Zeyang felt as if he were floating. Weightless, without pain.
"Zeyang! Zeyang!" The voice calling him was laden with anxiety and fear, an urgency he struggled to understand: he was so tired… he only wanted to rest.
"Zeyang, stay with me!"
That voice was familiar…
Hearing its pain, he felt regret. He then made an effort to understand where it was coming from and tried to move toward it.
He advanced with difficulty through that black limbo, until an image made its way through: Lu Shen. It was he who was calling him.
Then he began to run, although his body was heavy as lead. He had to reach him. He did not want him to suffer. He had to protect him.
He opened his eyes again.
The wizard's face was very close to his.
He realized he was in his arms and that he could not move a muscle: his body, now that he could feel it again, weighed like stone.
On Lu Shen's face a tear slowly slid down, while relief softened his expression.
His hand caressed his face with such a warm touch that Zeyang closed his eyes for a moment.
"Don't worry, I won't leave you," he murmured to reassure him, but his voice was barely a whisper.
Another tear traced the wizard's cheek, mingling with a half-smile trembling on his lips.
Zeyang, gathering his last strength, lifted a hand and wiped it away. Then he gave him a tired smile.
The car they were traveling in stopped and someone opened the door.
Strong hands took him from Lu Shen's arms and he was placed on a stretcher. He began to tremble from the cold.
The doctors around him were speaking too quickly and he could not follow what they were saying.
Needles pierced his arms and a blinding light forced him to close his eyes. Exhaustion once again took over and darkness swallowed him.
---
Lu Shen felt emptiness when they took Zeyang away. He shifted on the seat, got out of the car, but his legs gave way. Liam supported him, preventing him from collapsing, and together they entered the hospital, following Zeyang with their eyes.
"You should get checked too," the policeman said, looking at the wizard's pale face. But he shook his head and sank into a chair in front of the door behind which Zeyang was.
With stubbornness he forced his body and mind to remain alive and conscious.
Then the door opened. A doctor came out and he stood up again.
"He's out of danger."
At those words, the tension left Lu Shen's body and with it every remaining strength.