Chapter 52.3: I am a Doctor

  Higashino has regained adequate strength. The sequence that I have pre-programmed into his Golden Core has also elapsed. Any mood or personality irregularities—

  Dr. Lee set aside the note from First Lady Meng without reading the rest of it. Dipping his fingers into his breast pocket, he pulled out his trusty notepad and scribbled a note in response:

  Well received, I shall proceed with treatment today. I trust that you remember the medical recipe required for it.

  At the end of the day, Dante Higashino would be able to walk.

  But the people who died in Yokohama would remain dead.

  Don’t get the story in a mess. Don’t conflate two unrelated events. Dr. Lee slid his reply into the metal cylinder that contained the initial message. He screwed the cap tight. Get it together.

  Felix Lee was the one facing inquiries on his use of a Shift, not Dante. Based on initial reports, the death toll was in the ballpark of a hundred and fifty. Dante’s deeds were obviously omitted from them, but it did not take long for Dr. Lee to derive his own version of events.

  And Dante saving many more lives with his Shift was a horribly bitter pill to swallow. And here I am, restoring function in his legs, Dr. Lee thought as he stood up from his chair.

  In four strides, Dr. Lee crossed the room to reach the pneumatic chute on the far wall. The cylinder clicked into place. He pulled the lever. The mechanism hissed as it drew the message in, then sent it rocketing upward through the pipe with a hollow whoosh.

  Dr. Lee stood there a moment longer, listening to the fading echo. Then he returned to his desk, snapping up Dante Higashino's file and a jade talisman, which was half of a chrysanthemum flower. His own talisman, half of a Chinese peony, hung from the belt loop of his pants.

  There was time to spare, and perhaps he could relieve the Poppy Manor’s manservants of one guest.

  Dr. Lee strode down the hallways, guided by them. Every turn he made felt correct, though he could not place a finger on why. He would take a left here, a right there, take a jaunt through the dining hall, and down another hallway.

  The manor’s hallways decided where he went, and they led him to a set of heavy wooden doors.

  Dr. Lee knocked.

  The doors squeaked open to reveal a head of black hair marked by a stark white patch on the front. “Oh! Good morning, Dr. Lee,” Ace greeted, flashing him a tight-lipped smile.

  “I’m looking for Shi Yan,” Dr. Lee said plainly.

  Ace opened the door further, letting him in. Jude, along with Kazuya and Leonhart, was sitting together atop a bunk bed. She did not greet him.

  “Your mother wants you back in Kaoshiung,” Dr. Lee started, knowing full well it was a lie.

  Jude caught on quicker than he had thought. She let out a soft exhale that might have been a laugh. “You're not very good at this.”

  “Then you know why I'm really here.”

  Kazuya's eyes darted between them, but he said nothing. Leonhart leaned back slightly, creating space. Ace shuffled away quietly, casting quiet glances at his friends.

  You shouldn’t have forced my hand, Dr. Lee thought as he stared at his daughter, who was glowering at him.

  He had counted on this. On her inability to make a scene in front of her friends and her ego. Her chin lifted. That stubborn angle he knew all too well.

  “When?” Jude asked flatly.

  “Today. Your mother will be waiting.” That was the truth.

  Jude rolled her eyes, and her shoulders sagged. “Alright,” she relented.

  Dr. Lee's chest tightened with satisfaction. Victory felt sweet after weeks of unreturned calls and ignored messages.

  “Good,” he said as he tucked his hands behind his back, turning to leave. “I’ll be expecting a call from your mother reporting your safe return.”

  ***

  Dante’s treatment was scheduled for 3 pm.

  Jeremiah Seah was terribly early, which was extremely on brand for him. Dr. Lee opened the door for this wide-eyed assistant, who carried a large briefcase with him. The jade peony talisman that bound them together hung from his breast, bouncing with his messy curls as he bobbed his head animatedly.

  “Hello, Dr. Lee,” Jeremiah chirped. “Nice to see you again! I’ve got all the things that you requested from First Lady Meng.”

  Dr. Lee rechecked his wristwatch. 2.33 pm. They had time. “Good. We can start making our way there.”

  Jeremiah hefted the briefcase and matched his pace. His smile, his posture, and even his gait radiated optimism; his long strides were filled with energy, and every step drove the darkness away beneath his feet. They walked in silence through corridors that twisted and turned with their own logic. Jeremiah did not seem to notice the strangeness of the manor. He had a knack for asking the right questions at the right time, which made him the ideal inheritor of knowledge that would soon be his burden to carry.

  Furthermore, the Mengs were partial to the Seahs. It would come as no surprise that the Recordkeepers would have a symbiotic relationship with the Secretkeepers. The Meng’s binding agreement with the Seahs made the latter immune to their powers.

  Dr. Lee would love to pick Jeremiah's brain for secrets past their statutory limits, but not today.

  The treatment room waited at the end of this particular maze. And with it, Dante and Felix.

  Everyone knew Felix had no patience for the courtesies his title demanded, but when he opened the door, the lanky assistant insisted on toadying to him.

  “Fury to the Flame Purist,” Jeremiah said with a low voice, placing his fist over his heart.

