Aiden answered with a lingering hesitation.
Aiden: "Who is this?"
Arin's voice came through—faint, weary, barely a whisper:
"It's... it's me... Ar... Arin..."
Aiden stood up abruptly, his tone shifting to one of intense alarm:
"Arin? What's wrong? Where are you?"
Arin gasped, whispering as if drawing his final breath:
"I just wanted... to hear your voice... one last time. ... Ah..."
The phone slipped from his hand, and the call went dead.
Aiden, his eyes widening in sheer terror:
"Arin?! Arin! Answer me! Don't hang up! Arin!!"
He lunged forward, snatched his car keys, and dialed the police immediately.
Aiden, voice firm yet trembling:
"I need the location of the last call received by this number right now! Send an ambulance to the site! I'm on my way!"
He jumped into the car and ignited the engine; it surged forward like an arrow into the night.
Sira, watching him in stunned anxiety:
"Aiden, what is it? Who was that?"
Aiden, his eyes glassy with a mixture of rage and grief:
"His name is Arin… a doctor. A fool! I know him…"
He paused for a second, then muttered under his breath as if making a solemn vow:
"I won't let him die… not like this."
After what felt like an eternity, Aiden's car reached the accident site. The road was shrouded in darkness, overwhelmed by the stench of ash and death. The car's headlights slowly revealed a horrific scene... Arin's vehicle was a mangled skeleton of twisted metal, looking as though a monstrous force had crushed it.
Aiden slammed on the brakes; the tires shrieked violently against the asphalt, leaving behind the acrid scent of burnt rubber. His body jolted as he gripped the steering wheel, his breath coming in frantic gasps. His pupils dilated until they looked like blue flames burning in the night, reflecting the chaos within.
He threw the door open with a violent swing. He ran toward the wreckage, his clothes fluttering behind him, his steps heavy and stumbling through mud and shattered glass. Sira stood frozen, her hands shaking, her eyes glued to the debris as if her feet had taken root in the earth. She couldn't move; she couldn't even scream.
Aiden knelt by the car door, his hands trembling as he tried to pry it open, his face smeared with sweat and soot. His voice broke as he called out:
"Arin! Arin, answer me... For God's sake, wake up!"
Finally, after several desperate attempts, the door gave way with a sharp metallic crack. The silence that followed was crueler than any scream. Arin's body was motionless. A deep metallic shard had pierced his side, and blood seeped slowly onto the seat, dripping onto the ground. His brown hair, soaked in blood and sweat, clung to his face. His green eyes were half-open, but void of any life. No blink, no glance, no reaction... as if time had frozen inside him.
Aiden's breath hitched. He reached toward Arin's neck, touching the cold skin, searching for a pulse... a weak, faint, barely perceptible pulse.
Then, Sira broke her silence. She took a single step forward, forcing her legs to obey. In a hoarse voice, she said:
"Aiden... lay him on the ground... gently, please."
Aiden looked up at her, his eyes brimming with tears that refused to fall.
"No... I can't. If I move the shard, he'll die... He'll die, Sira..."
She cut him off, kneeling beside him, her eyes fixed on the bleeding wound. She placed her hands on either side, applying calculated pressure to keep life from slipping away.
"I didn't ask you to pull the shard. Just lay him down gently so we can keep his heart beating... Now, Aiden, call the ambulance again... Now!"
Inside the ambulance, Arin's body lay on the stretcher, surrounded by machines emitting a rhythmic, yet frantic beeping. Sira sat beside him, her hands trembling. She watched the cold sweat bead on his forehead.
Suddenly, from the cracks of delirium and fever, Arin's lips moved with great effort. In a voice so frail it was almost ghostly, he whispered:
"My brother... Aiden..."
Sira froze. She wasn't sure if she had imagined it. She leaned in closer, whispering tensely:
"What did you say?"
But there was no time. Suddenly, the monitor let out a terrifying, high-pitched scream. The heart rate began a sharp, fatal descent.
The paramedic shouted:
"Cardiac arrest! Move back!"
As the paramedic began CPR, Sira retreated, her heart nearly stopping with every compression. Outside, on the dark road, Aiden's car followed the ambulance, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel.
He spoke to himself, trying to understand the storm inside him:
"Why am I this terrified? Why do I feel like I'm about to explode? Who is Arin, really?"
He didn't know that the words Arin whispered inside that ambulance were about to shatter his world forever...
"My brother... Aiden..."