Chapter Text
Rita peered morosely into her empty coffee mug. Shame, she thought, but she wanted to complete the preparation of the cardiac muscle specimens before sunrise.
And then the phone rang.
She glared at it, but after two rings the sound irritated her enough for her to snatch it up. “What?” she growled.
“Rita? It’s Estelle. I’m sorry but I really need you to get over here right now.”
The Zaphias University was right next to the affiliated Zaphias University Hospital. Both were newly renovated facilities, funded by the recently formed democratic government after the overthrowing of the previous monarchy. Rita didn’t care for politics, but the university had been glad to take her on as a post-graduate student despite having been mostly self-taught due to her invaluable aid to the revolution. Being paid to research on what she loved? Hell yes, she would take it.
“I’m so sorry to have called you in on such short notice,” said Estelle for about the thousandth time since she met Rita at the door of the Accident and Emergency department. “This is beyond the scope of any of the doctors here.”
“Even you?” asked Rita, raising an eyebrow. “Something managed to confound the brilliant Dr. Heurassein?”
Estelle couldn’t even be bothered to object to that, if she had even noticed Rita’s teasing. “It involves an …artificial heart.”
Rita nearly tripped. “What, are we talking a cloned cross-species transplant or something?’
Estelle shook her head. She all but shoved Rita into the decontamination room and stuffed her into a surgical gown, mask and cap. Rita hadn’t come to the hospital often due to her preference for experimental study rather than field work, and in her excitement to see this new specimen she stumbled into the operating theatre before pulling her mask over her face.
That was a mistake.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the room, and in the kidney tray on the metal trolley beside the operating theatre she saw bloodied chunks of charred flesh. Yanking on her mask securely, she approached the table slowly. The man lying on the table was unconscious, she assumed. She hardly noticed his dark skin marred with scars on the arms and chest. Her eyes were fixed on the glowing stone in his chest, where the dim light throbbed slowly and silently. She reached forward to touch it.
“Hey, who let her—“
“Apologies, Dr. Maxwell but this is Dr. Mordio, from the department of cardiology. She specialises in transplants and robotics…”
Rita rubbed away a smudge of black from across the top of the glowing gem, before realising the skin was removed along a line across the man’s chest. “What happened?”
“Electrocuted himself in the bathtub with a hairdryer. We would have tried to resuscitate him via normal means but…” The doctor trailed off.
“He appears to be almost back to normal, but for the burned epidermal layer. But we’ve never seen…anything like this before. Is it safe, where did it come from, should we get rid of it, is it really his heart?” Estelle listed down the questions, shaking her head as she looked down at the glowing piece in wonder.
“The best option would obviously be to cut him up,” said Rita, turning to the trolley to see if there was a scalpel handy, but Estelle gasped and grabbed her hand.
“No, Rita. We can’t do that without his permission!”
Rita snorted. “He obviously tried to kill himself, he probably wouldn’t mind if we cut him up. If he died, we’d be doing him a favour,” she said, jerking her head towards him.
One of the doctors—Rita had no idea who was who, under all those masks and surgical caps—sighed. “Even if we wanted to, any remaining family or anyone else in the public would sue us for malpractice if we did. Since you can’t offer any help, we’ll just ward him and keep him under observation.”
Another doctor sighed, peeling off his gloves. “Put him on the seventh floor, in a private room. Get the psychiatric ward to lend us one of their beds with restraints.”
Estelle’s head turned sharply. “We’re treating him like a criminal?”
“We’re just being careful,” he replied, bluntly.
“And he was just being an asshole,” snapped Rita, slurping on her third iced coffee since that morning. “They should treat you better.”
“Rita, I’m just a junior doctor compared to the rest of them,” replied Estelle with all her usual grace and calm. “Besides, doing the night shift is hard work. Dr. Taylor was probably just really tired.” As if on cue Estelle yawned, daintily covering her mouth.
Rita rolled her eyes. “I haven’t slept in 36 hours.”
“And that’s why you’re everyone’s favourite ball of sunshine,” sang an annoyingly cheery male voice from behind her. Rita sat up and turned to glare at the offending owner of that voice, but relaxed when cinnamon rolls were set in front of them. “Three glasses of iced coffee, one glass iced tea, and four cinnamon rolls. Is there anything else, Princess?”
Estelle nearly flushed red as a tomato. Currently she was only slightly pink, as though she’d imbibed a glass too much alcohol, which was a minor improvement. “N-no, th-that’s all, Yuri. Uh.”
