Page 72 of Mercy Written in Blood

"Only when the patient requires it."

Haruki watched him in silence. The flirtation had disappeared. Without it, his face seemed tired in a way surgery could not explain.

"You treat everyone like this?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Like I'm nobody."

Renji considered the wording.

"I treat you like a patient."

"Most people hear Ishida before Haruki."

"Names are relevant for identification."

Haruki laughed once. Pain punished him immediately. He pressed a hand against his side. Renji moved closer.

"Do not laugh."

"You say funny things."

"I have said nothing humorous."

"That's why."

Renji checked the dressing. No fresh bleeding. Haruki's hand settled near his. Not touching. Close.

"You really don't care who I am," Haruki said.

"I care that you survive."

"That isn't the same."

"No."

Haruki looked at him for a long moment. Then the crooked smile returned. Smaller now. Realer.

"I'll be seeing you again, Doctor."

Renji straightened.

"Hopefully not."

Haruki's smile widened. Renji left the room before the monitor could announce another increase in heart rate.

Chapter Seven

I'll Be Seeing You Again

Renji did not smile until the intensive care doors closed behind him. It was barely a smile — the faintest easing at the edge of his composure, nothing anyone passing in the corridor would have noticed, nothing that should have mattered. It vanished almost immediately.

Renji stopped walking. For several seconds, he stood alone beneath the harsh ceiling lights, one hand still resting against the folder he carried. The corridor smelled of disinfectant and stale coffee. Machines hummed behind closed doors. Somewhere further along the ward, a nurse laughed quietly before remembering the hour and lowering her voice.

Everything was ordinary. His reaction was not.

Renji looked back through the glass panel. From where he stood, he could see only the end of Haruki Ishida's bed and the edge of the monitoring screen. Haruki himself was hidden behind the curtain.