Page 102 of Phantom Flower

When we finally pulled up to the private hospital we used for situations like this, medical staff were already waiting outside with a stretcher. I carried Rei out of the car myself and placed him on it as gently as I could.

They took him in, and I stood in the hallway, covered in his blood, hands still shaking. I felt completely powerless.

Kento arrived one hour later. His clothes were splattered with blood that was not his. He did not say anything when he saw me. He just walked over and stood beside me in silence. We waited.

And for the first time in my life, I prayed. I prayed to a god I did not believe in that my fairy would be okay, that his legs would not be ruined forever, and that he would recover soon.

Hours later I could not sit still. I paced the length of the small room like a caged animal, blood still dried on my hands and shirt. Rei’s blood. Every time I closed my eyes I saw him on that floor.

I could not take this.

I stopped pacing and turned to Kento, who was sitting in one of the stiff chairs with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.

“How could you have not noticed?” I asked. “How the fuck could you not have known what that piece of shit was doing to him?”

Kento slowly lifted his head. His gaze was different from the usual.

“I do not live with them,” he said. “I check in when I can, but—”

“But nothing,” I snapped, cutting him off. “You knew what kind of man Daniel was. You warned Rei about people like me, but you left him alone in that house with a fucking monster. How could you do that? How could you just… leave him there?”

Kento’s jaw tightened. He stood up, meeting my eyes.

“How about you, hm?” he shot back. “Weren’t you the one who had him all this time? You had him locked away in that house of yours for weeks. He was safe with you. Why the hell did you let him go back?”

It was true.

It was my fault too.

I had been the one who agreed to let him go. I had told the bodyguards to stay outside and now he was in surgery with his legs carved up like meat because of it.

Ilya spoke from where he was leaning against the wall near the window.

“Enough,” he said. “Both of you. Stop pointing fingers at each other. It is not going to help him.”

He pushed off the wall and walked closer, arms crossed over his chest.

“He is going to survive. That is what matters right now.”

I nearly screamed.

“But will his legs be okay?” I did not recognize my own voice. “You do not understand. You do not fucking know what that means to him.”

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing again because if I stood still I was going to lose it.

“He told me once that when he was a kid, his dad used to take him to these gardens in Tokyo and let him run between the rows. He said it made him feel free. Like nothing could touch him.”

I turned away for a second, trying to breathe, but the words kept coming.

“He will not survive if his legs do not work,” I said. “He will smile and pretend he is fine because that is what he does, but something in him will die. And I…” My throat closed up. I had to force the next words out. “I do not know if I can watch that happen to him.”

Ilya sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. This time he did not have anything sarcastic or manic to say. He just looked tired.

“They do not know anything yet,” he said gently. “The doctors are still working on him. We just have to wait.”

Kento did not say anything. He sat back down, elbows on his knees again, staring at his hands. His shoulders were tense, but he did not argue anymore.

I stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the cold floor. My hands were still stained with Rei’s blood.