Rachel was never in perfect health as the wildfire from when she was eight left her with a chronic condition despite surviving it. Apart from giving her a broken voice box, she also suffered from minor asthma and other respiratory illnesses. It was just that she rarely brought it up with others.
She couldn’t go anywhere that had insufficient oxygen, or she would suffocate if she wasn’t careful.
While Justin only felt unbearable from the smoke, Rachel hadn’t been breathing properly for long, and she could feel her energy being sucked out of her body gradually.
Nonetheless, she kept fighting her consciousness. She believed if she kept talking to Justin, his desire to survive would increase, and if he could hang on longer, he might eventually find a way out—just like he had twenty-six years ago.
Meanwhile, Justin held a death grip on Rachel as he searched through the thick smoke. The moment he saw the two massive, ancient trees, his bloodshot eyes lit up with joy.
“Rachel, I’ve found the way out. We’ll reach your home if we go down this path. Wake up, Rachel.”
Justin carried her in his arms as he hurried down the mountain. The two of them had walked on this path so many times in the last few days that he knew hope was just up ahead, even when he could barely see the road in front. Everything would be okay once they left the mountain.
Just then, Rachel’s hand slipped from his neck.
“Rachel.” His voice trembled from the suddenness, and he stopped in his tracks. “Rachel!”
No matter how Justin called her, she no longer responded this time.
At that, he quickened his pace down the mountain. However, he was faced with an oncoming fire. The heat wave nearly came at them as well, scorching their cheeks while preventing them from leaving.
Justin hadn’t thought the road down would be blocked by fire as well.
had also been blocked by fire.
Rachel had already passed out at this point, clearly on her last legs. As Justin coughed violently, the immense pain caused him to slip and fall with Rachel in his arms.
“Rachel!”
Rachel lay on the ground, unresponsive.
“Rachel!” shouted Justin. His eyes were red as he tried to pick her up, unwilling to resign to fate.
However, the dizziness from the carbon monoxide in his system made it hard for him to do something as simple as this. He tried again and again, but his arms were spent. He couldn’t pick Rachel up no matter what.
Justin scanned his surroundings while fighting his urge to cough, but all he could see was thick smoke. Even if he could hold on until he found a way out, Rachel couldn’t anymore.
Suddenly, he calmed down as he looked at the motionless woman in his arms.
He pulled her closer to him and planted a kiss on her forehead. His voice was so raspy now that it sounded like he had washed his throat down with sand. “It’s okay. I won’t abandon you like I did back then. I’ll stay here with you forever.”
The blazing fire was coming toward them; everywhere it went, dead leaves turned into ashes in an instant. However, Justin turned a blind eye to it, only pulling the woman in his arms close to him. She was who he cherished the most in this life; not even death could make him think otherwise.
Justin had a dream. In the past twenty-six years, the dream he most often had was about the wildfire incident.
The fire scorched the entire mountain, and the blazing fire chased after them from behind. He was pulling a little girl’s hand. She was scrawny, yet her eyes were crystal clear like spring water.
Though they ran fast, they still tripped.
“Go, run away!”
“Katie!”
Every time, the dream would end with him being shot wide awake, drenched in a cold sweat. In his dream, he eventually let go of Katie’s hand and watched her slip down the slope without being able to do anything.
“You were the one who saved my life. Either we live together, or we die together.” This life should’ve been returned to you twenty-six years ago, Rachel.
The heaviness in Rachel’s chest woke her up, making her feel like she was drowning, and as her eyes shot wide open, she gasped. She then parted her lips, only to discover she couldn’t make a sound.
She was wearing an oxygen mask and had been given a ventilator.
As the notion crossed her mind, the sudden sound of a woman exclaiming sent a sharp pang to her ears, resulting in her inability to hear a word the woman said. Other than that, her ears buzzed from a twinge.
The next second, many gathered around her bed. There were men and women, old and young. She could seemingly see through her blurry eyes, but at the same time, she couldn’t see clearly.
“Chris!”
“Mommy!”
“Rachel!”
No one knew which voice pulled her consciousness back. But all of a sudden, she could see what was before her eyes clearly, and the first image she captured was of a teary-eyed Jolly. Her eyes were so swollen from all the crying that Rachel nearly couldn’t make her out.
“She seems awake. She’s awake.” Victor grabbed Gloria’s arms. “Rachel’s finally awake.”
Gloria, too, was in tears. “It’s good that she’s awake.” She kept wiping her tears away.
“Do you know how long you’ve slept, Chris?! You scared the sh*t out of us!” Jolly grabbed Rachel’s hand. Her grip was so tight that Rachel frowned in pain. She wanted to complain, but the ventilator prevented her from doing so.
“Rachel looks like she wants to say something.” Thank heavens for Victor’s quick reaction.
Jolly hurriedly leaned closer to Rachel. “What is it, Rachel? We’re listening.”
“Tube…” Rachel took pains to finally utter a word.
“Tube? What tube?” Jolly scratched her head, bewildered. “What tube?”
Just then, Gloria exclaimed, “Jolly, you’re pressing down on her breathing tube!”
Jolly nearly jumped up at once, feeling guilty and mortified. “Sorry, sorry, I was too excited to realize it. I’m sorry!”
“What’s apologizing going to do?! Move aside. To think she survived the fire only to die of suffocation because of you!” Gloria frothed at the mouth.
Everyone here had been hoping for a whole week for Rachel to regain consciousness. No thanks to Jolly, she pressed down on Rachel’s breathing tube right as the latter finally woke up. Jesus!
On the other hand, Rachel still had something to say, though she barely had any strength.
“What else do you want to say, Rachel? I’m listening.” Gloria leaned closer to Rachel and took a long time before finally making out what she was trying to say.
She wasn’t talking about the tube—she was asking about a certain someone.
Gloria’s eyes shrank, and she fought back her tears while pulling a smile. “Don’t worry. He’s all okay. You should rest for now, and you can see him once you’re better.”
Rachel nodded at that and closed her eyes once more.
She was well spent. Only saying a couple of words already got her lethargic, but she could now be at ease when she knew he was okay.
When the doctors came to check on Rachel, the others went out of the ward.
At that, Jolly pulled Gloria over. “What did Chris ask you?”
“What else?” Gloria sighed.
Jolly understood at once. “Why didn’t you tell her the truth? She’ll find out eventually.”
“Do you think I can do that right now? She just woke up, you know. We’ll see how things go after she gets better.”
