At dawn, I feel Luke's heartbeat growing stronger as I sense with my sixth sense that much of his power has returned, meaning the paralysis from the poisoning must be starting to fade. I quickly get up when I feel him trying to move without much success. Feeling joy throughout my body, I throw myself on him to hug him.
"You scared me so much, Luke."
"Maia, you're okay," he whispers with a raspy voice from sleep and thirst.
I pull away from him enough to feel his face, noticing a bruise on the right side where he fell to the ground. I gently touch the other side of his face, worried.
"You were the one who scared me, silly."
"I'm sorry. Before I realized it, that horrible frog had already poisoned me."
"Don't worry, the important thing now is that you're okay... well, better than a few hours ago."
I feel his cheek wrinkle before he lets out a laugh that to me sounded more like an animal pleading for its life.
