CHAPTER 80: Dreaming

The movements, exchanges of conversation, and the beeping of various devices reverberated in Orion's ears like echoes from a dream. Erin's tears haunted his thoughts, her pleas for him not to let go echoing endlessly.

Each time she cried, his heart sank deeper, consumed by worry.

"Wake up, Orion… Wake up!" The urgent call seemed to emanate from everywhere—Erin's voice and even a faint whisper within his own mind. He needed to rise, to return to the woman he loved.

It was as if an enchantment had ensnared his skin, holding him captive in its grasp, steadfast and unyielding.

With deliberate slowness, he unfurled his eyelids, welcomed by the scene of Marco's fervent typing on his laptop. A lump materialized in his throat, accompanied by a cascade of numbness and anguish that inundated his entire being. The intensity of the pain threatened to elicit curses from his lips, but his voice emerged raspy and weak.

"W-water..." he managed to croak.

Marco's eyes widened, the color draining