"So long as you can hear that, for as long as it continues to beat nice and strong, you'll always be you. It's the same for those two friends of mine. Something bad happened to them, and they struggled to feel the same again, but they're doing well."

He reached out, gently putting a hand on Emil's shoulder, a faint smile on his lips. "And you will be too. Everything always works out in the end somehow. It just takes time."