“She means thanks,” said Rita, flatly. She slid money across the table towards him. “Now go away.”
Yuri sighed heavily as he scooped up the money. “And a nice day to you too, Dr. Mordio. It’s such an honour to have you grace my humble food joint in this hospital.”
He left to return to the kitchen, and Estelle dropped her head onto the table, forehead hitting the surface with an audible thwack. “He’s so cool.”
Rita picked up a cinnamon roll. She found Yuri Lowell a tad annoying, but she wasn’t going to deny that he made a mean cinnamon roll. He also made mean cookies, cakes and savoury pastries.
Okay, so maybe he was a good cook.
“I’d argue that you’re too good for him, but we’ve been through that. Maybe you should ask him out.”
“Nooooooo…” Estelle peeked up from over her glass. Now her face was as red as a tomato.
“For all your brains and becoming Zaphias’ youngest doctor, you sure don’t have much in the realm of courage.”
“The two are completely unrelated skill sets,” muttered Estelle. She started munching on a cinnamon roll. “So, are you going to go back to your lab?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go see that patient. Something’s fishy about that artificial heart. For starters, that thing looks frankly dangerous yet more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen in the market. Which means it’s probably illegal.” Rita wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Even so, I know everything that’s in the black market as well. I probably invented half of them. That thing though? Looked like something that I would make if I was trying to make a bomb.”
Estelle pursed her lips. “I’ll pull some strings to make sure you’re listed on the official medical team.”
“What, using your status?” teased Rita.
“No, shut up.” Estelle frowned, then looked down to stare at the table. “Well. Maybe.”
“Princess of the old monarchy, loved by the people for her philanthropic works. Possibly the only member of royalty who holds any respect in the eyes of the public.” Rita grinned. “I picked the right person to befriend.”
“Ioder’s still respected,” muttered Estelle. Lowering her voice and peering to the side. “There’s something you should know. The patient? He’s definitely someone important.”
“Huh?”
“His landlady was the one who called in emergency. Said his name is Raven. No last name, no identification. Apparently they live in the area that used to be the Lower Quarter. I mean, they’re good people, but some of the places are a little shady. The landlady literally knows nothing about him except his name, and that he pays rent in cash.”
“…are you worried he can’t pay for treatment?” Rita’s eyes widened. “That’s it. He’s probably an illegal experiment, signed up for some trial for the money, that’s why he’s got that piece of crap in his chest.”
“Shhh!” Estelle looked around, but no one seemed to pay them any mind. “No, Rita. He’s literally a ghost. You saw those scars? He looked like one of the many patients I’ve seen who were veterans in the Great War.”
“What, not just the recent revolution?”
“Definitely not. The revolution was too recent. Those were really old scars. Veterans don’t just disappear from the world. Most of them were treated as heroes. The only ones who disappear are those in Special Forces, but they’re often given new identities.”
“Maybe he died. Ghosts don’t have identities either,” said Rita with a smirk. Estelle didn’t return the smile.
“I’m honestly pretty worried that you’re right.”
Rita tried to walk down the corridor of the ward looking like she belonged there. She probably would have blended in just fine with her white lab coat if not for the huge toolbox in her hand. She attracted a few odd stares, so she quickened her pace. Seeing the door number that Estelle had told her, she tapped her keycard for access, darted in and almost didn’t slam the door shut.
She heaved a sigh of relief.
Estelle hadn’t logged in her access yet, so she’d borrowed (read: stolen) Estelle’s access card to the confinement room that the specimen (Patient. She was supposed to be using her medical degree, so she would have to use the appropriate terminology. Patient.) was kept in. (was assigned? Rested in? Whatever.)
She edged over to the patient’s bedside and put the toolbox on the side table. As protocol mandated for such special case patients he had been restrained with large belts across his chest and legs. The heart rate monitor had normal readings, remarkable considering the extent of his injury. Rita shook her head. Electrocution was never a nice way to go. Resulted in a mess. It also hurt quite a lot, before death set in. It should have done this patient in, but his heart was clearly more resistant.
She opened the toolbox and took out a screwdriver. It would be difficult to remove his shirt with the belts, and so she undid the ones across his torso first. She unbuttoned the shirt of the patient, seeing the faint red glow from under the thin cloth. Laying out the shirt, she observed the heart. The light was brighter now. Peering closely, she could see mechanical valves and chambers, with blood moving through them. Pressing a hand to it, she felt it warm and beating.
