Chapter 3

3.

It took me two hours of driving on I-5 to get to the hospital.

As I approached the door to his room, I could hear people talking inside.

"Thank God Chloe was here today. We were all freaking out. But Chloe, what made you come back from Europe all of a sudden?"

I knocked, and the room fell silent.

Elias was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, his hand gripping another woman's hand tightly.

When Josh saw me, he said softly, "Elias, Harper's here."

But Elias didn't let go of her hand. He just slowly opened his eyes and gave me a cold, indifferent glance.

"Blood… so much blood!"

The woman immediately covered his eyes and gently stroked his back. "It's a hallucination, Elias. Don't be scared. I'm here."

Josh looked awkward. He leaned closer to Elias and whispered, "Dude, you don't recognize her? It's Harper."

Then he turned to me and explained, "We were near Mount Rainier and got caught in a storm. The car flipped. When Elias woke up, he kept saying he saw blood everywhere. The doctor said it's retrograde amnesia from the concussion. His memory and vision might be a little mixed up."

"Chloe, can you take me away from here? I'm so scared. There's blood everywhere, and strangers," Elias whispered, tightening his grip around Chloe's waist.

Everyone in the room just shook their heads helplessly.

Chloe patiently soothed him for a while until he finally settled back down, but their hands remained clasped together.

Josh finally introduced us.

"This is Chloe, a friend from high school. She was just back from Berlin on vacation and joined us for a reunion hike. Elias's condition should get better with time. Don't take it personally."

Don't take it personally? I laughed coldly to myself.

Elias chased Chloe for three years in high school, and it was clear to everyone in this room that he never really got over her.

And now, a simple "don't take it personally" was supposed to make me pretend like nothing happened.

Chloe glanced at me, seemingly not paying any attention to Josh's introduction, her gaze quickly returning to Elias's face.

When Josh mentioned that we were about to get married at City Hall, Elias suddenly looked up and asked, "Josh, who are you talking to? Who's getting married?"

My fists clenched, my nails digging deep into my palms.

The concussed Elias remembered Chloe, he remembered Josh, but he had completely forgotten me.

So this was how little I mattered to him. A mark so faint that the slightest jolt could erase it completely.

There was never any room for me in his heart.

"It's getting late, we should probably go. Harper, we'll leave Elias with you," Josh said, giving a look to the others. They all started to leave.

Chloe slowly tried to pull her hand from Elias's. "I'll come see you tomorrow," she said softly.

But Elias grabbed her hand, his face filled with panic. "Are you going to leave me again? Are you just going to fly away? I'm so scared. Can't you just stay with me? Please? Aren't you worried about me at all?"

In that instant, the last wall I had built around my heart crumbled.

Over the years, I had told him countless times that I would always be his rock, that he could lean on me for anything.

But he always said that people need to learn to be independent, that over-reliance on others was a sign of immaturity.

He never showed a single shred of vulnerability in front of me and demanded the same from me.

The time I had the flu with a high fever, I just locked myself in the guest room, found my own Tylenol, boiled my own water, and ordered my own soup for delivery.

At first, I used to fight with him about it, telling him how cold it was. Eventually, I just gave in, assuming it was just his "independent personality."

I thought that was just his nature, that he didn't know how to express dependence.

But today, I finally understood. He just didn't want to depend on me, and he didn't want me to depend on him.

"Okay, I won't go. I'll stay here with you tonight. You just rest, okay?"

Chloe patted his back, gently repositioning his head on the pillow, her eyes full of tenderness.

Everyone's eyes were on me, their expressions a mixture of pity and awkwardness.

Chloe looked at me too, as if asking for my permission.

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles turned white, my heart twisting in agony.

I stared at the two of them for a long moment, then, for the sake of my own dignity, I finally spoke. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

Elias just kept his eyes glued on Chloe, as if afraid she would flutter away like a butterfly. He didn't even spare me a single glance.