Page 168 of Graves

“You take the elevator!” I yell. “He might still be inside or already leaving.”

I’m in good shape and sprint up to the fifth floor without breaking stride. When I reach the top, the elevator doors open and Levi steps out.

Aran’s apartment door is locked, but I still have the key.

“Quietly,” Levi whispers. “He might still be in there.”

It’s hard to go slow, but he’s right. I turn the key and push the door open.

The apartment is dark. Only a faint glow spills from the cracked studio door. The silence is suffocating.

I dash down the hallway and shove the studio door open. The sight in front of me steals the breath from my lungs.

Aran is sitting with his legs stretched out, slumped in a pool of blood beside the window. His chin rests on his chest, hair hanging in his face, and blood is still steadily flowing from the long cuts on both forearms onto his thighs.

A shadow moves in my peripheral vision. Pure reflex takes over—I ball my fist and swing.

It’s Luke, lunging at me with a scalpel. His head snaps back and he drops to his knees. The impact jolts through my hand and snaps me out of my shock. I rush to Aran.

“Kuso! Aran! Shikkari shiro! Can you hear me?”

Aran is unconscious and has already lost a dangerous amount of blood, but the cuts can’t be more than a few minutes old. Luke was probably trying to make it look like a suicide, but he didn’t even manage to position the scalpel properly.

“He needs an ambulance!” I shout, lifting Aran’s wrists.

I glance over my shoulder. Levi knocks Luke out cold with a brutal right hook. Then he calls for an ambulance. After giving the address, he rushes over and takes Aran’s arms from me.

I run into the hallway, grab towels from the closet, and shove one at Levi. “Tie them as tight as you can!”

As I wrap the towel around Aran’s arm, I notice my hands are shaking.

“You are not leaving me again!” I cry out. “Show me how strong you are! I’m not giving up on you.”

“Fuck, man!” Levi curses while knotting the towel. “This can’t be happening!”

Everything inside me is spiraling. I know what to do medically, but what if I can’t save him?

The thought that he might die sends me into full panic.

I place my fingers against his neck to check his pulse. When I stroke his cheek, I feel how cold his skin already is. He’s deathly pale and unresponsive.

“We need to stabilize him. On his side,” I instruct Levi, shifting back. “He’s unconscious. That’s bad. The blood needs to get to his heart and his brain.”

Since both arms are bleeding, a full recovery position isn’t possible. I sit behind him with my legs stretched out, rest his head on my left thigh, and use my right leg to brace his back so he’s at least slightly turned on his side.

Aran’s phone is in his back pocket. I grab it before it falls and slip it into my jacket.

“Lift his legs,” I tell Levi, who moves instantly.

I keep Aran’s arms elevated to slow the bleeding as much as possible.

In the distance, I hear the wail of an ambulance siren.

Please don’t let it be too late.

“Hold on,” I whisper, leaning close to his ear. “You have to hold on. How would that look otherwise? You saved me, but I have to watch you die? God… I love you. Even if the whole world hates you, I love you even more. Please, just hold on.”

“Did someone call an ambulance?” a voice calls out.