That Blonde Guy

Chapter 45

Baji took a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Pacing back and forth in an anxious manner, his steps echoed restless taps in the hall as he stole glances at the closed doors of the emergency room. Each glance intensified the knot of anxiety that tightened in his chest.

In the silence of the corridor, Takemichi and Chifuyu sat on a bench, watching the long-haired captain of Toman's first division in such apparent disquiet. It only had been twenty minutes since they rushed Nika and Mikey in the emergency room, and now the sterile scent of antiseptic filled their noses as they wait outside, heightening the anticipation of news that would either bring comfort or deepen their apprehension.

Baji sat on the floor, leaning his back against the hospital wall. Exhaustion had crept in. Hunger, too. He was sure some bruises had already formed on his body at the moment judging by the way his entirety hurt, but other than that, he was okay. Staring blankly on the floor, his brows suddenly twitched when a hand appeared in front of him, holding a paper bag. Baji looked up only to see the familiar face of the girl with a glasses—the one who helped them save Nika and Mikey.

"Eat," the girl merely said.

Baji took the paper bag almost hesitantly and watched the girl turn to Takemichi and Chifuyu, providing each of them of the same paper bag. Baji looked inside and saw that it contained flavored onigiri and a bottle of water. He looked at the girl once again, who was now leaning against the wall across him, drinking on her own bottle of water. Her face was calm but evidently wearied from the events that took place earlier. Baji didn't know her, and he was sure that the girl had never been associated to Toman before, yet here she was.

Remembering it, the girl was the one who led him and the whole Toman to the river where Nika and Mikey was being cornered by the whole battalion of Panthera Tigris. It was thanks to her that they were saved, but who was she?

Baji was just about to ask the girl, but at the same time, the doors of the emergency room opened. All of them stood up seeing the doctor walking out. Baji immediately rushed to the middle-aged man in a white lab coat.

"Doc, how are they?" He asked. "Is Nika—are they okay?"

"Where are the parents?"

"We called them, they're on their way," Takemichi said. "Are they okay? Please tell us."

"The male patient has three fractured ribs in the right lateral region," the doctor began. "Fortunately, they were nondisplaced. The end of a broken rib, however, grazed a small portion of his lung, but good thing he was brought here right away, or his lungs could have collapsed."

The girl with the glasses stepped in. "Is he going to be okay?"

"We still have to run medical tests on him, but yes, he's going to be fine."

There was a sigh of relief.

"How about Nika?" Baji asked. "The—The girl, how about her?"

"She sustained minor fracture in her spine due to trauma, around the thoracic region."

His brows pulled together. "W-What does that mean? What's thoracic—is that serious?"

"It means the injury is around the upper middle of the spine, in the chest area of the body," the doctor patiently explained. "We still have to run some tests, but rest assured, it is not severe. Minor fracture is not necessarily harmless, but it can be managed."

Baji closed his eyes in relief. Takemichi and Chifuyu were just as relieved, slapping each other's back in a spontaneous hug upon hearing the good news. After saying that the two were in a stable condition, the doctor excused himself, and the four of them were left there standing outside the emergency room.