35 35#35
350
Emmett gulped down the entire bottle of spirits, the searing sensation doing little to ease his inner turmoil. His companions watched in shocked silence, too stunned to intervene. At last, one of them, with a quivering voice, managed to speak up.
“Hold on… I believe Athena still thinks about you.”
Emmett chuckled darkly, his eyes fixed on
she still cared, she would have returned agejur. barren skyline. “That’s not possible. If
In a swift motion, he flung the bottle over the precipice, observing it vanish into the abyss. He turned to his friend and inquired, his voice laden with anguish, “If I leap, do you think I’ll reunite
with her?”
His friend’s heart raced with alarm, rushing to pull him back. Having known Emmett for ages, the sight of his companion’s broken state deeply affected him. He worried Emmett might actually follow through.
It hurt him to see Emmett in such a state, but he felt powerless. He could only watch as his friend descended further, futilely attempting to persuade him that Athena was truly gone, either overseas or, worse, lost forever.
But Emmett remained deaf to reason. His mind was too muddled, and after scaling the mountain, he returned to the cliff’s edge, once again drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
“You should leave, Emmett mumbled, his speech barely coherent. “Don’t try to stop me. I won’t perish.
A wry, empty grin played on his lips, but as he spoke, the world spun dangerously, and he nearly collapsed, his body teetering on the brink.
“Emmett!”
His friend acted swiftly, grabbing him just in time. With years of handling Emmett’s post–drinking episodes, he recognized the signs immediately: gastric bleeding. It was only a matter of time before the situation worsened.
In a panic, Emmett’s friend hauled him into the vehicle, racing towards the hospital. Even through the sharp turns and blaring horns, Emmett’s voice resounded, calling out Athena’s name in a broken, desperate litany.
His friend clenched his jaw, frustration and guilt gnawing at him. “If I’d known… I would’ve prevented this. I should’ve never allowed it to escalate so far.
He had been the sole voice advising Emmett to cherish what he had, but Emmett had disfnissed
35 35#35
his cautions, stubbornly charting his own
urse. Now, all his fears had materialized. There was
no room for sympathy, only a profound, bitter resentment. He couldn’t help but think that Emmett had brought this upon himself.
At the medical center, Emmett was diagnosed with a gastric hemorrhage. The physicians acted quickly, prescribing medication and doing their utmost to stabilize him, but there was an unsettling redness in his eyes.
“Once, I ended up with a gastric hemorrhage after a night of drinking with you guys,” Emmett croaked, his mind wandering to a memory. “I barely made it home before I almost fainted in the bathroom. It was Athena who transported me to the hospital.”
He could still visualize her, petite yet determined, and how she had somehow mustered the strength to carry his heavy frame, rushing him to safety as if his very existence depended on it.
The following morning, Athena quietly returned home, her hands carefully preparing a bowl of warm porridge for him.
Back then, he had been quick to grumble that the rice was too soft, but now, the flavor of it was nothing but a distant recollection, slipping through his consciousness like sand.
A wave of despair washed over Emmett as he shifted in bed, gazing out the window. And then, his heart stopped.
There, in the long corridor of the hospital, a familiar silhouette appeared–one he had been longing to see for what felt like an eternity.
His heart raced; his voice cracked as he hoarsely called out, “Athena!”
The blankets were cast aside as he leapt from the bed, clutching his pillow in a sudden burst of urgency. He stumbled forward, disbelief clouding his thoughts as he double–checked. No- mistake, there, standing before him, was the Athena he had dreamed of for years, holding a little girl in her arms.
Three years had elapsed, and Athena remained as delicate as ever. The weight he had once helped her gain had disappeared, leaving her looking as thin as she had before.
But the question that plagued Emmett was–who was the child in her embrace?
He held his breath, his gaze fixed on her, unable to look away as he leaned forward slightly. Sensing someone approaching, Athena turned instinctively, greeting with a polite, practiced smile, “Doctor, you’re back. L..
But before she could finish, her words trailed off, and her expression froze.
A few days earlier, Eira had fallen ill, and despite a few days of medication, her condition hadn’t improved. The physician had suggested returning to her home country to seek treatment from a traditional healer,
