Jenn walked through the labyrinthine corridors of the infirmary floor with a hop to her step that betrayed her concern for the latest witness in the Harashima case. There was no knowing the level of risk Miss Harady had put herself in by telling the police what she knew about Yosuke Harashima. If a coworker had stabbed her right as she walked out of the interrogation in an attempt to silence her, what was the likelihood of it happening again? Jenn wasn’t sure, but she prayed it would end up being an isolated incident. That the only person that wanted her dead had been eliminated, courtesy of Josh’s overly itchy trigger finger.

She continued forward, greeting staff as she passed them by, and eventually came up to the reception desk. “Hi,” she hollered to the young man behind the counter, who responded with equal cheer. “Came by to check on Enez Harady. Which room is she in?”

“That’d be room 265,” the man replied. His voice was oddly soothing. Looked handsome as well, Jenn thought to her-self. She didn’t come by here often, so she was only so familiar with most of the building’s medical staff. She wondered if this dashing gentleman was one of the medics or only worked re-ception – it wasn’t unusual for some medics to occasionally have to work reception, that much she did know.

“265?” she repeated, and the man gave her a con-firmatory nod. “Great. Thanks,” she thanked the man and turned towards the hallway where room 265 would be.

On her way, she saw a figure in the distance that she didn’t expect to run into on the infirmary floor, walking towards her. The figure spoke first as he recognized her. “Ah. Hi, Jenn.”

“Hey, Koji.”

Koji Hodo, another police officer. Second longest-serving in the Neo-Tokyo force right after Josh. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” Jenn hollered to Koji in a surprised tone.

“Just taking a little walk,” Koji replied. “Felt like I couldn’t breathe up there. Air’s so much better on this floor. Good for the joints, you know.”

“Yeah. Proper air conditioning works wonders, eh?”

“It really does.” Koji threw his arms skyward in a stretching motion so as to demonstrate. “So anyway, what are you doing down here?”

“Checking in on a witness. Got stabbed, should be down here somewhere.”

“The DanariTek girl?”

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Shinji filled me in on her. I know I’m not assigned to the Harashima case, but I was curious.”

“Uh-huh.” It wasn’t uncommon for the police to casually talk about ongoing cases, even when two officers were assigned to completely different ones, but she’d always figured Shinji was the type to not partake in such conversation. It wasn’t against protocol, though, so she didn’t care. Much.

“Anyway, catch you later,” she said in farewell to Koji and continued her trek towards room 265.

“Sure,” Koji hollered in response behind her. “See ya.”

A stinging sensation woke Enez up from her slumber. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out for, nor where she was now. Not the DanariTek facility, that much she was sure of. No room in there looked as sterile as this one. Or had beds, let alone ones that felt this uncomfortable. If she didn’t know any better, she would have come to the conclusion that she was in a torture chamber just based off that impression.

The color scheme of her surroundings told her that she’d been wheeled to an infirmary of some kind. Then she remem-bered the stinging sensation that’d jolted her awake, remem-bered something thin and sharp embedding into her stomach, remembered passing out with it still inserted.

She looked down to where the “weapon” had been and found that it’d been removed and replaced with bandages. Then, a voice echoed from her right side: “Welcome back.”

Looking to the direction of the voice, Enez was greeted by an oddly familiar face, though one she’d only seen once prior. It took her a few seconds to place it – it was one of the police officers that’d come by DanariTek to interrogate her. The one that’d called the medics to her rescue. Enez’s expression remained a stony mask of indifference as she stared at the woman.

“Jenn Walters,” she reintroduced herself. “Wanted to come by and check in on you. Feeling okay?”

Enez tried to produce a “Yeah” in response, but her throat was so dry it turned her attempt to speak into a raspy cough. Jenn grabbed a glass of water from a nearby desk and handed it to her, then assisted her in sitting up so she could actually gulp it down.

Enez emptied the glass in one swift motion and, feeling reinvigorated and like she could speak again, said afterwards: “Thanks. I needed that.”

“Least I can do,” Jenn replied with a smile.

“You called the medics, right?”

“That I did. Couldn’t just leave you to bleed to death after what you told us.”

