The disappointment hit Zhou Yuxi like a physical blow, a weight settling onto her chest that made breathing difficult. Some irrational part of her had been hoping, desperately, pointlessly hoping, that he would wake up while she was away securing his empire. That she'd return to find him conscious and asking for her, that the universe would reward her efforts with the one thing she actually wanted. That somehow, her absence would be the catalyst that brought him back, as if the universe operated on narrative convenience rather than medical reality.
But of course that hadn't happened. That wasn't how comas worked. That wasn't how brain injuries healed. Reality didn't care about her hopes or her efforts or how much she'd sacrificed to keep his world intact while he fought his way back to consciousness.
