The night air was cold, but the blood running down the side of the man's hospital clothes made it feel warmer than it should have. June's chest tightened as she knelt beside him, feeling the subtle tremors in his body. He groaned faintly, a deep, almost animalistic sound, and she felt a chill run down her spine.
Noah's panicked real hard, his voice trembling. "June… what… what do we do? He's bleeding so much! We can't just leave him here!" Panic laced his voice, and June could feel it vibrating in the car. She looked at him, her own heartbeat steadying despite the fear rising in her chest.
"Noah, breathe! Focus. Get it together. We need to take him back home. Now," she said, her voice firm but not harsh. Her hands were already moving,they lifted him carefully him into the backseat, making sure not to aggravate his injuries. June's heart pounded. He was just a stranger, someone they had hit, and yet he was alive. Alive, and bleeding heavily.
Noah fidgeted beside the wheel, muttering under his breath. "We shouldn't even… we shouldn't have been out… drinking… driving… oh my God…" His voice cracked. June pressed a hand gently against his arm.
"Noah! Drive slowly, keep calm, and focus! He's alive. That's what matters right now," she whispered, her hands brushing against Justin's bloodied clothes as she tried to stabilize him in the seat.
The drive home was tense, every bump in the road making June flinch. Justin groaned again, shifting slightly, his body weak but responsive. June adjusted his position carefully, wiping away the blood that had seeped through his clothes. The smell of iron and night air mixed, making her stomach churn, but she kept moving.
Noah's eyes darted to the rearview mirror, then back to the road. "I can't… I can't do this! What if the police… what if he dies in our car?" Panic was written across every line of his face.
"You're going to be fine," June said, more to herself than to him. "Just… breathe. Keep driving."
Once home, they carefully carried Justin out of the car as they took him inside the living room, trying to find a safe position for him. She grabbed her first aid kit, the one she had kept from her time at the hospital, and knelt beside him. Her hands were shaking slightly, but she moved with precision, remembering all the procedures she had practiced countless times before.
"Just stay still," she murmured, her voice calm even as her heart raced. Justin shifted slightly, groaning as she carefully began to dab at the dried blood on his bruised head and hospital clothes.
Noah hovered nearby, nervously pacing. "Oh my God… his head… June, look at his head! And his waist…" His voice trembled. June's eyes narrowed as she saw bruises and old scars. "Yes, I see them," she said, "and I think he might have… escaped from the hospital."
Noah froze. "Escaped? What… why? What if he's a criminal?"
June shook her head. "We don't know. We just focus on keeping him stable."
Slowly, carefully, she removed more of his hospital clothes to assess the injuries, her hands moving over bruises and cuts. She noted the rupture at his waist, the bruises on his head, and the scars from previous injuries. Her breath caught as she realized this man had been through some serious trauma already.
She quickly pulled out her phone and called Kate, her friend who was a doctor. "Kate… I need your guidance. He's bleeding from his head, I think there's a dislocation on his waist… I'm trying to stabilize him."
Kate's voice was calm over the phone. "Take a deep breath. Start with the head. Clean it gently, dab the blood, stitch lightly if you can. For the waist… do not move him unnecessarily. Keep him lying still."
June followed Kate's instructions, carefully stitching the small cut on his scalp, cleaning the blood, and ensuring he remained as comfortable as possible. Justin groaned occasionally. Kate reassured her: "It's minor. The main concern is memory. Keep him calm, keep him stable. Don't panic."
By the time Kate hung up, Justin had begun to lie still, exhaustion and trauma weighing him down. June stepped back, her hands trembling slightly, heart still racing. Noah peeked into the room. "He's… okay?"
"Yes," June whispered, though she couldn't stop herself from glancing at the bruises and scars. Something felt off, though she didn't say anything.
Hours passed, and night deepened. Justin stirred slightly, June knelt beside him, ready to stabilize him. Then he did something unexpected — he reached for the bandage on his head and pulled it off.
