Draw a Blank

2. Fade to Gray

Allen awoke to the feeling of a hand touching his sore stomach, the forgotten pain returned and he squirmed uncomfortably.

It seemed as if someone was pressing a cloth against his wounds, warm and thick blood immediately seeped through the cloth. He felt dizzy, sick, weak and black spots danced in front of his vision as he squinted. He tried to reposition himself, but noticed that all his hands were locked.

A blurry face floated over him.

"Can you hear me? What's your name?"

Allen vaguely saw a man in a white coat sitting nearby. Like a doctor. He could also feel a mask covering his mouth and nose, supplying additional oxygen. Allen tried to remember what happened and where he was, but he couldn't dig up any memories.

Why does it hurt so much? What happened?

Before he got a proper answer, his stomach came under intense pressure with the cloth over him. Maybe that was the center of the pain that took all of Allen's consciousness. As the pressure intensified, Allen gasped, his head slamming into the pillow and he whimpering weakly. He instinctively tried to get rid of anything that touched his wound, the pressure on the wound only increasing and making him groan.

"N-No," Allen whispered frantically in the midst of his pain.

His breath became shallow and congested. Each sharp breath, it was like a dagger pierced through his lungs. The oxygen mask misted every time he breathed.

A hand held his shoulder from moving. "I know it hurts. But you have to calm down and breathe slowly. Don't move too much because the wound may bleed again."

Allen's face tightened, his jaw clenched in pain into a muffled groan. Allen sluggishly tracked the man's movements as he opened one of the boxes. A needle with a clear liquid is injected into the connected tube in Allen's hand. The chill immediately entered his bloodstream and made him shiver slightly.

"Focus on breathing, okay? You're seriously injured right now and I'm treating you."

Rather than treating, Allen felt this was like torture for his death. Every pain he felt, it was as if there was a flame burning his body from within. He couldn't calm down at all. He couldn't breathe at all.

Why can't he breathe?

A choking cough caught the man's attention. While Allen struggled to catch his breath without getting enough air, the pressure in his chest increased. Difficult to inhale and exhale properly.

The light above his head fluttered in and out of focus, though Allen's blinking fast was unable to shake off the dizziness, getting more flustered by the minute. The heart rate increased slightly, at the same time the blood pressure dropped and for a moment, his eyes closed between the blinding white hot pain.

"Hey, open your eyes," the man said, clear enough for Allen to hear and the corners of his eyes twitching slightly.

Allen didn't know what happened after that, everything became hazy and blurry. Only suddenly, his eyes opened as the wound was pressed harder and his head shot up in shock, before falling back onto the bed. Panting in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but stay awake, ok?"

Allen squirmed at the pressure, the man didn't move his hand even as Allen shouted loudly. His lungs burned with just shallow breathing. The world is rapidly turning like the wheels of a car.

"S-Stop," Allen pleaded weakly.

"Hold on a little longer. I have to do this, I'm sorry."

Allen took a sharp breath, ignoring the white-hot dagger of pain. The plastic of his mask was covered by his breathing as he groaned, first softly, then louder in response to the heavy pressure from his wounds.

It was as if hands were clawing at his kidneys and intestines and pulling them inhumanly.

"Ahhhh!" Allen's body arched, but he couldn't move far from his position.

What the hell?

His stomach twisted a little. He was bleeding out, blood trickling over the shirt even as he was trying desperately to keep it inside him.

After a moment of ignoring all of his cries and whimpers, the man finally loosened up a bit of his pressure. He leaned forward, one hand patting Allen's cheek anxiously. "This is the result of daring to get into trouble with them. Just enjoy this time. If you can't stay still, it's going to be unbearably."

Allen slammed his head again as cold liquid was applied to his gaping wound. Pain fell upon him like a tin curtain, and he closed his eyes for a moment, breathing through it. His knuckles turned white as his hands clenched into fists to dispel the pain. He squirmed, trying to get away. The gentle stroking of the fingers around the wound did nothing to relieve his suffering, it was as if a nail was being planted there.

"Are you awake enough now, Kid? I want you to stay awake for me."

Allen's eyes opened wide, a look of fear in his dark brown eyes as he let out a short, rough breath. His legs pushed his body up as he felt his kidneys being viciously squeezed, leaving him unable to breathe. There wasn't enough air to his brain, making Allen not understand these things. He felt trapped in a nightmare.

The man seemed to stop, Allen gasped and slightly opened his teary eyes.

"You know this kind of suffering will be yours if you dare to fight Luken." The man sighed.

A small stab felt around Allen's arm, even with the slightest pain, he couldn't help but groan in pain. Slowly but surely another fluid flowed into his veins and spread into his warm layer of blood. Allen didn't know why, but slowly the pain went away as the confusion deepened.

In the midst of his confusion, he heard the man say again, "Who told you to attack Luken, huh?"

Allen didn't understand what the man was saying at all. Allen didn't understand what he had done.

The man sighed.

He felt another stab and actually a thread being pulled lengthwise to close his open wound. Even though he was a little numb, he still felt pain with every stab.

