The whistle blew.
Everything exploded into motion.
Zane barely remembered stepping into position. The track felt longer than it had earlier. The air heavier. His classmates lined the field, voices overlapping into a chaotic wave of noise.
"You've got this!" Heaven called.
He didn't look at her.
If he did, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to move.
The first runner took off.
Dirt kicked into the air. Shoes pounded against the ground. The baton passed smoothly to the second runner.
Zane was third.
His palms were sweating.
No.
Cold.
Too cold.
By the time the second runner sprinted toward him, Zane's heartbeat had grown loud in his ears — not fast, just heavy. Like each beat had to force its way through.
The baton hit his hand.
Run.
He did.
At first, it felt normal. The crowd blurred into streaks of color. The wind rushed past his ears. His legs moved automatically.
Then—
His chest tightened.
Not sharp pain.
Pressure.
His vision flickered at the edges.
The world tilted.
Just a little.
He kept going.
Just a little farther.
Someone passed him.
He pushed harder.
The finish line was close.
So close.
He crossed it.
Third place.
Cheers erupted instantly.
"ZANE!"
"He did it!"
"THIRD!"
He slowed, breath ragged, trying to smile.
Heaven was running toward him.
Then—
The sound drained from the world.
Like someone had turned the volume down.
His vision blurred.
The sky above him looked too bright.
Too wide.
He blinked once.
Twice.
Why is the sky moving?
It wasn't.
He was.
His knees gave out.
And suddenly—
Blue.
Endless blue.
The sky filled his vision as he fell backward.
Then nothing.
"ZANE!"
Heaven's voice broke first.
She dropped to her knees beside him before anyone else reached him.
His friends followed — Aiko, Miyu, Ren, Daichi, Haruto — panic replacing excitement in seconds.
"Zane, wake up!"
"Hey—hey!"
Teachers rushed in.
"Give him space!"
Heaven grabbed his hand.
It was freezing.
"Zane," she whispered, shaking. "This isn't funny."
He didn't respond.
His chest rose.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
Someone called an ambulance.
The world that had felt loud minutes ago was now suffocatingly quiet.
The Hospital
The ride there felt unreal.
Heaven rode with him.
She didn't remember deciding to — she just did.
The hospital lights were too white. The air smelled like antiseptic and something metallic.
Doctors moved quickly.
Curtains closed.
Machines beeped.
Then waiting.
Hours passed.
Five of them.
Heaven sat closest to the room door. And their friends were scattered in chairs, unusually silent.
No one checked their phones.
No one joked.
The doctor finally stepped out.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
"Are you all his classmates?" he asked gently.
Heaven stood. "Yes. Is he okay?"
The doctor hesitated just long enough to make her stomach drop.
"He collapsed due to an issue related to his heart."
The word seemed to echo.
Heart.
"We're still running tests," the doctor continued carefully. "But his heartbeat was... irregular. Faint at moments. Strong at others. It's inconsistent in a way we don't usually see in someone his age."
Heaven's fingers curled into her sleeves.
"Is he going to be okay?" Ren asked quietly.
"We don't have enough answers yet," the doctor replied. "But he's stable for now. That's what matters."
Stable.
For now.
They were allowed to see him shortly after.
Zane lay in the hospital bed, pale against the white sheets. A monitor beside him traced slow green lines across the screen.
Beep.
Pause.
Beep.
Too much pause.
Heaven moved to his side.
His hand was still cold.
She held it anyway.
"You said you were nervous," she whispered, voice breaking. "You didn't say it was like this."
The machine beeped again.
And for a split second—
The line flattened.
Just for a fraction.
Then it rose again.
None of them noticed.
But something in the room felt different.
Like the air itself was holding its breath.
Outside the hospital window, the sky had turned the same blue Zane saw before he fell.
Endless.
Quiet.
Waiting.
And somewhere between one heartbeat and the next—
Something changed.