The door to the Medical Room at Headquarters was locked from the inside.
Lu Wenchuan lay in the hospital bed, his wrist held down by a restraint, his shoulder wound stitched up again, and monitoring electrodes covering his chest. Song Zhixia stood beside the bed, her expression so cold that no one dared approach. On the monitor, his Fate Line reading still wavered at the edge of the red zone, like a flame suspended by a thin thread.
Xu Zhihan sat on the other side, his hand wrapped in gauze, the Silver Nameplate hidden beneath his collar, its cracks not yet faded. Since leaving the Seventh Layer, he had never left the Medical Room. Apart from holding out his hand once when Song Zhixia treated his wound, he had sat there the entire time, his eyes resting on Lu Wenchuan's wrist.
When Lu Wenchuan woke, he saw him first.
"You didn't go back to rest?"
Xu Zhihan looked up. "Are you in any position to ask?"
Lu Wenchuan's voice was a little hoarse. He gave a quiet laugh, which Song Zhixia quickly silenced with a look.
"Don't laugh." Song Zhixia finished administering the medication. "One laugh from you right now could make your readings drop."
Lu Wenchuan looked at the ceiling, his voice very soft. "Then I'll hold it in."
Seeing him like that, Xu Zhihan's expression grew worse.
"So you do know how to hold back?"
Lu Wenchuan turned his head and saw the crumpled Mint Candy beside Xu Zhihan's hand. The blood on its wrapper had dried, and he had pressed its corners into even deeper wrinkles.
"You still have the candy?"
Xu Zhihan did not look at it.
"You haven't eaten it yet."
"I can't eat it right now."
"Then you still owe me."
Something shifted in