To Gray Fox anon: Thanks so much for your review! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Despite the rational part of his mind telling him that this entire situation was nothing more than a dying dream, Giorgio found himself letting out a sceptical laugh in response.
"So you expect me to walk around in a world where I supposedly don't exist, with no identification on me and no explanation I can give for who I am, without any protection from the cold?"
"Like I said, you don't need to worry about that," Janice responded. "You don't exist, so nobody can see or hear you. You can't interact with anything either, and you won't have to worry about freezing."
She paused for a moment.
"At least, not right now. There'll be plenty of time for you to freeze to death back on your apartment's balcony once we're done here."
A sarcastic ghost. Wonderful. At least the sarcasm was something he could handle, even if the rest of the situation was too bizarre for him to wrap his mind around.
Forcing himself to calm down, Giorgio glanced at his surroundings. Despite the fact that he and Janice had been standing there for several minutes, nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them at all.
Cautiously, he reached out to touch the streetlamp beside him.
As his hand passed right through the lamp, Giorgio jerked back with an involuntary shudder.
"…Alright, fine," he said flatly, trying to conceal his panic. "So I'm basically a ghost in this reality. Now what?"
Janice appeared to be studying him intently, and Giorgio forced himself not to flinch under her scrutiny.
"Well, that depends on you," she finally replied. "Tell me: Do you really think that nothing you've done at all has had a positive influence on other people?"
Giorgio scoffed. "If you're going to bring up the people whose lives I've saved as a VSSE agent, don't bother. Even if I hadn't been around, the other agents would have been the ones to deal with those assignments instead. The outcome wouldn't have been any different."
After a moment's pause, he laughed bitterly.
"Actually, maybe not. If anything, I'm sure they'd have handled things better than I did. Maybe some of the people I couldn't save in my reality are alive here instead."
Janice shook her head but didn't press the issue. "Fine. We'll set aside the topic of your professional successes… or failings, as you seem to believe… for now. What about your personal relationships then? The people in your life… Your friends… You really think that you haven't made a difference in their lives?"
Giorgio let out a laugh of disbelief. "Are you serious? Maybe if we were talking about someone like Evan, who makes friends as easily as he breathes. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm hardly the most sociable person around. I don't exactly interact with that many people at all, and I highly doubt I made much of an impact on any of them."
"Are you sure?" Janice asked. "You really can't think of anyone at all whose life you might have influenced in some way or another?"
"Well…" Giorgio hesitated. "I suppose if I had to pick someone, there's Evan. But I'm pretty sure he would have turned out alright even if he'd never met me."
"In fact, he'd probably be better off without someone like me constantly dragging him down. Evan's always been the strong one, after all. No matter what happens, he just gets back up and keeps going. So I'm sure he'd be happier without me around to hold him back."
Janice looked at him thoughtfully, but she didn't say anything.
Then she smiled.
Unlike Evan, whose smiles were full of warmth and laughter, Janice's smile was icy, cruel and full of predatory anticipation.
With a sudden surge of dread, Giorgio flinched away from her, taking a step backwards.
"In that case, let's pay Evan a visit, shall we?"
Before Giorgio could react, Janice reached out and grabbed him by the hand.
The world blurred alarmingly and Giorgio instinctively shut his eyes, willing the dizziness to subside.
When the spinning finally stopped, Giorgio cautiously opened his eyes, glancing at his surroundings.
They were no longer out on the street. Instead, they appeared to be in an apartment building of some sort.
Not a particularly welcoming one though; the building seemed run–down and derelict, as though it hadn't been properly maintained for years. There was crude graffiti scrawled all over the grimy walls, and carelessly discarded rubbish littered the ground.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"Inside an apartment building, of course," Janice replied with a smirk.
Giorgio shot her an unamused look. "Yes, I know that. I mean why are we here? I thought you said we were going to pay Evan a visit. Shouldn't we be at VSSE HQ instead?"
"VSSE Headquarters?" Janice repeated in a tone of mock confusion. "Why would we be there?"
A sick feeling began to form in the pit of his stomach.
"…When exactly are we? Is… Is this the present?"
"Of course," Janice answered. "We may be in a different reality, but it's still today."
"So…" Giorgio swallowed, trying to shake off his unease. "Evan is… Here on an assignment or something?"
