Chapter Five: Tomorrow Stolen from the Emergency Ward

At the bottom lay a scorched death certificate. The boy had been Lin Xiaochuan. Ten years earlier, a rare disease put him in this hospital. His father promised each day that tomorrow would be better, but Xiaochuan never reached that tomorrow. After death, he became a spirit of charts and funeral paper, convinced that enough stolen dates could force promises to come true. “You aren't saving the courier,” Su Li said. “You're saving the child you were.” His crayon smile blurred with tears. “Why can't tomorrow be borrowed?” “Because it isn't blank paper. Someone is already waiting inside it.” A dragon's roar shook the page. Xie cut his palm and pressed silver blood against the wall, holding open an exit. “Su Li. The patient has three minutes.”