A cry.
Small.
Weak.
"Renya".
The sound cut through the chaos like a blade. Not loud enough to draw attention. Just loud enough to be unmistakable to me.
My heart seized so hard I thought it might stop.
I turned and ran.
Out through the emergency exit.
The doors burst open and rain slammed into me like a wall. Cold water soaked through my clothes instantly, washing blood down my arms, stinging open wounds, blurring my vision into streaks of white and red.
Thunder rolled overhead, close enough to feel in my ribs.
And then—
I saw her.
Jacklin stood beneath the hospital's exterior lights, slightly apart from the chaos, rain darkening her jacket, hair plastered to her cheeks. The glow from the lamps haloed her silhouette, softening the edges.
Renya was cradled in her arms.
Renya was conscious.
Barely.
His small body trembled in her arms, breath coming in short, uneven pulls. One of his hands twitched weakly, fingers curling and uncurling like he was searching for something familiar.
"…Kaien…"
The sound was thin.
Broken.
But it was my name.
For a moment, the world narrowed to that single image.
Renya's small fingers twitched weakly against Jacklin's sleeve, instinctively curling as if searching for something familiar. His lips parted on a shallow breath, each rise of his chest uneven but stubbornly present.
Alive.
My knees threatened to fold. My vision tunneled, the rest of the world dissolving until only that single truth remained.
The word echoed inside me, fragile and overwhelming. My vision blurred hard, tears mixing with rain until I couldn't tell which was which. Every muscle in my body screamed to collapse, to give up now that I'd found him — to let the weight finally crush me.
I had survived hell for this moment.
And for one heartbeat, I believed it was over.
Careful.
Practiced.
One hand supported his head. The other pressed protectively against his back, shielding his small body from the rain. He whimpered weakly, face buried against her shoulder.
His breathing was shallow.
But steady.
Alive.
My vision swam.
Renya's black hair fell messily across his forehead — just like Arata's used to when he was exhausted. His wide eyes fluttered, unfocused but still unguarded, still innocent in a world that had already failed him.
Behind me, the emergency doors slammed shut automatically.
THUD.
Thick reinforced glass sealed with a hydraulic hiss. Red warning lights flared above the entrance as security shutters dropped halfway over the ambulance bay.
Containment.
This was the emergency exit zone.
Open air.
Open ground.
Nowhere high. Nowhere to fall.
Jacklin adjusted her grip when thunder rolled again, pulling Renya closer to her chest without thinking.
Renya whimpered softly at the movement, pressing closer to her chest without understanding why.
It looked natural.
Too natural.
Not the careful stiffness of someone afraid to drop a child—but the ease of someone who knew exactly where to place their hands.
The way she held him was the same way she used to hold my wrist when I got too reckless — thumb pressing lightly, fingers firm, stopping me without force.
I had always thought it meant care.
Like she'd done this before.
She waved gently when she saw me.
"Hey… you're soaked," she said softly. "Did you run here?"
Jacklin adjusted her grip on Renya.
Her fingers tightened for a split second — too tight — before she corrected it, jaw setting as if she'd caught herself doing something she wasn't supposed to.
"Careful," she murmured, not to me.
She didn't say my name.
That omission landed harder than if she had shouted it.
When she looked back at me, her expression was calm again — practiced — but her thumb still pressed against Renya's back, unmoving, like she needed the contact to stay steady.
Relief hit me like a body blow.
My knees nearly gave out.
I staggered forward, rain and blood and exhaustion colliding all at once.
"Jacklin—" My voice cracked. "Thank God… Is Renya okay—?"
"Hey," she said calmly, almost casually. "What happened?"
I reached for Renya—
And stopped.
My hand hovered in the air, fingers curling halfway and freezing there.
Something was wrong.
The certainty of it settled low in my gut, heavy and unarguable.
"Jacklin…" My voice came out hoarse. "How did you know he was admitted here?"
She looked at me.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Just calm.
"Look at you," she said lightly. "You're bleeding. You should sit down."
"Answer me," I said, quieter now. "I didn't tell you. I didn't even know the hospital name until minutes ago."
She shifted Renya slightly, adjusting her hold with practiced ease.
"People talk," she replied. "News spreads fast. You know that."
The words slid past me.
Too smooth.
Too empty.
"Who told you?" I asked.
A pause.
Not long.
But long enough.
Long enough for the rain to fill the silence. Long enough for my instincts to start screaming.
She smiled and shook her head gently. "Kaien… you're not thinking clearly."
She took half a step back — barely noticeable — angling her body so Renya was no longer directly in front of me.
"Just calm down," she said. "Everything's fine now."
That was when it hit me.
Not all at once.
In pieces.
The way she wasn't shaking.
The way her breathing was steady.
The way her eyes never left mine — never flicked down to Renya.
She was keeping my focus.
Movement.
A shadow shifted behind her.
I froze.
An assassin stepped out of the rain.
Black clothing swallowed by the night, presence precise and practiced.
Silent.
Close.
His blade rose.
Aimed for her neck.
"JACKLIN—!"
My body moved before my mind could argue.
I lunged forward, shoving myself between them, twisting hard, turning my back to the strike.
I didn't dodge.
I took it.
Pain detonated through my chest.
For an instant, my mind refused to accept what my body already knew.
Cold.
Deep.
The force drove the air from my lungs in a brutal rush. My legs failed instantly, shock ripping through my nervous system before pain could fully register.
For a heartbeat, I couldn't feel anything below my waist.
The world rang — a high, thin sound, like metal struck underwater — and everything loosened at once.
Not weakness.
Shock.
My breath tore out of me as I collapsed to one knee, rain hammering against my back.
I looked down.
A knife jutted from my chest.
Blood poured around it, hot and unstoppable, mixing with rain as it splashed onto the concrete below.
My hands shook as I turned.
Jacklin stood behind me.
Her hand was still wrapped around the handle.
Her fingers trembled.
She tightened them deliberately until the shaking stopped.
Like she had rehearsed this moment—and corrected herself mid-performance.
"…You?" My voice broke. "Jacklin… you too?"
My other knee hit the ground.
She didn't pull the blade out.
She didn't step forward.
She just looked at me — eyes steady, unreadable, rain streaking down her face like tears she hadn't earned.
"I didn't want it to be like this," she said softly.
Behind her, the assassin melted back into the rain, retreating without a word.
Renya stirred weakly in her arms.
Jacklin tightened her hold.
"You should have stayed out of this," she said. "You were never meant to make it this far."
The world tilted.
Not from pain.
From understanding.
Love hadn't been the wound.
Trust was.
And I had offered it without ever asking what it would cost.
And I had walked into it willingly.
The rain kept falling.
The blood kept flowing.
And somewhere behind sealed glass and warning lights, the hospital kept breathing — unaware that something precious had just been broken beyond repair.
✦ End of Chapter 10 - Love Wasn't The Wound ✦