S-2878 • L8 Libeluna • D13 Tramabe
"Libeluna releases the thread in high radiance. Tramabe weaves a sign in the open sky. The tide traces silver in a living curve. The story continues whole, in a clear tone."
How had I been naïve enough to believe I would escape this? That I could forget that day? That summer when I was radiant. That day when rain fell from the sky, but the ground…
The last time I saw her, Maia acted as she always did. There was no sign of what was coming. She smiled. Joked. And I believed nothing else mattered as long as she was beside me. Whatever happened, if we were together, we would hold hands and face the world.
Then… why?
Maia and I had arranged to meet in Centrália. We would have lunch together after work. The patients were being prepared to return home, so I had reduced the Project Jaburu team's working hours, allowing them to rest.
Ten minutes passed.
Maia was usually punctual. Well, unexpected things happened. Though my heart pounded to the contrary. An unfamiliar weight kindled in my chest, gradually growing. Where are you, Maia?
A crowd began forming in the distance.
I frowned, distracted by the movement. What had happened? I felt an urge to approach. It was more than curiosity. Sudden crowds rarely drew my attention, but my instincts moved my feet in that direction. It was the Enchantress's intuition whispering to me.
Voices mingled, indistinct.
Someone famous? I tried to see between the heads and caught fragments of conversation.
"…called?" someone whispered.
Called? Called what?
"A DOCTOR?! QUICK! ANY DOCTORS HERE?!"
Someone shouted. A doctor? I was… I… "I-I'm a doctor." I raised my arm.
"A DOCTOR! She's a doctor!" Someone touched my arm.
People gently pushed me forward, clearing a path. I advanced through a labyrinth, surrounded by frightened eyes.
Then the crowd parted.
Rain fell from the sky. But the ground…
Was stained bloodred. Blood from…
A bomb struck my thoughts. No. It was as though a bomb had struck me. My surroundings twisted, shapeless, colorless, faint. People seemed to have become awkward characters, talking endlessly. Suddenly, a buzzing pierced my eardrums. Voices dissolved into noise. I remained motionless. Too frightened to admit what lay before me. A push brought me back to reality.
Then I ran to her. "M-MAIA!!!" I knelt beside her. Agonizing claws seemed to suffocate me. "Maia…"
Blood ran from her mouth, ears, nose. Everywhere. She was unconscious. Her body seemed almost lifeless. Blood gushed, soaking her clothes and spreading across the ground. No. This had to be an illusion. What had happened?
I was afraid to touch her. Even so, I held her head. She was extremely cold. I didn't know where to begin examining her. My eyes traveled over her body, searching for wounds, but there were none. Blood simply leaked from her.
With trembling hands, I swept white hair from her reddened face. My temples throbbed with desperation. My throat closed. I couldn't breathe. "AN AMBULANCE! CALL AN AMBULANCE!" I screamed.
"We already called. It'll be here in two minutes."
"Did anyone see when the car exploded?" someone else asked.
"No, we only saw the explosion and her rolling on the ground."
I clenched my teeth, irritated by the mingling voices around me. Concentrate. "Maia…" I whispered. "Talk to me. Come on." I lifted her face. Her eyes seemed to pass through me without really seeing me. "Please, please…"
The nanoambulance's sirens brought a little relief. The vehicle landed, and an android and a human hurried out with a nanostretcher.
"Do you know her?" The android began lifting Maia.
The question struck me like a jolt of reality. My heart raced.
I suppressed my emotions and held back tears. Needed to reason. Needed to contain what I felt. After all, I had to save her. Had to compose myself. Maia had lost a lot of blood, but she was alive. I would do something. Yes. There was still a chance. "Y-yes."
"Please come with us, Doctor Akiyama."
"I hope she survives," a voice wished in the background.
I entered the nanoambulance. She will survive. She will.
"I'm unable to access her information or examine her," the android reported. "My X-ray isn't functioning."
She picked up a blood bag to begin a transfusion. The human wiped away Maia's blood.
"NO! Stop the transfusion." I placed myself between them. "Her blood is O Rh-null. If she's received a transfusion before, even administering O negative could be very dangerous. We're going to Santa Geordana. We have the blood we need there to replace what she's lost. We'll arrive in time to perform the procedure."
Adrenaline vibrated through my body. Desperation fed my desire to preserve Maia's life. Yes. Everything would work out. I was a doctor. How many people had I saved in similar situations? With Maia, it would be the same. Besides, she was different. Maia was strong. She must have endured far worse.
I held her hand, trying to warm those icy fingers.
The two paramedics exchanged glances. "Santa Geordana? Our service area is only Centrália…"
"I work there. We're going now." My voice took on the firmness of a medical order. I faced them with determination. They didn't dare challenge it, though they nodded uncertainly.
