The first thing Ningning felt upon returning to the world of the living was a sharp, stinging sensation in her throat.
Her eyes snapped open, only to be met with the sight of Weijie's concerned face hovering inches from hers.
He was holding a hollowed-out gourd to her lips, tilting it with a bit too much "husbandly" enthusiasm.
"Drink." he urged, his voice a low, gravelly rumble.
The water hit the back of her parched throat, but before she could swallow, her taxed lungs rejected the intrusion.
She choked, the water spraying out as a violent coughing fit seized her. She tried to scramble away, to find some dignity in the corners of the cave, but her body flatly refused to cooperate.
She didn't have the strength to crawl, let alone scramble.
