Chapter 14
1184words
When he came to his senses, he was already sitting by Ember's bedside with tears streaming down his face.
Ember lay there with her eyes closed, so still it was almost as though she weren't breathing. Only the faint rise and fall of her chest proved she was still alive.
Atlas broke down as he looked at her serene features. He buried his face in his hands as he wept.
He knew Kaylee had been right.
Neither Kaylee nor Spencer had caused as much harm to Ember as he himself had.
How did it come to this?
He truly loved Ember in the beginning. How did he end up doing so many things to hurt her?
If only he hadn't gone to the birthday party with Kaylee…
If only he hadn't fought with Ember that day…
If only, he hadn't left her behind out of spite on the day of the ski trip…
The hospital room was deathly quiet except for his muffled sobs.
Memories flooded his mind—bright and happy days that were now out of reach, like snowflakes melting as soon as he tried to grasp them.
He tremblingly pulled out his phone, desperately searching for any trace of Ember.
Yet, there was nothing.
Then he remembered. Kaylee had once claimed her phone was broken and asked to borrow his to take photos.
He had lent it to her without hesitation. When the phone was returned, every single photo of Ember was gone.
Kaylee had said she accidentally pressed the delete button. And what had he said in response?
That's right—he had dismissed it with, "It's not a big deal. If they're deleted, so be it."
No. No, there had to be something left.
He opened Ember's social media account with a shaking hand, only to find her profile blacked out.
The user had deactivated their account.
Atlas clenched Ember's hand as agony ripped through his chest
How deeply disappointed must she have been to delete her account, to erase everything they had shared?
Refusing to give up, he called the Ferguson family's tech division.
"I don't care what it takes—restore Ember's Instagram account! Every post, every photo—none of it can be missing. Do you hear me?
"If you can't get it done, pack up your things and leave!"
The employees didn't dare waste a moment, and the tech team soon called back with an update. "Mr. Ferguson, Ms. Sloane's account has been fully restored."
Atlas reopened Ember's profile, and he saw the familiar rows of photos.
In one of the pictures, Ember wore a red Santa hat as she wrapped her arms affectionately around his neck. She was smiling brightly and sweetly.
Atlas remembered that photo. It had been from a Christmas party years ago when both he and Ember had secretly planned surprises for each other.
On Christmas Eve, they had ended up staring at four identical movie tickets, then bursting into laughter.
They understood each other without needing to say much back then, and their hearts were perfectly in sync.
He just didn't know when or how they had drifted apart.
Perhaps it was Kaylee's pitiful appearance that had reminded him of the Ember he once knew.
Perhaps it was Kaylee's faint resemblance to Ember that had clouded his judgment.
But no matter the reason, it had all happened. Atlas couldn't change the past; all he could do was hold onto the present.
He ordered his staff to print out every photo of Ember they had recovered and hung them around her bed.
"Ember," he murmured while holding her hand gently in his palms, "when you wake up, let's take so many more photos together, alright?"
The sleeping Ember gave no response, but he continued speaking as though she could hear him.
"Let me tell you a story. You used to love listening to my stories, didn't you, hmm?"
Atlas lowered his gaze. His expression grew softer than ever before.
"Once upon a time, there was a little rabbit in the forest. And one winter day, she built a small snowman outside her home.
"The snowman had a round nose and a perpetually smiling face.
"The little rabbit and the snowman quickly became the best of friends. They sang and danced together every day, and they were so happy.
"One day, the little rabbit said, 'Snowman, will you come watch the sunrise with me?'
"The snowman agreed, and the two of them climbed to the top of a mountain. Soon, the sun rose, casting golden rays across the earth—it was breathtakingly beautiful.
"But as the sun rose higher, the snowman began to melt. Its body turned into water and evaporated under the sunlight.
"The little rabbit was so heartbroken and tried desperately to hold onto the snowman. But the tighter she held, the faster the snowman disappeared.
"Finally, the snowman vanished completely, becoming nothing but mist. Before he disappeared, he told the little rabbit…"
Atlas' voice broke as he lowered his head. His tone was thick with emotion as tears choked him.
"It said, 'Don't be sad, little rabbit. Remember me with the first rays of the sunrise.'
"'I'll be there with you at every sunrise you see.'"
He pressed his face against Ember's hand, his voice trembling with grief.
"Ember, please don't be the snowman. Don't leave me. Please."
…
A few days later, Atlas once again fell asleep beside Ember's bed.
He had a very long dream. Ember hadn't lost her parents in it, so she had never met him as a result.
She grew up happy and carefree, and she got to meet new people and create a new family.
And he was just a bystander, utterly disconnected from her life.
In the dream's final moments, he saw Ember's figure fading into the distance. He called her name as loudly as he could.
She paused as if she heard him, but before she could respond, Atlas jolted awake.
"Thank God it was just a dream…"
But the moment he raised his head, his pupils trembled in shock.
The bed in front of him was empty. The person who had been lying there was gone.
He instinctively reached out, but all he touched were cold sheets, with no trace of lingering warmth.
"Somebody! Get in here now!"
Bloodshot veins spread across his eyes as he bolted out of the room, grabbing the nearest bodyguard.
"Where's Ember? Where did she go?"
The guard was bewildered as he stammered, "Mr. Ferguson, I've been on watch all night. I didn't see Ms. Sloane leave."
Was she taken for a checkup by the doctors?
Unwilling to accept this, Atlas grabbed a passing nurse.
"Tell me—where's the other patient in this room?"
The nurse flinched under his fierce gaze and stammered, "I-I don't know… No one's been in that room all day!"
One person after another gave him the same answer: no one knew where Ember had gone.
Standing in the now-empty hospital room, an overwhelming sense of despair and fear gripped Atlas.
Was this how he was going to lose Ember?
