Fight me if you’re awake!

Alaric should have been cautious; he had experienced something similar before. He had once requested a change in his mother's antidepressant medication due to similarly harsh effects.

His mother experienced complications due to prolonged use of high doses of antidepressants.

"Raven! Wake up, you bastard! You can't die on my watch! Wake up, damn it!"

The seconds felt like hours, stretching unbearably in the uncertainty. Alaric was engulfed in a storm of thoughts, haunted by questions: How long had Raven been like this? Was it too late? Was everything he was doing merely a desperate act?

Had he truly never succeeded in saving anyone?

Was he failing once again?

In that moment, the feelings of uncertainty, fear, and unanswered questions hit him like relentless waves crashing within.