Chapter 51– Red on White Truth
The mansion didn't feel like a home anymore.
It felt like something had cracked open inside it.
And everything was leaking out.
---
The Rush
Aries didn't think.
He just acted.
JJ was in Percy's arms, completely unconscious, her head tilted slightly, face too still for someone who usually argued with the entire world.
"Move," Aries snapped.
Percy didn't even argue this time.
That alone said everything.
He lifted JJ properly, holding her close like she was something he wasn't ready to lose.
His voice was shaking, but controlled.
"JJ… hey… don't you dare do this now…"
No response.
Only silence.
Too heavy.
Too wrong.
---
They ran.
Downstairs.
Out of the mansion.
Into the car.
Aries already had the keys.
Hands tight.
Jaw locked.
"Back seat," he said sharply.
Percy carefully placed JJ down, still holding her hand like letting go would mean something irreversible.
The moment JJ's head rested against the seat—
Percy noticed it.
A small red stain at her nose.
Then another.
---
The First Drop of Panic
"…Aries."
His voice broke.
Aries glanced once.
Saw it.
And his expression changed instantly.
"No," he said under his breath.
But his foot was already on the accelerator.
The car shot forward.
---
Blood Doesn't Stay Small
JJ's nosebleed got worse within seconds.
Slow at first.
Then steady.
Then enough that Percy pressed his sleeve against her face instantly.
"Stop—stop bleeding—come on—come on—"
His voice wasn't Percy anymore.
It was something younger.
Something scared.
Aries gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Hold her head straight," he ordered.
"I am!" Percy snapped back, panicked.
For once, no jokes.
No chaos.
Just fear.
---
The Call That Changes Everything
Aries hit the dashboard screen.
Group call.
Everyone.
Now.
---
It rang once.
Twice.
Then—
Cin answered first.
"Yo—why are you calling so—"
Aries cut him off immediately.
"Hospital. Now."
Silence.
That one word did it.
Freya's voice came in instantly:
"What happened?!"
Mica: "IS SHE OKAY?"
Denzel: "Where is JJ?"
Rory: "What hospital—"
Aries didn't even let them finish.
"Fernandez car. Moving now."
---
Keifer picked up last.
And his voice—
changed everything instantly.
"…Aries?"
Aries didn't soften.
"JJ collapsed."
Silence.
The kind that stops breath.
Keifer's voice dropped instantly.
"…where is she."
Aries answered.
"On the way."
---
Keifer Reacts Without Control
There was a pause.
Then Keifer's voice, lower than before:
"I'm coming."
No question.
No hesitation.
Just certainty.
Aries didn't argue.
Because there was nothing to argue with.
---
Angelo Is Called
Aries hit another contact.
Angelo.
Ring.
Ring.
Then—
"Aries?"
Background noise.
Foreign airport.
Wind.
Angelo's voice sharp instantly.
"What happened."
Aries didn't waste words.
"JJ collapsed. Severe. We're taking her to hospital."
Silence.
Then—
a shift.
Cold.
Dangerous.
"Which hospital."
Aries told him.
Angelo didn't respond for two seconds.
Then:
"I'm coming back."
---
Back in the Car
Percy kept wiping JJ's nose carefully.
Her skin felt too cold.
Too still.
Too not JJ.
"…you're not allowed to scare me like this," he whispered.
Aries drove faster.
Red lights didn't matter.
Nothing mattered.
Except the back seat.
---
Percy Breaks Slightly
"Aries…" Percy said quietly.
Aries didn't look back.
"What."
"…she was fine this morning."
Aries jaw tightened.
"I know."
That's what made it worse.
---
JJ Doesn't Move
Percy held her hand tighter.
"JJ… hey… listen… you're okay… you're okay…"
But his voice was lying.
He knew it.
Aries knew it.
Even the silence knew it.
---
Keifer on the Way
On the call, Keifer's voice came again—controlled but strained.
"I'm leaving now."
Freya in the background: "WE'RE COMING TOO—"
Keifer cut in.
"Everyone. Move."
No one argued.
---
The car sped through traffic like the world didn't matter anymore.
Inside—
Percy kept pressing his sleeve gently against JJ's nose.
Aries didn't blink.
And JJ—
still didn't wake up.
But the red didn't stop.
And that was the part no one said out loud.
Because saying it would make it real.
---
The Word That Broke the Room
---
The hospital corridors were too white.
Too bright.
Too clean for something this messy.
The kind of place that pretends it can fix everything—while quietly collecting things it can't.
---
JJ Inside
She had already been taken inside.
Emergency doors shut behind her.
No one followed.
Not yet.
Only machines.
Only doctors.
Only the sound of urgency no one outside was allowed to understand.
---
Outside – Silence Before Impact
Percy stood near the wall.
Still holding the sleeve he had used to stop her nosebleed.
It was stained now.
