Chapter 18
It was the morning of Asmodeus’ discharge. The nurse had prepared himself to face whatever nonsense Asmodeus had brewed that day.
Surprisingly, Asmodeus complied well with the checkups.
‘Did the sun rise in the west today? Why is this guy so cooperative?’
But Asmodeus had his thoughts elsewhere.
‘If there is no pain in the subspace nor can I manipulate blood there, then what the hell even is that place?
Crow has nowhere mentioned that it is a subspace, nor has he even mentioned about it.’
“Your hand.”
“Hmm…” Asmodeus slid his arm towards the nurse, who was now checking his blood pressure.
‘Then there is the time… the time there and the time outside aren't even consistent. If there was a proper delay, then I could call it time dilation. Now I can't even call it as such…’
‘Then there is that… what even is that? I only get a feeling that something is there, but I don't see or hear it…’
‘Ahh… my head hurts from thinking so much.’
The nurse was almost done with checking his vitals and was about to leave.
“Is there any pain? Are you feeling dizzy?”
“No… but when am I going home?”
“Soon. Once Dr. Nathan finishes your final checkup and gives you the okay to go, you can go home.”
“Yay!”
“Great, now I'll remove the cannula.”
“The… what?”
“This tube in your arm.”
“Oh… Thanks.” Asmodeus gave the nurse a cheerful smile.
The nurse blinked once.
Twice.
“That's it?”
“Hmm? What?”
“N- nothing. Nevermind.”
‘...okay?’
‘Is this guy okay? Did something happen to him?’
“Are you sure you are alright? Do you want something? Are you in pain?”
“No? I'm fine…”
“Alright then.”
The nurse closed the door behind him.
“Why was he so tense?”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Asmodeus shrugged.
“Whatever, now how do I find the answers in Crow's absurd books?”
“I don't have any other choice but to enter the subspace, or whatever that thing is and search for a possible explanation.”
Asmodeus made a note of the time out of habit.
“8:24 a.m., got it. Ring take me there.”
Before he knew the doors were in front of him again.
“Training room is useless, let's go to the library itself.”
Amongst the rows of books, Asmodeus kept searching for something, anything that would answer his questions.
[How to drink blood from humans.]
“I have no interest in biting random people.”
[Why is sun a curse to us?]
“Because vampires are pale, I guess? Wait is this the guy who started the vampire folklore or something?”
[Why I prefer soft biscuits over the crunchy ones.]
“WHY THE F*CK DO I CARE!”
“IS THIS GUY IN HIS RIGHT MIND?”
Asmodeus wandered around a bit more, when his eyes fell on a particularly interesting book.
[How to cultivate nether.]
“Nether? Where have I heard this?”
“...”
“Wait… Crow mentioned it in his intro book too…”
“Maybe this will help…”
[Hello, and this time I'll teach you nether.
Nether is like air. You can't see it but only feel it. It's hard to explain. Even my tutors had a hard time explaining it to me.
And I was considered a genius of my age. Yet it took me 300 years to learn it.]
“Which part of it sounds like a genius, Crow?”
[When I first started to learn nether, what I observed was that it exists with everyone. Wait that isn't quite right.
Humans are different. When I first came to Terris, I couldn't sense any nether on this planet.]
“Excuse me? Then no power-up arc for me?”
*Asmo…
“Anyway, what else do you know?”
[Then I tried to know how were humans alive without it. That is when I found out that, humans do have nether, just not in their bodies.]
*Asmo…
“...”
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?”
“ARHH… MY HEAD HURTS…”
Suddenly, the subspace seemed to stop existing.
One moment Asmodeus saw the book shelves in the library.
Then next he saw Cassandra’s worried face.
“SWEETIE, ARE YOU OKAY?”
‘Mom?’
‘Why is Mom in the subspace?’
Before he could call out to her, he was in the library again.
“Wha- what's happening?” He turned his head around trying to make sense of the situation.
This time, it was Vincent, trying to shake his son awake.
“ASMODEUS! WHAT'S WRONG?”
‘D-dad?’
The view kept alternating between the library and the hospital.
Like reality was deciding which one to show him.