Before he could hear any more sound, Allen began to choke for air in his lungs.

A violent jolt exploded from his stomach into his chest, pushing something from deep inside, up and up and he choked. A wet cough escaped as more blood trickled down his lips and chin.

"Oh shît!"

Allen heard the man swear. The sharp stabbing on his skin stopped, he felt his body tremble violently while his mind went blank. The breath he was taking with difficulty through his nose couldn't fill the emptiness of his lungs, so it felt like there was a fire burning inside him. He coughed and kept coughing. He still had consciousness, but his brain couldn't control his body. Instantly, everything went numb.

"Quickly untie him!" Someone's voice shouted loudly.

Suddenly more hands came to touch him. Amidst the intense tremors, Allen instinctively tried to move away. The pain that had disappeared, radiated from his toes to his head again, like a boulder had pressed him to pieces. After a while the voices around him began to grow faint and distant, along with the trembling of his body weakening.

Just in time with a throbbing pain in Allen's skull—it was the same as the pounding in his chest. The bright light above made his eyes hurt.

Everything fades to gray.

***

"Do you think it was possible for an innocent man like him to hurt Luken? This must be a misunderstanding!"

Being harshly scolded, several men in suits just lowered their heads realizing their mistake.

Nicky Caldwell packed up his medical kit in a hurry. He is an uncertified doctor who is used to dealing with members of the mafia under the leadership of the Black Dragon. After so long treating wounds, this was the first time he had seen someone so badly injured.

"Tell me, did you have to injure him that badly? He has four deep stab wounds and he was poisoned! Where are your brains?" Nick ruffled his hair in frustration.

He returned to the bed where a young man lay unconscious; weak, pale, helpless, hard to breathe and injured everywhere. Anger immediately rose to his head.

"But he was already injured when we took him," said one of the men defending himself.

Nick placed a temporary bandage on the injured youth's stomach before turning around. "Then didn't you guys hit his head before that? And do you still have to beat him up like this too? Where is Luken now? I have to take this kid to the hospital! He's dying!"

Before anyone could answer, the bedroom door opened and a man entered. He was tall and towering, with a sharp jaw and a high nose bridge. His eyes were sharp like an eagle's, had a slight frown line and a permanent scar on his right eyebrow. Despite all that youthful appearance, he wasn't actually young, he was thirty-eight years old. But because he was so handsome and well built, one would often misjudge his age. It was also because his figure was almost like a beautiful white porcelain statue, and like an expensive painting.

"Mr. Luken."

Everyone greets him.

Nick's head turned. "You happen to be here. Get someone to get the car ready. I have to go to the hospital."

Luken's brow furrowed. There were only two people who dared speak to him in this tone; Damian Ackerley and Nicky Caldwell, he doesn't mind that. He tilted his head to see the person who had attacked him now lying on the bed with a deathly pale face. If his chest hadn't been moving up and down breathing, Luken would have assumed he was dead.

Not hearing an answer, Nick returned his focus to his dying patient and silently prayed for his safety while spreading the blanket. That frail body now not only trembled, his skin was even cold as snow. The young man had lost a lot of blood and was in shock. By watching him vomit blood, Nick was sure there was internal damage to his organs.

It was impossible if it didn't happen considering how badly the wound was.

They were currently still in one of the hotel rooms where the auction was being held. Nick just came along to have a look, not expecting it to turn out this way. At first the auction went smoothly, but in an instant, it became a terrifying bloody event.

Whenever Luken went out for an event like this, Nick was used to being included as emergency aid and medical equipment was always in the car. Again, he's just an uncertified doctor who lives to treat Luken's people. Hearing that someone injured the Black Dragon's leader, Nick almost had a heart attack, but in reality Luken only had a minor cut to the arm and instead found the attacker seriously injured.

Nick is furious, Luken's men are cruel and anarchic. He really didn't expect that they could attack a teenager to this extent!

In the midst of his anger, a man approached Nick to help him saying, "Mr. Nick, the car is ready. Mr. Luken contacted EMT to come here."

Nick snorted, he looked back and found Luken nowhere. Instead some paramedics came in.

"What's his name?" One of the paramedics asked as the other moved the young man onto a stretcher.

Nick's eyes rolled at the thought of an answer, before saying frivolously. "His name is Puppy, he's my brother, please save him."

The paramedics were momentarily stunned.

"What's the status?"

"Major bleeding from four stab wounds in the stomach, a bleeding in the head, he was also poisoned and some bruises." Nick paused, then continued, "Looks like he's bleeding internally, the sharp object may have injured his lungs and kidneys. The blood loss has reached the stage of hypovolemic shock."

Nick was not surprised to see the shock on their faces.

He continued, "There's something else, it looks like a stab wound to his intestines too and I'm sure there's a leak there."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm a doctor, and I'm sure of it."

Paramedics worked fast. The oxygen mask in the young man's mouth was replaced with a ventilator inserted into his mouth because the young man could not breathe on his own. He looked so frail and weak, as if his life was just a handful of light, thin cotton. He was pale white compared to the sterile gauze that was red from pressing the four wounds on his stomach.

