Leaves drifted about as the early afternoon sun shone on the pavement of Bastion Hospital, dancing in the air like souls not wanting to cross over.

Blinking rays tore across the walls of the main hospital buildings as the sun reflected in the glass, while countless patients were admitted and discharged.

Footsteps echoed in the hallways as nurses rushed from one patient to the other, holding folders and bagged medications. "Give way."

Edith leaned at the window of the second floor’s corridor with her arms folded across her chest. "What really happened to the Storm Mansion residents?"

She rubbed her shoulders as a chilled wind flew past her, and the curtain behind her frayed upward as if giving way for death to pass.

"WHY? WHY DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN LIKE THAT?!"

Metal clicking sounds echoed as Zoe slammed her fist on the wall, sending dust to spray on her tear-filled face. "I shouldn’t have left."

She cupped her face with her palms then leaned against the wall for a second before sliding to the ground.

"I’M SORRY LEON. I’M SORRY."

She folded herself as if wanting to be carried away in a box when the hum of machines caught her ears. "I can never forgive myself for this, never!"

The scent of antiseptic and rusted iron filled room 515, while a beeping sound echoed from the Electroencephalogram, the Electrocardiogram, and the Pulse Oximeter.

A sharp breath flew from the front of the seven-foot bed as Feng stood there with both arms crossed at his chest, nodding silently. ’Why did I allow this to happen?’

Two drops of tears trailed down his eyes when the curtains at the side of the bed flapped and caused the cloth covering Li Mei to wobble on her still body.

She lay there with arms crossed on her chest and a ventilator tucked in her mouth, keeping her stable and monitoring her breath sequence.

On her scalp, the electroencephalogram cables plastered on her skin glowed as the sun’s rays flashed on them when the curtains raised again.

Outside the window, crows flew in circles right at the top of the building, sending raspy cries all along as they flapped their wings as if welcoming an old friend.

Feng sighed heavily, then shifted his gaze to the bed. He dabbed his tears when he turned his gaze back to Li Mei.

His throat worked as he stifled a sob and lowered his head.

...

Inside room 514, Min-seo stood there with blood-veined eyes and a pale face as she watched the doctors perform a Glasgow Coma Scale assessment on Little Athena.

"It’s all my fault," the words escaped Min-seo as she saw Lily’s body tremble harshly on the bed. "I shouldn’t have listened to her request."

Two female nurses moved from the side of the bed and grabbed Min-seo’s arms, but she pushed them away and looked at them with dead eyes. "LET ME GO!"

Thess’s eyes welled up as she shifted her gaze from Lily’s face to the maid that was acting like a madwoman under the junior nurse’s touch. "It’s okay, leave her."

Min-seo lay crumpled on the floor for a moment before rushing out of the room with a teary, watery nose.

She halted abruptly at the hallway when she saw Zoe pushing herself off the wall.

Zoe threw a sharp stare at Min-seo but didn’t say a word, yet the last hope in Min-seo broke free and made her run out of the hospital mindlessly.

Few miles away from the hospital, Min-seo collapsed under a mango tree at Bastion’s Children playground and folded herself like a box, sobbing.

"Hey, isn’t that your sister?" A lady with gum in her mouth tapped on Min-ji’s shoulder and pointed toward the fluffy mango tree.

Min-ji let out a cunning laugh then placed her hand on Kate’s shoulder. "Forget her, my sister should be dead by now."

"What do you mean by that, Min-ji?" Kate asked in a shocked voice and shifted her gaze back to the lady under the tree. "I thought you said she is working at the Storm Mansion. Why are you saying she should be dead by now?"

Min-ji laughed then stood up from the metal bench. "What’s your problem, Kate? I know what I’m saying. She and the entire family should be dead by now."

"Min-ji look, it’s her." Kate frowned and pointed her arm twice at the tree when the sobbing lady raised her head slightly.

Min-ji’s eyes went dead while her face paled when she recognized her. "Don’t be damn serious."

She walked toward Min-seo and crouched down. "Hey, stop crying and follow me."

Min-seo lifted her pale forehead slightly, but lowered it out of shame when she saw her sister and their best friend standing right in front of her. "Min-ji, Li Mei and Lily are dying."

Min-ji threw a silly face at Kate, then laughed. ’They should be dead by now. So how?’

She helped Min-seo up, then walked her to the BMW Darian gifted her for giving him all of Storm Mansion’s security data. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

When Kate and Min-seo slid into the back seat, Min-ji stood outside the car and shifted her gaze to the crows standing atop the light poles and looking down at her. "Shoo."

’If Min-seo is alive that means...’ her eyes widened while the crows flew away sending their raspy cries along.

...

Inside the hospital, Thess gestured at her colleague doctor to continue checking the little girl’s pulse and walked out of the room, when she saw Zoe pressing her face on the glass sill.

"Zoe," she said the name out loud, but all that entered Zoe’s ear were a cracked voice and her own words she said to Leon.

She misses you, but she is happy. Everyone is okay, Leon.

She pressed her palms on the windowsill and watched Lily’s innocent face tucked under a ventilator.

Thess placed a heavy hand on Zoe’s shoulder, then rubbed it once. "They are fine."

"IF THEY ARE FINE THEN WHY ARE THEY NOT RESPONDING? TELL ME!"

"Tell me," tears doubled out of Zoe’s eyes as Thess pulled her into a tight hug. "Thess, I have failed to protect the very family he is fighting to make happy. I have failed."

Thess tapped on Zoe’s back three times while swallowing her own tears when her gaze fell on Lily from the outside. ’Who would do something like this? Poor Leon.’

The yellow duckling socks on Lily’s feet were the last thing Thess saw before she turned her gaze away.

She walked Zoe to the private waiting room, then served her with chilled water to calm her racing heart. "You did all you could, Zoe."

Zoe slammed the glass cup and stood up. "No! If I did my part, they wouldn’t have been turned to vegetables as they are, Thess."

"But they are safe and stable because you brought them, Zoe." Thess ranted at Zoe and pointed at the room’s direction. "Tell me, if it wasn’t for you they’d be dead by now."

A saddened laugh escaped Zoe as she pulled herself away from Thess’s grip. "You don’t know Leon like I do, Thess."

"What?" Thess moved a step forward. "Would he be angry with you for saving his family?"

Zoe clenched her fist and shook her head. "Leon doesn’t play with his family, Thess."

She turned blood-veined eyes to the window then exhaled sharply.

"The world would turn upside down the day he would find out. Every last person involved in this would go down without any explanation."

...