NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Chapter 7
"I'll go to the supermarket nearby to buy some food."
When Chie, dressed casually, said this, Zoro nodded without sensing anything amiss.
It was their usual store, on a familiar path, one that Zoro had accompanied Chie on multiple times. Even at a leisurely pace, it was only a 20-minute walk, not as large as the supermarket where Zoro had encountered something before, but it was frequented often.
"Take care, come back safely," Toji said as he saw Chie off. Chie smiled at Toji and Zoro, then left the house.
Two hours passed. It was about time for her to return. Just as Toji considered calling her, his cell phone rang. After placing Megumi in the crib, he immediately answered the call. The voice came through clearly enough for even Zoro, standing some distance away, to hear.
—This is the emergency room at Tokyo University Hospital.
Are you the guardian of patient Tanaka Chie?
What followed, how they ended up in the car, was something they could only contemplate after being crammed into the vehicle.
Zoro, startled and crying, hugged Megumi tightly, looking at Toji seated in the front.
Ignoring traffic signals, Toji sped towards the hospital, seemingly without a moment to spare for Zoro or Megumi. If Zoro hadn't quickly taken Megumi and jumped into the car, Toji might have left them behind to rush to the hospital alone.
Zoro didn't blame Toji. He, too, was out of his mind.
He replayed the information he had heard. A truck carrying large construction materials had collided with a bus, causing the securing devices to break. The materials rolled down a hill, striking the supermarket, injuring several people inside.
Chie was among them.
She was leaving the supermarket at the time of the accident and was severely injured, losing a lot of blood. She was immediately taken to the hospital, but her condition was so critical that entering surgery would likely mean certain death. And so, and so...
And so.
Screech. The car came to a noisy halt in front of the hospital.
Bang! Toji kicked open the car door and ran off. Zoro, clutching Megumi, gritted his teeth and followed as fast as he could. He had never run so quickly since being reborn. The startled onlookers murmured, but he had no time to care about that.
'Where, where is she?'
Where is Chie?
After some searching, Zoro finally found where Toji and Chie were.
Toji was holding Chie's hand as she lay in the hospital bed. Nearby, a doctor, possibly struck by Toji, was coughing and being supported by a nurse, a bruise forming on his face.
Chie was in a terrible state. A respirator was attached to her face, and her spiky hair was matted with blood. Her body was covered with a thick white blanket, but so much blood had soaked through it appeared almost red. With his Observation Haki, Zoro could sense the extent of the damage beneath.
Having faced death numerous times and sustained countless injuries himself, Zoro knew.
She couldn't survive this.
"Chie."
Zoro approached the bed and called out in dismay. Even Megumi seemed to sense something, stopping his cries and looking around with teary eyes.
Chie didn't open her eyes. Beep, beep. An unknown machine beside her emitted irregular sounds. Zoro's heart sank.
"Mother."
At that call, Chie's eyelids fluttered.
Struggling greatly, Chie opened her eyes. The whites were burst with blood, starkly red. Even in her battered state, Chie tried to smile.
Attempting to grasp her hand, Zoro realized her hand beneath the blanket was completely crushed. "Mother," Zoro called again.
Chie managed a faint smile towards Zoro, then turned her head to Toji. With great effort, she spoke.
"Please take care of Zoro and Megumi."
Toji gripped Chie's intact hand tightly. He said nothing. It was more accurate to say he couldn't.
Zoro leaned close to Chie's face. Apart from when he was a very young child, he had never been this close to Chie. He needed to memorize every whisper of sound, every fractured smile. Nothing could be missed.
Because there would be no more chances.
That's why Zoro could hear it.
"I love you."
...Chie's last words.
It was such a faint sound that he almost doubted he had heard it. But it was unmistakable. Heard by Zoro, by Toji, and perhaps even by Megumi.
Her eyes closed. The slow rise and fall of her chest ceased, and Toji gripped Chie's hand as if it might shatter. A strange sensation brushed past Zoro's nape, and then...
Beep—
...the machine emitted a prolonged noise. Zoro understood what it meant. He couldn't not understand. He had seen it with his own eyes.
The doctor glanced at his wristwatch with a somber expression.
"...March 27th, 2003, 1:23 PM."
"Patient Tanaka Chie has passed away."
Overwhelmed by sudden dizziness, Zoro, still holding Megumi, staggered and sat down on a chair next to the bed. His head was buzzing. Sounds seemed to reach him, but he couldn't make sense of them.
Megumi burst into tears. Contrary to his usual calmness, it was the loudest cry since his birth.
Zoro, almost subconsciously, held Megumi tighter and pushed away the hand of a nurse trying to help. He didn't want anyone near him. Not now.
Memories of time spent with Chie flashed through his mind. The day he was born, the way she held him, her fluttering eyelashes, her prickly hair, and her sunshine-like smile.
He felt nauseous. Chie's voice echoed in his head, causing disorientation.
"When the cherry blossoms bloom, shall the four of us go see them?"
Why had he assumed such a day would come naturally? Even knowing how death could strike in an instant, knowing nothing in this world is guaranteed.
Why had he believed... the four of them could be together as a matter of course?
Zoro covered his eyes with the arm not holding Megumi. Whether his eyes were open or closed, it felt as if only darkness remained.
It felt like the ground beneath him was crumbling away.