Aki’s eyes blinked open to a ceiling she almost recognized.

  Familiar—but not quite. Too white. Too clean. The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, thick and heavy.

  Wasn’t I discharged already?

  For a second, she wondered if she had ever left at all.

  She reached for the bell beside her bed, pressing it out of habit. Footsteps followed soon after, but instead of the nurse she knew, a man in a white coat appeared.

  “You’re awake?” he said, his voice calm, almost detached. “I need to run a few tests.”

  Aki blinked. “Doctor… is there some kind of emergency?”

  “I’m Dr. Nicolas,” he replied, flipping through a clipboard. “I’m in charge of your case. Can you tell me what happened before you woke up?”

  “Huh?”

  He didn’t look up. “Don’t you remember the car crash?”

  Her breath caught. “It… was all real?”

  “You must be confused right now.”

  “No—no, it can’t be real,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “It’s fake. I know it’s fake.”

  He scribbled something down, then looked at her again. “Your parents were with you. Your mother’s leg is—”

  “No,” Aki interrupted, her voice trembling. “No, I did it to save her. It’s fake. I know it’s fake. It can’t be real.”

  Dr. Nicolas exhaled softly, then pulled something from his pocket — a matchstick. “I need you to look here for a second.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She tried to steady herself, forcing a laugh. “It wasn’t real. None of it was.”

  “When am I getting discharged?” she asked suddenly.

  “Do you remember anything?”

  “Like what? My injury?”

  He studied her closely. “And… something else.”

  “What are you talking about? Are my parents coming to take me?”

  “I think you’ll be ready to go home tomorrow.”

  She blinked. “My parents… are they coming?”

  He hesitated. “Unfortunately, they’re still in treatment.”

  “What do you mean?” Her voice wavered.

  “They’re in a coma.”

  She stared at him, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. “You’re kidding me, right? That’s fake. It’s all fake. Right?”

  He said nothing.

  “I won’t believe you until I see them!” she cried. “Tell the nurse to take me to them!” Tears streaked down her cheeks, trembling with denial.

  “You can’t meet them right now,” he said quietly.

  “What do you mean I can’t? I’m their daughter! I should be with them!”

  “They’re in a different hospital.”

  “What? Why? Isn’t that neglect? Shouldn’t families stay together?”

  Dr. Nicolas sighed. “You sure talk a lot for someone who just woke up.”

  Her anger flickered. “Which hospital are they in?”

  “They’re a little far,” he muttered. “We’ll be transported there tomorrow.”

  “I’m fine. Just tell me when I can go.”

  “What about your bill?”

  “I’ll pay it right now. How long has it been since the accident?”

  He looked up. “Half a day.”

  Aki froze. Half a day?

  Her wounds — gone. Her body felt whole. That wasn’t possible.

  “Oh,” Dr. Nicolas said, almost to himself. “I made a mistake.” He raised the matchstick again. “Can you look here for a moment?”

  “Why do you keep showing me that?” Aki’s eyes widened.

  He frowned. “Wait— the first one didn’t work? How?”

  “What? No— send me to—”

  Before she could finish, her vision tunneled. Darkness swallowed her whole.

  Dr. Nicolas caught her before she hit the floor, clicking his tongue.

  “What bad timing,” he muttered. “Why did it activate now, of all times… No matter. I’ll inform the Chancellor first.”

  Half a day earlier — near the crash site

  Smoke drifted through the trees, curling around shards of metal and the smell of singed rubber. Taiga stood on a jagged outcrop of earth, peering into the hazy distance as if the forest itself might cough up an answer.

  “I saw a girl,” he said after a while, as if the fact had only just occurred to him.

  Haku looked up from the device in his hands, irritation already written across his face. “A girl? Where? Why are you only telling me now, you idiot?”

  Taiga shrugged, casual and unconcerned. “Over a kilometer east. She was limping — bad. Black, curly hair. About our age, I’d guess.”

  Haku ran his fingers through his hair, exasperated. “You watched her from that far away and waited? What if she ran? What if she saw something?”

  “She wouldn’t have gone far with those injuries,” Taiga said, voice flat. “She couldn’t move properly. Didn’t look like a runner.”

  “You don’t know that,” Haku snapped. He leaned forward, impatience turning to urgency. “The Chancellor said— we don’t leave witnesses.”

  Taiga’s grin was thin and careless. “So? Can’t you just… kill her? Easier that way.”

  Haku’s jaw tightened. A long breath. “No. I’ll take care of it.” He rose, shoulders squared. “You go back and secure the perimeter. Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Taiga gave him a lazy salute and turned toward the

  trees without another word, leaving Haku standing there with the weight of the decision settling on him like smoke.