Chapter 133
[November. Snow had begun to fall in Yoshida Town. Nakajima Reina wasn’t the lively type, but she should have been carrying a sense of anticipation and restlessness, brimming with energy. Instead, the reality was quite the opposite. The girl seemed listless.]
[She had become drowsy, and even when awake, she lacked any vigor. She was like a flower battered by an overnight drizzle, its petals drooping.]
[The attending doctor conducted a thorough examination. A stainless steel stand was placed by her bedside, holding a small pouch of medicine. Droplets from the bag traveled through a clear tube, flowing into the girl’s slender wrist, piercing through a sharp needle, and into the pale blue veins beneath her skin.]
[One pouch emptied and shriveled, and another full one replaced it. Nurses came in periodically to check, as the intravenous needle lodged in Reina’s arm endured bag after bag of medicine.]
[The girl often slept. You had no heart to do anything else and sat by her bedside, watching the transparent medicine flow, one bag after another, into her delicate body. You wondered: could this concoction, a testament to humanity’s medical knowledge and innovation, transform into the elixir of life for her? You did not know.]
[You and Nakajima Yohei asked the attending doctor, but the doctor simply said further observation was necessary.]
[After five days of infusions, the girl’s spirits seemed to improve slightly. You raised the head of her bed so she could see the garden outside and the tall building that blocked the blue sky. Yet, her interest in them had faded.]
[Like you, her gaze unknowingly shifted to the hanging pouch of medicine. The sound of the dripping liquid was faint, but in your minds, it grew into a distinct, vivid echo. Both of you watched the flow with devout focus, silently praying that the clear liquid would bring the miracle of life.]
[Seven days later, the infusion stand was removed, but the girl’s condition showed no signs of improvement. She could no longer even walk within the ward.]