And yet, somehow, cold and unforgiving in other ways.
She lowered her head to press her ear to it, trying to listen for gears and other mechanical sounds, when he spoke.
“Usually I take my ladies out for dinner before they do this.”
Rita lurched back, nearly falling out of her chair. “Ah!” she squeaked. The man looked at her with his bright eyes. She clutched at her chest, threatening to beat its way out of her from the adrenaline rush. She stared back at him, looking for signs of anger or fear. If it was fear, that would have been more worrying. She didn’t want to be thrown out of the university.
But instead it was a soft gaze on her, with a slight smile.
“Um. Sorry. I…hadn’t noticed you were awake.” She stood up, brushing imaginary dust off her coat. “I’m Rita Mordio. Dr. Mordio. I’m one of your, uh, doctors.”
“Raven. Pleased ta make yer acquaintance. Do doctors work with toolboxes?” he asked, looking pointedly at the bright yellow box next to him. As he turned, Rita couldn’t help but notice his strong jawline, covered with stubble but somehow…attractive in its own rugged way.
“Uh. Well.” She frowned. “I finished my medical degree years ago, and now I’m working on my PhD in the university. But,” she flashed her tag. “I assure you I’m totally qualified to be treating you anyway.”
“Ya seem really young.” His voice was soft and tired. She was surprised he could even still talk.
“Excuse you, I’m twenty years old.” She glared at him. She was supposed to be the one asking the questions. “So, what’s the deal with that thing in your chest?”
“Huh?”
“You heard me. You’ve got that to thank for you being alive and kicking right now.”
At that, Raven’s face darkened, and he sank back into the pillows. “Aren’t doctors supposed to be all, I dunno, sympathetic and crap?”
“Yeah well, I passed for my brains, not my bedside manners. I need to take a look at that thing. I know literally everything about mechanical organs, and I’ve never seen that. Plus, it’s honestly quite crude, and doesn’t look safe. I need to fix it.” She stepped towards him, ready to pry the cover plate off. To her surprise, Raven frowned and put a hand over his heart.
“No.”
Rita contemplated tying his hands down, but that would require her calling in an orderly from outside. “Why not?” she asked, frustration clear in her voice.
“I just want to be left alone. Ya can pry it out of my cold dead chest, and then examine it to yer heart’s content.” He cracked a wry and humourless smile. “Pun unintended.”
Rita froze. That degree of tired resignation was painfully genuine. Even she felt a pang of sympathy, followed by her usual rage.
“No. How can you just give up like that? Life isn’t worth ditching like that.” She gestured wildly to his chest. “You have a second chance at life. That thing is testament to it. If I could understand it, it could save thousands of lives.”
Raven shook his head. “It didn’t save mine.” He buttoned up his shirt and closed his eyes. “I would like to rest now, Dr. Mordio.”
Rita stood there, dumbfounded and still tightly clutching her screwdriver. After a few moments she relaxed, and shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Fine,” she muttered. She roughly threw her screwdriver into the toolbox and shut it. As she turned to leave, Raven spoke, eyes still closed.
“Oh yeah, mind strapping this belt over me again? Wouldn’t want them thinkin’ I was trying to escape, or that a certain doctor with terrible bedside manners was sneaking around me.”
Rita returned to her lab and conducted a quick search of the most recent journal articles published on mechanical implants. She rubbed her eyes after skimming through the fifteenth paper. She slammed her fists on the table in frustration, causing two terrified interns to flinch. Their sudden movement caught her eye.
“Oh, are you two still here?” She forced herself to smile, but they only looked more terrified. “Are you two doing anything important? It can wait. Listen, I need you to search up all the medical journals on heart implants. Use all the available databases Zaphias U has subscriptions to…”
After she’d sent them to their desks, she left the lab and finally went home. She threw herself onto her bed, and only managed to dream about flicking red lights that felt warm, and a tired voice accompanied with blue-green eyes.
She woke up to the elements song blaring from her phone somewhere in her apartment. She dragged her arm heavily across the side table and only succeeded in bulldozing her goggles, non-functioning clock, and several other unidentifiable objects onto the ground. None of which were her phone.
“Uuuuuuuuughhhh,” she moaned as she slid out from under the covers and over to where she’d thrown her labcoat on the floor, rifling through its multiple pockets to find her furiously vibrating phone. She furiously mashed the answer key just as the song reached the eighth period of the table.
