ISITL Bites

Ghost

The last thing I remembered was breaking glass and a slight weight that reversed my downward trajectory and by sheer luck broke my fall.

I figured it must hurt like hell watching the bright red blood marring the snow, but her dark eyes held no pain. In fact she looked rather bored as she gazed up at me.

"Omoidesu," she uttered with a slight furrowing of her perfect brow. I scrambled to sit up. She moved to get up and I panicked and pushed her back down on the snow. The cold is seeping into my skin despite the skin-tight suit I am wearing but she didn't look a bit bothered.

"Hanarete, kudasai." She placed a hand on my chest to push me off. I flinched as sticky blood soaked on the fabric. She stopped and stared at her hand... anyone with eyes would know that the way it bent is unnatural and there was the gleam of bone beneath the bloody pulped flesh. 

"Sanada-san, d-daijoubu?" I could see my breath ghosting like a fog between the two of us. "Rei?"

"Hai," was her lifeless reply. As if broken bones and bleeding flesh is something that bored her.

I cradled her hand gently and blew some warm air on it. She felt cold. Too cold. The blood has stopped spreading like a halo around her head. "Just wait, I'm..." I scrambled. Still shocked at what happened. The mission ended so badly, not because I didn't get what I was tasked to do, but that I was almost caught if not for this slip of a girl. "I'll call for rescue."

She blinked up at me. Her lips are turning blue. I didn't know if I should move her or not. Her white skin is starting to turn ashen but not once did I hear her cry out. I tried to lift her head as gently as I could and place it on my lap. She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. The skin on her lips is red and cracked. The angry color such a stark contrast to the paleness of her skin. 

She is too cold.

"HQ, I have retrieved the packet. We need back-up. Sanada is hurt. I repeat Sanada is hurt. We need immediate emergency response team."

"What are you talking about? Agent Sanada is in a meeting with Jaguar," Aaron Zabala, the comptroller replied.

"I'm talking about the other Sanada. Rei Sanada."

"What?"

I could hear a commotion on the other end of the line before the curt and authoritative voice of the Senior Agent Sanada came to the line.

"How is she?" I could hear the panic she is masking in her voice.

"Two broken fingers on her left hand, broken leg, I'm not so sure about her spine. She hit her head pretty bad," I rattled off the list of visible injuries. Who knows what kind of internal bleeding she is suffering right now. I concluded it must be the shock why she is not sobbing in pain.

"Emergency team is on it's way. Is she conscious?"

"Yes." I glanced down and saw her peaceful face. "Sanada-san." I nudged her cheek. One eye opened to regard me before closing again.

"Keep her warm. Whatever happens keep her alive." 

"Yes, Sanada-san."

I stroked the long silky hair away from her perfect cheek. I had no idea how she got inside my car. I didn't have a choice but to bring her. She made a soft sound and her fingers curled as she held her broken hand in her  other hand.

"Where does it hurt?" I tried to make small talk. "Are you cold?" She opened her eyes and gave me a flat stare.

"No pain," she whispered. "Never pain."

Later, after we were rescued and she was brought to the hospital for emergency surgery on her broken limbs, I felt like all the adrenaline rushed out of my system. I slumped on the cold, plastic seat of the hospital lobby.

"You okay?" Jordanna sat beside me and handed me a steaming cup of coffee. I sipped and grimaced as the hot liquid scalded my tongue.

"I've been better." I rubbed a hand over my face. "Is she alright?"

"We don't know yet," Jordanna replied. "She's going to be fine. Rika had all the best doctors money could buy in there."

"Sanada, Rei... she... she's different," I confessed. "She just lay there like she didn't even know she's dying."

"I'm pretty sure she knew that but she didn't know how to react. She's different."

"It was the most surreal thing I've seen. She said there was no pain." 

I felt Jordanna pat my back. "She has a rare condition."

"What?" I was more curious than ever.

"Sanada-san is special." Jordanna looked troubled. "Rei doesn't feel pain."

A/N:

Jordanna Arroyo, Aaron Zabala and Rei Sanada first appeared in Even Stars Fall, which is the first among the Zabala second gen stories.