Chapter 15: The Mysterious Earring

City Hospital, Vista City.

"Doctor!! Doctor!!" Leo's scream filled the hallway. He had rushed his father to the hospital.

Von was severely burnt and there were several injuries on his body as well, but he still had a pulse. The old man seemed to have heard Leo's voice and suddenly moved his hand to grab his wrist.

Leo suddenly realized that his father seemed to have gain consciousness, "Father!"

"L-Leo is t-that you…" Von asked with difficulty. He had heard about it from Kyle but hadn't believed it, but now, he knew it was his son Leo.

Von's voice was extremely low and his condition seemed to be worsening with each passing second.

"Y-Yes, it is me, father. Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you," Leo spoke as he grasped his father's hands. Tears had begun to fill his eyes. This was a scene that no son would be willing to watch.

At this moment, a doctor on the duty rushed up to them. He gave the old man a look and his eyes turned grim, "We need to get him immediate treatment, please fill-up the medical procedure at the reception."

The nurse came forward to push the stretcher but Von didn't let go of Leo's hands. He seemed to be saying something.

Leo stooped his head low near Von's mouth and he could finally make his words out, "T-Thank god....you are alive. I-I was not a good… f-father. F-Forgive me…son...I hope you don't resent me for hiding.. so many things from you…but I wish you will leave a life of your own…now that you have…a chance..."

"I will…" Leo replied, vigorously nodding his head.

The words seemed to have come out from the last bit of his consciousness that Von had held on to. As soon as he completed his sentence, his hand fell from Leo's grasp.

The nurse pushed the stretcher taking his father into the emergency room. Leo stood there for a while watching as the red lights above the door lit up.

There were quite a few people from his neighborhood who had come along with him as well and were staring at him. Leo had taken the identity of dead Leo's friend. Even though they had seen him act as Leo in front of Von. It didn't raise any suspicions.

After all, if one thought about it logically, it would become very clear to them.

Von had been depressed due to Leo's death and now so close to death, he must have misunderstood the young guy as Leo and Leo's friend couldn't bear to deny it seeing his condition and pretended to be Leo.

There was no way anyone would have thought that it was Leo just with a different body.

….

Reception Desk

Leo got his burn's patched up and then went to fill up the form and inquired about the basic medical charges.

This was going to be another tension for him. He doubted his father's medical insurance would be able to cover all of the expenses.

He sat on the chair in the hallway as his gaze continuously drifted towards the red light above the emergency room. He kept tapping his fingers on his thighs, he was agitated. His father was his only family left, he didn't want to lose him.

The red light above the emergency room finally dimmed down and Leo sprang up onto his feet. As soon as the doctor came out of the room, Leo rushed up to him, "Doctor, my father…"

The doctor looked at Leo and spoke with a serious look on his face, "His vitals are stable for now. But the next 24 hours are crucial. If he doesn't wake up, I am afraid he would sleep into a coma from the shock."

Leo's eyes widened as the first statement came out of the doctor's mouth.

"The burns on his body are severe as well, some parts have a fourth-degree burn. I am afraid that in light case, it would be nerve damage and in severe case, he might have to be amputated."

"Doctor there is another emergency in ward 7." The nurse suddenly said as her Smart link flashed and she looked at the message.

The Doctor nodded before he looked at Leo once again and said," We have done the early cleaning for now. We need to wait and see if he develops any kind of infection and then proceed from thereon. We will let you know all the details when we are done with every test. " He then patted Leo on the shoulder before leaving.

Leo stood there with his fists clenched and his eyes closed tight. After a minute, he opened his eyes which were red and seemed to be glistening. He then slowly walked towards the door and looked through the transparent glass. His father was lying on an operating capsule. Several screens were projected on the side which showed his vitals.

….

A minute later…

Leo took out his smart link and searched for Kyle's number before dialing, "Beep…Beep…Click…hello."

The phone rang for a while before a Kyle picked it up.

"You really called me so soon. Don't tell me you already got yourself in some trouble?" Kyle asked.

"Impossible! My disguise can't be seen through this easily…" Semantha's voice came from the other end. It seemed Kyle was already on call with her from before.

The two were waiting for Leo to reply but when he didn't they knew something was up.

"Is everything alright?" Semantha suddenly asked.

"I need some help." Leo finally said.

"…"

"I need to sell my land, ASAP. Can you do something about it?" Leo asked with a sigh.

"What's going on? Where are you?" Kyle asked as Leo heard the sound of door opening and closing.

"I am at the City Hospital," Leo replied.

"I am coming," He said as the noise of tires screeching came through the other side before the call was hung up.

….

Within a few minutes, Kyle had arrived. Leo explained the situation to him. He didn't talk about his father being attacked though. He skipped that part since he didn't want them to get involved in it. His instincts told him that things were not simple and the fact that his father was hiding things was also one of his concerns.

If coming out of this matter somehow harmed his father then he really wouldn't know how to react.

"I will cover the bill, you don't need to worry," Kyle slapped onto Leo's shoulders.

"You don't need to do it." Leo said with a grateful look on his face.

This guy was always there for him and he had already done so much. Leo really wasn't fine with having him do such a big favor. Besides, he no longer felt safe about returning back to his home. He really would move away and didn't need that land. It was better to just sell it.

Leo knew that the process of selling the land was going top be difficult as the Human Leo was dead and the remaining family that was his father was in a serious situation. But the Federation obviously had its provision to help people in all kind of situation. It was just that Leo in his current body had no relation with the his own Family. People would obviously doubt his motive. Not to mention, he was currently on a run. It was definitely a bad idea to walk into the Lion's den.

So Kyle who was Leo's friend and also a person with connections would definitely be able to help him.

Before their discussion could go any further, a nurse came towards them, "Are you people related to the patient in Room No. 45?"

"Yes, I am his son….friend....,I mean his son's friend.." Leo corrected himself half the way when Kyle slammed his elbow into his side.

"Doctor Win has called you to his cabin." The nurse informed the two with a weird look on her face

Doctor Win was the one looking after his father's treatment, so Leo obviously recognized him.

He nodded to her and the nurse walked off entering one of the other rooms.

…

Doctor Win's Cabin

Leo sat on the chair with Kale by his side. There was a desk in front of him with a few screens projecting in the air. There was a man behind the screen seating in a white coat with the spectacle on.

The nameplate on the table read, Dr. Win McFord, MBBS, MD (Academy of Science and Medicine, Moon)

"Is everything fine, Doctor?" Leo asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you sure that it wasn't a case of assault?" The doctor asked in a serious tone as he looked at Leo.

Leo felt a bit shocked at this sudden question but maintained his expression before replying, "No, it wasn't. Why do you ask, doctor?"

Kyle looked at Leo feeling something odd about his reaction.

"Well, his injuries felt a bit strange. Maybe, I am just imagining things." The doctor shook his head, but Leo was clear that he really had terrifying instincts.

The doctor swiped the screen to his right. It was displaying a human body and a few of its parts were marked red. "Do you see this, this is your father's condition. The red parts are where he had suffered serious fourth-degree burns," He said as he pointed at the right arm, left leg, and parts of his back. "The nerves in the leg and the arm have suffered severe damage and it's even showing signs of infections. I am afraid that we have to amputate him."

Leo felt that a bomb had been dropped on him.

"Isn't there any way to save them? Isn't it just neurological damage? It can be treated with Arora Healing technology." Kyle said with a serious voice.

The doctor looked at him in surprise before shaking his head, "I don't know where you heard that from, but the technology is still not widely implemented, it is in its developing phase. Besides, there is no way for common people to have access to it. Not to mention that it is very expensive."

"This is your father's reports. You have three months of time, after that, I am afraid he would lose more than an arm and leg." The doctor handed over a file to Leo and the group exited the cabin.

Leo went through the reports and found that there were still quite a few surgeries require to remove the dead skin and get his father back to normal which would cost him a lot. Obviously it was assuming that there wasn't going to be any other complication.

Looking at the estimated expenditure, Leo could only depend on his shop and house to make enough money for his father's treatment.

…

The sun seeped beneath the horizon and the sky started to turn dark. Semantha had arrived a while ago as well and the two were still with Leo in the hospital.

"Aren't you guys going to go back home?" Leo abruptly asked seeing that they had no plans to leave.

"I am going to stay for the night," Kaye said as he turned his head towards Semantha, "You should leave and come back tomorrow morning. I have got my practice in morning so I won't be here at that time."

Kyle was preparing to become a Mech Pilot. It was obvious that he had to be serious about it. He had even gotten admission into one of the prestigious Military Academies of the Federation and would be living for Mars soon . On the other hand, Semantha seemed to have a few scouts approaching her as well. If everything went well, she would leave soon as well and enter the Pro League to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional gamer.

"Fine then, I will come in the morning." Semantha nodded as she got up to leave. She looked at Leo and gave him a pat on his back, "Take care...don't be a cry baby.."

"It's still better than being a barbarian.."

"Y-You!" Semantha caught his head between her fist and began to give him one painful massage until Leo finally tapped out and gave up while retracting his earlier words.

With a triumphed look on her face, Semantha left. And soon as she did, Leo's smile retracted and he sat down while sighing.

"It will be fine, don't worry.." Kyle said as he looked at him.

Leo nodded.

…

12:00 Midnight….

It had began to pour heavily half the way through the evening and the rumbling of the thunder could be heard as flashes of lightning illuminated the sky.

Leo had a hard time falling asleep. He had gone through a lot in such a short amount of time. His peaceful life had suddenly disappeared and things had become chaotic.

Since, he couldn't fall asleep. He had been trying out his Yellow Rank Skill [Charge] to see how he could use it.

'Why does this thing keep throbbing?' Leo frowned holding the right earring. The left one was totally calm and when he observed them closely in mirror, he realized that the two were actually different from each other.

Leo suddenly thought of something and pushed his Arora energy towards his ear. The next instant, he felt as if a black hole had suddenly opened up in his ear and all his energy suddenly began to get sucked into it.

This gave Leo a fright and he immediately retracted his energy and looked around to see if anyone had awoken by the disturbance he caused.

Luckily, he had stopped at the right time.

He walked out of the hospital building in the rain before taking cover in a nearby waiting shed. There was no one around and even if he screamed the heavy noise of the rain and lightning would probably cover it up.

Leo took in a deep breath, he was determined to get to the root of it. He had a feeling that this was somehow related to the missing one month of his life which had changed everything. And whenever Leo thought about it, he had the feeling that he really was forgetting something very important and it made him to rush ahead and find what had happened as soon as possible.

He sat there for minute calming himself before the letting out his pale yellow energy and moving it towards his ear. And like before the earring reacted and the throbbing suddenly intensified and he felt a sharp pain all over his body.

Veins began to pop all over and Leo felt millions of ants crawling underneath his skin.

The next instant, a cyan glow emerged under Leo's veins as if there were millions of microscopic creatures moving through his body.

"Ahhh!!!" Leo grabbed his head and a scream escaped his mouth as blood began to pour out of his openings. He felt as if his head was being split apart.

Luckily, he had chosen a safe location already or he might have ended up awakening the whole hospital.

It continued for a while before Leo finally felt it calming down and after a while his body finally relaxed.

When Leo opened his eyes again, a new world was awaiting him.