[ WP ] A form of entertainment has been developed where people are brought to the brink of death and then teleported to medics who normally revive them . The longer you wait , the more money you earn . You have just lost everything and with no other choice you enter the games .

`` Better not wuss out too early now,'' the doctor leered. 
 
 Sang nodded despite the chin strap. 
 
 For a long while, he was a happy spectator. The Heart Charge Tuesday of 2032. The Quad-Amputation from four months ago. As with anything decent enough to be called a sport, there were golden moments. These moments hung in the Gall of Fame. Last month, he took his wife and kids there for Mikey's 10th birthday to see the pictures, records and memorials. 
 
 She left with the kids two weeks later. Cleared his account. Sold the property. *Because I could, * was all the note said. Marga bled him dry. The brutality of it left Sang with nothing. 
 
 Except the Blood Games. 
 
 Now he sat strapped to a back-alley doctor's chair. A small camera sat above the room, actively broadcasting the operating room to some random corner of the internet. Any sport without a pre-show was n't one worth watching. However, this doctor was n't like the Masters of Ceremony on prime time. He was an amateur who stuttered, and cackled, and waved his knives and syringes for the camera. As desperate for the viewer numbers on his internet channel to climb as Sang was for his blood points. It was a perfect match. 
 
 `` What'll it be,'' the doctor asked earlier. A flesh eating bacteria to let sit for a few months? Blood loss? How are we playing today? The doctor laughed some more for his viewers. Sang whimpered like a bitch, with his wrists strapped down awful tight. The struggle once entertained him before on the other end. Made it feel authentic. Mikey clapped when a patient broke mid-surgery. 
 
 Maybe now, his son stumbled on this channel. If it proved close enough, EMT's would be on their way soon afterwards, accompanied by a camera man broadcasting to one of the main TV channels. This could even be a highlight on a weekly segment of *Bloody Close! * 
 
 So lets make it a good one, and give Mikey a show. 
 
 `` Make me rich.'' 
 
 The doctor gasped. `` Ladies and gentlebleeders, we have ourselves a -- - a celebrity in the making!'' 
 
 Silence. No reaction came in the slime and grime of the operating room. The lunatic did n't even care. In his mind, there was applauding, claps, teens edging closer the screen, texts being sent, the drooling excitement of a man betting his life. 
 
 Of course viewers would get excited after Sang said that. They were Limping Larry's last words. 
 
 The patient whimpered some more. Best flush out those tears, rattle those straps and howl under the floodlight. This was a show after all, and the doctor's channel was probably a small one before tonight. Maybe Sang will be dead enough inside later to take anything. *Make me rich. * It was a bleeder. A body tragedy and rescue within a few minute span. The perfect show. Sang shut his eyes tight. 
 
 `` Make me rich,'' he begged again. 
 
 `` Oh I will,'' a rank breath rolled over. `` Ladies and gentlebleeders, we are going to make Mr. Sang here *very* rich.'' He span to the camera, arms thrust wide under the flood light. A shadow cast over the patient. `` Who wants me to dial 911 in *advance?! *'' 
 
 Silence, except for Sang's cry of horror. No one called 911 in advance. Unless it was awful. Permanent. Agonizing. No one survived an Advance in four years! Cuffs rattled again. Tight, drawn breaths. Then Sang screamed once more, `` *MAKE ME RICH! MAKE ME RICH! *'' Make it look good. Make it hurt. *Make me* -- - 
 
 A needle thrust in Sang's arm. 
 
 `` I've been saving this one!'' the doctor yelled over Sang. It did n't hurt. Sang screamed anyway. He was going out like Limping Larry, or starting his life again. Even as the doctor's face lit briefly over a phone, punching numbers and whispering `` c'mon c'mon c'mon,'' Sang dared to relax a little. His throat was raw. 
 
 The doctor yelled into the phone. 
 
 `` I HAVE A PATIENT WITH THE FURY TEN VIRUS!!'' 
 
 Sang did n't have time to ask what that was. 
 
 Fire lit his eyes. 
 
 `` QUICK, HE HAS A FEW MIN -- - `` 
 
 Doors smashed open. Three shapes ran in. Two EMT's on standby with a camera man. The doctor's channel must have blown up for the medics to be standing by this early. 
 
 Oh god. They were on stand by. *What's happening to me? * 
 
 Sang throttled the cuffs once more. Then they faded. Flames died down. 
 
 `` Get rich,'' someone said. 
 
 And the world went blank. 
 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
 
 *More at r/galokot, and thanks for reading! *
