Runaway Hero and the Hospital

I’m very close to the last I’ll see of humanity now. Already it’s like I can feel the sea breeze. Soon enough I’ll be gone. Done with being the Hero. Done with duty. Done with fighting. Done with dying. Done with people. Done with myself. It’ll only be a few more days now. A few more days of travel and I’ll be free.

However, something begins to buzz at the edge of my senses. I feel the faint, struggling pulse of life far in the distance. That wavering pulse can only mean one thing. That person will soon die. Their life will soon fizzle out completely, and the pulse will disappear. I can’t so easily put a death out of my mind, but I can at least take solace in the fact that it ought to be a peaceful death. However, I continue walking and the pulse has not disappeared. I don’t understand. They should have died already.

I continue on, feeling that pulse deeply. At last I come to a turning point. In one direction leading away from the road is the pulse, still alive despite everything. I can either follow the pulse to the dying or continue on my way so I can disappear just a little quicker. I have no obligation to this mysterious person. I chose to throw away all my obligations to others. Even to Amelia. Why would I follow after something so inconsequential?

And so I leave the path, following after the faint blinking of that pulse of life before it disappears entirely. It has not dwindled and it has not grown. The vitality has not changed. I’m sure their death is guaranteed even now that it has been delayed so heavily. They cannot recover. And I cannot heal them. There can be no salvation, and yet I follow after it. As if all I want is to give myself another failure to run away from.

When I feel the pulse is close, I have reached an isolated building. It’s a wide building with two floors, the outside made of wood and stone. I open up the door and walk inside. I’m greeted by an empty lobby, the only other person there the man behind the desk. He greets me as I walk in.

“Oh. Welcome, sir. Are you… are you here to see a patient?”

“So this is a hospital? I just wandered in.”

“Wandered in? This hospital is supposed to be hidden.”

“Why?”

“There are people who need to be hidden away, don’t you think?”

“There should be somebody dying soon, and if possible I’d like to meet them.”

“So you already knew everything? Sneaky. Sure. I’ll bring you there. Not like I’m needed down here anyway.”

He leads me up to the second floor. Then down a hall and into a single small room. Inside is only a bed, a small table, and a window in the wall. In the bed is a thin man, his hair long and unkempt. He groans when he hears the door open, but otherwise shows no sign of life but the slight movement of his chest. The receptionist turns away and begins to leave.

“Well then, I’ll leave you two to your business.”

I loom over the man silently. Although his eyes are open, it’s as if he doesn’t see me. We stay like that for a while. Eventually he starts to talk. His voice is clear and strong, nothing like I would have expected.

“Just get it over with and kill me.”

“Pardon?”

“Huh? That’s not why you’re here? Really?”

“I do not kill people. I’m here because I wanted to know why you are not dead.”

“Who knows. A cruel joke maybe? Well, now you know, so if you can leave me to it.”

“There’s almost nobody in this hospital. Are you alone?”

“Of course I am. I was just a thief who gambled everything away. A real loser! Of course nobody would come to see me. At least not until I’m dead and they can spit on my corpse.”

“Do you want to change once you get better?” I say it like I don’t know he’ll die. He laughs at me.

“Get better? How stupid is that! I’ll die! I’ll die alone like I deserve, won’t I! Are you trying to make me feel better? What a waste of time!”

“It’s not a waste.” I grab his hand. It’s cold, like a corpse. I can only hope that mine is still warm.

“It is. My life is pathetic from cradle to grave. I got stuck here months ago. I haven’t been able to move since. And they told me I would die in less than a year at the very start. And then the Demon King tells us he’ll kill us to the last man. It’s pathetic. I couldn’t live with anyone else and now I can’t even die with everyone else.”

“It’s not pathetic.”

“It is. I’ll die alone. Of course I will. There’s nothing to love about me. Of course nobody gathered for me as I slowly die. What else would I expect?”

“Do you want to die surrounded by people?”

“Obviously! Even a loser like me wants to connect! Even if it’s only for the end.” I squeeze his hand.

“I’ll be that connection.” He turns his head to look at me.

“What kind of idiot would say something like that?”

“I’m the Hero.”

And that pulse fades. I was with him everyday, as long as I coud, hoping he would know we were truly connected and it was not just a passing pity. He died one month after I first met him. Not once did I learn his name, and not once did it matter. I truly cared for him. He told me of his exploits when I asked, and he never asked about mine. The receptionist came to know me well too, and looked forward to my arrival each day. He was shocked each time I returned for that man who was still living despite everything. He died tightly holding on to my hand, and I almost doubted letting go and turning away.