  “At ease.” Felix let out a resigned sigh.

  Felix turned his body to let them in, and the movement released a wave of cloying vanilla cologne. The inquiries must’ve been eating into shower time, Dr. Lee suppressed a wince.

  “Under no circumstances will you tell anyone about what happens in this room,” Felix reiterated, wasting no time in reminding Jeremiah about his role. “Understood?”

  “Well understood, sir.” Jeremiah straightened his back and gave a smooth salute, the gesture practised from hearing the same speech five times over.

  Felix’s shoulders relaxed, but Jeremiah’s conviction all but convinced Dante, who watched from his bed, sitting rigidly. He was holding his black cat like a teddy bear as he lay propped up by a stack of pillows.

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  “Hello, Nova, you pretty girl!” Jeremiah cooed at Nova. Bringing Nova to the manor was Jeremiah’s idea, after he had overheard the students expressing concern for it.

  Nova trilled, wriggling toward Jeremiah. “You barely know him." Dante turned the cat around, but it flopped in his grip like a wet noodle, eyes fixated on Jeremiah.

  Jeremiah chuckled as he approached, setting down the briefcase beside the bed. “Hello, I’m Jeremiah Seah! I’ll be your attending nurse for today!”

  “You?” A bitter edge crept into Dante’s voice. “I do not have that much faith in the fabled descendants of Harpocrates.”

  “Oh, you sure are a blunt man!” Jeremiah’s feathers were hardly ruffled by Dante’s snark. “But I’ll have you know that this Will is tightly held onto. My great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother were siblings.”

  Dr. Lee resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “The briefcase, Jeremiah. Save the lecture.”

  Jeremiah picked it up, but did not hand it over immediately. His body was still turned toward Dante. “He should know what my Will does first!”

  Dr. Lee plucked the briefcase from Jeremiah's grip anyway. He would have to prep alone while Jeremiah yapped his head off. “Every secret I let loose, my Will takes away a segment of my finger until I have none left.” Jeremiah thrust his open palms towards Dante’s face. “See? Still nice n’ whole!”

  “Please put your hands away.” Dante snapped his head away. “I didn’t ask to see them.”

  “Not until you have absolute faith in me,” Jeremiah said as he wiggled his fingers. “This year, I turn twenty-one. I have been training under Dr. Lee’s supervision since I was seventeen. I have seen three hundred and sixty-nine patients in my tenure, and I have assisted in fifty-five surgeries–”

  Dr. Lee tuned out Jeremiah’s rambling. He opened the briefcase on a medical cart and studied the contents—the medical recipe he had requested. Rows of acupuncture needles caught the light, each one marked with the carved silhouette of a poppy flower. They progressed from gossamer-thin to sturdy, all laid out in order of thickness. A small ceramic pot of anti-inflammatory salve and a bottle of alcohol nestled between the rows, alongside a dose of anti-pyretic medication, should Dante develop a high fever.

  But a pair of headphones and one needle drew Dr. Lee’s eye. The needle was gold and had a note tied around it.

  These two items were not part of the recipe.

  Dr. Lee unfolded the note discreetly, scanned its contents, then enabled Trace. Through that lens, the gold needle revealed itself: Essence pulsed within its core, a reservoir dwarfing the rest.

  I see. Dr. Lee closed his eyes briefly, deactivating his ability. He extracted the needle and slid it up his long sleeves, stealing a glance at Felix.

  Felix was staring blankly at the carpeted floors. He stood by the doorway with his arms crossed, grip tight enough that tendons stood out. Dr. Lee watched a muscle tick in Felix's jaw, then his forearm. Involuntary contractions—the body holding what the mind had shut away.

  Dr. Lee called out to his nephew. “Felix.”

  “Huh?” Felix looked up. A hush fell in the room.

  “Would you like to step out of the room?”

  “But Felix has been present all the time,” Jeremiah interjected. “I don’t see why—”

  “By any chance were you renamed as Felix?” Dr. Lee asked without looking in Jeremiah’s direction. “No? Then be quiet.”

  Jeremiah mashed his lips together, quiet at last. “Jeremiah’s right,” Felix answered with a tight-lipped smile that did not reach his eyes. “I’ve been here all the time, and I’d like to remain present.”

  I'd like to believe I cherish my life, Dr. Lee thought wryly. He flicked his wrist. The needle dropped from his sleeve into his palm and left his fingers in the same breath. The gold needle became a gleaming line aimed directly at Felix's forehead.

  The needle struck true with a sharp thck as it embedded itself between Felix's brows. His hands flew up halfway in an attempt to grasp the needle, but they missed entirely.

  “Shi–” Felix swayed, taking a faltering step backwards. His back hit the wall. He slid down it slowly, knees folding, head tipping forward as his eyes rolled back. By the time he reached the floor, he was already gone.

  Dr. Lee watched the last embers of consciousness flicker out. It was an opportune shot, knowing full well that Felix was not able to stomach what he was going to witness. First Lady Meng must have foreseen this and prepared the extra needle so that they would not go home as bags of ashes.