Janice laughed. Like her smile, her laughter was mocking and devoid of warmth, sending a tendril of dread up Giorgio's spine.
"Don't play dumb, Agent Bruno," she chided him softly. "You know exactly why we're here."
No… No, it can't be…
"This way." She gestured towards one of the apartments lining the corridor, and suddenly they were inside.
Somehow, the interior of the apartment looked even worse.
The apartment was incredibly messy, and not just in Evan's usual chaotic way of tossing his belongings about haphazardly. There were empty bottles scattered everywhere, and several unopened bottles of alcohol were lying around as well.
Whoever lived here clearly didn't care about cleaning the apartment or keeping it in order.
At that moment, the door swung open.
Giorgio glanced up sharply, and his breath caught in his throat.
Evan staggered into the apartment, leaning heavily on the cane he held in his right hand while his other hand clutched a half–empty bottle of alcohol. His hair was unkempt and overgrown, and from the strong smell of alcohol on his breath, the bottle he was holding was far from the first he'd drunk today.
But the worst part was his eyes.
Unlike Giorgio, who was prickly and aloof at the best of times, Evan tended to be cheerful and optimistic, with an ever–present smile that rarely wavered. No matter what happened, his pale blue eyes were always alight with energy and so full of life.
This Evan's eyes were dull and lifeless, as though he had forgotten how to hope. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he had simply given up.
"Evan…" Giorgio gasped. Instinctively, he reached for his partner, wanting to offer some measure of comfort to this man who was clearly hurting deeply.
As Giorgio's hand passed through his shoulder, Evan shuddered slightly, almost as though he'd felt something. Then he stumbled forwards a few steps and collapsed onto the ragged sofa in the middle of the room, letting his cane fall to the ground beside it. Closing his eyes, he raised the bottle to his lips with a shaking hand, draining it of its contents.
With a discontented sigh, Evan tossed the empty bottle aside. Grabbing one of the unopened bottles of alcohol lying nearby, he struggled with it for a while before managing to open it and promptly began to work on emptying it as well.
This couldn't possibly be real. There was something profoundly wrong about seeing Evan so broken and defeated, like he might as well be already dead.
"I… I don't understand. What happened to him? Why isn't he with the VSSE?" Even as he spoke, Giorgio could hear a tinge of horror colouring his words.
Janice's cold expression softened, and she placed a comforting hand on Giorgio's shoulder.
"As you can see, in this reality, Evan's life turned out quite differently," she said quietly. "Not what you expected, is it?"
"I don't get it… How could my absence have changed things so drastically?" His heart ached painfully as he stared at Evan, knowing there was nothing he could do to help the younger man.
"The easiest way to understand is to see it for yourself." Janice extended her other hand, offering it to Giorgio.
With a final glance at Evan, who appeared to have fallen into a drunken slumber, Giorgio nervously took hold of Janice's hand.
This time, since he knew what to expect, he found the transition less disorienting.
Their arrival, on the other hand, was far more chaotic.
When the world came into focus again, they were standing in a warehouse which might as well have been a battlefield. On one side of the room, rough–looking men were firing across the room, occasionally shouting insults at their opponents.
And on the other side of the room…
"Evan, Alan and Wesley?" Giorgio studied them, noting with relief that this Evan seemed as lively and eager as his Evan normally was. "So they're in the middle of a mission…"
Even knowing that he wasn't at risk of being shot, Giorgio instinctively flinched as something exploded near him, fighting the urge to take cover.
"Alright, when are we?" Briefly turning away from the firefight, he glanced at Janice.
"A couple of years ago, several months after Evan joined the VSSE," she answered. "Without you around, Evan lacked a partner to be paired up with. Seeing as he seemed to work well with Alan and Wesley, the VSSE decided to let him work with them while assigning them to larger missions, since there's three of them."
Giorgio frowned, eyes narrowing in concentration as he observed the agents. Granted, Evan was supposed to be a relatively new agent at this point, but he could have sworn that his partner's skills should be better than this by now.
It was then that the realisation hit him.
"Why is he firing onehanded? He's missing most of his shots! I thought I told him…"
His mouth snapped shut as the realisation hit him, and Janice smirked.
"You told him to stop trying to be clever and just stick to firing with both hands until he learned to do it properly," she commented, finishing his sentence. "Then you helped him to train and hone his skills."
