Chapter 32 – Hospital Lights
Hospitals at 3 AM felt colder than they should.
Too white.
Too quiet.
Too full of fear.
The emergency floor outside the operating room was chaos wrapped in silence.
Serina Watson had been inside surgery for almost an hour.
Nobody knew if she would survive.
And Keifer—
Keifer looked like someone barely holding himself together by threads.
Blood still stained his hands.
His shirt.
His face.
Nobody dared tell him to clean it.
Because it felt wrong.
Keigan slept curled against Felix's shoulder from exhaustion after crying too much.
Keiren refused to let go of Keifer's sleeve.
He terrified every time the operating room doors moved slightly.
Percy paced the hallway aggressively.
Aries leaned against the wall silently with crossed arms.
Too silent.
The dangerous kind.
Cin whispered toward Rory:
"I think everyone here is mentally collapsing."
Rory answered quietly:
"I think we already collapsed two hours ago."
Nobody laughed.
Not even a little.
---
JJ's Condition
Two rooms away—
JJ was unconscious.
Doctors said it was shock.
Severe trauma response.
Hyperventilation.
Panic overload.
Her body simply shut down after too much stress at once.
Percy nearly lost his mind hearing that.
"She stopped responding completely," the doctor had explained carefully. "Her nervous system basically overloaded itself."
Aries' jaw clenched hard.
Because both of them knew something nobody else did.
Blood terrified JJ beyond reason.
Not dislike.
Not fear.
Trauma.
Real trauma.
And tonight had destroyed her mentally.
Percy sat outside her room now staring at the floor quietly.
No jokes.
No chaos.
Just guilt.
"I should've stopped her from going," he muttered suddenly.
Aries looked toward him.
"She would've gone anyway."
"I know."
Percy rubbed his face tiredly.
"But she looked so scared."
That sentence hurt more than anything else tonight.
Because JJ never let herself look scared.
Never.
---
Keifer Finally Breaks
Meanwhile—
Keifer still sat outside Serina's operating room unmoving.
Like if he stood up—
everything would collapse completely.
The younger boys stayed beside him silently.
Then suddenly—
Keiren whispered shakily:
"…is Mom gonna die?"
Silence hit the hallway brutally.
Keifer froze.
Completely froze.
Because no matter how strong he acted—
he was still just a boy hearing that question about his mother.
He swallowed hard.
Then slowly pulled Keiren closer.
"No," he whispered.
But his voice cracked badly.
And everyone heard it.
Keigan looked down immediately trying not to cry again.
Cin looked away awkwardly because suddenly witnessing vulnerability felt too personal.
Then the operating room doors opened slightly.
Everyone stood immediately.
Doctor Ria stepped out still wearing surgical gloves.
Keifer moved first instantly.
"How is she?"
The doctor removed her mask slowly.
"The bullets missed the heart."
Everyone exhaled immediately.
But she continued:
"She lost a dangerous amount of blood."
Silence again.
"She survived surgery," Doctor Ria said carefully. "But the next twenty-four hours are critical."
Keifer visibly lost strength for a second.
Not relief exactly.
Just temporary permission to breathe again.
Keiren burst into tears hugging him instantly.
Keigan finally cried too.
And Keifer—
Keifer held both his brothers tightly while closing his eyes like he was thanking every god that existed silently.
---
The Secret
At the other end of the hallway—
Cin.
Felix.
Rory.
Denzel.
Calix.
David.
Endrix.
Eman.
All sat together unusually quiet.
Because unlike everyone else—
they couldn't stop thinking about the masked boy.
Or more specifically—
his face.
Felix whispered first.
"…we're not hallucinating right."
"Nope," Rory answered immediately.
"That was definitely him," Endrix muttered.
Cin looked deeply disturbed.
"But HOW?"
Denzel leaned back against the wall silently.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
Because the face they saw—
shouldn't have been possible.
Not after everything they knew.
Not after the stories.
Not after the timeline.
Eman spoke quietly for the first time in almost an hour.
"Should we tell Keifer?"
Silence.
Nobody answered immediately.
Because honestly?
How exactly were they supposed to explain this?
Hey by the way the masked guy who saved us has the face of someone impossible.
Yeah no.
That conversation sounded insane.
David rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"Not now."
"Definitely not now," Calix agreed instantly.
They all glanced toward Keifer silently.
He already looked shattered enough.
And somehow—
all of them understood one thing without saying it aloud.
The masked stranger wasn't random.
Not even close.
And JJ—
JJ would probably react the most once she found out.
Which honestly scared them more.
---
JJ Wakes Briefly
Around almost dawn—
JJ finally moved slightly in her hospital bed.
Percy stood instantly.
"JJ?"
Her eyes opened weakly.
Unfocused at first.
Then slowly recognizing him.
"…Percy?"
Relief slammed into him immediately.
"Yeah baby sistah."
Her breathing stayed uneven though.
Small panic still trapped in her chest.
Aries stepped closer too.
"You're safe."
JJ blinked slowly.
Then suddenly—
remembered.
Blood.
Gunshots.
Serina falling.
Keifer screaming.
Her face immediately lost color again.
"She—"
"Alive," Percy answered quickly. "Serina's alive."
JJ shut her eyes tightly in relief.
A shaky breath escaped her.
Then quieter:
"…Keifer?"
"He's here."
JJ nodded weakly.
But then suddenly noticed something strange.
Percy and Aries looked tense.
Different tense.
Like they were hiding something.
JJ frowned weakly.
"What happened after?"
Silence.
Tiny silence.
Aries looked toward Percy briefly.
Then back at JJ.
"Nothing you need to worry about right now."
JJ narrowed her eyes immediately despite exhaustion.
Which honestly meant she was recovering already.
"Liar."
Percy forced a grin weakly.
"That attitude means you're alive at least."
But deep down—
both brothers knew.
Once Keifer learned about the masked boy—
nothing would stay simple anymore.