The Ending and the Beginning
When the ambulance arrived, he could hardly see straight. The medical workers blurred, outlines shifting into twos and threes. Nobody had been by his side for some time. It felt like hours, but was probably the span of two minutes. The last thing he'd heard was the soft murmur of Tsukiyama's voice, sound but no words. Nothing was registering in his brain the way that it should have.
He could hear the medical response team swear at the mess, shocked by the amount of blood.
Blood, blood, blood everywhere.
Had all of that come from such a small body?
They were jabbing him with needles, lifting him away on a gurney. The light was too bright and their voices meant nothing. Someone was asking him a question. Their lips moved but he couldn't understand. "S--sassan--" Contact CCG headquarters in the First Ward, he'd wanted to say. Ask for Rank One Sasaki. Let him know where I am. But all he could manage was a feeble, "Sassan..."
By the time the vehicle's doors closed behind him, the warm tide of unconsciousness swept him under.
[He plunged into the darkness.]