ANTECEDENT: CHAPTER 18

THE moment Midnight took a peek inside, he had a seizure. It was as if his brain was preventing him from seeing what was inside. Silvanus checked his wristwatch before instantly woke Midnight up while protecting his head. And when Midnight stopped shaking, Silvanus carefully and gently turn him to his side to keep his airways clear.

Worried, Silvanus patiently and softly rubbed Midnight's back until his body calmed down and he finally opened his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Silvanus asked while looking at his wristwatch to check how long was Midnight's seizure.

"Horrible," Midnight answered with a hoarse voice.

Silvanus softly patted his back. "Relax your body. Don't think about anything."

"Hmm." Midnight hummed and closed his eyes to rest. He felt so drained, as if all his strength had been sucked away. All he could do was limply lie there, unmoving.

Midnight thought that was the end of this feeling of helplessness, but a piercing pain ripped through his head. It was so excruciating that his body instinctively curled up and an agonizing groan escape his lips.

Silvanus did not leave Midnight's side until his body became responsive again.

He helped Midnight to his room, not asking about what he saw inside the fifth room, afraid to trigger Midnight.

Midnight's body immediately curled up in the bed, his hands gripping his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and his nose started bleeding. Silvanus was worried that this might get worse. He literally ran out of Midnight's room, looking for Dominick so they could take Midnight to the nearest hospital.

He had to make sure Midnight was safe!

"What happened?" Klaus asked when he saw Silvanus running down the staircase.

"It's Midnight," as calmly as Silvanus could, he explained what happened. "We need to take him to a hospital. Right now."

Klaus nodded. "I'll ready the car and inform Dominick."

Silvanus nodded and went back to Midnight's room. After entering, he didn't see Midnight on the bed, but he could hear him vomiting in the bathroom.

Silvanus walked to the bathroom and what he saw made his blood ran cold.

Midnight was slumped on the toilet seat, vomiting, while his hands were covered in blood from wiping his bleeding nose. Then Midnight would grip his own hair as if that would alleviate the excruciating headache piercing his head.

That sight nailed Silvanus in place.

"Where is he?" Dominick's voice pulled Silvanus from his shock, and he immediately motioned to Dominick to come to the bathroom.

"What the fuck?!" Dominick was just as horrified as Silvanus. "Hurry! Let's take him to the hospital!"

Silvanus and Dominick hurriedly but carefully pulled Midnight away from the toilet seat, used a tissue to clean up his bloody mouth and hands, then they supported him down to the garage.

Midnight could still walk, but the piercing pain in his head was making him dazed and unresponsive.

Dominick and Silvanus could tell that Midnight was in so much pain because of the groan he was making. He was even clutching his head, trying to pull his hair out.

Silvanus had to hold and stop Midnight's hands from pulling his hair and trying to slam his head against the nearest solid object.

"Fuck..." Silvanus couldn't help cussing. This was not Silvanus' first time seeing such severe side effects on a patient, but there was just something so vulnerable about Midnight that he couldn't help worrying on a personal level and not just as his psychiatrist.

"What the fuck happened?" Dominick asked Silvanus. He was holding Midnight's head so Midnight wouldn't hurt himself.

Silvanus summarized what had transpired, and Dominick could only sigh.

They couldn't do anything. They felt helpless that after arriving in the hospital, they could only watch as the doctor and nurses check on Midnight.

Silvanus had to talk to Midnight's physician to explain to him what happened to Midnight.

The physician advised them to discontinue the psychotherapy to avoid this kind of situation again. However, Midnight's condition did not improve.

As days passed, it's getting worse and worse that his nosebleeds became frequent, to the point that even Dominick was getting scared of Midnight's condition.

Seizure, piercing headache, nosebleeds and nausea. Nothing was alleviated even after three days of treatment.

Midnight had multiple tests done and nothing was working.

One night, after a week of this torture, Silvanus spoke to Dominick.

"Let's go to another place."

Dominick frowned. "Another hospital? Can they help the kid?"

Silvanus shook his head. "No. What I mean is, let's take him to my laboratory.

Dominick's frowned deepened. "What do you mean?"

Silvanus glanced at Midnight. "They only have MRI here. It's not enough to check his brain. I had to see what was going on inside. Maybe what's happening now is more than just a side effect."

Dominick looked at Midnight and, after a while, he decided to take a risk. "Okay. I will talk to the doctor."

Silvanus nodded and Dominick immediately move into action.

To avoid any problems in the hospital, Dominick used fake documents to pretend as Midnight's father. Thus, as the patient's only family, he had every right to decide for Midnight.

Dominick quickly signed the against medical advice (AMA) document and transported Midnight to Silvanus' laboratory after calling a physician he knew and trusted to meet them at Silvanus' lab.

Soon after they arrived at the laboratory, Midnight was rolled into Silvanus' laboratory while the physician Dominick called was monitoring Midnight's condition.

One after another brain scan and tests, Midnight's condition finally showed improvement, and he was getting better. He stopped having a seizure. The nosebleed also went away. And it seems the piercing headache had eased up because he didn't groan in pain anymore.

However, if a few days ago Silvanus still had a hope that Midnight would wake up soon, now, he had no such hope.

Midnight had fallen into a coma.

Silvanus thinks this coma was Midnight's brain trying to protect its owner. Based on his theory and the result of Midnight's brain scans and test, something was triggered in Midnight's brain the moment he opened that fifth door.

