Chapter 6

Fred was in a coma, he was in a large room where there were several devices around. As a result of the impact, his ribs were broken. And the hospital had to operate on him.

The picture moved to the side, now Fred's face was clearly visible, there were several bandages on the face, the right hand was bandaged quite thickly. Aiden began to feel sorry for him, but he also didn't understand what he had done to make Fred hate him so much.

Aiden pressed finish on the app, then went back to cleaning the cookware. After his shift ended, Aiden went to the hospital to see Fred one last time. He knew Fred would never regain consciousness. 

The hospital was quiet at night. Aiden didn't bring anything with him because he couldn't leave any evidence. As he turned the corner, Aiden backed away quickly. He leaned against the wall and peered down the hallway. 

"We've arrested the perpetrator, and he's currently being questioned," a tall black police officer said.

Duke nodded in understanding. "What about Fred's car? Is there anything?"

"We didn't find anything. After checking the CCTV, Fred didn't seem to be speeding either, so I didn't find anything wrong with his car."

Aiden opened Knote's app and found no information on how they had harmed Fred. There was no way it was a deliberate accident.

"We'll come again after Fred regains consciousness." The police officer and his partner left. Aiden immediately pretended to make a phone call as they passed by.

Aiden walked while looking around. Once he arrived in front of Fred's room, he could see through the glass that Duke and Eri were inside. But Aiden immediately hid in one of the empty patient rooms.

After waiting for a while, Aiden finally came out. He saw Duke and Eri walking away, giving Aiden the opportunity to enter Fred's room.

Aiden felt even more guilty after seeing Fred's condition firsthand. 

"I never thought we'd hurt each other like this." Aiden stared at Fred's motionless face. "We used to always share the food you got from other people. You'd give a little to me or just a junk toy in the trash bin. You'd also give me the first try."

"I'm such a bastard, just leaving without telling you." Aiden's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "My mom died, I have no one. Even if my mom was terminally ill, I wouldn't want her to die. I don't want people to think of her as a rotting carcass."

Aiden paused, he seemed to see Fred's eyelids move. A nurse came in, surprising Aiden. He tried to calm down after seeing that the nurse looked suspicious.

"I hope you get better soon." Aiden walked towards the door, smiling slightly at the female nurse.

Aiden searched for news of Fred's accident. He had to make sure that his name wouldn't be dragged into the case. He had to worry because Fred could have woken up. The internet wasn't clear, some news sources said the driver was drunk.

The next day, Aiden went to the police station. For some reason, Aiden still didn't trust Knote. 

He dressed up and pretended to be a journalist, he wanted to talk to the perpetrator. But the police station hadn't allowed anyone else to talk to the man.

"Aiden."

Aiden turned his head in surprise. The Duke was in front of him. He looked at the receptionist and then at Duke, thinking hard about why he was there.

"What are you doing here?"

"I, I need to take care of some paperwork. My apartment caught fire, I might be able to catch the culprit."

Duke chuckled, completely dismissive. "That's a good plan. If this matter goes to court, don't forget that you'll also have to spend money on a lawyer."

Aiden looked at Duke sarcastically, eager to rip his arrogant mouth off.

"I know," Aiden replied.

"You guys should install some CCTV here. Those little rats aren't afraid of humans when it comes to stealing anything." Duke spoke to a police officer who had been standing next to him, then turned to Aiden briefly.

Aiden watched the two walk away. Then he walked out of the police station with a heavy sigh.

Today, there were a few customers. Aiden was quite overwhelmed frying the chicken non-stop. Aiden couldn't even leave the frying pan. Sometimes he even had to help other workers coat the chicken with flour.

"Aiden, bring the chicken here." Someone shouted from the counter room.

"Wait." His forehead sweated as he transferred some fried chicken to a sizable tray.

He saw a customer standing there, waiting for an order. Aiden paused for a moment and then went back inside. Trying not to ignore it, Aiden put the chicken into the hot oil.

"Aiden, a lady over there wants to talk to you." An employee from the counter spoke up.

"Tell them I'm working," Aiden said without guessing who it was.

As soon as Aiden finished work and came out of the fast food restaurant, he saw Eri standing not far from the entrance. Aiden didn't care, he continued walking.

"Ai." The call made Aiden stop walking. "I want to talk to you for a moment."

Aiden turned his head, Eri immediately approached him. "Don't you miss me?" Eri looked down, feeling embarrassed. "You know my dad is looking for a replacement for Fred."

"Oh yeah?"

Eri looked confused, not knowing where to start the conversation. "Fred had an accident."

"What happened?" Aiden pretended to be shocked, but Eri could sense it.

"You don't know?" 

At the hospital, Eri had told her father that Aiden and Fred had an argument. Duke was happy to know that, he asked Eri to meet Aiden. Eri tried not to show it in front of Duke. Eri was also happy.

"I didn't know, I was busy working and didn't have time to watch the news." As usual, Aiden always showed his weak side when he met Eri.

"Both of you from the same place." Eri's words made Aiden turn his head. "He was your childhood friend, I hope you'll come."

"How do you know?" Aiden asked.

"Fred told me quite a lot about you two."

Aiden was quite surprised to hear that. But he tried to refrain from looking concerned. "I don't know, but thank you for telling me."

"I can go with you."

Aiden was silent for a long time and then muttered briefly. He didn't want to get carried away by sentimental feelings.

Meanwhile, a man wearing a black hoodie and a black mask was standing in front of the hospital.

He walked in, no one noticed him, even when the man stood in front of Fred's room. He was the same man who touched Fred's car and that man was not Aiden.