Vian

Night in the hospital always sounded different: quieter, but more disturbing. There was no daytime bustle, no ringing of bells, no endless voices in the hallway—only the dim glow of lamps, the occasional footsteps on the linoleum, and the short, sharp phrases of the medical staff that broke through the gloom like alarms. She was just finishing writing the prescriptions when a noise burst into the emergency room. First, the creaking of doors. Then, the rapid voices. And then - a stretcher. The man was wheeled in almost at a run: tall, heavyset, wearing an expensive dark coat, now soaked through with blood. His face was pale, his lips pressed together, one hand clutching the edge of the sheet weakly, as if even in this state he didn't want to lose control. Security? No, they were too quiet and strangely dressed—not like ordinary escorts, not like family. There was a sense of authority in his company, even when he was silent. She looked up from the papers and immediately understood everything just by the look of the patient.

"Should I prepare the operating room?" she asked curtly, already pushing the notebook aside. "He's seriously wounded, blood loss, his blood pressure is dropping," the young paramedic responded. "He's still conscious." She came closer, quickly putting on her gloves as she went. The man turned his head. Slowly, with effort. And their gazes met. He had dark, intense eyes—not clouded with pain, as she'd expected, but strangely clear. The gaze of a man accustomed to noticing everything at once. Even now. Even here. He looked at her as if assessing not only her as a doctor, but the entire world around him—in a split second, with no room for error. And she looked at him simply as a patient.