Chapter Text
You huffed and slumped further into the plush seat of Sylus’s car, chest tight as you patted around for your phone. The road passed by in a blur, though you couldn’t tell if that was because of your vision swimming or the speed with which Sylus was pushing the car down the busy road. He weaved through the traffic, occasionally swerving into the oncoming lane to a chorus of angry honking.
With great effort, you pulled your phone from your back pocket and slid open the screen. A halo of pulsing light obscured your vision, making navigating your phone nearly impossible, but you were able to blindly find the contact information you needed. You hoped beyond hope that the infinitely busy man you were calling was at least free enough to answer the phone.
Your chest ached with each unanswered ring, the tone barely reaching you as your arms struggled to keep the device pressed to your ear. You coughed, trying to dislodge a blockage you knew wasn’t there, when a familiar voice called out to you from the other line.
“Are you all right? Hello?”
“Zayne,” you gasped out, air a luxury your body couldn’t afford with the way your heart and lungs burned. You heard movement on the other side of the line, as if he had stood suddenly.
“Where are you?” he asked, and though his tone was even, you could hear the underlying concern and the jingle of his car keys. You opened your mouth to reply, but the air got stuck deep behind your ribs, a strange groaning wheeze being your only response. Zayne called your name, the sound tinged with urgency. Pulling another deep breath, you tried to respond again when the phone was pulled from your weakening grip.
“We’re on the way to Akso Hospital,” Sylus said, using one hand to set the phone on speaker, “though I would have preferred to handle this in house.” He sat the phone on your knee and gave your thigh a comforting squeeze before returning his hand back to the wheel.
“But my house doesn’t have the world’s leading cardiac surgeon,” he continued, “not yet, anyways.” Though you couldn’t really see him through the lights dancing across your vision, you could tell Sylus was stressed by the creak of the steering wheel under his fingers. Zayne made a displeased noise, clearly surprised by the unknown voice accompanying you in a time of vulnerability.
“Any way I can get an appointment, doctor?” you asked, breathing deep after every few words. It was so difficult to breathe, but talking helped to keep you focused, helped to keep the panic down, and you didn’t want Zayne to worry more than he already was.
“I’ll be at the hospital in twenty-five minutes, if traffic cooperates,” Zayne said, “I’ll let Yvonne know to expect you.” You cringed, the implication of his emphasis not lost on you, even with how the pain clouded your mind. A small tug of your arm confirmed that the odd tether inexplicably tying you to Sylus was still present, though it at least allowed enough distance for him to drive the car without you also having your hand on the wheel.
“Will it be okay for me to have my friend with me?”
“Your friend?” Zayne’s voice was dubious, and you easily could imagine the subtle downward tilt of his eyebrows as he continued speaking. “He can stay in the waiting area, if he must.”
“I’d be happy to wait for you, kitten, but . . .” Sylus said, his voice trailing off as he glanced at you and tugged his own arm, pulling at the band of energy that connected you. He dropped his hand back to your thigh, thumb rubbing back and forth against your skin in soothing stripes. Your phone slid across your lap as Sylus turned a corner too quick and you reached for it before it could hit the floor.
“I’d really prefer it if he came with me, Zayne,” you said, holding the phone closer to your face, “please let that be okay.”
“Take me off speaker,” he said, his voice firm, “I won’t discuss your healthcare in front of others.” Sylus, with a smile you could barely see, hit the button for you. The phone was propped against your shoulder, arms too fatigued to continue holding it, when Zayne spoke again.
“Are you in danger?” Zayne whispered, “Mention your most recent appointment if you are.”
“No more than usual, doctor.”
“That is not reassuring.”
You laughed, the sound simply a few wasted puffs of air ending on a loud, dragging inhale. “I promise I’m only a normal amount of distressed,” you wheezed, and Zayne sighed into the receiver.
“That is also not reassuring.”
You grunted as another flash of light overtook your vision and your chest burned with pain. Through the ache, you felt Sylus’s grip on your thigh tighten to a near painful degree. It gave you something easier to focus on, a pain that comforted instead of scared. As you closed your eyes you imagined his large hands wrapping instead around your pulsing heart, condensing the wild energy whipping around your chest into a manageable mass.