"Because of that, Evan was able to improve as an agent; both in terms of his actual abilities, as well as his mindset. Despite his impulsive tendencies, your guidance made him less inclined to attempt feats which are clearly out of his skill range just for the sake of trying to prove he could match the more experienced agents' skill levels."
"But…" Giorgio faltered, glancing over at Evan again. "Surely, Alan and Wesley would have pointed that out to him?"
"Alan and Wesley are his friends and mentors, but they're also senior agents," Janice countered.
"Aside from the fact that they weren't quite as blunt about it as you, their advice seemed to confirm to Evan that the older agents simply see him as an inexperienced kid, which just added to his growing frustration."
"Let me guess… The more frustrated he grew, the more determined he became to prove himself, which led to him becoming even more reckless and making even more mistakes." Giorgio rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to stave off his growing headache.
"Which, of course, fed into his insecurities about his skills and comparative lack of experience, sending him into a downward spiral."
Janice nodded, taking hold of Giorgio's hand again.
This time, instead of fading into an incomprehensible blur, the world seemed to go into fast–forward around them. In the span of a few minutes, a myriad of scenes flashed past. Giorgio saw Evan becoming increasingly worn down as his cheerfulness gave way to bitterness and frustration. His eyes began to lose their shine, growing dull and unhappy.
When the world finally solidified around them, Giorgio was shocked to see how different Evan now seemed. He looked exhausted beyond belief, not just physically but emotionally as well. His optimism seemed to have vanished entirely, replaced by an overwhelming sense of desperation, bordering on hopelessness, that coloured his every action.
Alan and Wesley seemed to be somewhat different as well, though not as noticeably as Evan. It was subtle, but Giorgio could see a tension in their interactions with each other which hadn't been there before.
One glance at his surroundings was enough to tell Giorgio where and when they were.
"This is… California International Airport," he noted, observing the horde of armed enemies attacking his friends. "Which makes this the start of the Terror Bite incident. But… Evan…"
"He doesn't look too good, does he?" Janice commented sadly. "He's been fighting a losing battle against himself for a few years now. By this point, he can no longer see any improvements he's made as an agent. To him, he'll never be able to catch up to the older agents, no matter how hard he tries. And so, he gradually fell into despair."
"Alan and Wesley…" Giorgio glanced at the older agents, trying to read the odd mix of emotions he could see in their eyes.
"They're worried about Evan, of course. But no matter how well–meaning their concern is, Evan simply sees it as pity for his inadequacy. It's put a strain on their friendship with him. Their own friendship with each other has taken a hit as well, due to their mutual frustration over being unable to help Evan."
"But…" Giorgio glanced at Evan, trying to process what he'd learned. "I've never seen Evan like this before. I mean, sure, he's had some moments of doubt about his progress as an agent, but it's never reached the point where he's this upset over it."
"Like I said, your response to Evan's desire to prove himself tends to be… far less tactful, to put it politely," Janice retorted.
"While conventional etiquette might frown upon simply telling someone to 'stop being an idiot' when they're worrying about their skills being inadequate, in an odd way, it gets the message across more effectively than Alan and Wesley's more diplomatic approach."
"How so?" Giorgio frowned, looking at Janice quizzically.
"Evan knows that you're not the sort of person who offers pity or empty concern," she pointed out. "If anything, you tend to be bluntly honest, even if it comes across as rather harsh or rude."
"If you felt that his skills were lacking, you would have simply told him so without bothering to sugarcoat it. As a result, he knows that when you tell him to stop worrying over nothing, it means you genuinely don't think there's an issue with his performance as an agent. So, in a way, your rather… unconventional… approach to addressing Evan's insecurities is ultimately more effective in helping him to deal with them."
"I… I never realised…" Giorgio faltered. "Evan always seems so carefree and confident… I always thought he'd just bounce back from whatever life throws at him without much difficulty."
"It's always easier to see the big picture from the outside, isn't it?" Janice said quietly, placing a hand on Giorgio's shoulder.
In the blink of an eye, the scene changed.
This time, they were in the underground silo in Colorado. Before he even turned around, Giorgio knew what he would see.
Sure enough, Evan, Alan and Wesley were in the middle of a heated battle with Wild Dog.
As he watched, he noticed an odd gleam in Evan's eyes; a spark of something which this Evan seemed to have lost long ago.
