"Appreciate that."
"And according to Saela, Ressa looks worse."
My hands still. "She's not doing well?"
"Back to hiding in her cabin. Not eating properly. Saela says she looks like those first weeks again." He watches me absorb this information. "Real healthy space you're giving her."
The words hit harder than they should. I tell myself Ressa's healing isn't my responsibility anymore—she made that clear when she dismissed me. But the image of her spiraling again, alone in that cabin, makes something twist in my chest.
"What do you want me to do, Kai? She told me we were done. I'm respecting her wishes."
"Are you? Or are you just using her words as an excuse to avoid fighting for what you want?"
"That's not—" I bite off the protest, turning back to my shelves. "She panicked. Woke up next to an orc and couldn't handle what that meant. I'm not going to pressure her into something she's not ready for."
"Who said anything about pressure?" Ursik's voice joins the conversation. He appears in the doorway, looking far toocheerful for someone who's been listening to me be miserable for days. "You could just talk to her."
"She doesn't want to talk to me."
"Did she say that?" Kai asks. "Or are you assuming?"
I don't answer because I don't have a good response. Ressa thanked me and made it clear the week was over. The implication seemed obvious.
"Look." Ursik moves closer, his expression turning more serious. "You spent weeks being patient with her. Giving her space when she needed it. And that was good—she needed someone who wouldn't push. But maybe now she needs someone who won't give up."
"I'm not giving up. I'm giving her time to heal."
"Alone?" Kai's tone sharpens. "Because that worked so well before you started checking on her regularly."
The accuracy of that statement makes me flinch. Ressa had been deteriorating when I first started visiting. Had been locked in that cabin letting fear consume her until I'd pushed past her protests and made her start engaging with the world again.
And now she's right back there because I'm giving her exactly what she asked for.
"Fuck."
"There it is." Ursik grins. "Now you're catching on."
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." The admission comes out rough. "Show up and demand she talk to me? Force my presence on her when she's already scared?"
"Not force," Kai says. "Just... don't disappear. Don't let her spiral alone thinking you've given up on her."
"I haven't given up."
"Then prove it."
Before I can respond, Shae appears in the doorway, her warm green eyes taking in the scene. "Oh good, you're all here. Makes this easier."
"Shae." I straighten, some instinct telling me this visit isn't coincidental. "If Saela sent you to lecture me?—"
"Actually, I came on my own." She moves into the healing house with that quiet authority she carries so naturally. "Though Saela did mention you've been hiding in here for four days straight."
"I'm working."
"You're moping." Her tone leaves no room for argument. "And it needs to stop."
"I'm giving Ressa space?—"
"I know. That's the problem."