"No! Wait, don't!" June's voice rang sharp with panic.
But it was too late. Justin had already pulled it off. June's eyes widened in shock. The wound on his head, the bruising she had seen earlier… it was almost completely healed. She stared, her hands frozen in mid-air. "No… that… that's impossible," she whispered to herself.
Her mind raced. She grabbed her phone and quickly browsed, searching if it was possible for a head wound to heal overnight. Every search result said it wasn't. "This… this can't be real," she muttered, trying to rationalize what she saw.
Justin looked down at his hands, frowning. He noticed the old scars from before — the ones she had seen yesterday were now gone. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He pulled his hospital clothes over his torso, trying to cover the areas that had healed inexplicably.
June's pulse raced. "It's… okay," she whispered, her voice shaky. "I don't… I don't know how this is happening. But you're fine. You're okay."
Justin tilted his head, confused. He wasn't panicking, just observing, as if something in his mind told him to accept the healing but not understand it.
Noah peeked back into the room, pale. "Is he okay" ,he asked softly.
"I don't know," she admitted, voice trembling slightly. "I… just focus on keeping him calm. That's all we can do."
The next morning, June was still awake, staring at Justin as he lay quietly, the early morning sun spilling over the floor. She thought about the cave from the previous day — the spinning purple insects, the strange energy — and felt a chill. Something about last night, about the accident, the healing… it was all strange.
Noah entered the room. "How about work ?how would you manage ".
June shook her head. "I… I need to stay with him. He… he needs to rest, and I can't just leave."
Noah sighed, understanding but still slightly frustrated. He had to leave for a meeting with his uncle regarding the family company.
Noah,I really don't know if I saw right yesterday,I mean he clearly injured his head ,but his injuries are almost gone "
Noah scoffed
"He literally still has his bandage on"
"That's cause I put it back"
I hope he'll be fine ",im off.
She stayed by his side, observing subtle movements.
When Justin finally opened his eyes fully, confusion clouded his gaze. He looked around the room, the unfamiliar walls, and the morning sunlight streaming in. His memories began flooding back — not Antonio's yet, just his own. Faces, places, feelings — they all rushed in at once.
His eyes fell on June, standing a few steps away. She waved gently, careful not to startle him. He stared at her, voice barely above a whisper: "Where… am I?"
June swallowed, hesitation in her throat. "You… you're safe. We found you on the road last night. Just… rest for now." She didn't mention the accident, the car, or what had happened,she just didn't want to scare him further .
Noah's pov
Noah pushed open the glass door of his uncle's office, the late morning sunlight glinting off the polished floor. He felt a knot in his stomach — not from the business itself, but from the weight of responsibility. Uncle Smith, a stern, meticulous man, sat behind a massive mahogany desk, his eyes scanning a pile of reports with exacting precision.
"Sit," his uncle said without looking up, voice calm but commanding. "We have a lot to cover. And I mean a lot."
Noah swallowed and moved to the leather chair across from him. He glanced around the office: charts detailing production schedules, spreadsheets of financials stacked meticulously, a wall-mounted digital dashboard showing live company operations. It was impressive, intimidating — a whole world Noah hadn't fully understood before.
The business was Smith & Co. Logistics, a mid-sized company specializing in supply chain management and freight distribution across multiple states. It handled everything from warehouse inventory to interstate trucking routes, coordinating dozens of teams. Noah's uncle had been running it for over a decade, often alongside other ventures, and now it was Noah's turn to start learning the ropes.
"First," Uncle Smith began, finally looking up, "you need to understand the workflow. We receive shipments from clients. Our logistics department plans the delivery routes, assigns drivers, schedules warehouse processing, and ensures all documentation — invoices, bills of lading — is accurate. One mistake, and it can cost thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, depending on the client."
Noah nodded, trying to absorb every word, his pen hovering over a notebook.