The interrogation. It was coming back to Enez. What she told the cops… about Harashima. “What I…” she began in a raspy half-whisper, looking down at herself again. The me-mories of the events that had landed her here were flooding back to her. She turned her gaze back to Jenn and asked her, as if to confirm her own theory: “Did I spill too much?”

“What do you mean?” Jenn asked in response.

“About Harashima,” Enez clarified. “That’s why I got stabbed, right? Because I know stuff that’d bring his whole empire down.” She placed a hand over her face in something akin to embarrassment, laying back down on the bed, un-comfortable as its AluPlast surface felt, and cursed herself: “God, I’m fucking stupid. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. Now all of my coworkers want me silenced. Dead.”

“Hey,” Jenn interjected in an attempt to soothe Enez, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You did what felt right at the time. That’s the important thing.” She let out a concerned but somehow reassuring sigh before continuing. “As for your co-workers, I can’t assure you one way or the other, but we’ll protect you. With how much you know, you’re too important to the case to lose.”

“I know that’s supposed to put me at ease, but it’s kinda doing the opposite,” Enez admitted, only marginally calmer.

Jenn smiled in amusement and let out an accompanying sharp exhale through her nose, then asked Enez: “So what would put you at ease?”

Enez shifted on the bed slightly, trying to assume a position that would make her feel more comfortable. More relaxed. “A motherly hug, kiss on the cheek, bedtime story… and a shot of the shittiest whiskey you have.”

Jenn chuckled. “Can’t bring alcohol to the workplace, I’m afraid,” she said with a hint of regret. “Not a mother either, but a hug I can do.”

Enez turned a slightly inquisitive gaze to Jenn, scanning her expression for the smallest hint of humor. She didn’t find any. Jenn was serious in her offer. “That’ll have to do, I guess,” Enez responded with a subtle sarcastic flair.

Jenn helped her up again and wrapped her arms around her in the most comforting hug she had ever felt, and Enez responded to the hug with equal affection.

A lonely tear rolled down Enez’s cheek as the ladies released their grips from each other. She looked down as she said with a grateful melodiousness: “Didn’t realize how much I actually needed that.”

“Glad I could help,” Jenn replied affectionately. Then she continued with a more pragmatic tone: “And like I said, you’ll be safe with us. We’ll put you into our witness protection program. That way, you’ll at least be less likely to get in harm’s way.”

“Less likely?” Enez repeated inquisitively.

“That’s an unfortunate part of this line of work. No guarantees.”

“Well, ‘less likely’ is better than ‘sure to be dead within the week’,” Enez admitted, her voice still a little shaky from the earlier wave of emotion. “How soon can you get me in?”

“Take your time recovering first, then we’ll talk about it. You’re still—”

“Time is no longer a luxury I can afford,” Enez half-yelled, becoming more agitated by the spoken word. “There’s a fucking stabwound in my stomach. I’m lucky none of my vital organs were hit, but what if it happens again? The likelihood of the next hit being fatal has already increased tenfold. You’re stupid if you think I’m waiting until I get better to fight for my own survival, no offense.”

Jenn stared into her eyes. She hoped the officer would see the determination, the truth behind every word she’d spoken. She let out a long, contemplative exhale through her nose, then answered Enez calmly: “Okay. I’ll talk to my col-leagues ASAP. With enough luck, we can get you into the pro-gram by tomorrow.”

“Much appreciated,” Enez replied, a lot more calmly after Jenn’s assurances.

“You should still rest, though,” Jenn suggested. “Don’t want to risk reopening the wound. It could do that if you move too much.”

“I know. Doctor said the same thing.”

“Good,” Jenn replied, confident that Enez was smart enough to listen to the medical staff here. “I’ll leave you in your doctor’s care from here. See you again when I get the witness protection sorted out.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. Rest well.”

“Yes, mum,” Enez hollered a sarcastic response to Jenn, who was already halfway to the infirmary room door. She lifted an arm and waved it, not sure if Jenn was there to see it, and shouted an unusually affectionate “Bye”.

Jenn seemed a good cop to Enez. Not at all like what she thought to be the average type: cold, stoic, no empathy what-soever, gun in hand 24/7 in case some slash-happy psycho got a little too close. No, Jenn was the complete opposite of that. And Enez was delighted to know that cops like her existed. She hadn’t been sure if they did up until now.

Anyway, time to rest up. For only God – if he existed – knew what was ahead of Enez.