“I’ll explain, I promise,” you said once you reigned in your breathing, and Zayne sighed again. It was obvious he was unhappy with your answers, but he knew he didn't have the time to press you.
“Fine,” he said after a pause, “but if someone is presenting a clear and present danger to you, I will not hesitate to act.” You nodded, then made a noise of affirmation into the phone.
“See you in a bit, Zayne,” you said, then dropped the phone from your shoulder when you heard the tone indicating that he ended the call. It tumbled onto the seat, then bounced onto the floor, but you didn’t bother to retrieve it, just putting your foot over it so it wouldn't slide around while Sylus maneuvered the car.
“He’s respectably cautious,” Sylus said, having to slow the car as he maneuvered deeper into Linkon proper, the traffic thicker now that you were off of the highway. It was dangerous, how he swerved between cars with not even enough space to pass a sheet of paper between his taillights and the other cars’ bumpers. But with the hospital in sight, Sylus refused to relent, ready to physically move anyone out of his way if needed, either with his car or his Evol.
“Yeah,” you agreed, as your head lolled with the movement of the car, “he’s a good doctor, and a very good friend.” You rolled your head to face Sylus, blinking through the haze in your vision to level him with a serious look. “So you need to be on your best behavior.” He met your look with a chuckle, pulling the car into the lot outside of the towering hospital. In a blur, he was out of the car and at your door, hooking his arms under your knees and behind your back.
Were you to have more air in your lungs, you would have protested the public humiliation of being carried in his arms like a medieval princess in distress, but you said nothing as he used his Evol to plant you both at the main entrance. You guided him past the main lobby, to the elevator, where he propped you up with one strong arm, using his free hand to hit the button for the floor of Zayne’s office after you used your fingers to show him the appropriate number. The door dinged open to reveal Yvonne waiting on the other side.
“Miss Hunt—” she began, but stopped abruptly, evidently startled by the red eyes that met hers as Sylus exited the elevator first. She cleared her throat and stepped to the side, resuming her professional manner. “Dr. Li wants you to go straight to his office. Follow me, please.”
Sylus carried you down the hall, following Yvonne to an open door. She knocked on the frame, but Zayne was already standing in front of his desk, eyes trained on the doorway. He called for you and Sylus to enter the room, gesturing to the sofa near the window as he walked to the door. The click of the lock resounded through the room, nearly drowned out by the sound of your labored breaths.
Setting you gently on the cushions, Sylus sat next to you, allowing you to rest against his shoulder. He held you up with an arm behind your back, slowly stroking your arm. Zayne approached and dropped to a knee in front of you, one hand on your shoulder just above where Sylus’s own was rubbing, the other pressing a stethoscope to your chest.
Zayne moved around you silently, barely sparing a glance at Sylus as he measured your erratic pulse. The feel of his fingers against the inside of your wrist was a comfort, a concrete reassurance that you were safely in the hands of a man who could help you, who you knew would do anything to see you alright again. His focus was singular: you. The warmth that washed across your body nearly overwhelmed you, and you would have flushed if your heart wasn’t busy tumbling around in your rib cage.
“It’s her Aether Core,” Sylus said, finally breaking the tense silence. Intense hazel eyes flicked over to gleaming red ones for a moment before Zayne moved back to his desk. He returned, hands gloved, with a small rolling table covered in medical tools. An antiseptic wipe passed over the inner crook of your elbow, followed by the stinging pressure of a needle. The burn of the injection was lost in the sea of pain you were already drowning in, but almost instantly a wave of relief rolled through you.
Gulping air like water, you took your first fulfilling breath in hours, slumping back into Sylus’s arm. You blinked a few times to clear your vision, and for a moment you could clearly see Zayne’s seemingly impassive face looking down at you. Smiling at him was difficult with how fatigued you were, muscles aching as if you sprinted all the way here from the N109 Zone, but you owed him your gratitude.
Dark splotches floated into your vision, and where you thought you would receive clarity of mind, the relief instead pulled your eyelids closed. You could hear faint talking, a familiar voice rumbling comfortingly next to you as your head thumped against Sylus’s shoulder, but the words slipped away from you as you finally fully relaxed and drifted off.