite ironically, he thought. To grow under their loving arms, and now... to turn to dust under their loving arms. After all, that is not actually a bad thing. Reid let out the tiniest chuckle at that thought. Is that how things are going to end? Unable to warn the blade waiting to point at them? The pain that used to bloom on his ribs is no longer there, instead, a complete loss. He no longer feels the pain, but instead finds a rare peaceful feeling.

"Quick, lay him on the bed. Lily, prepare three units of blood type A, along with a transfusion kit. Cecil prepares surgical tools with iodine. Amber, please bring bandages and saline solution. And for both of you, assist me with this..."

Tick tock...tick tock

With a sharp scissor in hand, Cecil cut open his tainted shirt, revealing a dried lump on the right side of his abdomen. "The situation is worse than we expected," Theodore sighed in concern. Doctor, his pulse is too weak! I'm afraid we already missed the chance. "No, we must do everything we can." He continues, "Lily, clear the wound, and Cecil." "Can you prepare the tubing?" "You can count on me, Theodore," Cecil says in a confident tone. Together, the medical staff of the mansion tried to save Reid, harmonizing in their actions. Just when the wound was clear to see, blood once again sipped out and soaked Cecil's pair of hands. Yet, nothing in this world can make Cecil fearful, especially seeing one of her friends' lives fading away. "Theodore, we must take another approach, patches alone can not do much help!" Theodore, in a calm tone, responds, "We must glue the wound. I believe it's time to put one of my products to use. Lily, can you grab that for me?" With a simple nod, the girl rushed to the office. "While waiting, It's best for us to transfuse more blood now!" Cecil with Amber, one with the blood units and one with the saline solution, and then injected into the seemingly lifeless body. While Theodore and other nurses were sewing the wound closed, Luke and Alderic stood outside, waiting for a glimpse of hope.

Tick tock...tick tock

Lily finally arrived with the glue bottles. She then handles Theodore, who then pours into the wound to seal, quite effectively, as the deadly wound has now stopped gushing out blood. However, "Doctor, we are losing him!" a nurse says out loud after checking his pulse and blood pressure. Grunting, Theodore shouts, "Inject sodium lactate solution now!" William nods before grabbing the clear bag and turning it upside down in one swift motion. He then plugged the syringe, and the liquid slowly flowed into Reid's body. No matter the efforts, moments later, his heart eventually gave up on beating.

Tick tock... tick tock

The clock has stopped...

Reid can no longer hear or see what is happening anymore. His body was strange, as light as a feather. He wants... Desperately wants to tell them that it's fine, they have done what they could. That for a wandering soul like him, to die here, in a home he has always dreamt of, is more than a privilege. Seeing the last fragments of them like this, Reid can't help but feel regret. He is afraid to hurt them, he has grown into the habit of distancing himself to protect their steps from afar. But if only... if only he was stronger, to stay with all of them just a little longer.