Chapter 9
You couldn’t really blame him for misunderstanding.
After all, showing up in a remote mountain village like this and calling it a coincidence–it was a hard story to believe.
Marlin quickly stepped in, clearly alarmed. “Let’s not get into that right now.
“Charley, take off your coat and wrap it around the girl.”
Charley frowned, clearly annoyed, but took off his jacket and haphazardly threw it over me.
His tone was sharp and irritated. “Come inside. Now.” As he spoke, he grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the
house.
I flinched, hesitating for a long moment before I finally managed to push myself upright.
Then I reached out, forced his hand off my arm, and said, “I didn’t come here for you.
“Mr. Huynh, I came to find you.”
As I spoke, I carefully pulled out the document folder I’d been keeping close under my coat–inside were Nolan’s medical records.
I explained why I was there, my eyes burning with emotion.
“Please, I’m asking for your help.
“The risk with a heart transplant is huge. This could be our only chance–our only shot at staying alive.”
Charley stared at me, stunned.
He opened his mouth, tried to speak several times, but nothing came out.
It was like he couldn’t wrap his head around it–how I could go to such lengths for someone he saw as a complete stranger.
After a moment, something like disbelief–or even fear–flashed across his face.
He looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Erma… you’re not seriously… you can’t seriously…”
Just then, Marlin’s phone rang. He interrupted, tossing over his shoulder, “Let’s talk inside,” and walked off while answering
the call.
Panic surged through me. I was terrified that once he went in, I’d miss my chance to speak with him again.
I tried to push past Charley to follow–but he grabbed me hard, fury blazing in his eyes.
“You’ve completely lost it!
“He’s just some stranger! The roads out here are closed for miles, and you risked your life–nearly froze to death–just to find him a doctor?”
1/4
11:19 Tue, Aug 12 G
Chapter 9
I fought to free myself, struggling against his grip.
1
99%
X
Through tear–blurred vision, I watched Marlin disappear inside the house. Elsie followed behind him.
Frustration and panic crashed over me all at once. I snapped–my voice choked with emotion.
“He’s not a stranger! You’re the stranger here, Mr. Lyons. You and I–we’re the ones who have nothing to do with each other anymore!”
Charley’s eyes turned red with fury. He finally lost control.
“That man isn’t your brother!
“Can’t you see? Erma! How can you still not get it?”
His grip tightened around my arm.
No matter how I tried, I couldn’t break free.
Eventually, I stopped struggling. I looked at him, bitterness rising in my chest, and let out a hollow laugh.
“Get what, exactly?
“Haven’t you already spelled it out for me? Word for word, loud and clear?”
Charley froze, lips trembling.
“That’s not… that’s not what I meant…”
I opened my mouth to say something else–when a movement caught my eye.
Just beyond him, I saw a familiar figure. His face–usually pale–was now completely drained of color.
It was Nolan. He had come after all.
Snow clung to his clothes. He looked exhausted, his expression tight with worry and fatigue.
The moment he saw me, I saw the tension leave his body. He exhaled, finally, as though he’d been holding his breath the entire way.
Then his eyes fell on Charley. For a second, his expression faltered. And slowly, he lowered his gaze.
There was something tender in his expression–gentle, lonely, uncertain.
In a strange, flickering moment, I thought I saw him as he was all those years ago: a boy in his early teens, sitting alone in his room, quietly eating birthday cake by himself.
It had been so long since I’d seen that side of Charley–the soft, unguarded version of him.
Nolan’s gaze dropped to the snow at his feet.
He stood there in silence, unmoving. I had no idea what he was thinking.
2/4
11:19 Tue, Aug 12
Chapter 9
He didn’t call out to me. He didn’t take another step.
Charley’s voice trembled. “That’s enough. This game is over.
“You’re staying here. When the snow clears, I’ll take you home. Do you hear me?”
Nolan’s hand, hanging at his side, had turned bluish from the cold. It suddenly twitched.
Finally, he reacted.
Slowly, stiffly, he turned around and began walking back the way he came–each step labored and unsteady.
A sharp ache pierced my chest, like being stabbed with a needle.
Panic surged in me. I called out before I could stop myself, “Brother!”
I wasn’t Nolan’s sister.
But I knew–that word, more than anything, could reach him. It was the one thing that might soften him, stop him.
He was already pushing past his limit just getting here.
If he tried to make the trip back alone, he wouldn’t make it.
Nolan stopped in his tracks. But his back stayed straight. He didn’t turn around.
T
Charley looked like he’d been struck by lightning. He spun toward me, eyes burning with disbelief..
AMEX
“Erma, what did you just call him?
“Look at me! Look! I’m your brother!”
That frozen figure ahead trembled, then slowly, painfully, began to walk again.
I fought hard to break free. “Let go! Let go of me!”
Charley’s eyes were bloodshot now. Suddenly, as if he’d lost all restraint, he laughed coldly.
“You really think he brought you back just to help you?
“I looked into him. His sister died years ago–she was just a teenager…”
Thud. The figure up ahead staggered, then collapsed hard into the snow.
In an instant, he stopped moving.
My eyes went wide. My voice broke as I screamed, “Move! Let go–let go of me!”
I could’ve saved him.
He wanted to live. He said so himself. We found a matching heart.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
3/4
99%
X
20
11:19 Tue, Aug 12
Chapter 9
His grip was iron–unshakable. My legs gave out, and I sank to my knees in the snow, completely undone.
*Please. Please let me go. I have to save him.”
Charley clung to me like he couldn’t bear to let
- go.
D
X
But then his face went pale–as if he’d seen something he couldn’t make sense of.
He stumbled back a step, his voice barely audible. “No… that can’t be. You really… forgot?”
His expression drained of color. Then he dropped to a crouch and held my face in both hands, bringing his face close to mine.
“I’m right here, Erma. It’s me–your brother. What are you doing?
“Look at me. Look at me. I’m your brother.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could still see Nolan–collapsed, motionless in the snow.
I shook my head, panic rising in my chest. “You’re not.”
Charley’s eyes filled with a kind of desperate fear.
“Erma… Erma, I’m your brother.
“You really don’t… remember me?”
4/4
