The Writer and the Host

Chapter 13

It wasn't long before an ambulance came and took Satoshi to the hospital. I couldn't stop crying as I watched the paramedics try to keep him alive during the ride there. We entered through the emergency room, and a doctor forced me to wait in the waiting room, making my heart ache as I watched them roll him away in a hospital wagon before the doors closed in front of me. I stared at the closed doors for a minute or so before I robotically walked to the waiting room and sat down on a chair.

For the next couple of hours, I did nothing but sit down and pray to The Lord that Satoshi will survive. Every passing moment felt slow as I constantly glanced at the door, hoping that it will open with a doctor to give me some news. The longer I waited, the more I grew afraid that the worst had happened.

Finally, I heard the doors next to me open to reveal, Sonia, Bonnie, Iris, Cilan, May, Drew, Dawn, Kenny, Andy, and Octavia entering the room. Iris, May, Dawn, and Bonnie didn't hesitate to pull me into a group hug the moment I stood up from my seat.

"Is Satoshi okay?" Drew asked worriedly.

"I don't know," I answered. "I've been waiting for hours and haven't heard a thing. For all I know, he could be dead right now."

Everyone looked at me with grim looks, unable to say anything to comfort me. Bonnie pulled me into another hug, trying to comfort me. I hugged her back, but deep down, I knew it wasn't helping.

"What's been going on, on your guys' end?" I asked.

My friends looked at each other before Sonia answered.

"Calem and Abigail have been arrested," she began. "With so many witnesses seeing Calem shoot Satoshi, records proving that it was Abigail's gun on top of Iris and Bonnie's testimonies revolving around Abigail's intentions to kill you, it was all the police needed to take them in."

I felt a brief moment of relief, knowing that Calem was arrested, but the relief was replaced with a feeling of shock as I reeled the other half what Sonia just said.

"Wait, Abigail attempted to kill me?" I asked.

Iris nodded and said, "Bonnie and I overheard her and Jessie talking from the catwalk. Princess Miette told Satoshi that Abigail would kill you if you came back for him."

"It's true," Bonnie said while still hugging me. "That's why Satoshi sided with the princess. She was going to kill you if he stayed with you."

I stared at my short friend, dumbfounded. I knew the princess would go through lengths to make Satoshi turn his back on me, but I would never have guessed that she would have me murdered.

"I can't believe it," I said. "This whole thing is the princess's fault. If she didn't threaten to kill me, Abigail wouldn't have been there, and Calem could never have gotten his hands on that gun."

Drew frowned and said, "I wish I knew Calem would go so far to keep you and Satoshi from being together as to try to kill him. If I had, I would have made sure the other hosts would have kept holding him down until we did something with the gun."

May patted Drew's back, trying to comfort him. I stayed silent for a moment, wishing the same thing before I asked, "What about Princess Miette?"

"We don't know," Cilan answered. "I saw her leave after the curtain went down and she didn't come back. My guess is she was already out of the building before everyone else in the auditorium heard the gunshots. Naturally, we were all panicking with no idea where the shots came from or if we were all in danger. We all ran out of the theater before the police and the ambulance arrived. Octavia, Andy, and I didn't come back until Iris told us what happened."