In that unpleasant process, the young man didn't even wake up. Not like before. He was completely unresponsive. It seemed that he was completely unconscious this time. Or maybe fall into a coma.

Nick couldn't imagine how much pain he would feel right now. It must be like hell.

The stretcher was herded through the hotel hallways and loaded into an ambulance waiting in the yard. Along the way, Nick barely took his eyes off the boy. He ignored all the chaos in the building and courtyard, which was completely post-earthquake.

"Are you going to the ambo?" asked one of the nurses.

"No, I'll catch up in my car."

The ambulance sped away with its siren blaring above it. Nick doesn't immediately go and look for Luken in a special room after the man's men tell him that their leader is having an impromptu meeting. Nick arrived at a closed room and rushed in. Discussions are still going on there.

"Night Owls?" The Black Dragon's vice leader, Damian Ackerley, stared at his men in disbelief. "Why are they doing this? We have no grudge against each other."

A man looking down below explained, "That's the confess of the shooter we managed to catch, Sir."

"Where is he now? Make sure to get him to confess more. I'm sure there's a lot we don't know out there. Are they after us for so long?" Damian snorted.

"What about the stolen goods?" This time it was Luken who asked.

"The stolen goods were not found, the perpetrator said that his team had cleared it all up."

"Nonsense! You are incompetent! Look for that thing until you find it! You're being duped by him, he's just making excuses! Either way, make him confess! Cut off his fingers one by one if he doesn't want to confess! Should I do it too?"

Nick grimaced at the door. Long ago, he knew Damian's temperament the best, he was the most vicious in this gathering. Even so, Damian was actually not as cruel as he appeared on the outside. Damian was actually the one who had the most tolerance, so in reality he was a tolerant person. After all Nick was sure of it because Damian was his lover.

Luken, on the other hand, looked calm and peaceful in the midst of heated discussions, sipping the Cheval Blanc he had bought from Australia the other day, and looked unperturbed, but believe me, he was actually thinking evil vengeance on his foe in his old head.

"Make sure he doesn't live after all this, he has to pay for the innocent life he took." Luken said the finale, his tone so cold and calm, it could chill everyone.

Damian sighed. "What the hell is this? So the Night Owl actually sparked war on us?"

Luken, "It's not clear what their goal is, but with us involved, they should know the consequences."

The subordinate still didn't leave after a while.

"What else?" Damian asked.

"I got the identity of the man who attacked Mr. Luken, he's called Allen Walker and is from District Five."

Luken's eyebrows rose. "Walker?"

"Why? Is he dead now?" asked Damian.

"He's not dead yet, he's on his way to the hospital. Sorry to interrupt your fun, Master Damian." It was Nick who answered, he came in and stood annoyed in front of everyone.

"Come on, Nicky baby, I didn't attack him, ok? Why are you looking at me like I did it?" Damian winked.

"Don't call me by that name!" Nick gave him the middle finger, then turned to the Black Dragon's bodyguard. "Is that true? He was injured before attacking Luken?"

"He was injured before we even found him."

"One of us hit his head too, but other than that the wound didn't come from us."

Nick's nose wrinkled at the answer. So it was true that the young man had been injured during the riot. And while being seriously injured, he vigorously tried to attack Luken. But for what? Is he one of Luken's enemies?

"He's from Night Owl too?" Damian asked.

Before anyone could answer, Nick said, "That kid must have done it on purpose for self-defense. He's so young and innocent, how could he have any killing intent? And how did he get into that far-flung organization? This must be a misunderstanding."

Luken looked at him.

"Luken, do you have an enemy that young in your life? Did you ever accidentally take his candy?" Damian joked. He hadn't actually seen the appearance of the child attacking Luken, but if Nick thought it was just a child, then it would be a child.

"Luken, I know you can't possibly threaten the kids out there. He's still so young." Nick said desperately, remembering all the blood spilled on the hotel bed, and he was almost nauseous. "He can't be from the Night Owl."

"Why are you so sure?" Luken took another sip of his wine quietly, but no one knew that his thoughts were intertwined.

Hearing the name 'Walker' was an unusual surprise for him. The name had a history in Luken's past life and he couldn't possibly forget it until now.

Was that child also one of them?

Nick replied again, "Because he's so young and innocent. Despite all the bruises on his face, he has a smooth and handsome face."

The guard ventured to say, "Mr. Nick, he is practically twenty-two."

Nick was surprised.

"Just entering the realm of adulthood. At that age he should have stripped women a few times!" Damian chuckled.

Nick glared at him and turned to Luken again. "Twenty-two is also way too young compared to Luken. So what are you going to do with him? I suggest getting him off the hook."

All of Luken's bodyguards became boisterous. Disagree with that thought, moreover the youngster had injured their boss.

Not getting the answer he wanted right away, Nick sighed, turning around.

"I just wanted to say that. I have to go to the hospital now. I don't want anyone to hurt the kid in the hospital. Remember that!"

tbc.