Ikemen Revolution: Etched in Blood

Chapter 4

The shifting of file boxes and paper filled the awkward air between the two doctors searching in silence. Kyle couldn't find any appropriate words, leaving him uncomfortable in the situation. He longed for a drink. Maybe that would give him the clarity to break this awful tension.

"Did ya find it?" Like sunshine breaking through on a cloudy day, the Ace of Spades cut in with his bright grin. He leaned against the door frame; hand stuffed down in his pockets. Having escaped the nurse's station, Fenrir had wandered back to the filing room.

Sophia slid the lid off another box, careful eyes scanning the patient names before removing one single file. "Yes, this one. Alex Marshall, 34 years old." Her shoulders tensed as both men moved to either side, peering over her shoulder at its contents. Too close for her own liking.

"The symptoms all match that of the autopsy report and my own investigation into the matter." Kyle spoke after thoroughly reading it over. With little information to go on, the only results they could yield would come from the man himself. "I'll report this back to Lance. We can meet at the Civic Center tomorrow around 11 to visit him together."

Her gaze flickered to his but immediately dropped away. That questioning look too much for her to deal with. "That's fine. We'll be there." Snapping the file shut, she pushed it against Fenrir's chest. "Hold on to this." She couldn't shake the ill feeling washing over her.

Kyle soon dismissed himself, muttering about needing a drink. Nothing more could be done until daylight. As for the Ace of Spades, he flipped through the file while slightly watching her replace the boxes in their proper place. He couldn't glean much, but her shoulders were tense. "Something bothering ya?"

"Yes. I'm unsure why, but..." Sophia trailed off, brushing a strand of raven hair from her face. An abnormality in the paperwork. The answer alluded her, so close to revealing itself but never quite doing so. It didn't sit well with her.

Rapping at the open door drew both of their attention to the nurse. "Sophia, Sullivan is asking for you." Though she spoke to the doctor, her eyes were glued to the army boy, a hint of blush creeping across her cheeks and chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. The transparent signs of infatuation.

"Who's Sullivan?" Fenrir asked, trailing behind her once again as a puppy following its new owner. Either he was dense enough to not notice the nurse's hot gazes or he pretended not to. Neither option clear enough to make a confident diagnosis.

This late into the night, only their steps echoed down the empty, dimmed hallway. Most of their patients fast asleep, and the number of staff drastically dropped from the day shift. Inhaling a breath to calm her scattered thoughts, Sophia came to stop before the last door on the left.

"Sullivan is an eight-year-old orphan who suffered major injuries due to an accident in his foster home. The investigation done by the Red Army never ruled a cause, though I speculate an accident not the reason. Sullivan can't remember how it happened and without his testimony, little could be done." Her hand hovered above the handle, pale blue eyes glancing back over her shoulder at him. "Whatever you do, don't stare at his injuries. He's self-conscious."

Inside the small room, only the lamp next to the bed illuminated the room. The thin boy sat upright against his pillows, but his lashes dragged against his cheeks as he struggled to keep himself awake. "Sophia, I heard..." His head tilted, lips mashing together as the words took a moment to come out. "you're...leaving." His tone wavering with sadness.

"I am," Sophia answered, unwrapping the white gauze from around his head. According to his chart, it had been a while since anyone had changed it, but she'd like to check on swelling and the stitches.

Fenrir stopped in the doorway. Even with the dim light, the ailments of the young boy were hard to overlook. The brown hair completely shaved away on the right side, in its place a long line of stitches across puffed, red skin. Bruises peppered across his pale skin like oversized freckles, varying in color and severity. His left arm securely fastened in a sling.

Once the fresh stitches were covered again, Sophia leaned against the stool. Her calm features never giving up what might be going on behind them. "I'm going to be working with the Black Army, as their doctor. I've already asked for your transfer. There's no need to have those teary eyes." Her voice lacked the teasing tone that most would take with a child so young, instead remaining meticulous and monotone.

Several seconds passed before Sullivan's mouth tugged into a lopsided smile. "I... get to...go?" Green eyes lit up, opening wide in shock. He adored both Sophia and the idea of being in the army. His gaze fell upon the Ace of Spades lingering in the doorway. "You're a... solider?"

"Fenrir Godspeed, the Ace of Spades," Fenrir introduced himself with a slight bow and a wide grin. Whatever the boy had been through, the admiration shimmering from his eyes told Fenrir that he loved the army. Striding across the room to where Sophia was, he easily slid into the conversation. "Ya like swords or guns the best?"

The doctor barely commented as the topics changed with ease at the hands of the Ace. Her focus falling back on the file placed on the corner of the bedside table. Eyes narrowing, she snatched it up and flipped through once again. Preliminary notes taken by Kayla, proper paperwork that the wife had filled out, and the standard discharge forms. "My notes."

"Hmm? Sophia, somethin' the matter?" Fenrir holstered the gun he'd been showing off to Sullivan. Her sour expression enough to alarm him. Even though they'd just met, he found it concerning since she hardly let her emotions show outwardly.

Sophia checked twice, counting the pages under her breath. "My personal notes are missing. They're the final page of the file for any case that it is under my name. This one is no exception, and I would not have forgotten to do so." Why would they have been removed unless it held more information that someone didn't want revealed?

Someone went to the trouble of stealing it. The fact swirled around her like suffocating smoke, settling in her lungs as heavy stones, a permanent reminder of something familiar. Of what she needed to remember; she couldn't place.

"Get some rest, Sullivan." Her goodbye short and crisp, lacking the motherly touch that one would except from a caretaker. Sophia moved with purposeful and long steps, engrossed in her own memories to respond to her fellow officer questioning her.

The path to her destination lit only by the moon peeking out from behind a silver cloud, her eyes cast around to the shadows swallowing up the smaller streets. The quiet of the night heightening her guard, as if those shadows were alive and watching her every move.

"Sophia!" Fenrir grabbed her arm to stop her from continuing on. "What's in those notes that could be worth taking?" He couldn't understand her abrupt behavior but the person who took the notes had gotten in and out unnoticed. That made them dangerous, and he wouldn't allow her to walk into a dangerous situation alone and unarmed.

Her head shook in annoyance. "I don't know." That wasn't quite true. The case had struck her as odd, and perhaps in her notes was a clue that she'd overlooked. It must be connected to her, as Carter and the other doctors never filed separate notes, choosing to use the normal paperwork and move on. She tended to pour details onto the page that most might have labeled as irrelevant.

"Aright, then where are ya going?" Surely not to attempt to hunt down the thief.

"The Civic Center." Her voice dropped, barely above a whisper as she continued, "I keep a copy of all my notes hidden there among the old files." None but her knew about this habit. Never before had a situation arose where she needed to use them.

Fenrir insisted on accompanying her. He disliked how shrouded she could be about certain things. Her relationship with the Red Army doctor... he'd overheard a little about reopening a wound. Her origins being in Red Territory were obscure, even after all the digging that they'd done. Now she kept secret files in case they were ever stolen. "Why do ya keep copies?"

"It's how I was raised." Her words harsh and final, sealing off the topic from being continued. That part of her, the part that dictated how cautious and meticulous about her past flared up to protect those secrets. It wouldn't help their current case and digging deeper would only harm him. She couldn't be sure this even had anything to do with her family.

If it did, she was putting all of Cradle at risk by investigating.