Whatever was inside that door, it was something Midnight must not see at all costs. Was that why Midnight's brain was trying its best to protect Midnight from it? The memory inside must be something so damaging that even Midnight's own brain was avoiding it.

Was this trigger planted by those researchers in Midnight's brain so no one would succeed in poking around? If it was, it was such a merciless thing to do.

Silvanus expects nothing less, really. Midnight had been experimented on since he was young. It was actually miraculous that he was still sane—well, as sane as he could be.

However, what had been done to him was something that cannot be undone by normal means.

"What do we do then?" Dominick inquired after Silvanus explained to him the result of Midnight's latest brain scan and test and his theory about Midnight's coma. "We can't just leave this kid alone. This was done to him by us. We need to fix this, Silvanus."

Silvanus took a deep, troubled breath. "If he did not wake up in a week," he did not want to rush with the treatment, but they were left with no choice. He felt like it was the only way. "I will do the treatment."

Surprised, Dominick looked at Silvanus. "Are you sure?"

Silvanus nodded firmly. "We don't have other option." He looked at Midnight's brain scan and test results. "This was mine and the entire team's decision. We think that if we did nothing now, something bad might happen to Midnight. Usually, a comatose patient still has some brain activity, although its minimal. But in Midnight's case, his brain activity is decreasing each day. It's like his brain is shutting down."

"Then how do you plan to start the treatment?" Dominick had a little knowledge about Midnight's condition, but he was certain that the treatment couldn't be started without Midnight walking up first.

Silvanus gave an honest answer. "Remember the chemical we develop for the Orgánosi a few years back? The one that keeps you awake for days?"

Dominick's face darkened. "That's a chemical used for torture, Silvanus! We can't use that on Midnight! It's too dangerous!"

"We have no choice, Dominick." Silvanus let out an exasperated breath. "The whole team will work with me the entire time. We would only administer just the right amount to stimulate Midnight's brain to the point where he could hear me. Just a little response and it'll be enough. I can start treatment with just that."

Dominick sighed, put his elbows on his knees and held his head with both his hands as he bowed down. He couldn't decide and was afraid to decide. Since when did he started considering this kid as part of his family? At first, he just wanted to make a deal with Midnight because he was the best fighter with a special circumstance he can use against him, so someone would protect his little princess when he's not around. But it seems that as he got to know this kid, he started treating him as someone under his wing—someone to look after.

Dominick let out a heavy sigh. "If..." he sighed again, "if we wait for Midnight to wake up, how long do you think it would take?"

Silvanus shook his head. "Based on his brain activity, I'm not even sure if he'll wake up."

Dominick felt suffocated, like a boulder was pressing against his back and chest. "Should we call his brother?"

"Would it help?"

Silence fell.

"Probably not." Dominick muttered under his breath. "It might even make his condition worse." Dominick smiled wryly. "He seemed so afraid of his big brother knowing about this. This kid... he doesn't even know his big brother is suffering, too. Should we call this... ignorance is a bliss?"

That was Silvanus' first time an information about Midnight's big brother. "You mean his big brother is being experimented on as well?"

Dominick shook his head. "Not really, but I guess you can also call that an experiment. Just in a different way. I guess they are both being used to control each other."

"Can't you interfere?"

Dominick chuckled dryly. "Aside from having problems on my own, I can't just interfere haphazardly. Sprinkling kindness without taking responsibility for it is worse than not helping at all. And I think these boys are fighting on their own." He let out a sardonic smile. "Well, the truth is, I don't have time to spare to help others. I have enough worries on my own. Unfortunately, we can't save everybody. Let's just focus on what we can do at the moment."

Silvanus nodded. He knew Dominick was a good person, but there's a limit on what a single person can do.

"Anyway," Dominick went back to the main topic. "Let's wait until tomorrow to decide. If his brain activity deteriorated, then let's proceed with your treatment."

Silvanus looked at Midnight, who looks like he was sleeping peacefully. He recalled Midnight's reaction to their last psychotherapy. He couldn't keep wondering what was inside the fifth room. And he guessed he would never know. After their treatment, he had to manipulate and tweak Midnight's memory to lessen his father's impact on him and then plant false memories to stabilize his mind.

It's bad that Midnight was in a coma, but maybe it's for the best when it comes to treatment. His now vulnerable mind was more susceptible to suggestion.

He just prays that this works, or else Midnight might really lose his mind from jumbled memories, not knowing what was real or false.

A day hoping that Midnight's brain would show some signs of waking up passed. Midnight remained in a coma and his brain activity had once again dropped.

Thus, with so much difficulty and a conscience full of guilt for deciding for someone else's life, Dominick made the call to start Midnight's treatment.

With Dominick's decision to start treatment, Midnight was taken to a specialized room, isolated from everything, with only the team responsible for the treatment.

In the middle of the room, Midnight was hooked to a lot of medical devices that specialized in the brain. A doctor on the side was preparing the chemical that would be injected to Midnight in small doses. Silvanus was busy checking all the equipment and the medical devices hooked to Midnight to make sure nothing would go amiss.

Each machine had a member of the team monitoring it for any real-time fluctuations that might occur.

And in the corner, there was Dominick, sitting and observing the whole thing. Ever since he faked the documents in the hospital, pretending to be Midnight's father, he hadn't gone home to check on his daughter.

Since this was his decision, he had to see this through. Whatever happens to Midnight, he would take full responsibility for this kid.

"Please, lord," Dominick prayed, his focused on Midnight, "keep him safe."

CECELIB | C.C.