“Rita! Guess what! I’ve been assigned as head doctor of Raven’s case!”
Rita blinked blearily at the clock on her wall. It was five pm. “Who? Oh. The specimen.”
“Patient!”
“Not a virtue of mine.”
Estelle ignored that. “So that means you’re free to come check on him whenever you want. They say it’s because I’m the only one who seems to care about this at all.”
Rita sighed. “You do realise it’s because he’s suspicious, and if the government does any checks and things muck up you’ll be the one to take the fall, right?”
Estelle was quiet for a while. “I know,” she said, softly. “But, with you on this case, I’m pretty sure this will yield more valuable results for the medical field as a whole.”
Rita pinched the bridge of her nose, and resisted the urge to sigh again. “Might as well get this show on the road, then.”
Rita chose an apartment on-campus because she liked being able to get to the lab in five minutes. Checking her phone, she realised the interns had sent her a nicely compiled document summarising all their findings. Impressive work in seven hours. She didn’t think she scared them that much.
By the time she reached the cardiology ward she’d scrolled through the document. Assuming their work was accurate, there was nothing ever recorded that exactly resembled what their mystery Raven guy had in his chest.
“It’s definitely a hack job. I’ve got no predecessors to work by, just from looking at it. He won’t let me open it, and so I’m going to have to run tests.” Rita didn’t even bother with a greeting or slow her pace as she saw Estelle. Marching over to the lift with Estelle struggling to keep up, she continued. “I’m going to need a wheelchair at all times. And, don’t bother with the restraints, they’ll only get in my way.”
Estelle quickly cut in as Rita paused to catch her breath. “He’s at high suicide risk. I think it’ll be better if we keep them.”
The elevator reached the seventh floor. “Fine,” said Rita, who was definitely not sulking. “I need bookings with the gymnasium for at least an hour every day. I want his diet recorded, blood tests, urine tests, whatever you can get your hands on.”
Estelle smiled. “Gotcha.” Rita’s enthusiasm and determination to learn meant she was blind to all things, including her tone of voice to a supposed superior at work. Yet it was this drive that meant Rita got the job done, efficiently and effectively. She would never intentionally hurt her friends, and so Estelle would take no offence from this.
They reached Raven’s room door. Rita slid Estelle’s card out of her pocket, tapped it, and wordlessly handed it to Estelle. Estelle took it and returned it to where it belonged, and opened the door.
“Good evening, Mr Raven,” greeted Estelle cheerfully.
Raven turned his head and flashed a disarmingly charming smile. “Good evening to you too, doctor. Such a beautiful sight for sore eyes.” He noticed Rita then, who frowned hard enough that her facial muscles were starting to hurt. “And ah, my favourite young prodigy. I’ve missed you.”
Estelle smoothly swept across the room to the window. “Would you like me to draw the window blinds so the sun won’t be too bright tomorrow?”
“No, it’s fine. I’d like to sleep in.” Raven smiled. Rita had never seen anyone who managed to look charming while tied down in a hospital bed.
“Alright then,” Estelle replied, with a gentle smile of her own. “I see you’ve met Dr Mordio here. She’ll be running some tests on you to see if she can stabilise your heart condition.”
“Stabilise? It’s working fine. Which is the exact problem I’m having,” he said, smile straining.
“Well, it’s clearly illegal, and so I’m going to run tests on it. Can’t have you running about with something like that in your chest. You could one day explode and take out a whole crowd with you,” said Rita, curtly. Estelle shot her a glare.
“What she means is that you’ll be kept for psychological evaluation, but also as our resident heart expert she feels that she could help you with your, ah, condition,” said Estelle, once again displaying diplomacy at its finest.
“I’m a lab rat, is what you mean,” said Raven, shaking his head. “Well, do whatever you want.”
“Really? Whatever I want? Because I really want to cut that open—“ started Rita.
“Except that. Run whatever tests you want, but don’t cut me open,” he said, looking straight at her. His eyes were sad and filled with pain, and Rita felt almost bad for having been so presumptuous.
“But why? That’s the best way for me to obtain all the data—“
“I’m scared of being cut up,” he said brightly, with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
Rita took a moment. “Right,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Alright, I’ll keep that in your record,” said Estelle.
“That’s bullshit. Tonnes of people are scared of operations, but—“
“Hospital protocol is clear. If the patient refuses to undergo a procedure, we will not force them,” said Estelle. “But you are alright with physical examinations, physical tests and being held here?”
