Six months to live (ZhanYi)

25

"Zhan turned down a last meal, which really isn't all that uncommon. He will of course get his last words which you will be able to hear as we have a small opening in the glass that divides you and the inmate. However, we will close this opening before he is hanged so that you don't hear anything you don't want to hear. A curtain type material will also cover your view of Zhan for the same reason, but not until he's said what he wants to say."

Yibo didn't understand how anyone could choose to work in such a profession. How someone could be so calm and collected about murdering another person.

"Zhan has decided to donate his heart, which again, is why he is being hanged and not injected, so if you have any questions or concerns about the morality of the situation, you can call the numbers that will be on the card I'm going to give you."

"That won't be needed, but thank you," Mr. Lee says. "His heart is going to me actually."

"Oh, I didn't know that due to
confidentiality," the woman says. "In that case, I'm sure you understand that this is not the normal procedure.'

"Yes of course."

Yibo hated listening to this lady talk. She seemed so insensitive about everything.
As if this was some medical procedure. As if Zhan was getting some sort of surgery and not being killed.

By the time they got to the actual execution room, Yibo had stopped crying. He was almost completely dissociated but he managed to keep himself focused enough to do what he needed to do.

Still clinging onto the stuffed Lion, Yibo followed the lady into the room. It was gloomy and had very heavy energy. The fluorescent lights burned Yibo' eyes as he looked around.

There was a small row of chairs lined up against a wall, and right across from them was a glass wall that had exactly what the lady said it would have behind it. It was a large room that made Zhan's cell feel like a cage, and before the glass began, there was another room that Yibo couldn't see into. Like a small box almost.

"Now, Zhan is in that area right now, going over some last few things, like a will and who needs to be contacted after. Once they are finished, a guard will lead him out, he will be cuffed until the noose is around his neck, then they will uncuff him and he will be hanged."

Yibo doesn't do anything, he's frozen as he stares at the scaffold. He felt sick, very sick. He knew he wasn't going to throw up, but he sure felt like he was going to.

"Yibo, why don't we go sit down, okay?" Mr. Lee says, trying his best to remain calm for him.

Yibo follows him over to the chairs that were cold to the touch as he sat down.

He felt like he was in some sort of terrible dream. He really wished he was. His heart was still pounding, his hands were clammy and shaking, and his breath was uneven.

The whole set up made it seem like this was all some sort of sick show put together just to fuck with him. To crush him.

Before he could even begin to prepare himself, Yibo watched as Zhan was led out by a guard. As soon as he saw him, Yibo began to cry again. It was a silent cry, almost as if it was nothing but tears falling out of his eyes.

Zhan makes eye contact with Yibo and gives a sad yet comforting smile and nod.
Yibo just shakes his head. He couldn't accept the idea of Zhan being okay with this. He knew though, deep down, Zhan wasn't and he was only being so calm for Yibo's sake.

As Zhan climbs the few steps to get to the top of the scaffold, the guard follows right behind him. Yibo painfully watched as a thick brown rope was brought down and gently placed around Zhan's neck.

The guard then reached down and uncuffed Zhan. Yibo wished this was the moment where everything would be saved. He wanted it to be the moment where Zhan magically escaped and they lived happily ever after. But it wasn't. The lady who brought them to the room walked into the small box area and then out into where Zhan was behind the glass.

She walks up and slides a small panel over, leaving an opening.

"Alright, Zhan, this is where you are going to say your last words, you may do so now."

Yibo looks straight at Zhan and for a moment everything else disappears. It was just them again, that first time they met and how they were all the time before they spent those few hours twice a week together.

"Yibo... I love you. You know that," Zhan says with a light chuckle that was far from a happy one. "I've said what I needed to say to you, I just want you to remember to look up at the sky, okay?"

Yibo knew exactly what Zhan meant so he nodded and tried to say 'I will' but more so mouthed it.

"Is that all Mr. Xiao?"

Zhan nods and whispers to Yibo that he loves him one more time to which Yibo
does the same.

"Alright, I'm going to close this then." The lady walks over to the opening and slides the panel over and Yibo could no longer hear anything coming from that side of the glass. A few short seconds later, a grayish curtain moved across the glass.

That was it, Yibo would never see Zhan in person ever again.

A sharp pain struck Yibo's chest from deep within. One hand reached for the stability of a wall while the other clasped his chest in agony. What if there was no end to this pain? What if it got worse? These thoughts alone were enough to get his heart racing faster, never mind the pain itself. It took him a minute to gather his composure, but conflicting thoughts still plagued his mind. His head felt eerily light, everything seemed to spin around him in a blur of motion and his legs could barely carry him. But he was no longer able to deal with the pain as he looked at the closed curtains.

His vision went blurry as tears filled his eyes. Biting the pain was barely an option as agonizing cramps seemed to crush his insides from within. The voices in his head that normally contradicted each other now screamed in unison and told him to stop what he was doing and find a way out of this misery. With the passing of each moment the pain only seemed to get worse. He was tired. Tired of the pain and tired of having to deal with the pain, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He desperately kept himself busy with the memories of Zhan.

Mr. Lee walked over to him and held his hand to lead him outside. He knows how it feels to lose someone you love and his heart breaks for Yibo.

The pain flared once more and every muscle in Yibo's body tensed up. Straining to keep standing he waited for the pain to subside once again, as it has done hundreds of times before. His entire body told him to stop walking, stop and find relief from this hellish feeling. The pain shouldn't be more than a minor nuisance to him, but right now it was far more than that. He let out a moaning yelp, part desperation and part determination. He had two options: fight or give up. On any other day, Yibo probably would've gone to bed and rested to make sure he'd heal well and fast, but not today. Today was a day of pushing the limits.

Mr. Lee's hands wrapped tightly around Yibo's waist and pulled him to himself as he passed out.