RE - Chapter 283: May Good Things Come to Kind People (Patreon)

“Cough, cough...”

Alan shivered violently, but all she could do was endure the discomfort and keep trudging along the highway.

She had long since lost track of how far she had walked since escaping the landfill.

This body seemed almost unfamiliar with hunger. The emptiness in her stomach had become unbearable.

But there was nothing around her except wild grass.

“So cold...”

Alan knew she couldn’t stop, but her body simply couldn’t carry her any farther.

Microbes from the outside environment were steadily overwhelming her weakened immune system.

In the end, she collapsed silently into the grass beside the road.

Victor had been right.

Alan’s current body simply couldn’t survive prolonged exposure to the outside environment.

She was dying.

Car after car passed along the highway without slowing down.

The repeated biohazard incidents of recent years had made people more cautious, even if the general public knew little about what was really happening.

Seeing someone collapsed by a deserted roadside no longer made people eager to stop and help.

What if she was infected?

They had families of their own. There was no reason to risk everyone they cared about just to do one good deed.

Alan had already lost consciousness.

She couldn’t even manage one last cry for help.

“...Mia, is that someone over there?”

Mia, sitting in the passenger seat, had been teasing Ethan over the shy expression he’d made a moment earlier. Hearing him, she finally looked out the window.

The car slowly pulled over beside Alan.

Ethan switched on the hazard lights, then got out right behind Mia.

Mia had already run over and crouched beside Alan, frowning at the torn protective suit covering her body.

“There’s a strange smell in the air... I think it’s coming from her.”

Ethan crouched beside Mia and watched as she quickly checked Alan’s vital signs.

Mia placed a hand against Alan’s forehead and immediately flinched from the heat.

“Ethan, get the first-aid kit from the car. She’s burning up.”

“Okay.”

Mia turned back to examine Alan more closely.

Her skin was so pale...

Like someone who had spent far too long indoors.

“Got it.”

“Ethan, help me sit her up.”

Ethan nodded, moved to Alan’s side, and supported her shoulders with both hands until she was sitting partially upright.

Mia took some fever medicine and emergency drinking water from the first-aid kit and carefully tried to get her to swallow them.

It took several attempts before she finally managed to get the pill down.

Mia had nearly resorted to giving it to her mouth-to-mouth.

When Alan finally swallowed, Mia breathed a sigh of relief.

At least she could still swallow.

“She’s in really bad shape. We need to get her to a hospital.”

Ethan pushed his questions aside and lifted Alan into his arms.

“She’s so light...”

Feeling how little she weighed, he couldn’t help looking down at her.

“What happened to her?”

“Idiot, this isn’t the time to wonder about that.”

At Mia’s urging, Ethan hurried back to the car.

He placed Alan in the back seat, secured her with the seat belt, then immediately returned to the driver’s seat.

Mia stayed in the back beside Alan, keeping a close eye on her condition.

Ethan drove as fast as he could toward the city.

The scenery outside blurred past, accompanied by the constant rush of wind.

Noticing how filthy Alan’s protective suit was, Mia quickly removed it.

Underneath was only a thin isolation gown.

Mia frowned, then took off her own jacket and draped it over Alan.

She tossed the protective suit into the trunk.

“Hey, can you hear me?

“...Guess not.”

Hearing her, Ethan quickly glanced into the rearview mirror.

“I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if we hadn’t seen her.”

“Too bad. I was hoping we could watch a movie tonight.”

“Ah... well, we can always watch one tomorrow night.”

“Heh.”

The slightly flustered look on Ethan’s face immediately eased some of Mia’s tension.

She took Alan’s hand and felt just how thin she was.

There were needle marks all over her arm too. They were subtle enough that you wouldn’t notice them unless you looked closely.

“You know... she really looks like someone who escaped from a laboratory.”

“...Could be.”

“We’ll know once she wakes up.”

The car fell quiet after that.

Eventually, they reached the city and pulled up at a hospital.

“What were you two thinking?! Her temperature is forty-two degrees!”

“Uh, actually...”

“Enough with the excuses. You’re lucky you gave her fever medicine in time and kept her temperature from climbing any higher.

“And how did her immune system get this weak? Her white blood cell count is an entire order of magnitude below normal!”

The doctor tore into them without giving either of them a chance to explain.

Mia clung to Ethan’s hand, apologizing repeatedly as she slowly backed away until they escaped the interrogation.

The sharp smell of disinfectant filled the hospital corridor.

Mia sat down on one of the benches and complained,

“Seriously. We save someone’s life and still get yelled at. And you, Ethan. Why didn’t you back me up?”

“Sorry... I froze for a second. Next time, I definitely will.”

Seeing Ethan’s genuinely apologetic face gave Mia a whole new appreciation for how easily embarrassed her boyfriend was.

He’s so innocent.

I love it.

“Then it’s settled. Next time something like this happens, you have to help me, okay?”

“Not just next time. Whenever you need help, I’ll be there.”

“There you go making big promises again.”

Just as Mia was about to tease Ethan some more, the doctor treating Alan came out.

“The patient’s immune system is dangerously weak. We need to transfer her to intensive care.

“You should also be prepared for the cost.”

Ethan and Mia exchanged a glance.

“That’s fine.”

The doctor nodded and immediately arranged for Alan to be moved into a sterile intensive care room.

“I know we agreed, but that still hurts a little. And it’s not like she looks capable of paying us back.”

“Saving her matters more. I’ll pay for it. I have savings.”

“Seriously? What about our future children?”

“C-children?”

“Ethan, teasing you is way more fun than watching a movie.”

Mia smiled.

Dating this guy might have been the best decision she had ever made.

He certainly never failed to entertain her.

Ethan scratched his head.

He honestly had no idea how a guy who spent every day writing code had somehow ended up dating someone as lively and outgoing as Mia.

Somewhere, every single guy reading this was probably suffering.

“I’ll go get us some dinner, Mia.”

“Okay. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the girl.”

After Ethan left, Mia settled back into her chair and grew quiet.

“A girl in a protective suit, unconscious out in the middle of nowhere...”

For a moment, Mia considered calling the police.

Then she quietly dismissed the idea.

Something about the situation told her there was more going on.

If she called the police without knowing the full story, she might end up putting the girl in even greater danger.

“Still... she really got lucky.

“Running into Ethan and me, of all people.”

Meanwhile, inside the intensive care unit, several nurses brought in a variety of antibiotics, arranged them in sequence, and began administering them to Alan one after another.

The vital-sign monitor beside her beeped intermittently.

A thin layer of condensation gradually formed inside the breathing mask covering her face.