Better the Devil You Know

Chapter 21: Healing

"Thanks," Matt quickly replied to the brunette lady sitting behind the reception counter at the hospital. He turned to his left and looked along the corridor that the woman had directed him down to get to where the doctors were already operating on TK.

Matt ran down the white walled corridor with Tai right behind him. Both of the teen boys were panting, having sprinted straight over to the hospital as soon as Kari called them to tell the Digidestined about what had happened to TK. They knew that the ambulance would take him to this hospital but that didn't mean it was any easier for them to get to it. They had been running for over half an hour because they were unable to get a lift or a taxi to the hospital in a nearby district of the city.

The healthy living posters on the walls passed by the boys in a blur, not that the content of said posters mattered to them. All they cared about was getting to TK and Kari. They both darted to the right and down another white corridor, dodging a man walking in the opposite direction. The corridor was a short one and the boys soon turned left and then right again so they were running down the corridor that led them to the operating theatres.

Matt slowed down and paid careful attention to the white writing on each of the blue signs as he searched for the room number the receptionist had given him. Tai was walking behind him doing the same thing. They passed numerous people with anxious expressions etched on their faces, which Matt presumed was because their loved ones were being operated on in some of the other theatres.

"There it is," Tai announced and pointed at the sign that had the number and letter of the operating theatre TK was in written on it.

Both boys quickly sprinted to the sign and turned the right corner into the small corridor that led to the theatre. The white walled corridor was short, no more than ten metres long, and had four green seats placed outside the room. There were double hinged swinging doors that allowed patients to be wheeled in and out of the operating room easily and quickly. Next to the doors was a small window that allowed loved ones to glimpse in at the operation and that was where Kari was standing with all of her weight on her left leg.

Both Tai and Matt froze in shock as their eyes set upon Kari. Neither of them could believe the state she was in. The brunette girl stood there with her palms and forehead pressed against the window, watching the doctors working on TK. The teen girl herself was covered in blood. It was in her hair and smeared across her face. Her white top was soaked with the crimson fluid and had been torn so her stomach was exposed. The teen boys could see her stomach and back were covered in blood too and they presumed it had leaked through the remains of her shirt to her skin. Her stone washed blue jeans hadn't avoided the bloodbath either, although they weren't soaked in the red liquid like her shirt was.

Matt and Tai snapped out of their shock and darted up to Kari's side. Tai instantly started inspecting his sister for any injuries and Matt assumed the older Kamiya sibling thought it was his sister's blood. Matt felt he knew straightaway from what Kari had told him on the phone that it was TK's blood, not hers.

Kari had tears rolling down her cheeks as she continued to stare at TK in the operating room. She was sniffling and didn't even acknowledge both boys as they arrived at her side. They both placed their hands on her shoulders in a gesture of support as Tai continued his inspection of his sister.

Matt then glanced into the operating theatre and saw several men and women in green surgery coats working on his brother. TK was lying motionless on the table as the doctors were doing something to his left arm and chest. Matt remembered they were the areas that his brother had injured from what Kari had told him over the phone.