Director Walnut's Note: This author uses parentheses "()" for thoughts. It might feel a bit strange at first, but you'll get used to it after a few chapters.
____
(What's going on? My head hurts so much.)
Waves of dull pain tore through the chaos clouding his consciousness. Ethan struggled to open his eyes, and what presented itself before him was a familiar ceiling.
(A hospital ward? What the hell is this place? Didn't I die?)
Ethan looked around blankly, surveying his surroundings.
It was a spacious hospital ward with white walls on all four sides. An ECG monitor beside the bed emitted a rhythmic ticking sound, and a hanging IV bottle was delivering medication into his vein. A nurse holding a clipboard was looking at him in disbelief.
"You're awake! Mr. Amamiya!"
The nurse walked quickly to his side, her voice full of concern and shock.
"How are you feeling? Is there any specific discomfort? You've been in a coma for nearly half a month!"
Is this... Japanese!?
Ethan's pupils dilated slightly.
Although he could distinguish between Japanese and Chinese, that was the extent of it. Yet, he could actually understand what the nurse was saying?!
(Wait! Did I transmigrate?)
This situation... it seemed only transmigration could explain it.
But what about memories? The memories of this body?
Ethan attempted to recall, but the memories belonging to this body were like shattered glass, scattered everywhere and difficult to piece together. Only a few blurry fragments remained—blinding headlights, the sound of a violent collision, and endless darkness.
And a name—Amamiya Rin!
Is this his name in this life? The surname has changed, but the given name remains the same.
"Amamiya-kun, this is wonderful! You've really woken up!"
At that moment, the ward door was pushed open from the outside. A middle-aged male doctor wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked in. The name tag on the chest of his white coat read "Kuroda Ken'ichiro."
He walked quickly to the bedside, his gaze burning as he stared at Amamiya Rin. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as if suppressing turbulent emotions.
"A miracle? No, it's not a miracle. My treatment plan succeeded! Wonderful, truly wonderful!"
Dr. Kuroda muttered to himself, emotionally agitated. He pushed up his glasses, calming down slightly before asking Amamiya Rin eagerly, "I am your attending physician, Kuroda. Amamiya-kun, how do you feel right now? Do you have a severe headache, nausea, or dizziness?"
Amamiya Rin moved his lips slightly, his voice extremely hoarse. "Head... hurts... like it's going to split... Body... very heavy... can't move..."
"This is a normal phenomenon. You've been in a coma for too long; your bodily functions need time to recover."
Dr. Kuroda nodded and took out a small penlight to check his pupillary light reflex.
"Cognitive functions don't appear to be severely impaired... Do you remember what happened? Or your own name?"
"Name... Amamiya Rin? As for the rest, I can't remember anything clearly. I might have amnesia."
Amamiya Rin hesitated for a moment, intending to use the amnesia trope to gloss over the situation. After all, he didn't possess the complete memories of this body.
"Amnesia? It's not amnesia. It should just be a sequela. You slept for so long that you forgot what happened before falling into a vegetative state. You'll slowly remember over time."
A strange glint flashed through Dr. Kuroda's eyes as he spoke with absolute certainty.
"Are you... that certain?"
Although he felt the doctor was overly confident, Amamiya Rin didn't make a fuss about it. Instead, he asked about the reason for his presence here.
Dr. Kuroda replied, "This is Morita Hospital. You were sent here due to a traffic accident. Two cars collided at an intersection and involved you. The two car owners suffered only minor injuries, but you were the most unfortunate one—you were knocked into a vegetative state."
"No..."
Amamiya Rin slowly shook his head.
"I think... I am very lucky."
He remembered that in his previous life, he had died in a hospital bed from a terminal illness. For someone who had truly died once to obtain a second life, and a younger one at that—how could this not be considered lucky?
"Indeed. From a medical perspective, the probability of a vegetative patient waking up is very low. The fact that you woke up is a stroke of luck in itself."
Dr. Kuroda smiled upon hearing this, speaking reassuringly.
"It's good that you can think this way. Maintain an optimistic mindset. The most important thing for you now is rest and recovery; don't worry too much about other things. The party responsible for the accident has already paid all medical expenses incurred so far."
Subsequently, Dr. Kuroda gave a few more instructions on precautions before arranging for a nurse to bring a wheelchair. They helped Amamiya Rin onto it and took him out for further examinations.
Passing through the corridor, a sudden rush of footsteps and the rapid rolling of wheels came from behind.
"Make way! Emergency patient! Hurry!"
Several doctors and nurses, looking grim, rushed forward pushing an emergency gurney like the wind. Amamiya Rin's nurse hurriedly pulled his wheelchair closer to the wall to clear a path.
In the moment they brushed past, Amamiya Rin caught a glimpse of the person on the gurney.
It was a young girl who looked quite young, with short hair. Her face was as pale as paper, her forehead covered in fine, cold sweat, and her brows were tightly knit in pain.
The most striking feature was her abdomen.
The belly beneath the hospital gown was bulging high, the curve extremely unnatural, resembling a woman ten months pregnant. Yet, contrasted with her frail and thin frame, it appeared exceptionally grotesque.
With just a fleeting glance, the gurney was pushed far away, rushing toward the emergency operating room at the end of the corridor.
"That was?"
Amamiya Rin asked instinctively.
The nurse pushing him sighed, her tone carrying a hint of sympathy.
"That is Miss Mitsuo Yukiko. Her ward is right opposite yours. She's a very pitiful child. She has been suffering from a severe illness and just underwent a kidney transplant a while ago. Unexpectedly, such severe postoperative complications have appeared now... Sigh."
Kidney transplant? Complications? Would that cause the abdomen to swell so violently?
A sense of indescribable wrongness brushed through Amamiya Rin's heart, but he couldn't delve deeper. He was just a patient, after all.
His examination room was not far ahead. At the end of the corridor, the operating room doors slammed shut with a "bang," and the red "Operation in Progress" light overhead turned on, separating the inside and outside into two different worlds.
His examinations began.
CT, MRI, various neural response tests... The lengthy process left Amamiya Rin even more exhausted.
About an hour later, most of the examination items were completed, and the nurse pushed Amamiya Rin back to the ward.
However, as they passed through the corridor, Amamiya Rin sensed something was wrong.
The hospital corridor, originally orderly, was now permeated with an indescribable commotion and panic.
Nurses gathered in groups of two or three, whispering urgently, their faces written with lingering fear. Occasionally, a doctor would walk past quickly, their expression unusually grave, carrying a hint of unconcealed panic.
"...Just now, regarding Mitsuo-san's surgery..."
"Is it true? Inside her belly, there was actually..."
"Shh—! Don't talk about it, it's too terrifying... How could such a thing happen..."
"I heard the thing they took out... was still talking..."
"...Truly evil..."
Intermittent words drifted into his ears. Combined with the scene he had witnessed earlier, Amamiya Rin couldn't help but form a blood-curdling association.
____
New Story: ZZZ: Mr. Ethereal Does Not Want to See a Tragedy
✅ Access up to 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Receive exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan