"Edward... Edward, wake up, Edward..." The voice by his ear drifted between near and far. That unfamiliar yet familiar voice turned the darkness before Edward's eyes into a kaleidoscope of bizarre colors.
"Edward, you fool, you big fool, don't go, don't go..." Suddenly, that bloodcurdling, cuckoo-like cry of grief wrenched Edward's heart tight.
"Anna, Anna!" Edward kept calling his lover's name. Gradually, the chaotic colors before his eyes began to overlap, becoming an operating lamp and Darnell's concerned gaze.
Edward raised his head slightly. The agony throughout his body came in wave after wave. Only then did he realize he was lying on a medical bed, with Darnell's arm beneath his neck, shaking him continuously. Clearly, Darnell had awakened him. Medics bustled around Darnell, and when Edward came to, one of them was injecting something into his leg. Edward managed a smile, but what had once been a handsome grin looked uglier than a cry now. "Buddy, if you keep holding me like this, I'm worried every female soldier will look at the two of us funny from now on. I already have Anna, so I don't care—but you're still single..."
Darnell let out a heavy breath. "All right, if you can joke around, looks like you won't die after all..." Only then did he carefully lower Edward's head back down.
Edward took a deep breath, feeling the coolness spreading from his leg gradually ease the pain in his body. He asked softly, "Darnell, tell me. We won..."
Darnell's eyelids twitched. "We won, but only temporarily. We repelled the Zerg offensive, but we still haven't reached Likas Planet."
Edward frowned slightly. "We're not there yet? Damn it, I thought I'd been asleep for a month or two and the war had long since ended..."
Darnell shook his head with a