With a surge of dread, he recognised Evan's expression. It was the same one his partner always wore when he was about to do something incredibly reckless and unwise which he knew would lead to Giorgio scolding him afterwards.
"Wait, what is he—"
Before Giorgio could finish his sentence, Evan sprang into action.
Ignoring Alan and Wesley's dismayed shouts, the younger agent charged ahead, firing rapidly at Wild Dog as he attempted to take on the madman by himself.
"Evan!" Giorgio shouted, forgetting in his alarm that his partner couldn't hear him.
Wild Dog cackled with delight, using the tractor beam on his left arm to toss a barrage of metal crates at Evan. Though the younger agent managed to dodge the crates at first, he appeared to be tiring rapidly under the onslaught.
"No… Please, no…" Giorgio pleaded as Wild Dog began to advance menacingly towards his helpless partner.
Janice tugged on his arm, turning him away from the scene. "Agent Bruno… Trust me, you don't want to look."
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air, accompanied by Wild Dog's triumphant, insane laughter.
"No!" Giorgio screamed, terror ripping through him.
The scene vanished, leaving them standing in the middle of a white void. Janice was looking at him with what might have been sympathy, but Giorgio scarcely cared.
"Why… Why would he…" He choked out, tears beginning to fall. "Evan is impulsive, but he's not an idiot. Why would he do something like that?!"
"Everyone has their breaking point," she answered quietly. "He couldn't bear to be overshadowed by the other agents forever, so he tried to show he could handle himself once and for all… Even if it meant throwing everything away in a suicidal charge that he knew was likely to fail."
Giorgio pressed his lips together firmly, trying to get his emotions under control. "What… What happened after that?"
"Considering the gravity of Evan's injuries, he needed immediate medical attention. Wesley managed to get him to safety, while Alan continued forward to deal with Gregory Barrows and stop him from launching the UCAVs. Though he and Captain Rush managed to defeat Barrows, the battle was a lot more chaotic, resulting in greater destruction and far more allied casualties in the process. The US government's illegal experiments with the Terror Bites ended up being exposed to the world in the process, creating even more complications on that front."
"Serves them right," Giorgio muttered bitterly.
It had rankled to know that after the Terror Bite incident, the US government had managed to cover up their involvement in the entire mess instead of taking responsibility for creating the Terror Bites in the first place.
But considering Evan's maiming, even the knowledge that they were facing repercussions in this universe didn't seem to really matter anymore.
"Come on." Janice tugged on his arm gently but insistently. "We're not done yet."
The world vanished in a flash of light.
The sharp smell of disinfectant immediately told Giorgio where they were this time.
Shuddering slightly, he glanced around the VSSE infirmary. He'd always hated hospitals, and the infirmary was no different.
Evan was sitting at the edge of a hospital bed, staring at nothing in particular. There was something wrong with his legs; even from a distance, Giorgio could see that they looked twisted and disfigured, as though they'd been too badly warped to heal properly.
His mouth twisted bitterly as he tried to get to his feet. As soon as he placed his weight on his injured legs, he collapsed with a pained cry, barely managing to catch himself on the edge of the bed as he fell.
"What are you doing?" An unamused voice rang out.
Giorgio glanced up in surprise as Evan did the same.
Wesley was glaring at Evan as he entered the room, with a worried–looking Alan following behind him.
"What does it look like?" Evan spat bitterly. "I'm going for a run, obviously. I figured I'd just circle the block a few times, maybe add in a few laps in the pool afterwards if I've got the time."
Wesley's lips thinned, but he didn't respond to Evan's sarcasm, merely reaching for him to help him up.
Evan angrily batted his hand away. "Leave me alone, Wesley! I don't need your help."
The older agents exchanged a glance but said nothing. It took several long minutes, but Evan managed to awkwardly manoeuvre himself back onto the bed.
The movement had clearly taken a lot out of him; there were beads of sweat gathering on his forehead and he was trembling slightly, breath coming in ragged gasps.
"What do you want?" He glared at Alan and Wesley, clenching his fists tightly in an attempt to hide his shaking hands.
"We heard you're leaving the VSSE," Alan replied quietly, sorrow evident in his eyes as he glanced at the younger agent. "Are you sure about this?"
In response, Evan let out a bitter laugh.
