Chapter 282: A Fragile Stillness

He moved and held her hands as firmly as his weak self could. Her fingers trembled as tears poured down her face. She kept apologizing as she tried to hit herself over and over again.

Even with Benson holding her as tightly as he could, her hands still fought to make contact with her cheeks.

She sobbed loudly as she did, and at some point, the sobs turned into gasps for air.

Benson held her as firmly as he could. He thought about using restraints, but he wasn’t sure that if he left her alone for even a second, she wouldn’t do something worse.

"Lysander," he called as he stared at the door like that alone could summon him from wherever he was. "Please get back here already, I can’t do this alone."

And as if his words had truly summoned him, the door burst open and Lysander stormed in, chest heaving, eyes wide.

He closed the distance between them in fast strides. He didn’t even ask Benson how they had managed to get her back onto the bed or why he was holding her like that. He didn’t care. His only priority was to calm her down, and he was hoping this mixture would do just that and knock her out.

He only prayed it wouldn’t make her fall deeper into the hallucination, rendering the medicine useless.

Lysander’s hands clutched the stone bowl where the mixture was. As soon as he was close enough, he told Benson to move — to give him space.

Benson did as he was told.

Lysander knelt on the bed and dipped two fingers into the green paste in the bowl.

He scooped the glowing mixture with his fingers and rubbed it quickly under her nose.

"Do not let go of her," Lysander told Benson, whose hands were already screaming from exhaustion — and probably from pain.

"Goddess help you, Sophia," Lysander muttered under his breath.

Sophia jerked once.

Her breath hitched.

Then there was a sharp inhale.

Then another.

Her lungs finally seemed able to take in air again, though with difficulty.

Benson watched as her body went slack within seconds. Her eyes slid shut and her hands grew weak, as though losing all the fight in them. He immediately released her wrists as Lysander guided her properly onto the bed while her body collapsed.

Her thrashing stopped.

Her breathing steadied into broken, exhausted pulls.

Lysander sagged back slightly, exhaling shakily.

"Thank the goddess," he muttered as he checked to make sure she was still breathing.

Tears still poured down her temples, but at least she was no longer fighting them like they were her enemies.

Benson released a long breath. "After this, I don’t know if I’ll remain a healer or just go and become a warrior."

Lysander huffed a weak smile, because truly, the strength Sophia had shown was not something he ever imagined she would be capable of — especially while unconscious and half-delirious.

He wiped his hands, his eyes never leaving Sophia.

"We’ll need restraints. Soft ones. If this starts again, she’ll tear herself apart."

"This may happen again?" Benson asked, shocked.

"We don’t know, but it’s better to be prepared," Lysander told him.

"Fuck..."

Just then, footsteps echoed down the hall — urgent ones — and Lysander, who had begun to calm down slightly, knew from the scent alone that Marta was approaching.

And indeed, she walked in.

Her hair was a mess and her tunic looked like she had thrown it on in a hurry. It was obvious she had been dragged out of rest.

Marta wasn’t supposed to be in the facility today. Since Sophia had been calm, and Orion was always with her, and Lysander was nearby, the others had agreed she should get some rest. That for now, Sophia was stable.

Marta had only just fallen asleep when Mira had started pounding on her door. She had grabbed the first things her hands touched, pulling them on as she ran out of her small home, with Mira following behind her.

Her bloodshot eyes swept the room in seconds.

It was a mess.

Even the bed where Sophia lay was disheveled.

There was a bowl on the floor with medicine leaking onto the tiles. Benson was bleeding. Lysander looked exhausted. Benson’s pale skin was flushed like he had a fever, and Sophia—

Marta’s eyes landed on Sophia.

She was breathing now. Her eyes were closed like she had fallen into a deep sleep, but her hair stuck out at odd angles.

"What happened in here?" she demanded.

Her voice was sharp, but heavy with exhaustion.

Lysander ran a hand through his hair.

"Take a guess," he told her tiredly.

Marta didn’t need further explanation. She could already piece it together.

Lysander turned to Benson. "Thanks for your help. You can leave now."

Benson gave him a light salute and started to walk out. When he got close to Marta, who was just a short distance from the door, she caught his hand and pointed to the spot between his brows.

"Make sure you get that treated."

Benson nodded, and she let him go.

Marta knew all too well that this was another result of Sophia’s hallucinations.

"It was more serious this time?" she asked Lysander, moving closer to him as he stood beside the bed.

Lysander nodded. "When she wakes up, I’ll have to ask her about what she saw... what she went through, because..." He exhaled and shook his head. "It was like she was drowning. She was gasping for air, and no matter how much we tried to get close, she pushed us away."

"And Orion?" she asked. "Where was he when this was happening? We’ve already established that whenever he’s not next to her, she spirals out of control."

Lysander winced. "He’s at the training grounds."

"Why?" Marta pressed.

"He had something to take care of, and I didn’t think she’d have a fit like this just because he stepped out for a few minutes," Lysander replied. "Besides, he needed some fresh air, so I suggested he leave. He only went to address the trainees."

"But we already know it’s when he leaves that it gets serious," Marta said quietly.

Then she sighed, rubbing her temple. "Did you send someone to get him?"

"Yes. He should be here any minute now."

"Good." Marta nodded, then turned back to Sophia. "What did you give her that made her calm down?"

"She’s not really calm," Lysander replied. "I just knocked her out and gave her a false sense of peace."

Marta frowned. "Alright, but what exactly did you give her?"

All the previous mixtures they had tried hadn’t been able to do this, not when Sophia was this deep into her hallucinations.

So she needed to know.