Sweet Karma [boyxboy]

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight (Julian)

When I came to, I heard more weird sounds going on around me.

Something beeping. Hospital equipment, I recognized after a moment. Having parents that owned a chain of hospitals made it easy to recognize the scary sounds of a heart monitor and medical ventilator. I could feel a mask pushed against my face, providing me with clean oxygen that filled my aching lungs.

My whole body felt a little tingly, but aside from that, I was realized to be able to feel the sheets on my body, the loose hospital gown rubbing my skin as I shifted a little. I was careful with the arm that had an IV inserted into it. I blinked my eyes open slowly, my vision blurry at first until I cleared it with a few more blinks.

I was looking at one of the hospital rooms at my parents' hospital on the other side of town. A sleek, sterile room with a wall made entirely of windows, the blinds now pulled shut over them, indicating that it was nighttime now. I shifted my head slightly to the side to the side to look at the glass windows that looked out into the main lobby, but they were blocked with more blinds. I settled back against the bed, closing my eyes to think when I heard the sound of the door clicking open.

I looked up to see a doctor walking in wearing a surgical mask over the bottom half of his face, a white lab coat hiding his sterile clothing beneath. A bit of panic welled up inside me as he approached the side of my bed. Surgery? Why did I need surgery? What happened?

"Hello, Julian," He greeted, a voice that sounded very familiar, "I'm glad you're awake. Your family is worried sick about you... Unfortunately, I only have bad news to give you." My stomach sank as my heart rate picked up in alarm.

He reached up slowly and pulled down his mask, making my eyes widen when I recognized him as Ikuto Takahashi. He still looked the same with rusty brown hair hanging in his dark eyes, but this time, a deep scar ran right through his left eye, from eyebrow to jawline. It didn't really mar his pretty features, but it was still spinechilling.

I wanted to speak, but my tongue felt numb still, so I could only lay there as Ikuto walked to one of the boxes on the wall that held all the syringes. My heart beat harder and faster, practically ringing in my ears.

"I've studied long and hard, but unfortunately, there is no way for us to extract the demon within you without killing you," He was saying as he filled the syringe with something, flicking the needle for a moment before approaching me, making my body tremble, "And your parents have given me the go ahead to simply extract the demon."

Wait, what? My parents gave him permission to kill me?! I don't understand!

I tried to move, but my body wouldn't obey. Panic welled inside me as Ikuto took the tube that ran to my IV and filled it with whatever was in the needle. I panted hard into my oxygen mask, chest heaving up and down as I tried to move, but whatever was in the syringe was already working.

My vision blurred and dimmed as Ikuto replaced his surgical mask and leaned over me, brushing the hair back from my face.

"You'll be free." He assured me. A low whimper escaped my throat, but that was all I managed before I plunged into darkness.

A darkness so cold and foreboding that it made me nauseous. I was scared. I was inside my own head, so I would admit it. I was terrified. I couldn't understand what was happening. Why couldn't Ikuto try harder to find a way to save me? He had risked his life for me back when he was stalking me at school. Why would he give up so easily on a way to save me from the demon parasite?

And my own parents condemning me? I don't understand. What did I do to deserve this?

Was it because of the thing with Walter? Was this my punishment for making his life a living hell? But that wasn't entirely my fault! Walter was the one who took my thermos and drank from it. I had tried to get it back, but he wouldn't listen to me. He brought it upon himself, especially with the way he's treated me all these years. He deserved it, right?