Chapter 145 - Echoes on the Asphalt

​The stark, sterile white light of the Japanese federation's private clinic in Shibuya filtered through the metallic blinds, casting symmetrical lines across the blanket of the bed where Aibek lay resting. The medical cubicle's silence was broken only by the steady, rhythmic beeping of the vital signs monitor—an electronic chime that seemed to mark the inertia of suspended time. The smell of disinfectant and sterile gauze had completely replaced the cold, metallic scent of the Shibuya ice rink, enclosing the brunette inside a new clinical fortress.