They instructed the LI to take the direct route to Zenith. We would arrive in five minutes.
"Did you see what happened?" the android asked.
I tried to organize the thoughts in my disordered mind. Retrieved the witnesses' words. An explosion. A car. Maia rolling on the ground. But I wasn't sure what had really happened. That absence of external wounds was very strange.
I pushed aside the foggy thoughts and tried to remain measured. "No. They said she was hit by an explosion, but I think it might be something else." I realized I was squeezing her hand too tightly and softened my touch. "She's bleeding from her orifices." I fell silent. I needed to be sure before…
"I'll connect this nanochip to stop the bleeding." The android displayed the nanodevice.
Maia babbled disconnected phrases.
"You'll be alright. You will…" I brought her hand to my forehead. Everything will be alright.
"We're here."
We rushed Maia to the emergency ward.
"Quick," I told a nurse. "We need Rh-null blood for a transfusion. Tell Daren it's me, Akiko."
"What happened?" Alice came running toward us.
"We need to perform a transfusion. Which room is available?"
"Room nine. Come on." She called two more nurses.
The paramedics returned to the nanoambulance and hurried away. We placed Maia on the bed and connected a nanochip to monitor her vital signs. Her pulse was weak. Heartbeat slow. Blood pressure falling steadily. Where was the nurse? Why wasn't he here? If this continued…
"She's lost almost two liters of blood." Alice examined Maia, searching for wounds to explain the hemorrhage. "What happened? I've never seen this."
Information tangled in my head. Internal implosions? "I believe her veins are imploding."
Alice's eyes widened. She wore a mask and gloves. "Is that possible?"
The nurse finally arrived with the blood bag. Alice hung it on the stand. I inserted the needle into Maia's forearm and watched, with some relief, the red liquid travel through the infusion line.
I held her hands. She was pale. Her eyes dull. Her lips dry. Everything will be alright. Maia, hold on. "Please. Be alright," I whispered.
"Do you know her?"
I nodded without taking my eyes off her.
"Alright…" Alice answered with perceptible empathy. She knew what it meant to fight for a loved one's life.
Everything will be alright, Maia. You'll be alright.
"I can't register her or access her information," a nurse reported.
"Leave that for later," I answered, my jaw tense. "We have to save her." Please. Come on. You can do this. You're strong. I know. I know you can.
The holoscreens indicated that half the blood had been replaced. Her blood pressure and heartbeat were beginning to stabilize.
I almost smiled.
"A-Aki?" Maia's weakened voice barely rose above a whisper.
I moved closer immediately.
My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. "Yes? It's me."
She could see me. A crimson smile spread across her face. "I-I'm sor…"
"Shh, shh. Don't say anything. Just… Take a deep breath. Everything will be alright." I smiled through tears beginning to escape. "You'll be alright. I promise." I kissed her hands.
"A-Aki…" She kept smiling. "I-it's o-okay…"
"The transfusion is almost complete. She's stabilizing. Prepare another bag," Alice requested, smiling.
"I-it's okay…" Maia repeated. The way she smiled… The way she behaved… Why did it seem as though…?
"She's stabili—"
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! A shrill tone cut through the air. Code blue on the holoscreen.
Maia's vital signs began plummeting. She was going into cardiopulmonary arrest.
My eyes widened in desperation. "PREPARE THE DEFIBRILLATOR! SHE HAS NO PULSE!"
While a nurse began resuscitation, Alice prepared the procedure.
I held my breath. Why? How? No. There was no time for speculation. I needed to save her.
The android positioned the nanochips over Maia's rib cage and delivered the first electric shock.
Her heart and respiratory rates didn't recover. Her arterial oxygen saturation and blood pressure remained critically low. Her level of consciousness was profoundly depressed.
One nurse continued resuscitation while the other tried to restore her oxygenation.
"Begin intubation. Alice, provide ventilation. Alternate with two breaths," I ordered.
Alice tilted Maia's head, raised her jaw, and extended her cervical spine. Her hands trembled with tension. She began ventilation.
Agony dominated the room.
Alice understood what losing someone meant. Knew what it was to watch life disappear from a person's eyes, even after doing everything to save them.
I prepared and administered one milligram of adrenaline, followed by a vasopressor.
The second shock came.
Nothing. Her vital signs weren't returning.
Come on. You can do this. My heart was in flames, about to explode. "Come on, Maia." I rubbed my sweaty forehead. Administered another dose. "You can do this. Please."
Her head remained tilted back. Alice tried to return air to her lungs.
"You're strong. You… I…" I blinked hard. You have to make it, Maia.
