The Anomaly Beyond The System

"Ah... ah no, no... ahhh!"

The terrified cry burst from Aiden’s trembling lips. His pupils shook violently, and his body instinctively recoiled against the hospital bed.

His heartbeat felt like it was about to burst from his chest, sending a painful ache through it.

The nurse, who had been standing beside him, immediately noticed the change.

Her eyes quickly shifted toward the monitor displaying his vitals, which instantly began shooting up due to his violently accelerating heartbeat.

"Haa... haaahhh... m-m-mo—!"

His breathing shook wildly, making it difficult even to draw a proper breath.

The nurse immediately leaned forward.

"Calm down, child... calm down." Feeling her arms gently wrap around his body, Aiden’s trembling gradually began to ease.

"It’s alright... no one will hurt you here." She softly stroked his head, reassuring him that everything was fine.

After a few minutes, Aiden’s breathing gradually became less frantic, though the fear never completely disappeared.

Afterwards, the nurse slowly released him before sitting beside the bed, gently talking to the child in an attempt to ease his fear and distract him. Yet throughout the entire conversation, she never once asked about his injuries or what had frightened him to such an extent.

Aiden remained silent the whole time, his mind still trapped by the shock and overwhelming fear gripping his heart.

Eventually, after seeing him calm down once again, the nurse gave the monitor one last glance before standing up from the chair beside his bed.

"I’ll go now."

Those words immediately made Aiden look up.

"N—"

The sound barely escaped his lips before he instinctively stopped himself.

Even though he didn’t know her, he wanted her to stay. To him, she didn’t seem like a bad person.

But fear tightened around his throat, and no more words came out.

The nurse smiled gently before once again patting his head.

"Don’t worry. Your relatives are outside."

Reassuring him with those words, she quietly walked out of the room, leaving the child alone as he remained leaning against the hospital bed with his head lowered.

Silence surrounded him, and somehow, that silence felt even louder, making him anxious for no particular reason.

The nurse’s final words had barely registered in Aiden’s mind.

He didn’t know what would happen to him... or even what was happening right now.

’Was... that a bad dream...?’ Aiden thought.

He slowly looked down at himself. His right hand had already been wrapped in thick bandages after the tiny shards of glass had been removed.

Several more bandages covered other parts of his body, and an IV had been connected to his arm.

For a moment, Aiden nervously stared at the tube attached to his arm but didn’t try to remove it, afraid it would hurt even more.

’It hurts... mo... mom... it hurts...’

His vision gradually blurred. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, causing fresh tears to trickle down his cheeks.

Several more minutes passed in silence, broken only by the occasional beeping of the monitor beside him.

Then...

The hospital room door slowly opened.

Aiden’s eyes lit up slightly, thinking it might be the nurse... or his mom.

But when he saw two men wearing police uniforms, that fleeting hope faded almost instantly.

The officers’ expressions remained serious, though neither of them looked hostile.

Lucian watched everything through Aiden’s eyes as they approached the child and gently tried to question him, asking a few simple questions while doing their best not to frighten him.

But no matter what they asked...

Aiden didn’t utter a single word.

Eventually, the officers exchanged a quiet sigh, both pitying the child after seeing the injuries covering his small body.

"Look..." One of them—the older-looking officer—spoke while scanning through a few pages. After finding the child’s name, he looked back at him.

"Aiden, look...

We’ll do everything we can to keep you safe.

So..." He slowly crouched beside the hospital bed.

"Please just tell us the truth.

What happened?"

Aiden sniffled. His shoulders trembled, and using the back of his left hand—since his right one was bandaged—he wiped away his tears and runny nose.

Slowly...

He lifted his head after hearing the gentleness in the officer’s voice.

"Hik—!"

His breath abruptly caught. His pupils instantly shrank, and his entire body froze.

Because standing directly behind the officers, casually leaning against the wall...

Was Damien.

The moment their eyes met, Damien immediately walked toward him, and before Aiden even realised it, the man had already reached his bedside.

He sat down beside him before gently resting a hand on his shoulder—but the warmth of that hand made the child’s entire body turn cold.

"Officers, I know you want to know the details, but is it really necessary to question him right now? Especially when he already looks so disturbed?"

The police officers quietly glanced at each other.

Then one of them—the senior officer—nodded.

"We’re sorry. But we also have to hear his statement. After all, he was the one who was abused the most..."

He briefly paused.

"By your wife."

’W-what...?’

Aiden’s thoughts froze the instant he heard those words.

’W-what are they talking about?

Mom... what...?’

His mind couldn’t even comprehend what they meant, and he was far too afraid to utter a single word with the man sitting right beside him.

"Still... we’ll let him rest for today.

We’ll come back tomorrow, if that’s alright...?"

Damien slowly lowered his head, as though contemplating something. After a few moments, he quietly looked at Aiden, concern visible on his face.

Finally, he let out an exhausted, almost frustrated sigh.

"Fine..." he nodded.

"Just... please don’t frighten him any further.

Aiden... he’s far too innocent to go through something like this.

And he still loves his mother, so he won’t be able to bear the truth."

He lowered his head slightly once more, causing the officers to nod with traces of sympathy appearing on their faces.

’...He’s really a good actor.’

Lucian thought with bitter amusement. He hadn’t even realised this bastard possessed such a talent for deception—though, considering how he had managed to manipulate the police in the future as well, perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised.

He could even feel the genuine confusion and unease inside Aiden, whose young mind couldn’t understand the sudden change in his father’s behaviour.

"Take care, kid."

One of the officers gave the child a gentle wave before leaving the room alongside his senior.

Aiden didn’t even notice them leaving.

The only thing he could feel was the hand still resting on his shoulder.

Especially with the man sitting beside him, who had suddenly begun acting far too kindly for his young mind to comprehend.

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