Page 322 of Mercy Written in Blood

Blood spread beneath Haruki's back. Renji's hands slipped. He wiped them against his coat and continued.

The sirens stopped outside. Doors slammed. Voices. Medical staff entered with equipment. Renji did not move.

A paramedic touched his arm.

"Sir, we need—"

"No."

"We need access."

"I am a physician."

"Then let us work."

Renji looked up. The paramedic's face held urgency, not challenge. Behind him, a stretcher. Monitor. Trauma kit. A chest seal. Blood products. Human medicine. Tools built for this moment.

Renji moved aside by centimetres. Not enough. Ken took his shoulders.

"Renji."

He fought him. Not consciously. One second, Ken's hands were on him. The next, Ken struck the floor hard enough to lose breath. The paramedics froze.

Renji stood over Haruki. Blood covered him to the elbows. The surviving Unveiled members stared from the far side of the depot. Fear filled the room. Not fear of what Renji might do. Fear of what he had already become.

Haruki remained without a pulse. The monitor leads attached. Flat line. A paramedic charged the defibrillator.

"No shock," Renji said.

The rhythm was not shockable. They knew. They continued compressions. Adrenaline. Airway. Needle decompression. A rush of dark blood from the right chest. The monitor flickered. One electrical movement. Then another. No pulse.

"Again."

The paramedic resumed compressions. Renji watched every motion. Too slow. Too shallow. Incorrect angle. He nearly shoved them aside.

Then the monitor changed. A rhythm emerged. Weak. Disorganised. Present. The paramedic checked the neck.

"I've got a pulse."

The words did not make sense. Renji stared at the monitor. Haruki's heart moved. Not well. But moved. A beat appeared. Then another.

Renji reached towards him. The paramedic blocked his hand.

"We need to move."

"I am coming."

"You're contaminated."

"I am coming."

"Sir—"

"He is coming," Ken said from the floor. His voice remained strained. He pushed himself upright.

"He's a trauma surgeon."

The paramedic looked at the blood covering Renji. At the bodies. At the red mist still staining the walls.