The sun shone brightly in the sky, coloring the world with a warm orange light. A gentle breeze blew, bringing coolness and freshness. The leaves rustled, the green grass swayed in the wind.
A small lake that surrounded the park created a beautiful and peaceful atmosphere. Its crystal-clear water reflected back the bright sunlight. A curved wooden bridge stood there, connecting the two sides of the park.
Colorful flowers bloomed, their fragrant scent spread through the air, making it much fresher.
A large tree stood in the middle of the park, its green leaves and rustling branches blown by the wind created a beautiful melody. But behind that beauty, behind the peaceful scenery of the park, an incident was happening there.
A young man was lying under that tree, covered in blood, with his eyes closed. Blood was flowing from the back of his head. Even though it wasn't too much, in a normal situation, it was something worrying.
People who were there gathered around him, they looked worried about the young man. Especially three of them looked the most worried. One of them, a woman who looked similar to him, sat beside him while shaking his body, trying to wake him up.
The woman kept trying to wake him, but she got no response from the young man. Tears welled up in her eyes. Wiping her tears, she turned to her right, where a tall man stood next to her showing the same worried expression.
The woman spoke with a loud, anxious, and hurried tone.
"What are you doing? Hurry, call an ambulance!"
The tall man, who was focused on the unconscious young man, was shocked by the loud voice beside him. He froze for a moment while processing what she had just said. Once he understood, he immediately stood up and took something from his pocket.
Taking out a rectangular object from his pocket, he pressed it. After tapping on it, he brought the object to his ear and spoke.
"Hello, is this Hensou Hospital? We need an ambulance, we're at the park in the middle of Bureu district. We need it as soon as possible!"
Taking the object away from his ear, he looked at the woman and nodded his head, then said,
"I've called it, they'll arrive in a few moments."
The woman looked at him and nodded too. Then she turned her attention back to the young man again, still with a worried expression.
A beautiful teenage girl who was beside her, who had a similar worried face and a slightly similar face, tried to calm her. Holding her wrist, she gave her a weak smile and said in a soft tone,
"It's okay, mom. He'll be alright. He's a strong boy."
The woman, his mother, turned to her and nodded slowly with the same expression.
The crowd around them started to move away, only a few stayed behind to help the man and woman take care of the unconscious young man.
After a while, a sound was heard. It was loud and sharp, with a repeating tone. Something, like a horse-drawn carriage, came from afar. But it was different from a carriage, because if you looked at it, the thing could move without anything pulling it, only its wheels spinning automatically.
That carriage-like object had a rectangular shape, colored white, around 5 meters long, 2.5 meters wide, and 2 meters tall. It had glass on every side, four wheels turning underneath, and four doors—two on the front sides, and two more at the back.
Something on top of it emitted red and blue lights. The lights kept spinning and the loud noise continued.
That thing, the carriage, stopped right in front of the park, and something came out of it. It looked like a narrow bed, supported by four strong metal frames and four small wheels underneath. On the narrow bed, a pillow was placed.
The stretcher-like thing came out of the white carriage, pushed by two young men wearing plain blue clothes and matching pants.
They pushed it to where the young man lay covered in blood. When they arrived, they said nothing, and immediately lifted the unconscious young man onto the stretcher, then brought him to the carriage.
Three people followed behind them—the crying woman, the beautiful teenage girl, and the tall man who called the carriage.
When they arrived at the back doors, they put the stretcher inside. The two young men wearing blue went in, followed by the two women.
The tall man stopped right in front of the back door. Seeing all of them go in, he said,
"You go with them using the ambulance, I'll catch up later by bus."
The woman turned to him and nodded. After that, the medical staff in blue closed the back door. The carriage started moving again, with the loud noise still sounding.
Inside the carriage—the ambulance—there were two people in the front seats. One of them was holding a round object, which seemed to be the steering device. The other one sat silently beside him.
The ambulance drove at a rather fast speed. The four wheels underneath spun quickly, and there was a sound coming as the ambulance drove.
While the ambulance passed through several roads, those roads were full of people, carriages, and things that made the world seem like it was in chaos.
Many things were broken, like fallen metal poles, collapsed trees, and badly damaged buildings. Even the road itself was cracked, making it hard for the ambulance to pass through.
There were also injured people, even some who were badly injured like the young man in the ambulance. But even so, the young woman and the mother didn't pay attention to the chaos outside, and the ambulance kept moving quickly.
After several long minutes, the ambulance finally stopped at a big building. The building was huge, stretching long and rising high.
The building was white, with glass windows on each side, allowing anyone inside to see the beautiful view outside.
In front of it, there was a sign: "HENSOU HOSPITAL," with a symbol of two white intersecting lines, surrounded by green leaves and rice stalks.
The ambulance stopped, its back door opened, and the stretcher with the young man was pushed out. Right outside, several people were already waiting for the ambulance. As the stretcher came out, they helped push it into the building.
The two women—the beautiful young girl and the mother—followed from behind. Just as they were about to follow, a woman dressed in the same uniform as the ambulance staff stopped them.
The woman in the plain blue clothes said,
"Please wait here, we're going to do an examination and operation. No one is allowed to interrupt. Please stay calm, and once it's done, we'll contact you."
The beautiful young woman and her mother didn't say anything and just nodded.
Seeing they understood, the female staff nodded back and left them alone.
They watched her walk away and said nothing. For several seconds, no one spoke, until finally the silence was broken by the beautiful young woman. She said softly,
"It's okay, mom… we made it on time. He'll be alright, he's a strong boy. Let's wait, find a place to rest while waiting for dad to come."
Responding to her voice, the mother nodded reluctantly and walked away to find a place to sit. Before they could find a spot to rest, the beautiful young woman spoke again.
"Mom… you should wash your hands first, that might bother people."
Looking around, they were in a large hall, with many iron chairs and people sitting or even standing. The hall was big, with clean white walls, marble floors, and several pillars supporting the roof.
It was lit by a white light from above, and a chandelier with thirteen candles hung in the center. The walls were filled with pictures and paintings. Many objects were in the hall too—like a beautiful limestone statue, tables here and there, and other things.
She finally realized something. Some people there were looking at her. Feeling something odd, remembering what her daughter said, she looked at her hands. Her hands were stained red. Because she hadn't noticed at all, she didn't realize that her hands were covered in her son's blood. Even part of her clothes were stained.
Understanding, she looked at her daughter and spoke gently.
"Alright, I'll wash them first. You go find a seat while I wash my hands."
Nodding her head, they separated—one to clean herself, the other to look for a place to rest. Since the place was crowded, it would be troublesome not to find a quiet spot, perfect for resting while waiting for news about the examination.
*
Author's Note: This chapter might be a bit confusing, but that's alright. I will upload the rest tomorrow, as I am quite busy today. For now, this is all I am able to write, sincerely from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you to those who have read this novel. I don't know if anyone is actually reading this strange story I've created, but if there is, I truly appreciate you.