Behind That Door

POV: AIRI

Today, I almost lost the only person who has always protected me.
Because of me.

My tears fell, mourning the version of myself that was weaker than everyone else.

“Airi-chan… are you okay?” Mahiru asked.

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand—roughly, hurriedly, as if stopping even for a moment would make everything collapse.

“I’m fine,” I replied.

Then a car arrived. It stopped not far from us. My uncle—Mahiro—got out, his face tense as he rushed toward me.

“Airi, are you alright?” he asked.

“Yes… I’m fine, Uncle,” I answered softly.
“But… Onii-chan…”

“Mahiro and Mahiru’s mother already told me everything,” he said. His voice tried to stay calm, but I could hear it trembling. “We’re going to the hospital. Right now.”

Without waiting for my response, Uncle lifted me into his arms. My body rose so easily—too easily. As if being a burden was something I was used to.

Mahiru and Mahiro got into the car with us. I caught a glimpse of my aunt already seated inside, her eyes swollen red, her hands tightly clasped together.

The ambulance siren ahead of us sounded like a call—growing farther away, yet echoing closer and closer inside my head.

“Onii-chan…” I whispered, barely audible.

“Airi-chan,” Mahiru called gently from beside me. Her hand touched my arm carefully, as if I might shatter at any moment.
“Rui-san… he’s strong. He’ll be okay.”

Mahiru fell silent after that. She looked down, her hands clenched tightly on her lap. I couldn’t tell whether she was angry, scared, blaming herself—or maybe all of it. Maybe just like me.

The car stopped abruptly.

“We’re here,” Uncle said firmly.

The door opened. Uncle carried me on his back this time. The air inside the hospital was cold, piercing my lungs. Bright white lights stabbed at my eyes as I was carried inside, down long corridors that felt far too quiet for a place filled with so many people.

“Where is Onii-chan…?” I asked in panic.

“He’s still being treated by the doctors,” my aunt replied quickly, forcing a smile despite her reddened eyes.
“Try to stay calm, Airi.”

Calm…
How could I stay calm, when the person who always said ‘I’m here’ was now silent?

I was seated on a long bench beside those doors. I stared at the tightly closed entrance to the emergency room.

Please… don’t take him away from me too.

Time crawled by. Far too slowly.

The clock on the wall ticked like mockery. Every second pressed heavily against my chest. I didn’t know how long we had been waiting when a doctor finally stepped out.

Uncle stood up immediately. My aunt followed. Mahiru and Mahiro held my hands—this time, tightly.

“How is Rui, Doctor?” Uncle asked.

The doctor took a slow breath before speaking.

“The stab wounds are quite severe,” he said. “We managed to stop the bleeding. However… there are complications.”

My chest sank.

“Complications…?” my aunt repeated, her voice shaking.

The doctor looked at each of us before speaking quietly.
“The knife that injured him… was coated with poison.”

“Poison…?”
The word escaped my lips on its own.

The world seemed to stop.

“The substance spreads quickly,” he explained. “We’ve done everything we can, but… the issue in his leg has suffered severe damage.”

I didn’t understand the medical terms.
There was only one thing I heard.

“His leg…”

The doctor nodded slowly.

“To save his life,” he continued,
“we will have to amputate the infected part of his leg to prevent the poison from spreading.”

The word fell like a hammer.

I stared at the floor. My vision blurred. My breath caught, as if invisible hands were tightening around my throat.

Amputate his leg…

“No…”

“No! NO!!!”

“Onii-chan…” My voice broke.

My hands shook violently. The medicine bottle slipped from my grip and fell to the floor with a small, almost inaudible sound. I tried to stand, to rush into that room—but my strength hadn’t returned. My body collapsed.

“This… this is my fault…”

Mahiru hugged me. Tightly. So tightly.

“Airi-chan… this isn’t your fault,” she said, crying as well.

“She’s right,” Mahiro added. “This is the kidnapper’s fault.”

I clenched my clothes, my body trembling.

I wanted to scream.
I wanted to disappear.
I wanted to trade places with him.

Behind the doors of that operating room, Onii-chan was fighting alone.

And I…
I couldn’t even stand beside him.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered.
“I’m so sorry…”

If only I were a little stronger.
If only this illness didn’t exist.

I wouldn’t be sitting here—
waiting while someone else fights alone for my sake.

My hands clenched into fists, but there was nothing I could do.

I felt… like the most useless person in the world.