"You seriously expect me to stay on like this?" He gestured angrily at his legs. "I suppose you could always use me as a human cannonball or a battering ram…"
"You're still recovering, Evan," Wesley retorted. "It's too soon to tell how bad the damage is or whether it'll be permanent."
Evan laughed again, but Giorgio could see the tears brimming in his eyes.
"Don't patronise me. I know I'm completely fucking worthless now, alright? Not like I was much help before, but what the hell is the point of a VSSE agent who can't even fucking walk?"
"Even if you can't be a field agent anymore, that doesn't make you worthless! I know for a fact that the Director offered to retain you in a non–combat capacity—"
"I don't need your fucking pity!" Evan shouted. "You're the one who suggested that to the Director, aren't you? Thanks ever so fucking much, Wesley! Let's take pity on the poor, crippled agent whose future has basically been ruined. After all, it's not like he's going to be able to do anything else with his life from now on; might as well keep him on so he doesn't fucking starve to death because he can't fucking do anything!"
Wesley's eyes flashed angrily, and he looked as though he very much wanted to hit Evan. Alan hurriedly intervened before they could come to blows.
"Evan, nobody pities you, alright? You're our friend… We're just worried about you."
For a moment, it looked as though Evan wanted to lash out at Alan as well. Then he sighed, the fight draining out of him in an instant.
"Let's face it, Alan… I never belonged here in the first place. I was always just this stupid kid tagging along with you guys, unable to keep up with any of you. It was inevitable that I'd end up leaving the VSSE one day… I just didn't expect it to happen this way."
"And there you have it," Janice said softly. Giorgio jumped, having forgotten that she was there.
Behind them, the scene froze, leaving Evan and the older agents frozen in place.
Abruptly, Giorgio realised that he'd been unconsciously reaching for his partner. The younger agent's bitter, lifeless eyes seemed to gaze right through him as he hurriedly wiped away the tears that were inexplicably trickling down his cheeks.
"He thinks his life is over…" Giorgio turned away, not wanting to look at Evan's devastation any longer.
In a twisted way, it made sense. For someone as lively, active and energetic as Evan, being unable to run around anymore must have seemed like a death sentence.
"So… This is how it ends then? With Evan leaving the VSSE and just… giving up?"
Janice shook her head. "Not quite. There's still a few more stops on this journey."
Even as the world faded to white, Giorgio couldn't get the image of his partner's shattered countenance out of his mind.
When the spinning stopped, they were still in VSSE HQ, but in the training rooms this time. Alan and Wesley were both there, though Evan was nowhere to be seen.
Almost immediately, Giorgio could sense a palpable distance between them. Whatever tension had been there during the Terror Bite incident had ramped up tenfold, and their relationship seemed to have deteriorated significantly.
Alan glanced at Wesley, looking as though he wanted to say something. As soon as he opened his mouth, he hesitated, then shut it again, shaking his head slightly before returning his attention to the targets he was aiming at.
Giorgio stared at them for several minutes as they continued to train in awkward silence.
This wasn't right. Alan and Wesley were best friends. For as long as Giorgio had known them, the two of them had been the most well–matched partners in the VSSE. How had it gotten to this point, where they were practically strangers and no longer speaking to each other?
"We're back in the present," Janice informed him quietly.
"What… What happened to them?" He asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene before him.
"Evan happened," she replied simply. "After he left the VSSE, he became an elephant in the room whenever they were together. You know he's like a younger brother of sorts to them, right? What happened to him… It made them feel as though they'd failed him. Their mutual guilt over being unable to help him gradually drove them apart."
"So ultimately, Evan is the reason they drifted apart?" Giorgio let out a weak, hollow–sounding laugh. "Figures. I told you, didn't I? Evan touches the lives of far more people than I ever did."
"But the reason they're in this position in the first place is because Evan suffered from your absence in his life," Janice countered. "Maybe you yourself haven't directly impacted Alan and Wesley that much, but the small ripples created thanks to your influence on Evan are more important than you might think."
Giorgio swallowed apprehensively, watching as Alan and Wesley left the training rooms in silence without looking at each other.
Somehow, the sight hurt a lot more than he'd thought it would.
"I… I've had enough. I don't want to see anymore. Please…" He whispered.
Janice gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
"We're almost done, I promise."
Before he could blink, the scene changed again.
