Page 75 of Mercy Written in Blood

"Know what?"

"That he was flirting."

"You already said that."

"And you dismissed it."

"Because it was irrelevant."

"Was it?"

"Yes."

Akiko watched him too carefully. Renji disliked being observed when he had not invited it.

"You have another patient," he said.

"So do you."

"I have several."

"Then perhaps you should go and see them instead of reading Mr Ishida's blood results for the fourth time."

Renji looked down. The report in his hand had indeed been reviewed already.

"I was checking the trend."

"The trend has not changed in ninety seconds."

"That is how trends work."

Akiko laughed. Renji left before she could continue.

The emergency department had quietened. Not truly — hospitals never became quiet, they only changed the kind of noise they made. The shouting and alarms of the mass casualty arrival had faded into the lower rhythm of treatment. Curtains were drawn. Families waited beside vending machines with untouched drinks. Nurses spoke in brief murmurs over computer screens. Blood had been cleaned from the floor. The absence of it made the night feel unreal.

Renji walked through the remaining cases one by one. Professor Takeda had required twelve stitches along her scalp and treatment for smoke inhalation. Her left wrist was badly sprained. She had asked three times whether the surviving materials from the chamber had been recovered and once whether Haruki was alive.

When Renji entered her cubicle, she was sitting upright despite instructions to rest.

"You should be lying down," he said.

"I was."

"You are not now."

"I became tired of the ceiling."

"That does not make sitting upright advisable."

She gave him a tired look.

"You sound exactly as he described."

Renji paused.

"Who?"

"Haruki."