Chapter 54
Chapter 54
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Juni
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The operating room door swung open, and a nurse dressed in surgical scrubs stepped out.
Mattie shot to her feet. The nurse glanced around the room and said,
“Is there an Ivanov Clan member here? We need more blood.”
As Yeonha started to step forward, Ivan blocked her and said,
“I’ll go.”
He followed the nurse inside. Even after the door closed, Mattie remained standing for a while before finally sinking back into her seat.
Time dragged on. People came and went around her, and Ivanov Clan members went to the blood donation room when more blood was needed, then returned—but Mattie stayed rooted in that one spot.
Finally, the “In Surgery” light went out.
Mattie jumped up again. The door opened soon after, and the doctor emerged still wearing his surgical scrubs.
Having completed a surgery so long it was nearly impossible even with modern medical technology, the doctor looked utterly exhausted, his eyes ringed with dark circles as if he were the one who had undergone the procedure.
“Follow me.”
The doctor said that and walked ahead. After passing through several glass doors, they arrived outside the ICU—Intensive Care Unit.
Doyoung, transferred straight from the operating room still on the bed, lay sleeping beyond the glass wall.
“The surgery was a success.”
The doctor said, addressing Ivan, the clan leader.
“But the infection hasn’t progressed past activation stage 2.”
Mattie gazed through the full-length glass barrier blocking their path. Doyoung looked buried in tubes. Around her neck was a massive collar-like brace that resembled armor, and she wore a transparent mask.
All sorts of machines surrounded her, beeping in small, rhythmic sounds—their purpose unknown, like beasts gathered around their prey.
Mattie didn’t fully understand, but she knew those steady beeps were a good sign.
From beside her, she overheard the doctor speaking to Ivan.
“We consider the infection almost successful once it reaches activation stage 3. The critical point is stage 2. Whether it bonds with the F-93 factor or not…”
Ivan listened with a grave expression.
“Either way, the surgery succeeding is a good sign.”
“That’s right.”
By now, the people around had dispersed and it was quiet, but Mattie continued standing there, staring at Doyoung. Some passersby even checked if she was blinking.
‘Doyoung, wake up.’
Mattie whispered silently in her mind.
‘I won’t break down either.’
***
“Mattie. Sit down for a bit.”
Tora said, but Mattie just stood there, staring through the glass. As if taking her eyes off even for a moment would cause Doyoung to vanish.
“Mattie.”
Tora approached and placed a hand on her shoulder, snapping Mattie back to reality. She let Tora guide her to a seat.
Then, at some point, as if her mind cleared, she looked around and asked,
“Rato? Still can’t see him?”
Tora nodded.
“Still. They’re holding him as a person of interest for investigation. No matter how much we explain it was all part of the plan, they won’t buy it.”
Making contact with Legion, getting angry about the Pacific Alliance planning to suppress Satadi Island by force—it had all been an act to gain Legion’s trust.
Rato had tried to get as close as possible to the anti-aircraft commander to assassinate him.
But no matter how much they explained, MCTC wouldn’t easily drop their suspicions. Mattie understood—they were mercenaries, after all, so they’d hold off judgment until they were 100% certain. Still, after all the time they’d spent together, it stung.
“You saw what state he came back in, didn’t you?”
Tora said roughly. Their paths hadn’t crossed, so Tora hadn’t seen Rato herself, but she’d heard he was a total mess.
“Mi…”
Sensing Mattie was about to apologize again, Tora’s eyes flashed fiercely. Mattie swallowed her words, rolled her eyes quickly, and said instead,
“He’s insane.”
Tora chuckled and patted her cute Mattie’s head.
“They said he’s getting treatment and doing well, so he’ll be fine.”
Mattie nodded.
“Yeah.”
Then she pleaded,
“Keep a close eye on him.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
That was when it happened.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
A sudden alarm blared. Mattie flinched. Beyond the glass, one of the machines connected to Doyoung was wailing harshly.
[ICU Code Blue. ICU Code Blue.]
No sooner had the announcement echoed from the ceiling than doctors appeared in droves from somewhere—too many for even a vampire to sense their approach. They rushed into the treatment room, shouting,
“Arrest! CPR!”
With so many tubes already attached, Doyoung—who wasn’t even wearing a top—had defibrillator pads slapped onto her chest as someone yelled.
Mattie rushed to the glass, clenching the hand pressed against it into a tight fist.
The cardiac arrest continued. The doctors moved this way and that on command. Surrounded by them, Doyoung was barely visible.
Inside was pure chaos, like a battlefield. It was bizarre how quiet it was on this side.
By now, people had gathered beside Mattie. Ivan, Yeonha, Tora, Jain, and Ivanov Clan members who had come to donate blood.