  Without any orders, Jeremiah was already attending to Felix. “Heave ho!” He dragged an unconscious Felix by his armpits and propped him up on the couch. “Boy, you are heavy!”

  “Put this on him.” Dr. Lee chucked a headphone in Jeremiah’s direction. “And don’t take out that needle until I’m done."

  Jeremiah said as he slid the headphones over Felix’s ears. “How did you knock him out like that? That’s nifty!”

  “An old friend of mine taught me how to do that,” Dr. Lee said as he returned to his needles. He shook out the hand that he used to flick the needle at Felix. “But, he’s no longer around.”

  Those were pointed words directed at none other than the patient whom he had been summoned to treat. Dr. Lee ran his tongue across the back of his teeth. He wanted to say more, but the silence Dante kept meant that his words had reached him.

  I am a doctor. Dr. Lee returned to arranging his tools on the cart, sterilising every needle carefully. And I have a patient.

  “Jeremiah, help turn Mr Higashino onto his stomach,” ordered Dr. Lee once he finished wiping down the last needle. “Mr Higashino, please take your top off.”

  Dante’s hands shifted down and tugged lightly at the hem of his shirt. That pet cat of his wriggled out of his arms and turned tail. It returned with a stuffed toy – a green dinosaur that squeaked softly – which was dropped into Dante’s lap.

  He has cold feet. Dr. Lee glanced at Jeremiah and signalled to him with a slight tilt of his head. Jeremiah cleared his throat and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Dante.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask,” Jeremiah pointed at Nova, “is Nova trained to be an emotional support pet?”

  “Ah?” Dante shifted his gaze to Nova. He fiddled with the toy for a bit before setting it down. Nova meowed as Dante petted it on its head. “It’s just a stray that I adopted. Nothing more.”

  “It is very intelligent,” Jeremiah remarked. “It’s as though it could feel what you are feeling. I can tell that you two have an amazing bond.”

  Whatever you are trying to do, hurry up. Dr. Lee cast an uneasy glance at the unconscious Felix.

  “Mr Higashino, do you talk to your cat?” Jeremiah continued.

  “Only to tell it what to do and what not to do,” replied Dante.

  “Really?” Jeremiah cocked his head. “Then, why does it know your pain? Does it also, by chance, know your secrets? Something along the lines of your fear of needles, perhaps?”

  Dante clammed up tightly. “It’s okay,” Jeremiah reassured. “I understand.”

  “No.” Dante balled up the blanket in his fists, which shook slightly. “Do not give me that nonsense about secrets. You know, don’t you?”

  “I have seen your back. I also know about what caused the injury, the crime you committed and how you were given the life you were somehow allowed to live. It’s a heavy price to pay for murder, I won’t disagree with that,” admitted Jeremiah. “But that’s not what you are afraid of. I have sworn an oath to keep your return a secret, and that you already know.”

  Jeremiah shot Dante a small smile. “There is more to it than the needles, isn’t there?”

  The cat trilled once, seemingly in agreement. Dante turned invisible and muttered, “Who are you to say all these?”

  “Mr Higashino, I understand if you still have your reservations about me,” Jeremiah said as he placed a hand on his chest. “Outsider I may be, but a bad listening ear I am not. It felt good to keep all these little secrets people tell me. I would say the knowledge that I was trustworthy to others far outweighed the secrets that I had squirrelled away in my mind.”

  Jeremiah held up his hands once more. “But make no mistake, my trustworthiness didn’t come from being able to keep my mouth shut or my fear of losing a body part. It’s because I have short-term memory,” he admitted sheepishly. “And this is why, despite seeing that many patients, whatever my Will marked for sacrifice is still limited to my hands.”

  Dante materialised slowly before them. “There is no need to burden you with such a trivial thing…”

  “It’s okay,” Jeremiah said as he held out a hand towards Dante. “You don’t even need to say it out loud. All you have to do is hold my hand and speak your mind.”

  Dante stared at Jeremiah’s hand for a long while before reaching out haltingly, only touching the nurse’s hand with the tips of his fingers. Jeremiah wrapped his fingers around Dante’s one by one. Dr. Lee watched with bated breath while stealing a glance at Felix again.

  “For the sake of secrets,” Jeremiah murmured as he held up a finger to his lips.

  Dr. Lee watched the young nurse give both his pinkie fingers to Dante’s secrets. The wrinkles that segmented his fingers were filled with navy blue Essence and tattooed the skin with shackles. As soon as the beginning link of the chains found their respective ends, Dante snatched his fingers away with a look that could only be one of disgust.

  “Hm, I wonder what used to be on my pinkies,” Jeremiah wondered aloud. “But oh, let’s not bother about that! So I see—that's what you're concerned about. It's quite a common sight in my practice.”

  "Whatever." Dante fiddled with the top button of his shirt.

  Dr. Lee pulled on latex gloves, the material snapping crisply against his wrists. “Shall we begin?” he asked, gesturing to the needles.

  "Just get on with it," replied Dante as the fabric of his shirt slid off his shoulders.

  "Very well.” Dr. Lee reached for the first needle.

  I am now a doctor.