"You," his uncle continued, pointing subtly at Noah, "will start with oversight of operations. You don't touch every shipment, but you need to know who is responsible for what. The supervisors in the warehouse report to you. The drivers' schedules flow through you. Customer service escalations? Through you."
Noah felt his chest tighten. It was a lot. More than he expected. "I… I understand," he said cautiously. "So, I'm basically coordinating all departments, making sure they communicate?"
"Yes. Precisely. But more than that," Uncle Smith said, leaning back, "you also need foresight. Anticipate problems before they arise. If a truck breaks down, you need contingency plans. If a client calls with a sudden change, you need rapid response. You are the middle point between chaos and order. That's your job."
Noah scribbled furiously, trying to keep up. His uncle continued to walk him through:
Warehouse operations: inventory tracking, stock rotation, and safety compliance.
Logistics planning: optimizing routes, understanding fuel costs, time management for drivers.
Customer management: client relations, urgent request handling, service quality metrics.
Documentation: invoices, proof of delivery, tracking shipments, regulatory compliance.
At one point, Noah paused. "Uncle… how did you keep all of this organized before the dashboards and software?"
Smith smirked lightly. "A lot of headaches. A lot of late nights. And a lot of coffee. Systems make mistakes visible, but people… people make mistakes invisible until it's too late. That's why you learn to supervise every detail without micromanaging. You see patterns. You notice deviations."
Noah's head spun. He had handled some small projects before, but this was a whole company — people, machines, deadlines, and money he could barely imagine.
"Let's do a practical exercise," Uncle Smith said, sliding a set of reports toward him. "You see the incoming shipment list. One of the drivers, scheduled for two days ago, hasn't confirmed delivery. What do you do?"
Noah hesitated. "I… I call the driver? Or the warehouse supervisor?"
"Good," Uncle Smith nodded. "First, check the digital logs. See if the driver picked up the shipment, what route they were on, what obstacles they may have encountered. Then coordinate with the warehouse supervisor and dispatch alternative resources if necessary. Document every step."
Noah followed, feeling slightly more confident as he traced the scenario with the reports. Step by step, he realized this was less about running a business in theory and more about handling real situations that could spiral into chaos.
Hours passed as Uncle Smith guided him through the company's inner workings. He explained the profit margins, how fuel costs affected budgets, how seasonal demands influenced warehouse staffing, and how clients were prioritized based on contracts and penalties.
At one point, Noah rubbed his temples. "This is… so much. I feel like I'll forget half of it."
"Then learn it by doing," Uncle Smith replied firmly. "Mistakes will happen. But as long as you notice them early, you can control them. This is how you build trust — with the employees, the clients, and ultimately with yourself."
Noah nodded, taking a deep breath. He could see the structure now — the flow of operations, the departments, the checks and balances — but it was still overwhelming. His uncle's calm, serious tone kept him in check, forcing him to stay alert.
By noon, Noah had walked through several key areas: shipment tracking, inventory management, dispatch coordination, and client follow-ups. Uncle Smith had even shown him a few dashboards, explaining which metrics mattered the most: delivery delays, damaged goods, missed pickups, and employee performance.
"This is your world now," Uncle Smith said, closing a large binder. "You can't control everything, but you must be aware of everything. Know the people, know the processes, and always know the numbers."
Noah exhaled heavily. "I… I understand. I'll do my best."
Smith's face softened slightly, though his voice remained firm. "You will. You have to. Your father trusted you. I trust you. Now go, observe, and learn. Tomorrow, you'll handle more responsibility. Today, just absorb everything."
Noah nodded, standing. His legs felt weak from the tension and focus. As he walked out of the office, he glanced at his phone. June's name flashed on the screen. She hadn't said much this morning, focused on staying with Justin. Noah's mind raced, thinking about what was happening back at home, about her staying behind, and about the stranger they had brought in.
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it. There would be time to process that later. For now, he had a job, a company to learn, and lessons to absorb — lessons that would prepare him for situations far bigger than a single night's accident.