Chapter 680: Not My Reality
That single horizontal line and the urgent alarm it carried were akin to all of his greatest nightmares combined into one, draining the life out of his body. No... It was not real. Tell him that this was not real. How could Lu Yizhou possibly be—
He did not even know how he managed to survive the next few minutes. Amidst the buzz of the car machine that was floored to the maximum, there was only Dr. Xiao’s harsh breathing as she fumbled to cut open Lu Yizhou’s clothing and prepared the defibrillator to rouse Lu Yizhou’s still heart.
"It’s okay..." she murmured again and again. It was unknown whether she was saying it more to Zeke or herself. "It’s okay, everything will be fine."
Zeke was frozen in his seat as he watched everything unfolding in front of him as if he was floating amidst a surreal dream. It did not feel real to him at all. Just a moment ago, Lu Yizhou was still standing beside him, embracing him and talking to him. Yet in a blink of an eye, he lay silently on the cramped back seat with blood all over his body. His eyes were shut as if he was in a deep sleep. And his heart — unbeating.
Zeke sucked in a breath, yet the oxygen felt like shards of ice slicing the most tender part of his heart, merciless and sharp, reducing it into a bloodied mess. He had no idea that such a simple act like breathing could be so excruciating.
"Xiao..." his voice sounded as if it had come from a distant place, flat and foreign. "Xiao, Lu Yizhou’s heart has stopped..."
Dr. Feng gripped onto the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles cracked. He spied the scene behind through the windshield mirror and told Zeke in haste, "It’s fine. Our technology is not that lousy. As long as the time has not exceeded half an hour... we will be able to bring him back to life." He would have sounded more convincing had his voice not trembled so badly.
However, it was as if Zeke did not hear him. His attention was solely focused on the screen which was still showing the flat heartbeat. The alarm echoed in his ears and burrowed into his mind akin to a death scythe which hung over his neck, on the verge of falling down anytime soon.
Slowly, Zeke clutched his head and let out a faint laugh, his eyes unfocused just like the first time he was awake. "Tell me. This is all a dream... right? I have not woken up yet, and we’re still inside the simulator. A very realistic simulation. Dr. Feng will definitely be able to create something like this..." the more Zeke told himself, the more convinced he was.
He ought to be in a very realistic nightmare, and everything would end once he woke up. That’s right... he only needed to wake up and he would see Lu Yizhou again. Lu Yizhou, who would gaze at him and kiss him lovingly, who would embrace him in a warm and passionate hug... and not this kind of Lu Yizhou, who was so silent and lifeless that it chilled him down to the core.
"I only need to wake up..." he murmured under his breath as his frenzied eyes searched around. Finally, they landed on the side compartment where Dr. Xiao had put the scissors she used to cut Lu Yizhou’s clothes. With a speed which astonished even himself, he lunged for the scissors and grabbed it tightly in his sweaty hands!
"Zachary!!" Dr. Xiao’s heart almost stopped when she saw Zeke holding the sharp tip of the scissors against the side of his fragile neck.