“Although you don’t have a choice. That thing you have is illegal, and Zaphias law mandates you have to be kept here until we trace its source,” muttered Rita.
Raven nodded. “Sure.”
“Great! Then we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rita crossed her arms. “You sure we can’t do anything today?”
“I have to be present during your initial examinations, and I have an operation scheduled in a bit.” Estelle walked out of the room, and Rita followed. When the door closed behind her she lowered her voice.
“Don’t do anything reckless. The higher ups reported this to Flynn Scifo, and he wants us to get to the bottom of this.”
“What, he thinks it’s related to the recent allegations of misconduct and corruption in the previous government?” Rita wasn’t overly fond of Flynn poking his nose into all the cases at the hospital. Patient confidentiality be damned—it was a pain to have to gather up the relevant medical records and simplify them for these idiot officials.
“Rita, it’s important. It concerns the safety of the people of Zaphias, especially if the former government was conducting illegal experimentation on citizens. We should be doing whatever we can to help.”
The thought of human experimentation hadn’t occurred to her. The revolution was supposed to have stopped all that nonsense. She kicked herself mentally for having thought that Raven had perhaps even voluntarily gone into this for money or something.
“I guess.” Rita sighed heavily. “Why does it always have to be human experiments? There are animals for this sort of thing. It just… messes everything up when you bring humans into it. It….it’s a pain, and there’s investigations, and…and…”
“It’s downright awful, and goes against every fibre of your moral being?” added Estelle.
Rita closed her eyes. “It does.”
Rita started the tests with a simple questionnaire designed by Flynn Scifo to determine the sort of legal issue at hand, namely how the illegal machinery obtained, whether it was with the victim’s consent, and who the source was. Unfortunately Raven’s answers were vague, and mostly indicated that he was unwilling to divulge anything. She tossed the clipboard to Estelle, who barely managed to catch it.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t answer any of these questions,” said Raven, with a faint smile.
“One, you’re not sorry. Two, I don’t really care, because if you don’t want to say, that’s your business.” Rita gently led Raven by the arm from the chair to the treadmill. ‘My concern is how well your heart works, and how we can fix any existing problems.”
As Rita started the treadmill and monitored his heart rate accordingly, she noticed Estelle studying what little Raven had mentioned. They both knew that his silence spoke volumes enough, and that Flynn would probably figure out where it all came from. With the data Rita could obtain from Raven’s performance, it would give a pretty good indication of how much funding and research went into it. Within Zaphias, there weren’t that many criminals with that many resources at hand.
By the end of the day, Raven was winded. “I thought….hospitals….weren’t….supposed to torture people…,” he managed, between breaths. He was doubled over on the bench, but according to his heart rate, it was almost back to its resting rate barely a few minutes after he’d stopped.
“This is hardly torture,” scoffed Rita, studying her notes. His performance was about 90% that of a generally fit person, from cardiac output. She would have to wait for the lab tests to return to check for other abnormalities, but it was astounding for a complete heart replacement.
It was almost like magic.
“I’m an old man, do you expect me to be able to catch up with you young’uns so easily?” he gasped.
Rita raised an eyebrow. “…are you pouting.”
“Maybe.” Raven took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. His breathing rate was almost back to normal. He was certainly still very fit for an alleged old man, and his muscle tone indicated he had been active for a long time, and likely only stopped months ago.
Rita continued the tests in the following days, with various exercises. He performed surprisingly well in all of them. Rita noted how the thing in his chest glowed brighter as he exerted himself more. She also noted the way his muscles moved as he lifted weights, or how they flexed as he pulled himself up on the bars, or how aesthetically pleasant the colour of his darkish brown skin was….
Damned hormones.
Raven caught her staring once, and he laughed a little. She’d felt her cheeks flare up, and it didn’t help that he waggled his eyebrows and said, “Enjoying the view?” She’d almost thrown her clipboard at him then, but instead she settled for throwing a towel at him. Which was a slightly better response.
It soon felt like a ritual, going to see Raven every day, and she found himself almost enjoying working with him. Sure, he wouldn’t answer the questions she asked on his heart, but he liked to ask her about herself. Why she enjoyed studying machines and the human body, how she’d gotten into it. At first she’d hated it, but then she found herself answering him and talking to him about her life. How she’d lost her parents at a young age, and discovered her love for machines. How the war brought about a demand for engineers, and how she’d stumbled upon machines that replaced human organs. She’d fallen in love with the science of it then, she said.