They were back in the alternate Evan's run–down apartment. Evan appeared to have woken from his drunken stupor and was glancing around blearily.
Looking down at the nearly empty bottle that he was holding, he let out a laugh that was almost a sob, flinging it away.
Giorgio flinched as the bottle collided violently with the wall, shattering loudly.
Slowly, Evan reached for the small table beside his sofa, pulling open its drawer.
With shaking hands, he removed a gleaming pistol from within.
Giorgio felt his heart stop.
"Evan… Evan, no! Please, don't do this!"
His cries went unheard as Evan gripped the pistol tighter, raising it to his temple.
With a sick feeling in his stomach, Giorgio turned away.
"Please… I don't want to see this," he begged.
Nodding, Janice took hold of his hand, and they were back in the lobby of the apartment building.
Moments later, a gunshot echoed through the building.
"No! Evan…!" Giorgio fell to his knees, tears blurring his vision as he wept with wild abandon.
To his surprise, Janice wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a gentle embrace.
For several long minutes, he simply leaned against her, crying for his partner as Janice held him.
Finally, he reluctantly pulled away, wiping his tears away with a shaking hand.
"I don't understand," he rasped. "Miss Brown… Janice… Why are you doing this? Are you… Is this my punishment for failing to save you?"
Janice blinked at him in surprise. "You think I'm doing this for revenge?"
"Giorgio… I'm not mad at you."
"What?" Giorgio stared at her uncomprehendingly.
Seeing his confusion, Janice took hold of his hand and squeezed it reassuringly, smiling at him.
Unlike her earlier smiles, this one didn't seem remotely cold or threatening. Though there were traces of sorrow in her expression, her smile was gentle and comforting, almost like a warm blanket.
"Of course I'm sad that I died," she said softly. "But I don't blame you for it. The ringleaders who had me killed… They're the ones at fault here, not you."
"But if I'd been faster, I could have… You might have survived if I'd gotten there sooner," Giorgio retorted bitterly, pulling away from her.
"Giorgio…" She paused for a moment. "Do you know what I was thinking, the entire time I was lying in that alley?"
"I was terrified that I was going to die alone in the cold, without anyone ever knowing what had happened to me. You and Evan found me in time to be with me before I died. You even held me and tried to comfort me. I'm truly grateful to you for that."
"But… But I…"
"You brought my killers to justice," Janice said firmly. "Thanks to you and Evan, my death wasn't in vain. So please… Don't blame yourself for what happened. Because I don't want you to feel guilty over me forever."
"But, earlier… You seemed so furious! I thought you hated me," Giorgio countered.
Janice sighed, looking regretful.
"Considering the state you were in, being hostile was the only way I could force you to listen," she explained apologetically.
"While it was ultimately necessary, I'm sorry for being so cruel to you. Even if it was for a good cause, it was still wrong of me to knowingly hurt you like that."
"Then… If you're not angry at me, why are you doing this?" Giorgio asked.
"You mean you still haven't figured it out?" Janice let out a soft, teasing laugh. "This isn't a punishment, Giorgio. It's a lesson. A gift of sorts, if you will."
"A gift?" Giorgio repeated incredulously. "How could you possibly call any of this a gift?!"
A small, sad smile tugged at Janice's lips as she gazed at him fondly.
"When I came to you, you were ready to just give up and let yourself die. That's why I'm here: To show you that you matter more than you think you do. So you need to keep living. Because you aren't meant to die yet, Giorgio."
There was a long moment of silence as Giorgio contemplated Janice's words, trying to sort through his thoughts and emotions.
Despite everything he'd seen, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. When he returned to his own universe, there would still be guilt and self–hatred clinging to him like leeches. Two decades of emotional baggage couldn't be erased in just one evening, after all.
But at the very least, his burden seemed a bit lighter than it had before this experience. No matter what else he might feel, he didn't want to die anymore.
"Is it… Is it too late for me to go back?" He asked desperately. "Am I already dead?"
Janice smiled at him reassuringly. "No, you're not. I can take you back to your reality if you wish."
"I… I do," Giorgio replied, swallowing nervously. "I still have a job to do… And there are people waiting for me."
"Yes… You're right." Janice gently took hold of Giorgio's hand again.
"You're going to be alright, Giorgio."
White light filled his vision, and the world began to fade.