As I had expected, the doctor could not really find out what was wrong with me. He said that I had an endocrine disorder that had upset my stomach and advised me to walk around more in the sun and take some medication to help with my vomiting. I wanted to laugh at his diagnosis; if only his advice could actually cure me, I would definitely go to sleep with a smile that night.
Surprisingly, after taking the medication that the doctor had prescribed, I really did stop throwing up. I could enjoy my meals again. Meanwhile, Jenny was overjoyed and hailed the doctor as a genius. I thought that was really cute of her.
After that, I called Sabrina on the phone. The moment she picked up, she asked me in a very dispirited tone, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! Except for the occasional dizziness, I don’t have any other complaints. Lately, I’ve been able to eat more too.” After updating her about my condition, I asked her, “Sabby, if you could spare the time, could you please pay Christopher a visit at the hospital and see if he’s okay? I’m very worried about him.”
“I am in the hospital right now!” Sabrina said gravely.
My heart skipped a beat at her response. Is Christopher really just nearby? Right away, I asked her earnestly, “How is he? Is he resting? Are his wounds healed? Is he eating well?”
“You’re gone, so how can he be okay?”
Sabrina’s words made my heart ache. I felt as if someone had taken a hammer and shattered my entire heart into tiny pieces.
“Why don’t you hear for yourself?” Sabrina turned her phone to speaker mode, and I could hear the sounds and voices from the background. All of a sudden, I heard Julia crying and Christopher yelling…
“I don’t believe a word you say! How could Eve be dead? You must be hiding her somewhere! We were together all along, and I survived! So, how could she have died?” Christopher shouted stubbornly with tears in his eyes. He refused to believe Julia and Monica.
“It’s true. We found her shoes on the beach, and that’s it. I’m so sorry! We really tried to look for her, but we couldn’t find her!” Monica leaned closer to Christopher and whispered to him,” I didn’t know that you had such a close relationship with Ms. Tanner. Stop torturing yourself like this, okay?”
“Chris, please listen to me! You haven’t eaten anything in three days. Your body can’t take this!” Julia begged her son.
“It’s none of your business! Let me go! I’m going to find Yvonne myself!” Christopher angrily swept everything off the table and walked barefoot toward the door.
“Chris, please don’t act like this! Please?”
“Get off me!”
Slap! The sharp sound cracked through the air, stunning Christopher. Gordon lowered his hand and stared coldly at his son. “Stop making a scene! You’re a twenty-year-old adult. It’s time to grow up!”
Christopher touched his cheek gingerly and looked at Gordon. Then, he asked in a deliberately slow voice, “Dad, I know you would never lie. Tell me, where is Yvonne?”
“She’s… dead!” Gordon closed his eyes as he could not bear to look at the pain etched his son’s face.
“Is she really dead?” Christopher asked gravely.
“Yes, she’s dead. She sacrificed herself so that you could live. You shouldn’t waste your life away like this and let her death be in vain,” Gordon answered in an equally solemn tone.
“She’s gone… She’s really gone…” Christopher kept repeating the same line over and over again to himself. Suddenly, he coughed out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
“Chris!” Everyone in the room exclaimed as they rushed forward to help him up.
Christopher suddenly reached out and grabbed the shoe in Monica’s hand and hugged it to his chest. Then, he started sobbing, and his entire body began to shake with all his suppressed grief and despair.
Every single beating heart in that room ached for him.
“Eve… Eve…. My darling Eve…”
I pressed my hands to my lips to stop myself from crying out loud, but tears were flowing endlessly down my cheeks. Christopher’s grief tugged at my heart. At that moment, I wanted so badly to return to him and tell him that I was still alive.
“Ahh!” Christopher let out an anguished roar. Hearing him so clearly over the phone almost tore me apart. I steadied myself and tried to stand up but stumbled to the ground.
