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: Chapter 8
Melanie waited for three hours straight, but no one came back.
In the afternoon, it started drizzling lightly from the sky. She lost her patience and decided to push
the wheelchair down the mountain herself.
Although the cemetery had a wheelchair accessible passage, the slope was steep and she didn’t
control the force well, so the wheelchair crashed into the railing and fell over.
She rolled all the way to the end of the aisle, with small and large wounds on her hands and face.
There was a small cut on her forehead, from which blood kept oozing out, but it was washed away
by the raindrops.
She lay on the ground alone, unnoticed by anyone, only able to watch the raindrops falling
incessantly.
The cold rain brought a chill that made her tremble uncontrollably, and she gritted her teeth to endure the pain that engulfed her body.
Time was so difficult to endure.
I don’t know how long it had passed, but just when she thought she was going to freeze to death
here, Nathen finally rushed over with an umbrella, picking her up and apologizing sorrowfully.
Melanie stared at him fixedly, with only a numb emptiness in her eyes.
“If I had legs, then today, would I be able to leave here?”
That bright Melanie, she died completely at the age of eighteen.
Nathen’s heart trembled, and self–blame and shame surged up like a tide, leaving him no courage
to look directly at the person in his arms.
He raised his hand and gave himself a hard slap.
“Sorry, Melanie, I promise this was the last time. It will never happen again in the future.”
In the following days, Nathen’s guilt resurfaced and he constantly stayed by her side.
No matter whether she was sunbathing or daydreaming, he stayed by her side without leaving a step, attending to her every need by serving tea and water. Whatever she casually sighed about, he
responded to every sentence.
The way the two people interacted with each other was like going back to seven years ago, before the accident happened.
Melanie knew that there was no second chance in life.
And all that he did, it was just a fleeting illusion, and could not last.
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So she just watched silently, counted, and waited for the arrival of the last day.
On Christmas Eve, the plane carrying two people landed in Ashedge.
As soon as Nathen arrived at the hotel, he received a phone call.
After chatting for half an hour, he picked up his luggage and turned around to leave, saying only
that there was an urgent matter at the company.
Watching him in a hurry, Melanie asked softly, “Do we have to leave?”
Without any hesitation, Nathen said firmly, “It’s urgent, Melanie. You go watch the snow by
yourself first, and I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.”
Melanie did not try to stop him anymore.
Nathen was not informed that tomorrow he would never hear from her again.
She sat alone by the floor–to–ceiling window in the hotel all night, but the long–awaited first
snowfall did not come.
When it dawned, she received a message from Kenna, which was a photo taken at the hospital.
Nathen sat by the side, indulgently peeling oranges for her, with a smile in his eyes.
Melanie stared at this photo for a long time.
When the sun rose, she pushed her wheelchair and left the hotel, rushing to the euthanasia
institution.
Before entering, she took one last look at the sky and still didn’t see the long–awaited first snow.
Did Nathen and even the weather forecast deceive her?
On the last day of her life, she still didn’t get to see the first snowfall.
Melanie’s lips curved into a smile, and finally she turned her head, pushing the wheelchair slowly
towards her path of death.
Soon, the staff pushed her into the euthanasia room.
They helped her lie down and, as usual, asked her a few questions before she passed away.
“Ms. Perez, is there anyone else you wanted to see?”
“No.”
“Do you have any last words that you want us to convey?” ”
“Do you have any unfinished wishes?”
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“No.”
She answered all the questions calmly and didn’t have a single word for Nathen.
Watching the staff take out the medicine, she whispered, “After I die, please immediately send me for cremation, there’s no need to bury my ashes. Just find a place to scatter them on the day of the first snowfall, if it’s not too much trouble.”
The staff agreed.
The room instantly became quiet.
A slight tingling sensation came from the hand and quickly subsided.
Melanie’s originally clear consciousness gradually became muddled.
She had many images flashing through her mind, including a running boy, playing in her childhood, the scorching afternoon sun, and the noisy classroom.
Slowly, all the sounds and images transformed into a hazy mist that enveloped her.
She indulged in such an unreal and damp atmosphere.
Finally, slowly closing the eyes, without a sound.
