"Get me out of here."

Phoebe already had Ash’s arm over her shoulder by the time he finished the sentence. She pulled him upright, adjusted for his weight, and started moving. Ash got his feet under him enough to walk and kept them there through an act of will that occupied most of his available processing. The card table behind them scraped as Sora shifted in his chair. No one else at the table looked up.

Sora rolled his shoulders once, slow and deliberate, testing a range of motion he’d apparently forgotten was there.

The corridor smelled of cheap cleaning solution and old carpet. Ash kept his breathing shallow and his free hand against the wall when the hallway required it. Phoebe matched his pace without comment.

"You sound like a broken bilge pump," she said.

"I know."

"Is this going to happen every time?"

Ash gave the question whatever focus he could spare from staying upright. "I don’t know yet."

She didn’t say anything else. They took the stairs slowly, one flight at a time, Phoebe’s grip on his arm adjusting each time he listed. By the third landing he was managing more of his own weight and by the time they reached the main corridor he was walking with his hand on the wall rather than on her shoulder. She stayed close anyway.

The medic ward sat between the combat training wing and the administrative block, which made architectural sense for an institution that produced injuries at scale. Daro looked up when Phoebe pushed the door open and had Ash on an examination table before the intake form was out.

"Tell me what happened," Daro said. His hands were already moving across Ash’s ribcage, pressure-mapping.

"I fell," Ash said.

Daro looked at him.

"From a significant height," Ash added.

The examination took twelve minutes. Daro’s Shade pulsed outward while he worked. It was the same restrained presence Ash had felt prior, words sitting in a throat before the decision not to say them. His hands moved with practiced efficiency, opinions held back until the assessment was complete.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Daro said.

"Either."

"Good because I lied. There is no good news. You have a bilateral pulmonary hemorrhage, an intercostal tear on your left side, and a cardiovascular strain that makes me think I’m treating an eighty year old patient and not a student."

"Can you translate that for me Phoebe?"

"Yeah... you’re on your own on this one" she said trying to avoid eye contact with Ash and Daro.

"You came off a wall wrong, right?" Daro said. He sounded like he’d said it before.

"A different wall this time," Ash said.

Daro made a notation and started the healing treatment. The work was tactile, the same slow methodology as before. His hands moved over each site in sequence, Ash watched the bruising at the edge of his vision fade from purple to nothing.

The intercostal tear took longest. Daro pressed along the ribcage with two fingers and Ash kept his breathing even and looked at the ceiling.

Phoebe sat in the chair by the door, fidgeting with the folder on her lap.

Daro exhaled loudly before delivering his final results. "Your lungs will function at around eighty percent until the full tissue repair is completed. You’re in no condition to leave this room let alone attend classes."

"And you said there wasn’t any good news" Ash remarked.

Daro chuckled on the way out.

Seth arrived twenty minutes later. He had a wrapped container from the mess hall. He glanced at the medical chart on the wall, then at Ash, then at Phoebe.

"I’ll go find another chair," Phoebe said.

"I’m fine standing," Seth said, leaning against the window ledge. He placed the container on the side table within Ash’s reach.

"Have you eaten anything since this morning?" Seth said.

"No."

Seth opened the container to reveal a feast. Meat that looked like real meat, and not the gray slop the academy threw on plates.

"How did you get this?" Ash asked.

"Just eat. For me, or I’ll give it to Phoebe over there."

"Really?" Phoebe said jumping from her seat.

Seth didn’t respond, instead choosing to watch the courtyard.

Azure arrived while Ash was finishing the food. She appeared in the doorway, but didn’t fully enter as if she needed permission to enter.

"Come in Azure" Ash said between bites.

"Thank you" Azure bowed slightly as she entered.

Azure looked at Phoebe as if she expected the chair. She was her senior after all, but Phoebe refused, crossing her arms across her chest and looked away. Azure went up to Ash, and held a vacant hand.

"Do you need anything from me?" she asked with her large eyes.

"Just some water, thank you" Ash spoke, finally eating the last bite of the meat Seth brought him.

"Who did this to you" She said. Her shade exploded outward. The warmth didn’t feel comforting, it felt like it personally wanted to suffocate whoever or whatever caused Ash’s suffering.

"It was just a wall. I didn’t see where I was going. It’s my bad." Ash said trying to calm her down.

Her shade settled down. "Do you promise me you’ll be more careful from now on?"

"I’ll try"

Azure’s firm grip finally settled into something more soft and peaceful, before detaching from Ash’s hand.

"It’s getting late" Seth said once Azure had taken a spot on the window ledge next to him. "I’ll sort out your classes for the next few days, just focus on getting better for me Ash."

"Thanks. I’ll see you later." Ash responded.

Seth left the medical room, glancing at Phoebe as he left.

"I’ll try my best to visit you until you’re back on your feet" Azure said next, as she too left.

When the room was finally just Ash and Phoebe, she said, "What did you do."

Ash took a heavy breath, partly from his condition, but also if he should really tell her.

"I entered where his Shade lives and settled it down."

Her eyes went wide. "You can... That’s... Is it your Dominion?" she was struggling to find the next question she wanted an answer to.

"Something like that. Yours, his, no Shade ever looks, acts, the same. They’re all different."

She was quiet for a moment deciding her next response "You’re coming with me."

Ash looked at her. "Wait what?"

"You don’t need to tell me you fought his Shade. Nothing else could possibly have done that. You entered its home and got attacked by it, before you could quiet it down."

"Thats—"

"I’m taking you to the restorative facility tomorrow." She said it flatly, already decided. "It’ll cut your recovery in half. I have access to it."

Ash had figured out how long his normal recovery window would take, and decided he was in position to argue about cutting his recovery time in half.

"Alright," he said.