I have so much to tell you. I want to live so many things by your side. Please. Remember. I'm in that heart. For me, please. Make it beat again for me. Come back. Please. My heart spoke. Emotions flowed as though they could reach Maia. As though she could hear my heart begging her to return.
The third shock came.
Her signs remained critical.
I swallowed my tears and inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. My hands trembled so much I nearly dropped the syringe.
"Come on. C-come back to us," Alice murmured.
I ran my tongue over my sweaty lips, wiped my tearful eyes, and administered another dose of adrenaline and vasopressor. "Maia…" My gaze alternated between her and the holoscreens. My desperation seemed to flood the room. The pressure of the situation accelerated my own pulse. "Please! I know you can!"
"Levels are severely low," the nurse reported. "Two minutes until the fourth shock."
Please, Maia. Remember you said we would go to 'Where You Touch the Sky'? If… When you wake up, we'll go there. Take me wherever you want. Let's travel the world. Look at the sky together. Enjoy the breeze on our faces. Warmth on our skin. Let's go to Antarctica to see the penguins and blue waters. Let's…
It doesn't matter. I promise that if you come back, I… Maia. Please, come back. Come back. I need one beat. A single beat. Stay with me in this world. Let's stay together. Especially after you showed me how good it is to have you beside me. After living with you. What I felt… Please.
The numbers kept falling.
"Come back to us," Alice murmured, staring at the holoscreen. Sweat dripped from her chin.
The fourth shock.
I administered more nanomedication.
"W-we're losing her. We're…"
No, Maia. Please, no. Fight! Fight a little longer. My throat hurt with apprehension. Air seemed trapped in my lungs, chaining my distress. "I only need one beat."
"Try. Come on, try." Alice knew.
I knew. Why was she giving in? Why did she seem to want this? Why? Why was she leaving me? Maia, please, let me try to take away your pain. I know we can overcome this together. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I only want you. Want you with me. Please, choose to stay. Come on. Let me take your pain's place. Let me care for you. Let me color your world… as you colored mine. Plea—
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Her vital signs reached zero. Maia was…
Everything around me darkened. Sounds fell silent. I lost control of my senses. Lost far more than that. Tears fell. My trembling lips parted. I could see only her body on the bed. Nothing else.
I ceased to belong to reality. Dissociated. My soul seemed to project itself outside my body. I saw myself standing, inert. Empty. I looked at Maia and tried to scream, but no sound came. Tried to reach her, but paralysis kept me from moving a single muscle. I drained out of myself.
The world around me began to collapse. Walls broke apart. The floor disappeared. The ceiling fell. Powerless, I remained standing. Everything emptied of meaning. And life… Yes. It was there. There, life lost its meaning. For the first time, after witnessing so many deaths, I finally felt death. It touched me with a frigid delicacy that penetrated to my bones, spreading cold through every part of me.
I remember the feeling of glimpsing Maia's soul disappearing into the darkness while Death touched my shoulders and cradled me.
"Akiko," Death said. "Are you there?"
I couldn't answer. Its freezing touch kept me motionless.
"Akiko?" Alice's voice came and went. "Are you there?"
I slowly turned my head. Saw only darkness. Extinguished lights. My light went out too. I darkened. Emptied.
"Wake up, Akiko," Death whispered in my ear. "You have to keep going."
My heartbeat and breathing seemed to follow each other in an uneven rhythm. Numb. Like me. I wanted the numbness to remain. Wanted to stay outside reality. Because Maia…
Alice sighed. She was sweating. Trembling. "Time of death: 13:47."
Time of death? I returned to my body. Invisible lightning struck me, electrocuting every particle of my being. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOOOOO!!!" My world collapsed completely. The ground beneath my feet gave way. And so did I. Reality returned. Maia was…
Tears poured like a waterfall. "N-no! N-no…" I embraced Maia, bringing her head to my shoulder, holding her as though… "NO! Why? Why?"
What happened afterward? My mind went white. Claws pierced me, violating my heart and tearing my soul. They seemed to enjoy themselves as they broke me and brutally tore a piece of me away. I bled inside.
"Come on. She…" Alice's footsteps began retreating. "Needs some time."
"Wh-what…?" I cried water outside and blood within. Why? I caressed Maia's white hair, stained red. "P-please… say… say this is… a lie." I cradled her in my arms. My heart hurt so much. "M-Maia… why…? Why…? I…" I clung to her as though it could bring her back. My world had collapsed, but if she was in my arms, I would still have everything. Because I needed to feel her body against mine one last time.
I wanted it to be a lie. Believing I had lost her was impossible. There were still so many things I wanted to say. So many experiences I wanted to share with her.
I wasn't ready for her departure.
I never would be.
Why…