On the other side, the phone rang.
Aiden, staring at the unsaved number:
"A strange number..."
He answered hesitantly:
Aiden:
"Who is this?"
Arin, in a faint, tired, barely audible voice:
"It's... me... Ar... Arin..."
Aiden, suddenly standing, his voice changing to one of intense worry:
"Arin? What's wrong? Where are you?"
Arin, whispering as if taking his last breath:
"I just wanted... to hear your voice... one last time. ... Ugh..."
The phone fell from his hand, and the call disconnected.
Aiden, his eyes wide with horror:
"Arin?! Arin! Answer me! Don't hang up! Arin!!"
He jumped up, grabbed his car keys, and immediately called the police:
Aiden, in a firm, agitated voice:
"I need the location of the last call to this number immediately! Send an ambulance to the location! I'm on my way!"
He got into the car, started the engine quickly, and it sped off like an arrow into the night.
Sira, who was watching him in surprise and worry:
"Aiden, what's wrong? Who is that?"
Aiden, with tearful eyes overcome by anger and worry:
"His name is Arin... a doctor. Fool! I know him..."
He paused for a few seconds, then muttered in a low voice as if making a vow to himself:
"I won't let him die... not like this."
After what felt like an eternity, Aiden's car arrived at the accident site. The road was dark, dominated by the smell of ash and death, but the headlights slowly revealed a horrific scene... Arin's car's metal frame was twisted terribly, as if something enormous had violently crashed into it.
Aiden slammed on the brakes, the tires screaming fiercely on the asphalt, leaving behind a smell of burnt friction. His body shook for a moment as he still gripped the steering wheel, his breathing accelerating hysterically, and his pupils widened until they looked like blue flames burning in the night, reflecting his inner turmoil.
He opened the door violently, the sound of the metal hinges adding to the chaotic scene. He rushed towards the wrecked car, his clothes flapping behind him, his steps heavy, stumbling between the mud and scattered glass. Sira stood frozen in place, her hands trembling, her eyes fixed on the wreckage as if her feet were rooted to the ground. She couldn't move... she couldn't even scream.
Aiden knelt beside the car door, his hand trembling as he tried to open it, his face smeared with sweat mixed with smoke, his bluish-black hair clinging to his forehead. His voice came out raspy as he called:
"Arin! Arin, answer me... for God's sake, wake up!"
Finally, after several frantic attempts, the door opened with a sharp sound. The moment of silence that followed was harsher than any scream. Arin's body was still. A deep metal shard had pierced his side, and blood was slowly seeping onto the seat and dripping onto the ground. His brown hair was wet with blood and sweat, clinging to his face. Half his face was stained with a dark color, and his green eyes were half-open, but devoid of any life. No blink, no gaze, no reaction... as if time had frozen within him.
Aiden's breathing quickened, and his hands trembled violently as he reached towards Arin's neck, touching his cold skin, searching for a pulse... a weak, faint pulse, barely perceptible.
Then, Sira broke her silence, taking just one step forward, as if forcing her feet to obey. In a hoarse voice, tinged with a tremor she had never known before, she said:
"Aiden... put him on the ground... gently, please."
Aiden raised his eyes to her, his eyes tearful, but no tears fell, just a silence steeped in anguish.
"No... I can't, if I remove the shard, he'll die... he'll die, Sira..."
She interrupted his words with her trembling steps, approached him, then knelt beside him without looking directly at him, her eyes fixed on the flowing blood. She placed her hands on both sides, applying gentle, calculated pressure, trying to prevent life from escaping further.
She said in a firm voice despite its tremor: "I didn't ask you to remove the shard, just put him gently on the ground so we can maintain his pulse... Now, Aiden, call the ambulance again... immediately!"
Aiden remained frozen for a moment, as if his mind hadn't yet comprehended, then he took his phone from his pocket with trembling hands and dialed the number with shaky fingers.
Inside the ambulance, Arin's body lay on the stretcher, surrounded by machines emitting regular, but tense beeps, as if announcing imminent danger. Sira sat beside him, her hands trembling, her eyes never leaving his pale face. She saw cold sweat beading on his forehead, and his brown strands clinging to his skin as if refusing to leave him even in moments of weakness.
The paramedic was intently monitoring his pulse and breathing rate, adjusting the mask, and preparing for any emergency.
Suddenly, from between cracks of delirium and fever, Arin's lips moved with difficulty. As if words were fighting to escape his throat. In a faint, barely audible voice, he whispered:
"My brother... Aiden..."
Sira froze. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it. She quickly turned towards his face, leaned closer, and whispered anxiously:
"What did you say?"
But there was no time. Suddenly, the machine emitted a terrifying, accelerating sound, then began a sharp drop.
The paramedic shouted:
"Cardiac arrest! Stand back!"
He pushed the chair back and began resuscitation, while Sira retreated two steps, her heart nearly stopping with every moment he pressed on Arin's chest. The lights inside the ambulance began to flash, and the sirens escalated.
In those moments, on the dark road, Aiden's car followed behind the ambulance. His fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly, and his eyes never left the distant red lights. His heart pounded like war drums in his chest.
He talked to himself, trying to understand what he felt:
"Why all this fear? Why do I feel like I'm going to explode? Who is Arin really?"
He didn't know that the words Arin said inside the ambulance would turn everything inside him upside down...
"My brother... Aiden..."
The corridor was almost empty, except for the sounds of machines in the background and the smell of disinfectants that filled the air and choked the chest. Aiden sat on one of the chairs, his back slumped, his head resting against the cold wall, his eyes staring at the white ceiling as if searching for an answer.
Sira sat beside him, her hands folded in her lap, looking at the red light above the operating room door that was still lit, as if burning time slowly.
A long moment of silence passed, then she said quietly, trying not to turn to him:
"Aiden... do... do you have a relationship with Arin?"
He didn't answer directly. Instead, he closed his eyes, and in a fleeting moment, that hazy childhood memory surfaced from within him...
Screams... blood... a small body lying... heavy footsteps... a sharp whistle as if drums were beating inside his skull...
He opened his eyes slowly, then whispered in a low voice, a mixture of confusion and exhaustion:
"I don't know him... I've only met him twice... but he was... strange. As if he was trying to get close to me, talk to me... even when I didn't open the door for conversation..."
He sighed, leaned his head against the wall again, looked at the ceiling as if addressing it, then added in a hushed tone:
"But I don't understand... why did I act that way? Why did I run to him as if my life depended on him? Why... am I afraid of losing someone I don't know?"
Sira looked at him with her brown eyes, a look mixed with sadness and wonder. Her heart told her what she dared not say aloud.
She said to herself:
"Perhaps... because he is your brother."