The restaurant doors swung open as the ambulance crew rushed in, a wheelchair rolling swiftly between them. The red-and-blue lights outside flashed against the glass, but inside, everything felt muted, except for Lunara’s shallow, pained breaths.
"She’s over here!" Regina called out, her hand gripping Lunara’s tightly.
The paradics approached with the wheelchair. "Let’s get her seated—"
"No..." Lunara gasped, her face twisting. "I can’t... I can’t move..." Her voice broke as her hands clutched at her stomach, tears spilling down her cheeks. "It hurts... It really hurts..."
The dic crouched, concern shifting to urgency. "We need the stretcher! Go... go, now!"
One of them turned to run back, but before they could take a step—
"Move," Eryx’s voice sliced through the tension like a blade.
He was already there, having just stepped inside, his gaze landing on Lunara, frozen for the briefest second.
Then, he didn’t wait.
"Don’t touch her," he snapped, brushing past the dic and dropping to his knees beside Lunara. "I’ve got you," he whispered, his voice rough now, almost desperate.
Lunara’s eyes fluttered open. "Eryx..." she whimpered.
"I’m here," he said again, then with both arms, he carefully lifted her into his chest, protective and gentle. Her hand gripped his shirt tightly as she bit back a cry.
The paradics returned with the stretcher, but Eryx was already moving, cradling her like sothing fragile, irreplaceable.
Lunara closed her eyes again, a tear slipping down her temple. "Don’t leave..."
"I won’t," he whispered.
"Eryx!" Regina’s voice cut through the heavy silence, sharp and trembling.
He paused, turning slightly toward her with a frown, barely able to suppress the urgency to keep moving. "What, Mom?"
Regina’s eyes were wide, her face pale. She raised a shaky hand and pointed downward. "She’s... she’s bleeding."
Eryx followed her gaze and his breath caught.
There, trailing down Lunara’s legs, dark blood had begun to stain her dress, soaking into the fabric with alarming speed.
"Shit," he hissed, turning back to the paradics. "Move! She’s bleeding, she’s bleeding!"
One of the paradics rushed to open the ambulance doors, the others springing into full action. "We need to get her on the stretcher—now!"
But Eryx didn’t wait. He stepped up into the back of the ambulance himself, still holding her. "You work around . I’m not putting her down."
"Sir—"
"She’s not going anywhere without ," he growled.
The dics exchanged a glance but didn’t argue.
Inside the ambulance, the chaos blurred around Eryx as Lunara’s grip on him weakened, her breathing becoming more labored.
"Stay with ," he whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her damp forehead. "Just stay with , Lunara."
The doors slamd shut behind them, and the siren scread to life.
Inside the ambulance, one of the dics gently tapped Eryx’s arm. "Sir, we need to assess her. Please, we have to lay her down."
Eryx’s jaw clenched. Lunara was curled against his chest, trembling, clutching his shirt like it was the only thing grounding her.
"Eryx..." her voice was faint now, her grip weakening. He looked down at her, at the way her lips were losing color.
He gave a reluctant nod and slowly lowered her onto the stretcher, careful as if any movent might break her. The dic adjusted the oxygen mask over her face while the other began checking her vitals.
"Where does it hurt?" one of them asked gently.
"My... stomach," Lunara gasped, her hand hovering weakly near her lower abdon.
The first dic carefully lifted her shirt, eyes narrowing as he examined the skin. "We’ve got a deep contusion here," he muttered, glancing at his partner. "Looks like blunt force trauma. Possibly the edge of a stair or railing, hard and narrow."
Eryx stiffened, his fists curling at his sides. His eyes moved to the ugly bruise already forming across the soft skin of her lower stomach.
"She’s bleeding," the other dic said under his breath, pulling the sheet higher to conceal it. "Get the hospital on the line, we’re coming in hot."
Eryx’s breath grew heavy as he stared at the pale and trembling Lunara.
"Sir," one of the dics said carefully, "may I ask one more thing? Is your wife pregnant?"
The question hit like a blow.
Eryx blinked, stunned. "She’s not," he said quickly, maybe too quickly.
Then he froze.
His mind raced. He stared down at her, at the blood, at the way she hadn’t said anything earlier... and a sick feeling twisted in his gut.
"Why?" he asked, voice hoarse. "Is there a possibility that the blood is..." He couldn’t finish. The words stuck in his throat.
The dic exchanged a glance with his partner, "It’s okay, we were just trying to figure out the cause of the bleeding," the dic focusing on checking Lunara’s vitals again as the siren scread through the busy city.
The ambulance screeched to a halt outside the ergency entrance, its doors flung open even before the wheels had fully stopped. The paradics moved fast.
"Let’s go, we’ve got internal trauma and active bleeding," one of them called out as they guided the stretcher down the ramp.
Eryx jumped out right after them, his eyes fixed on Lunara’s pale face as she clutched weakly at the blanket covering her. Her eyes fluttered open for just a second—barely enough to register him before they shut again.
"Sir, you’ll have to stay here," a nurse said, gently stopping him at the sliding doors. "We’ll update you as soon as we can."
"But—" he started, his voice cracking.
"She needs imdiate care," the nurse said firmly but not unkindly.
Eryx stood frozen as the doors closed in front of him, the stretcher vanishing into the sterile brightness of the ergency wing. He could still hear the echo of the paradic’s question, the sight of the bruise, the blood, her cry of pain.
He took a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair, trying to anchor himself.
Then he sat down, elbows on his knees, hands pressed together, waiting for any kind of news. "I shouldn’t have left her."
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