Rune System: The Crimson Knight

CHAPTER NINE

“The rain,” Dominic observed as he glanced up. “It has finally stopped.”

He looked down at his mother, crushed by how sick and fragile she looked. “We need to get you to the hospital. Maybe, while you rest and recover, I’ll find Anya.”

With her hands still closed, Erica Heathley tapped a small device on her son’s thigh. When he looked down, Dominic noticed a cellphone in her hand, taking it from her grasp.

“They… left this,” she informed him. “They wanted you to… have it.”

It was soaking wet, but most phones were already waterproof anyway, so Dominic wasn’t surprised to see it switch on when he pushed the power button. What surprised—and horrified—him was the crackling audio that played from it.

“Greetings, Mr. Heathley,” a masculine voice droned. “On behalf of the boss, we decided to pay you a little visit earlier today, concerning the agreement you had with him a couple of months ago. Sadly, we didn’t get to meet you, but we found your little sister instead. Do you want to say hi, sweetie?”

Dominic’s heart plunged into a hole as Anya’s voice, most likely muffled with a cloth over her mouth, came through the speaker. A few other voices rang out in laughter as a man audibly yelled out in pain.

“Yup, she’s a feisty one, alright,” the voice continued, still chuckling. “Just kicked Jason in the balls, she’s going to be a real handful. The point, Mr. Heathley, is that at the time of this recording, you have approximately six hours to come up with the money you owe the boss. Or else, we’re gonna carve your little sister up and sell her parts for compensation. After all, she’s young—I’m sure she has a good set of kidneys, and those cost a fortune.”

The voice chuckled again, then the line went dead.

Frantically, Dominic’s hands shook as he checked the video’s time stamp. “Twenty-seven minutes past two in the afternoon,” he mumbled. “That was over two hours ago. Which means I have less than four hours left.”

Erica began shivering again, but Dominic couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or another spasm episode. Nonetheless, it didn’t look good, and he knew they had to leave the shade eventually.

“Hang in there, Mom,” he told her as he gathered her in his arms and rose to his feet. “I’m taking you to the hospital. You’ll get better there.”

There were fewer than a handful of hospitals in the suburbs, none of which Dominic was close enough to walk to. Given their position, which was closer to the nearest hospital in the city, Dominic opted to head there instead.

“Matthew,” Erica muttered as she stirred restlessly. Dominic had been gritting his teeth with each step, trying to ignore the excruciating distress all over his body and the horrified glances that came their way as he trudged forward on the sidewalk. Hearing his father’s name, however, sent an unfamiliar shiver down his spine.

“Matthew,” she said again, her eyes still shut. “You… have to look… for him.”

Dominic bit the inside of his cheek. “Stop talking, Mom. Save your strength. You’re exhausted.”

Erica placed her palm on his chest, gathering a fold of his bloody T-shirt underneath her hand. “For… her sake. For… Anya’s sake. Please, find… Matthew.”

Dominic bit harder. Ever since his father married the daughter of a foreign multi-millionaire and abandoned them years ago, he’d seen no reason to seek him out for any reason whatsoever. He’d accepted his role as the sole protector and provider of his family, following his mother’s rapidly declining health. He’d dropped out of college, worked multiple jobs, sold valuables, and taken loans… all to prove to himself that they didn’t need Matthew Heathley to survive.

No, he thought. I won’t look for him. There has to be another way.

“Mmm…” Erica grunted as she folded in Dominic’s arms, clutching her chest. “It… burns. Everywhere… hurts. So… cold.”

“I know, I know.” Dominic struggled to keep the panic out of his voice. “We’re almost there. Just a little further.”

Another couple of minutes went by before Dominic finally stumbled through the empty waiting room of the Lincoln Hospital. He hobbled straight to the reception area, dropping to his knees as he looked up at the befuddled nurse behind the counter.

“Help,” he panted, breathless and exhausted. “She needs help, please.”

The nurse—Abigail, according to her name tag—shifted puzzled sea-blue eyes from the bruised young man to the sickly pale woman in his arms. “Were you two in an accident?”

Dominic shook his head limply. “Not an accident. It’s a long story. Just get her some help, please.”

Abigail’s brain finally clicked as she powered up the computer sitting idly on her desk. “Of course, sir. I’ll signal the paramedics right away. I just need you to answer a few questions. What’s her name, please?”

“Erica. Erica Heathley.”

“Erica…” Abigail repeated as she punched the name into the system. Then she frowned at the information displayed across the screen and looked back at the pair. “She… doesn’t have insurance?”

Dominic blinked his left eye repeatedly. “Uh… insurance? I’m not so sure. I don’t think so.”

“Oh.” Abigail took her hands off the keyboard. “Then how do you wish to pay for her care?”

Cursing silently, Dominic looked down, only to find Erica sleeping deeply.

Wait. Sleeping?

Something wasn’t right. Her chest wasn’t heaving like she was breathing. Her skin looked even paler, and her eyes weren’t moving frantically behind her eyelids.

“I’m sorry, but we have a strict insurance policy here at the Lincoln,” Abigail went on, clearly oblivious to the situation. “If there’s no certain method to pay for her medical care, then we can’t admit her in.”

Dominic wasn’t paying attention. He shook his mother gently by the shoulder. “Mom? Mom. Wake up, Mom.”

She didn’t even stir. Gentle nudges turned to rough shudders as Dominic grabbed both of her shoulders and became desperate. “Mom! Mom, wake up! Mom!”

Abigail, finally realizing the crisis before her, took a step back as her eyes widened with shock. Then with pity.

“I think… I think she’s gone.”

“No!” Dominic snapped furiously. He placed his mother on the tiled floor and put his hands on her chest, initiating a brisk CPR procedure.

“Come on, Mom,” he huffed as he pushed on her sternum repeatedly. “You’re not going to die like this. Come on!”

Gradually, and eventually, Dominic's thrusts became slower and weaker, and tears flowed in great torrents when he finally gave up and buried his face in the crook of his mother’s cold neck.

“You’re not supposed to leave me,” he sobbed as he held her close. “Not you, too. Not you… not you…”

His outbursts had drawn the attention of other nurses and hospital staff, all of whom stood quietly before the grieving young man. Dominic was scarcely aware of their presence, hunching over Erica’s body for several minutes—weeping bitterly and lamenting under his breath.

“I have to find Anya, Mom,” he said. “She’s all the family I’ve got now. I can’t let anything happen to her as well.”

He glanced at the empty husk of skin and bones that used to be his vibrant, lively, beautiful mother, shaking his head as he wept afresh.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.”