Tora muttered,
“She’ll pull through. Even if she has to bulldoze that virus. She looks like a parasitic twin, but she’s tough enough to give Rambo a run for his money.”
The cardiac massage went on for a long time.
Then, at one point, the doctor operating the massage machine shook his head. Other medical staff dragged another machine from the corner.
Meanwhile, one doctor came out to report the situation. He spoke to Ivan.
“We’ll need to connect the circulatory support.”
Mattie didn’t understand what that meant, but she knew needing another machine wasn’t good.
As if hammering that anxiety home, the doctor said with undisguised sorrow,
“She’s entered a brain-dead state. The virus has also gone dormant at activation stage 2.”
Mattie turned back to Doyoung beyond the glass in disbelief. The doctor continued from beside her.
“This makes the project a failure yet again…”
“We’ll discuss that later.”
Ivan cut him off.
Doyoung had signed the project consent form knowing this possibility existed—and accepted it. As a project participant, she’d understood her death would be seen as an experimental outcome rather than just one person’s loss.
It was those around her who weren’t prepared to accept it.
The doctor nodded, understanding their feelings, and added,
“But activation could restart at any time. And in a few years, technology might be developed to wake the Major…”
That was when it happened. Mattie suddenly brushed past them.
“Mattie…”
She ignored even Tora calling out to stop her and kicked open the automatic door.
Bang!
The door shattered with a loud crash.
The medical staff, who had just been about to insert the circulatory tube into Doyoung’s shoulder, turned in shock.
“You can’t come in here right now…”
Someone tried to stop her, but Mattie strode forward, shoving through the staff. She grabbed the tube one doctor was holding and yanked it out.
Crash, clatter, bang.
The force of her pull toppled machines forward, smashing them to pieces. The staff leaped back, dodging flying debris, utterly appalled.
“What have you done…!”
Beep—
The cardiac arrest alarm pierced the air sharply.
“Reconnect it! Now!”
The doctors rushed back to treat Doyoung.
“Leave her be!”
But they froze at the roar that seemed to shake the air.
Mattie stood straight, staring at Doyoung.
“Doyoung won’t give up. She’ll wake up.”
Doyoung lay still, eyes closed as if merely asleep. Mattie couldn’t tear her gaze from those downward-cast lashes. It felt like Doyoung would open her eyes and look at her any second.
Beep—
The arrest alarm continued. The doctors glanced around anxiously and shouted,
“We’re too late if we don’t connect it now!”
Still, Mattie didn’t look away from Doyoung, who showed no response.
“Doyoung won’t give up.”
She said it, but her deathly pale face didn’t seem convinced. It looked more like she was clinging desperately to a stubborn, futile belief.
One doctor couldn’t take it anymore and stormed forward. He shoved at Mattie—though she didn’t budge—and wildly gathered up the tubes.
Affected by his movement, a few doctors and nurses dashed out too, clearing the broken machines and debris to reach Doyoung and prepare to reinsert the tube.
But then, everyone froze.
Beep- -- -
The arrest alarm cut through the air.
Everyone’s faces showed they realized it was already too late.
Another doctor nearby glared at Mattie.
“If she could live in a brain-dead state, technology might have been developed in a few years to wake the Major. You’ve stolen that chance.”
The doctor slowly approached Doyoung. He gazed down at her for a long time, as if she’d simply fallen asleep forever. At last, he murmured bitterly,
“And so another hero departs.”
The doctor signaled the nurse with his eyes. She snapped to attention and circled to the other side of the bed. Together, they gently pulled the blanket up over her with respectful hands.
Doyoung vanished beneath the white sheet.
The doctor checked the time displayed as a hologram on the wall and pronounced the time of death.
“Time of death: 19:02:13.”
He lifted his hand from the sheet and stepped back. Then he turned and passed by Mattie.
It was his way of giving Mattie time to say goodbye to Doyoung.
Mattie stood frozen in place. Everyone watched her with pitying expressions. After all, they understood her desperate desire to save Doyoung more than anyone.
‘Causing the worst outcome with the best intentions’ wasn’t just King Lear or her.
No one dared speak to Mattie rashly. They quietly cleared the area, giving her space.
Mattie reached out a trembling hand. She grasped the white sheet covering Doyoung and simply held it. Unable to pull it back or let it go.
Doyoung had said she wouldn’t die.
And she’d given her reason to believe it. So she had believed. ‘If it’s her—’
To end so pointlessly… to add yet another name to the list of people who died because of her… No way… It couldn’t be…
“No.”
A strangled sound escaped her throat.
“No!”
It was almost a scream. Some nurses’ eyes welled up at the sound.
In that moment, Mattie’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Flutter—
The sheet she clutched dragged down with her, fluttering into the air like a waving hand…
“Mattie!”
Yeonha shouted and ran forward.
Thud.
As Mattie collapsed, her black hair splayed messily across the floor.