The breath stills in his throat as blue eyes go dim, as if he now follows where once he led. Then the ache in his lungs compels him to draw another breath, and he understands that he must keep doing this one thing or it all becomes meaningless. Beyond that, he is lost.
His dry eyes stir shame in his heart, though he knows tears to be unmanly. This emptiness, this void, surely it is betrayal.
Or perhaps it's his punishment. To feel entirely too much for so long, and now to feel nothing – there is a certain cruel symmetry to it.