“ASMODEUS WHITE!”
“Huh…!
Wha—”
“Sweetie, are you alright?”
***
Cassandra and Vincent had come to meet their son, only to see him staring at nothing.
“Vincent, why is this kid sitting like this?”
“I don't know. Asmo, what's wrong kid?”
Vincent tapped on Asmodeus’ shoulder, but didn't get any response from him.
“Cassy, do you know what's going on?”
“No… I've never seen him like this…”
“Asmo…”
“Asmo…”
Vincent continued to call his son's name. But every time, Asmodeus did not answer him.
Both Vincent and Cassandra were scared.
“ASMODEUS WHITE!”
Cassandra held Asmodeus’ shoulder, shaking him in fear.
This time, there was a reaction.
“Huh…!
Wha—”
Asmodeus looked as bewildered as them.
“How? No… then… ah…”
Asmodeus felt his head throb. He massaged his temples.
Vincent and Cassandra exchanged a glance, and sat beside their son, on the bed.
Vincent had put an arm around Asmodeus, trying to calm him down. And Cassandra instinctively patted his head.
“Asmo,” Cassandra called, “what happened child? Why were you sitting here staring at nothing?”
‘Staring at nothing? Does that mean I was right here the entire time? But then I was in the subspace… wait…’
“Asmo?”
“Huh? Ahh… I— I was bored and fell asleep… I guess… and then I had a weird dream…” Asmodeus gave a cracked smile.
“You fell asleep? With your eyes open?” Vincent questioned him, “You think we'll believe this?”
“Then maybe I… I zoned out? I mean I had a weird dream…”
‘I can't tell them the truth in hospital… at least let's go home…’
Vincent took a long look at his son. Asmodeus was now wearing a guilty look.
Vincent let out a tired sigh.
“I don't know what you're hiding, but if you need someone to talk to don't hesitate to ask us.”
“...okay.”
‘Now I feel like shit for not telling.’
“Vince!”
“It's okay, Cassy. It's for the child to decide what to tell us and what not to tell us.”
“But—” Cassandra sighed in defeat, “Alright…”
The door opened, and there was Dr. Nathan.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, I just had a bad dream…” Asmodeus answered instantly.
“Okay… if you are sure.
Well then I'll just have to do a final checkup and then you are good to go.”
“The nurse already did that.”
“And I've to complete my checkup.”
Nathan placed his stethoscope on Asmodeus.
“Take deep breaths.”
Asmodeus complied.
“Alright your heartbeat is stable and so is your breathing. Now, I need to check the biopsy site.”
“First you listen to my heart, now you want to see my butt. What are you trying to achieve here?”
*Churkle churkle
Vincent on the other hand was fighting a battle against laughter.
“Sir, this is purely medical. I just need to make sure the area isn't red or swollen.”
Vincent lost the battle.
“Vincent, stop laughing! And Asmo stop using such words.”
And Cassandra was maintaining two grown-up kids.
“Mr. and Mrs. White, could you please step outside for a while?”
“Sure” “Sure”
Once the door clicked shut, Nathan turned to Asmodeus.
“Lower your waistband enough for me to check the site.”
“Alright…”
Nathan undid the dressing.
“No redness or swelling. And it seems to be healing well.
Do you feel pain where I'm—”
“OW!”
“Yes, you are. Alright, that's it. I'll put a new dressing, and then you are ready to go home.”
Once the dressing was done, Nathan called Vincent and Cassandra into the room.
“Mr. and Mrs. White, you may come in now.”
He then turned to Asmodeus again.
“The soreness should improve over the next few days. Avoid strenuous exercise or heavy lifting for about a week. If you notice fever, increasing pain, swelling, or bleeding, come back immediately.”
“Any update on the results?”
“No Mr. White, it'll probably take another week.”
“Can't we reduce the waiting time any further?”
“Unfortunately, no. We have already reduced it as much as we could, now we can only wait.”
“I see.”
“Can I go home now?”
“Yes, you can. If you feel any discomfort at the site, come to the hospital.”
“Okay…”
William, as always, had taken care of the discharge formalities downstairs.
For the first time in three days, Asmodeus could finally go home.