Ultima Ratio

Chapter 17: To-Do List

This wasn't the first time Akira was injured enough to be confined to a hospital bed. While she was familiar with having the urge to dive back into her work but not having the ability to do so, it didn't make the situation any easier. Instead, her stunt only gave her additional tasks to accomplish before getting back into her real work.

As always, her first assignment was her dad. As much as Akira loved him, assuring him that she was fine would take a lot of energy and patience, and she was severely lacking in both. While she could never be fully prepared for the onslaught of emotions that would accompany his visit, she hoped she would at least have time to mentally prepare after she just regained consciousness, negotiated with an agitated Danya, and endured Sam's baseless accusations. Unfortunately, she had lacked the foresight to realize that sending Danya to get her soup would inevitably bring the chef instead, and his hurried footsteps were audible long before he burst through the door.

Their conversation went as smoothly as Akira expected, which was not at all. It was both a blessing and a curse that he was too scared to hug Akira, fearing she would crumble to dust with a single touch; even though Akira's aching body was spared, it was clear her dad struggled to keep from lunging at her with a hug every two minutes. For his entire visit, her dad tried and failed to maintain a strong front, and Akira could only awkwardly comfort him with gentle pats on his shoulder every time he teared up.

The others were no help either. Danya stayed in the far corner of the room, observing the unfolding scene with a blank face. In contrast, Sam made sure he was involved in the ordeal by supporting each of Ray's recommendations, such as Akira "should try the okayu" ("yeah, Akira, aren't you hungry?"), or she needed "to be more careful" ("you're not a young kid anymore, Akira") and "eat the rest of the porridge" to regain her strength ("there's plenty more where that came from, Akira").

Thankfully, her dad's fretful visit, along with Sam's unhelpful additions, was the most stressful item on Akira's to-do list.

Next up was a medical evaluation and the inevitable lecture that followed. By then, Sam had ushered her dad back to the kitchen to prepare for dinner, leaving Danya to watch as doctors and nurses put Akira through a series of physical exams that invaded her personal space more than she liked. It concluded with a few key takeaways: she was lucky to be alive, she had to stay under observation for a few more days, and they were confiscating her boosters until she was completely healed. Additionally, they highly recommended to avoid doing something so reckless ever again, at least if she wanted to live past the age of thirty.

Finally, there was the moment Akira was most interested in: an explanation of what had happened since Dubai.

The rest of Akira's team gathered in her room the following day, procuring extra chairs from the neighboring rooms and circling the foot of her bed. To her right, the Gupta siblings sat next to each other with Elodie taking Navin's other side; Quyen stubbornly kept her distance from them on Akira's left, forgoing a chair and simply leaning against the wall. It was a little awkward, considering they hadn't gotten very close during the one official mission they had together, and Akira assumed they were only there to be polite. Regardless, she appreciated the gesture, especially since their discussion gave her the illusion of being immersed in her work.

"It was a bloody fiasco, if you ask me," Jivan said, their extroversion thankfully unaffected by the uncomfortable atmosphere. "I don't know how it went down on the north side, but where we were, we had staircases collapsing, glass raining down from the ceiling, all that good stuff. Thanks to that, we had a clear view of that building next door almost crashing down on top of us. It was mad!"

"Why didn't we get word that Concordia was in range again?" Akira asked. While she knew it wouldn't have made much of a difference, especially since Dubai didn't have the necessary defense systems to protect against one of Concordia's attacks, an advanced warning would have let them at least find shelter.