ALEXIS
The infirmary was too familiar, yet it felt even colder the second time. The walls, pristine and sterile, stretched ahead like an endless void, the scent of antiseptics clinging to my lungs with every breath. Nala’s hand on my shoulder was both an anchor and a warning, her touch steady yet cautious, as if she feared I might bolt before crossing the threshold. But there was no running from this. Not now. Not again.
The last time I had stood before this door, I had barely been able to process the sight of Kai wasting away in that hospital bed, teetering on the edge of life and death. Days had passed since then, but he was still trapped in that same purgatory, and no matter how deep my anger ran, no matter how much bitterness still curdled in my soul, I refused to let him slip away.
