Demons Beside You

At the moment, Chen Zhao and Zola were in each other’s arms in the grass behind the hospital, kissing.

“I heard that Asian men are all reserved.”

“There’s a Chinese idiom that in English is like, ‘When in Rome do as the Romans do.’ So I should follow the customs wherever I go.” Chen Zhao’s hand was already reaching inside Zola’s top.

Zola was enthusiastic and experienced. The panting of the man and woman streamed out of the shadows. The two engaged in a battle for an hour before finally stopping.

After freshening up a little, Zola returned to the sickroom.

She went into the room to check upon Rasfa and didn’t let out a relieved breath until she saw the steady heartbeat on the heart rate monitor and heard his snores.

It seemed that Chen Zhao’s medicine came into effect. Her father had at least made it past the most dangerous time.

There were still three or four hours before daybreak. Zola had dozed off.

Chen Zhao took off his jacket and put it over Zola. Then he walked the dog.

“There is so many preys here.” Blackie was like a wolf in a pack of sheep. Light shimmered faintly from the faceless hood.

“Don’t mess around.” Chen Zhao was rattled. It was completely a mistake bringing Blackie to the hospital.

“As many preys as there are, none belongs to me,” Blackie said sadly. “I can’t sense their deaths, so they don’t belong to me. Wait…I sense one.”

Blackie stopped abruptly before a room. “This is a pure soul. I’m so lucky. I can refine many demonic crystals from this.”

Chen Zhao pushed the door open and saw a pale boy lying in the dim room. He had a respirator on. All his hair had been shaved off.

After a beat of silence, Chen Zhao asked, “How will he die?”

“There’s something in his head. At 3 pm sharp, that thing will kill him.”

“Will the demonic crystal be effective on him?”

“It can push it back, but as long as the thing in his head is still there, his death is only delayed temporarily,” Blackie said. “However, if you want me to give up on this prey, you need to give me benefits.”

“I owe you a year’s worth of demonic crystals.”

“Not enough.”

“Don’t bargain with me. This is the price. If you’re not satisfied, our deal is over and you can steal his soul.”

“Fine, but don’t push the price down so hard next time.”

Chen Zhao looked inside the room. Seeing that there weren’t any security cameras, he took out a bit of the demonic crystal powder and poured it into the boy’s mouth.

“His death is over,” Blackie said. “He has half a year left.”

Just then, a female doctor suddenly came over.

“Who are you?”

“Uh…the patient’s relative.”

“No, you’re not John’s relative. He’s been here for two years and I’ve never seen you before. Plus, no family visits during this time. Who are you?”

“I…I’m in the wrong room. My friend is in the ICU and all the rooms look the same.”

Just then, the doctor said to her walkie-talkie, “Security, security, come over.”

Chen Zhao stood in place helplessly. He didn’t plan on escaping and was later taken to security.

“Who are you? If you don’t tell the truth, I’m calling the cops.” The doctor stared at Chen Zhao with no intention of letting him go.

“I told you. I got the wrong room.”

“Then why did you lie at the beginning?”

“You’ve remembered incorrectly. When did I lie?”

“Seems like I’ll have to call the cops.”

Chen Zhao picked up his phone too. “Zola, can you come to the hospital’s security office? I think a doctor here and I have a little misunderstanding.”

Soon, Zola walked over. She looked at Chen Zhao and then at the female doctor.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“This man broke into a boy’s room. I suspect he has other intentions.”

Just then, a nurse ran over excitedly. “Faur, John woke up. He woke up!”

“What? John woke up? How is that possible?”

“It’s true. After he woke up, he kept saying that he’s hungry and wants to eat.”

“That’s impossible… He’s been unconscious since he came out of the chemo room. He can’t have an appetite… Plus…the last few chemo sessions have been bad. The thing in his brain hasn’t gotten smaller. It’s already pressing down on his central nervous system. He can’t wake up.”

Faur had been John’s main doctor this entire time. She was very conscious of his state. Recently, John had been relying on the IV for nutrients. The chemotherapy had completely destroyed the kid’s taste buds.

This was very cruel to a child. Even crueler was that even with all these costs, his situation still hadn’t improved. The chemotherapy was no longer effective for him. Instead, it kept cutting down on his life.

“But he seems really energetic.”

“Doctor, if there’s nothing wrong with my friend, can I take him away?”

“No!”

“I think it’s okay. The hospital has no right to keep my friend in custody. If you want to restrict his freedom, call the police and have them talk to my lawyer. We’ll be in Room 01 of the ICU. You can call the police over any time.”

Chen Zhao followed behind Zola. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

“Did you save that boy?”

“What boy? I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Did you break into that room to save the boy?”

“How about you care about your father first? It’s about time. You should call him up to eat breakfast.”

“He’s already awake and he was hungry as soon as he woke up, just like that boy.”

“Seems like I’ve succeeded. Oh, right. Can you have Paul send the money to where I live? Oh, right, I should remind you that I only take cash.”

“You’re not staying to discuss my father’s follow-up treatment?”

“I’m really unwilling to have anything else to do with him. Your father isn’t anyone fun to deal with.”

“What about for me?”

Chen Zhao chuckled. We really have nothing to do with each other. Do you really believe in love after a one night stand?

“Say the price.”

“Six treatments and I promise your father will live for another year. Each treatment is a hundred thousand dollars.”

“There’s no treatment in the world that is this expensive.”

“Are you sure?”

“Fine. Deal.”