Severance

The world was looking brighter and more beautiful, while the sharp smell of antiseptic threatened to overwhelm my improved sense of smell. 

I glanced down; Darach was freshly bandaged, hooked up to an IV along with several other machines that beeped in regular intervals. Even after he had been cleaned up, he still looked devastatingly pale under the harsh infirmary lights. 

At least his breathing was slow and even. 

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Nicole announced, and because she was an angel that was simply too good for this terrible world, she did not ask us what we would prefer to hear; instead, she simply delivered the good news immediately.

"Darach is alive, and his human form would make a full recovery eventually. It will take a much longer time though," Nicole said, then her face fell as she had to deliver the second half of her news.