Max still had no idea who the woman was, and through his blurry vision, he couldn't really make out her face clearly either.
But right now, that didn't matter. He was hurt, and he needed help fast. So, letting her guide him, Max found himself being half-dragged to a small local clinic.
Given the late hour, it wasn't particularly busy, which was exactly what he needed. Plus, there was another bonus he hadn't expected.
"Uncle Larry!" Cindy shouted as she pushed open the front door.
The place was crammed at the front with shop supplies, over-the-counter meds, cough drops, ointments, while the prescription counter sat near the back. Beyond that, there was a small private medical room, meant for quick examinations and minor treatments. If something serious came up, they'd just send you straight to the main hospital.
"I'm up, I'm up!" a man in a white medical coat said, stumbling out from the back room, looking like he'd just been woken up. "Cindy, what are you doing here so late… you need pads again or something?"
Without missing a beat, Cindy grabbed a bottle of cream sitting on a nearby shelf and hurled it straight at the man's head. He barely flinched in time.
"Alright, alright! You definitely need those pads!" he said, laughing.
"Shut up, you sexist pig!" Cindy snapped. Then she pointed to Max, who looked like he could collapse any second. "Right now, I need your help. Can't you see I brought you a patient?"
"And you dragged him here because... what, students are loaded these days and can pay for my services? Or because the 24-hour hospital was just too far away?" Larry asked, raising an eyebrow.
Before Cindy could even answer, Max swayed dangerously, his legs giving out beneath him. Larry rushed forward, slipping under Max's arm and propping him up with his shoulder.
"Guess I don't have much of a choice now," Larry muttered, hauling Max toward the private medical room.
He carefully lowered Max onto the small examination bed, making sure he didn't just dump the kid there like a sack of potatoes. His eyes immediately went to the dark blood soaking through Max's shirt. Grabbing a pair of scissors, Larry started cutting through the fabric, layer by layer, until he finally exposed the source of the bleeding.
"What the…?" Larry muttered under his breath.
The wound was nasty, deep, and not the kind of injury you got from tripping and falling. It was something else entirely, something far worse.
"What the hell are kids getting up to around here?" Larry thought grimly. "This isn't playground stuff anymore."
Shaking his head, he grabbed his supplies. "I need to disinfect this first, then put a few stitches in. It's going to leave a scar... but at least it's in a spot no one usually sees," he whispered to himself as he worked.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Cindy was pacing back and forth, tapping her foot anxiously against the floor.
She barely noticed when the front door creaked open again, and another figure stepped into the clinic.
"Cindy!" Abby called out as she burst through the clinic door, her chest heaving. "Is it true? What you said over the phone, that Max is here and he's hurt?"
"Yeah," Cindy nodded, her face turning serious. "It was kinda crazy. I just ran into him out on the street. Looked like he was trying to make it home or something. You think it was the guys from school? Maybe they reacted after what happened in his class."
"I don't know… I don't know," Abby muttered, hugging herself tightly. "All I know is Max has always kept everything bottled up. No matter what he was going through, he never said anything. I feel so useless. How am I even supposed to help him if he won't let me in?"
Seeing the way Abby's voice was starting to crack, Cindy moved closer and gently rubbed her best friend's back. Abby looked like she was just seconds away from breaking down.
"It's okay," Cindy said softly. "If he's keeping things to himself, he must have a good reason. After seeing what kind of state he was in today, I think... I think I'm starting to understand why."
The two girls waited anxiously, standing in the quiet front area of the clinic, until finally the door to the small medical room swung open.
Larry stepped out, wiping his hands on a cloth and wearing a tired but reassuring expression.
"He's going to be fine," Larry said, seeing the panic in their faces. "He didn't lose as much blood as it probably looked like. He's mostly just exhausted."
Both girls let out the breath they'd been holding.
"He completely passed out," Larry continued. "Even while I was cleaning and stitching the wound, he didn't even flinch. Poor kid must've been running on pure adrenaline until he just... couldn't anymore."
"When I gave him anesthetic, he didn't react at all," Larry said, running a hand through his messy hair. "It was almost like nothing in the world could wake the kid up. But he's stable now. Still... do you have any idea what happened to him?"
Cindy shook her head quickly.
"I just found him like that," she said, a hint of guilt in her voice.
Larry let out a heavy sigh.
"Well, hate to break it to you, but from the looks of it, he's been stabbed. Pretty clean wound too. Honestly, it might be best if we call the police."
"No!" Cindy practically shouted, stepping forward. "He didn't want the police involved. I have this feeling… it might make his situation even worse if we did."
Larry raised an eyebrow but didn't argue further. In the end, the two girls decided to stay put at the pharmacy, despite Larry insisting they should go home and that he'd call them when Max woke up.
But they refused to leave.
Hours passed, the night dragging on slower than either of them liked, until finally, the door to the private medical room creaked open.
Max stepped out, wearing a fresh shirt that had been left for him, his hair tousled and his expression groggy but alert enough.
"Max!" Abby cried, rushing forward.
Seeing Abby here was the last thing Max had expected, and his gaze shifted to the girl standing beside her, recognizing her vaguely through the haze as the one who must have found him earlier.
"Thank you," Max said sincerely, his voice a little hoarse. "For helping me out."
"You're welcome!" Cindy beamed brightly.
Meanwhile, Larry leaned lazily against the counter, arms crossed.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll just pretend that thank you was meant for me, y'know, the guy who stitched you up, saved your sorry butt, and made sure you didn't bleed out all over my clinic floor."
Max gave a small, grateful smile. He understood. Even if he hadn't said it outright, he owed them all, big time.
"Max, what happened?" Abby asked as she rushed closer, worry all over her face.
But Max didn't say a word.
He didn't know what to say, what could he even say that would make a difference in this situation?
Instead, Max pulled out his phone and asked, "I owe you for this, right?"
"Oh, the bill! Right, the bill," Larry said, sounding a little too cheerful for the situation. "It might be a little troublesome, but hey, if you wanna arrange a payment plan, just let me know."
He pulled out a receipt and pointed at the bottom where there was a printed QR code.
"Uncle!" Cindy groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead. "Are you seriously charging a student who was attacked? What about the doctor's oath?"
"The oath doesn't pay the bills," Larry replied bluntly, waving the receipt. "Everything I used on him needs to be replaced. But fine, if you're gonna guilt-trip me, I'll give him a discount or whatever."
Larry extended his hand, ready to snatch the receipt back, but Max had already scanned the QR code on his phone.
"It's done," Max said flatly. "I paid the full amount. You deserve no less, you really helped me out back there."
Without another word, Max turned around and headed straight for the door, not even glancing back.
"I'm sorry, Cindy. I need to talk to Max!" Abby said, quickly dashing out of the pharmacy and chasing after him.
That left Cindy standing alone inside the shop with her uncle, who was just staring blankly, frozen in disbelief.
"Hey, Cindy... who exactly is your friend?" Larry asked, scratching his head. "Is he some kind of CEO or something?"
"What are you even talking about? Did you get stabbed and lose your mind instead of him?" Cindy said, raising an eyebrow.
"It's just... the first bill I made, it was a joke bill," Larry confessed, still looking completely baffled. "I just wanted to mess with him a little for dragging me outta bed in the middle of the night... but he actually paid it."
Cindy snapped the receipt out of Larry's hand and stared down at it.
Her eyes widened as she read the ridiculous number scribbled across the paper.
"How... how was he even able to afford this?" she muttered, stunned.