Zach hadn't expected that. He knew that the statement about her being fine had been a bald-faced lie. But most of the time people were hurt or injured, they were eventually fine. Or at least they were healed with some sort of...long term damage or scarring. But dying? Dying? And Blaise wasn't saying how he felt, but he was clearly affected by it, in a way different than if Zach had that news about his father.
Yes part of him was quite excited by the fact Blaise had taken out a letter and handed it to him, but Zach felt acutely aware of the situation, of how Blaise had to be feeling, since he cared. Anyone who was losing someone they cared about were likely to have some things in common. And it sucked, it really sucked.
He glanced down at the letter. Okay, so that was a more interesting letter than most people received about someone dying. Murder attempt and attack and divorce. All of that was within very few lines. But still, the basics were still painfully present - unstable, dying, come quickly. Bloody hell.
When Zach glanced up, Blaise was drinking from a flask, and that was a perfectly reasonable reaction. And Blaise somewhat clearly didn't want to talk about it, go all talky feely whatnot, which Zach would have been fine with. He would have listened, not because it was gossip, and paid attention. All things considered, drinking was reasonable.
"Want to keep drinking?" Zach asked as he handed the letter back, "I've got a large store of whiskey in my room."