No. 6

CHAPTER 2 -The Place Of The Gods

Then the goddess Hannahanna decided to use her last resort. She gathered not several, but hundreds, thousands of bees, and said, "You are small and nimble, and fly as swift as the light, so you shall surely be able to find the god Telepinu. Now, go."
- The Disappearance of Telipinu, Hittite Myth

***  

There was a person collapsed at the foot of a spindly tree whose bark was whiter than the rest. He was a little boy, even smaller than the girl in size. He was writhing in pain. Shion took him in his arms and sat him up. Even in the settling dusk, he could tell that the boy was deathly pale. He was clawing at his throat, and his mouth was open, but his lips were bloodless.

Suffocation. He was choking from something stuck in his throat. There was no time to waste. Supporting the boy's belly with one arm, Shion thumped his back with the palm of his other hand.

"Spit it out. Come on," he urged. Twice, then a third time, he kept hitting the boy's bony back. Four times, five times...

The boy wretched, and vomit spilled out of his mouth. There was a dark, round object mixed in with it. The boy twitched slightly.

"Water! Bring water!" Shion commanded Nezumi again. He lay the boy down, and brought his own cheek to the boy's mouth. He could feel definite breathing. He's alright, he's breathing. He didn't need to clear the boy's airway, or give him artificial resuscitation. But his consciousness―

"Call his name."

The girl responded quickly to Shion's words. She bent over the boy, bringing her face close to his, and called his name.

"Rico, can you hear me? Rico."

"Rico, can you breathe?" Shion called after her.

The boy's chest swelled largely. His eyelids fluttered and opened. A tear spilled over and rolled down his cheek.

"―Sis―"

"Rico!" Shion gently restrained the girl as she tried to throw her arms around the boy. He slowly raised Rico's upper body off the ground, and brought a cup of water to his mouth.

"Can you drink this?"

"Yeah."

"Good boy. Drink it slowly. So your name is Rico, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Rico, can you hear your sister's voice and my voice clearly? Can you see us just fine?"

"Yeah― and the water tastes good."

"You're a good boy," Shion enthused. "You've done a really great job. Does your stomach feel alright? Does your chest hurt at all?"

"My throat..."

"Hm?"

"My throat hurts..."

Rico had probably torn at his throat in pain, for it was covered in scratches which were beginning to bleed. Shion retrieved some gauze and rubbing alcohol from the emergency kit. They were four years old, but now, this was all they had.

"This is going to sting. Don't cry."

"I won't."

He swabbed the wounds, pressed a fresh piece of gauze to them, and wrapped Rico's neck with a bandage. Shion could only give him the most basic of emergency procedures. This was the best he could do. If he had said anything along the lines of 'to the hospital', Nezumi would have laughed in his face. Shion knew very well that in this area, the West Block of No. 6, there was no such thing as a decent medical facility. From what Rico had vomited out, Shion picked out what appeared to have been blocking his airway.