Red had dried into something darker.
Aries stood a few steps away.
Phone still in his hand.
Still silent.
Neither of them spoke.
Because speaking meant breaking.
And they were already halfway there.
---
The Others Arrive
Footsteps.
Fast.
Too many.
The entrance doors burst open.
And suddenly—
the group filled the hospital like a storm that didn't know where to land.
Cin first.
"WHERE IS SHE?"
Eman right behind him.
Calix, breathless.
Felix looking lost for the first time.
Rory trying to stay calm but failing.
David already scanning for directions.
Denzel holding Grace's hand tightly.
Ella right behind Aries, eyes sharp but scared.
Freya, Rakhi, Mica all talking over each other in panic.
Endrix frozen slightly.
Freya: "WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Mica: "SHE WAS FINE YESTERDAY—"
Rakhi: "WHERE IS JJ?!"
Freya: "WHY ARE YOU GUYS QUIET?!"
---
Keifer walked in last.
Not loud.
Not chaotic.
Just… still.
But his eyes were already searching.
Not the room.
Not the people.
Only one thing.
JJ.
---
Percy Finally Breaks
Percy didn't speak at first.
He tried.
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then—
his voice cracked.
"…I saw it."
Silence instantly snapped through the group.
Even Freya stopped.
Even Yuri, who had just arrived behind them, paused mid-step.
Percy swallowed hard.
"I saw the file."
Aries closed his eyes briefly.
Like he already knew what came next.
Percy continued.
"Her cupboard… I went to take my hoodie… and there was a file."
His hands shook slightly.
"I read it."
Freya stepped forward instantly.
"What file?"
Percy looked at her.
And for the first time—
there was no chaos in him.
Just fear.
"…her medical file."
---
The Room Changes
The air didn't just go quiet.
It collapsed.
Cin stopped breathing for a second.
Eman blinked like he didn't understand.
Calix stepped back slightly.
Denzel's grip on Grace tightened.
Rory muttered, "No…"
Freya frowned sharply.
"What are you talking about?"
Percy's voice dropped.
"She's sick."
Silence.
Not normal silence.
The kind that hurts your ears.
---
Dr. Ria Arrives
The doors opened again.
Dr. Ria stepped out.
Expression controlled.
But eyes tired.
That kind of tired that only comes from delivering truths too many times.
She looked at all of them.
Then spoke.
"Family?"
Keifer stepped forward immediately.
"No. Friends. Tell us."
A pause.
Then—
Dr. Ria exhaled slowly.
"…she has CJD."
The word landed wrong.
Like it didn't belong in air.
Someone whispered, "What is that?"
Dr. Ria continued.
"Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease."
Silence deepened.
"It is a rare, progressive, and terminal neurological condition."
No one moved.
"Rapid degeneration. No curative treatment available."
Freya blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"No…"
Mica shook her head slightly.
"That's not real…"
Dr. Ria didn't soften it.
"I'm sorry."
---
The Meaning Hits Late
Cin stepped forward.
"So… she'll… recover, right?"
Silence again.
Dr. Ria answered honestly.
"There is almost no survival rate once symptoms progress to this stage."
That sentence didn't feel like English anymore.
It felt like impact.
---
Keifer Doesn't Move
Keifer stood still.
Completely still.
Like his body forgot how to react.
Then quietly—
"…how long?"
Dr. Ria hesitated.
That hesitation said everything.
"…months. Less, depending on progression."
Silence.
The kind that makes sound feel wrong afterward.
---
Percy Breaks First
Percy suddenly stepped back.
"No."
One word.
Sharp.
Broken.
"No, that's—no, that's not—she was laughing yesterday—she was—"
His voice cracked fully now.
"—she was fine."
Aries grabbed his shoulder slightly.
But even Aries looked like he didn't know how to hold himself together.
---
Freya's Collapse
Freya stepped back slowly.
Then whispered:
"…she didn't tell us."
That hurt more than anything else.
Not anger.
Not shock.
Just betrayal wrapped in confusion.
Mica covered her mouth.
Rakhi turned away.
Grace looked down quietly.
Ella closed her eyes.
Endrix didn't speak at all.
Yuri finally said softly:
"…that's why."
No one asked what he meant.
Because everyone already knew.
---
Keifer Finally Moves
Keifer turned slightly toward the ICU doors.
Slow.
Like gravity had changed.
"…I want to see her."
Dr. Ria nodded.
"Only one at a time."
He didn't argue.
Didn't wait.
Just walked.
---
Final Beat
Behind him—
the group stood frozen in fragments of shock.
Percy still shaking.
Aries still silent.
Freya barely holding herself together.
And inside—
behind closed doors—
JJ was somewhere none of them had been prepared to face yet.
Not as JJ the chaos.
Not JJ the fighter.
Not JJ the loud one who never stopped talking.
But JJ…
the one running out of time.