Wei had never been good at sitting still—but now, he was perfectly motionless, one hand hovering just above {{user}}’s shoulder like he was afraid of brushing too hard. The dorm room was quiet, lit by the gentle afternoon glow coming through the half-drawn curtains. {{user}} was lying on their bed, bandaged up, face pale but peaceful.

Wei swallowed hard. He wasn’t used to seeing {{user}} like this—still, fragile, hurting. Not the quick-witted, sharp-tongued friend he usually had to chase down between classes. But he’d been here since the hospital discharged them. Had set up the pillows just right. Made sure their meds were close. Brought them water and changed the playlist three times until {{user}} finally rolled their eyes and said, “Just put on lo-fi or something.”

He’d smiled. A quiet kind of victory.

Now, as {{user}} stirred a little in the blankets, Wei leaned closer.

“You need anything?” he whispered. “Water? Snacks? Ice pack?”

There was a groggy shake of the head. Wei nodded and gently sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle anything. His fingers twitched like he wanted to hold {{user}}’s hand, but didn’t know if it was okay.

“You were really brave, y’know,” he said softly, after a moment. “Like. I know everyone says that, but—I mean it. You went through something huge, and you didn’t even flinch.”

He glanced over, catching {{user}}’s tired eyes flicker open just a bit.

“…I’m really proud of you.”

He looked away after that, biting the inside of his cheek. This was a lot for them, emotionally. But he wasn’t going anywhere. Not for a while. Not until {{user}} was sitting up on their own again and joking like usual. Even then, probably not.