Sangrè de Luna | EN-

Chapter XXII

"ANOTHER ONE INCOMING!!" A shrill voice of an alarmed nurse of this orphanage broke through the already cacophonous medical wing as she opened the door with such force. She brought in yet another one of these orphans who have fallen ill. This wasn't the first case of the day.

For the first time in a really long time, according to auntie at least, the medical wing had been made busy. Tons of orphans have fallen ill since midnight. As the hours have gone by, more and more orphans have been rushed to this clinic to hopefully be given medical attention. However, the size of this room nor the number of staff knowledgeable enough to perform medical deeds could not compensate for the alarming spike of sickly immortals.

It isn't a pleasant sight to picture. Orphans were looking lethargic and deathly pale. Gone were the youthful, energetic faces their vampirism had bestowed upon them in tandem with immortality. Some were vomiting, and a few had blood mixed into the ejected mixture. A number of them had unbearable migraines that were ruthlessly pounding at their skulls. If we thought the worst was done, more would come barrelling through the doors whilst being in the arms of our men. It was as if, whatever was making them sick was spreading fast.

It was terrible, utterly terrible.

If it weren't for this sudden emergency, I would've started packing my things and slowly saying goodbye to auntie, Jangmi, and the boys. I was set to leave this place by tomorrow. But because of this onslaught of orphans abruptly falling ill, the orphanage is going to need all the help it can get to stabilize the situation. Which meant, I had to stay here for an extra day or two. I couldn't decline my own auntie's pleas after all.

As of now, the entire orphanage is on lockdown. Any sick vampire would be isolated in the rooms on the east side of the manor, which is also where the medical wing is located. Anyone who is unaffected would stay in either the west wing or share with any staff willing to house them in their rooms.

I had finally caught a break after the grueling hours of restlessly tending to the sick. It was just past noon but I feel like I've been working for the whole day! I collapsed onto my chair to rest, only to hear a loud yelp the moment I plopped onto the chair.

"YEEOWW!!" that person cried out loud. All of a sudden, the illusion of an empty chair dissipated to reveal a wincing Sunoo.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Sunoo. I didn't know," I had to apologize real quick. I was so tired that I had forgotten that I had taken Sunoo in temporarily. His room, which is on the secret 3rd floor, was used as a quarantine section for those who were in a critical state.

Sunoo got up. His eyes were close to welling up from the impact of my supposed collapse on that chair. "Augh!! That hurts!" he complained with a frown as he rubbed the area where it hurts the most. Of course, I felt guilty for forgetting that this vampire was temporarily residing in my room.

It took a few minutes but Sunoo eventually recovered and forgave me. I sighed in relief. But, it doesn't change the fact that I'm still incredibly exhausted. As much as I wanted to fall onto my bed and sleep, I couldn't. I wanted to prepare my belongings just so I could immediately leave this place when this all blew over.

I bent down to grab my suitcases underneath the bed. Once opened, I began stuffing some of my stuff in it. Though, I was aware that Sunoo was watching the entire thing. As expected, he got curious.

But his question is what I didn't expect.

"You're leaving?" Sunoo's voice was soft at that moment. He looked at me with doe eyes that seemed to make him look like he was hoping that I wasn't leaving. His worn-out teddy bear was still in his hand, being held in the bear's hand.

I paused for a moment. I had anticipated a response if ever Sunoo saw me packing up. Would it still work? I asked myself. I turned around to face him with a calm face.