Of course, at that, his eyes had clouded over. She felt a pang of guilt at having brought up something that was obviously painful, but hey, he’d asked. They continued the rest of the day in awkward silence, but the next day he was back to his usual cheery self.
Until the eighth day, when Alexei came to visit.
Rita was heading up to Raven’s room at her usual time in the late morning, when she saw Estelle standing outside the room on her phone.
“How could you let this happen?” demanded Estelle, who kept her voice down while sounding like she very much wanted to scream. Rita had almost never seen Estelle like this. Estelle looked at her with burning green eyes.
“Who is it?” Rita mouthed at her.
“Flynn,” came the reply. Estelle clutched the phone to her ear for a long while, and Rita heard Flynn going on and on about something. She tapped her card for entry. It flashed red, and the door remained locked.
“What the hell is on with this thing,” muttered Rita, tapping again.
“Fine. I’ll keep you updated,” growled Estelle to Flynn, hanging up. She then glared at the door. “It’s no use. It’s been locked from the inside by higher administrative access.”
“Aren’t you the head of this operation?”
“It’s the Defence Minister, Alexei. He ordered full privacy when he went in.”
Rita blinked. “Alexei. That sounds familiar.”
Estelle shook her head. “I can’t believe he didn’t get ousted during the rebellion.”
“The army still has some crazy dedication to that guy. Besides, nothing got proved against him,” said Rita. Alexei, Alexei…why did that name sound so familiar?
Just then, the door clicked, and Rita felt the urge to leap back and brandish something sharp. The door opened, and a tall, silver-haired man strode out. It wasn’t just his height that was imposing—his very air demanded respect and commanded power.
Rita remembered.
“Dr Rita Mordio,” he greeted, in a voice that could almost be mistaken for friendliness.
“Mr Alexei Dinoia,” said Rita, straining her neck to look up at him. “What brings you here?”
“Well, I came to visit my old friend Raven.” His eyes narrowed at her. “So you’re working on his case? I thought we had you in research.”
“Uh.” Her eyes darted to Estelle.
“She’s helping me with Raven’s case. As you know, his condition requires…special knowledge,” said Estelle quickly. “If you’d excuse us, we really should—“
“Rita Mordio,” said Alexei, as though pronouncing judgement. Rita looked at him, daring to lift her chin even higher. Instead he just shook his head. “Well. Best of luck…although since it’s you, you won’t need luck, won’t you?”
“No, I won’t,” said Rita.
He gave a curt nod and frown, before striding away. Once he was out of sight, Estelle rushed into the room. “Raven?”
There was no response, and the room was dark with the blinds drawn. Rita squinted into the dimness. “Raven?” she called, flicking on the lights.
And just as she did, there was a bright spark of red and white from the bed, a cry, and the lights flickered off.
The next few minutes were a blur.
Rita hadn’t been in clinical practice for quite a while now, but muscle memory spurred her to start chest compressions. Would it work with a mechanical heart? Was there any remnant of the original muscle left? She dimly remembered Estelle gently pushing her away as she readied the defibrillator, and Rita stood there numbly for a few wasted moments before turning to the machines. It was then that she realised the cause of the problem.
“Clear!” shouted Estelle.
With shaking hands, she held up the ripped wires from the nearby heart rate monitor, looking at the exposed wires. She turned to see Raven’s hands, seeing the bright red stripes across his hands, evidence that he had brutally torn the rubber covering of the wires.
Raven gasped, eyes fluttering open.
Rita closed her eyes. He’d tried to kill himself.
She didn’t mention anything about the ripped wires, but she figured that Estelle would have known about it anyway. Rita wondered what the hospital’s policy was on preserving the life of someone suicidal.
Normally, her response to the suicidal types would have been to dismiss it. “If they want to die so bad, what’s the point of stopping them?” Rita had said once.
“No one really wants to die. They just think they want to die.” Estelle had looked down with tired eyes, eyes that had seen too much. “The ones I manage to save…they are usually thankful. They regret even having tried.” She didn’t mention the cases where they were upset about being saved. Rita didn’t need her to. She remembered the phone calls received from Estelle where the conversation was nothing but tears and sobbing.
No, there was something terribly wrong about this situation. Too many important people were involved. Was this just a case of PTSD? Why was Alexei involved?
“Why do I even care?” Rita asked her coffee mug, but it had no answer.