District 42-Chapter 292: Last day

Rurik could still remember clearly how his last day alive on District 42 was. Maybe, the fact that it was his last day emphasized it even more, so his mind could replay his last moments just as if he was living it again.

It wasn’t something good at all. Actually, those memories caused his heart to get even more dejected as days passed by. It was just a sad memory for him now.

When his mind began to show him that day, which was an occasion that happened often enough from time to time, he could even feel the same way that he felt before.

He could feel that distant pain in his heart, which was the most curious thing for him because he never thought that death would be so painless like that. Although Rurik was a Healer and had a good understanding of the human body and mind, he never could imagine how someone about to die felt.

One second before, he was feeling the pain more intense than before, but at some point, it became numb. For a moment, he questioned himself if that wound was real or not. And that’s another curious thing about his death: he couldn’t believe at all that he was dying.

The seconds seemed an eternity, the constant loss of oxygen in Rurik’s mind made him have the most aleatory thoughts and illusions of his life. At that moment, he felt the sweet taste of craziness and how life seemed to be brief, but each second actually lasted too long to pass.

For some reason, his mind always started from this point, when everything was ending. It was the part where he could find more details in the replay. However, it didn’t make sense to just start and end the story in the final moments. Because of it, he always came back, to the beginning.

At the beginning, before the death, before the wound, Rurik was still struggling with the two patients that were in a dangerous state. If not for the luxurious technology that they had inside the tents, they wouldn’t be able to save them at all.

Although the man who was in a coma had bad wounds as well, he could wait for some more time, so Rurik and the other healers decided to let him aside for now.

Soon, Amelia reached that bed, exactly when she said she would arrive.

"Ok, the one in coma is in a pinch there, but this one won’t live for longer. What do you think?" Rurik aked her, glad that she was going to help.

"Are you kidding me, Rurik? If you don’t start to treat both at the same time and do a good job, I will be sure that you have no guts. You better be a man here, or else I will take your place before you can even blink!"

The healer nodded, smiling at her.

They began to treat both patients, doing their best to get them at an average condition. The least they must do in that tent is get all those warriors out there half an hour after their arrival, prepared to fight again.

Half an hour could seem to not be that much for full healing, but in the middle of a battle, it was like half a day.

With all their equipment and proficiency, they were able to heal completely those three people, just in time to send them to the battlefield again.

Of course, it was difficult to get someone out there in top condition. Most of the warriors that laid on those beds stained with blood were in a pinch, with their bones broken, flesh burnt, limbs ripped off... With such complex wounds, the treatment was delayed and the results weren’t so good.

Anyway, they always tried their best, and Rurik wouldn’t do different at that moment.

...

After their job was done, the healers gave a brief pause. The sounds of the battle outside the tent remained in the background and complicated their period of resting, they were always anxious because of it. At any moment, someone could enter the tent and kill everyone, after all.

However, they enjoyed that time as if it was the last rest they would take there. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Rurik was sitting on the ground, his back was slightly leaned on the tent’s canvas. He had his eyes half-opened but didn’t dare to close them. At any time, more people could arrive there, so he must be awake no matter what.

Amelia approached him and sat next to him. Her eyes were calmer. Rurik couldn’t picture her face behind the mask, since he never saw the face of an adult before, but it surely was like a serene river.

That woman was like this. Sometimes, she was like a volcano about to explode. In others, she gave the feeling of a slow and delicate stream of water.

"Remember our lemma: Rest like it’s the last time. So shut your eyes and get some sleep. If something appears, I will tell you."

"That’s not fair at all. How about you? You need to get some rest as well. If you keep patrolling, it won’t count."

She glanced at him with annoyance. Amelia didn’t like when others tried to command her or say what she should or should not do.

"Ok, dumbass. I will close my eyes, but I won’t sleep."

"Sure, sure."

They naturally closed the distance, touching their shoulders, leaning slightly on each other. Their eyes stubbornly kept half-opened, but the sleepiness hit Rurik and Amelia and both fell asleep right after.

Rurik didn’t know for how long he kept sleeping with Amelia. He could never know.

Probably, not for too much time, since every ten minutes, people came there with the wounded, so they would get awake due to their fuss inevitably.

The fact is that Rurik woke up after hearing the sound of a gun firing. His body shivered, a chill ran down his spine.

He got up from the ground subtly. The healer saw that Amelia already stood on her feet. The next thing he realized was the most shocking: there were at least 3 Frelsis pointing guns at the healers and killing them while invading the Main Healing Tent.

At this moment, Rurik didn’t know how his body didn’t freeze because of the fear. Maybe the reason why he reacted so quickly was that his best friend, Amelia, was about to get targeted by one of those men in front of him.

Nevertheless, the fact is, Rurik made his legs work somehow after hearing a shot. He ran towards Amelia, bumped onto her, trying to get her out of the way, then fell to the ground.

The next moments that passed while he was on the ground with a bullet stuck on his chest and life leaving his body slowly, were told in the start... except the final part.

Rurik died that day, right on the spot, after saving his friend. His act could be seen as worthless for some, but all the healers that survived that day declared that, if the Frelsis didn’t distract with Rurik, the Ridire laid on a near bed that was recovering from his coma never would be able to draw his gun and kill the three enemies just in time.