I was happy to see that Max is online.
" Hey, why the long silence? "

He told me that he was warded for manic symptoms. From his choice of words, or rather the lack of it, I sensed he was feeling rather down.
"Please keep in touch, k? You'll always be one of the fewer ones in my books who aren't defeated by the illness. You rise above it."
"What? But I've had so many relapses."
"And you got back up EVERY single time. That makes you a warrior."
"I'm a survivor."
"Yes. You survived the fall, the attack. 
Every one of it. Only warriors survive. 
Not all battles are fought with weapons."
"I'm a hero then."
"Indeed."