Chapter 8
I was on the phone when Nolan stood at the sink, washing vegetables.
His health had gotten so bad that even cooking was a struggle.
But he’d already let the housekeeper go.
He couldn’t bring himself to leave everything to me, so he insisted on helping–at least a little.
As I listened to the voice on the other end of the line, I glanced over and met Nolan’s eyes.
Maybe it was all the money we’d thrown at this. Maybe–for once–luck had finally decided to take our side.
I could hear my heart pounding in my chest.
Turned out, death wasn’t the only thing that could make your heart race.
There was something else, too–hope. A new beginning.
Whether it was your own, or one you were trying to give someone else.
I dropped the phone and, overcome with joy, rushed over and threw my arms around him.
“They found one! Nolan, they found a match!”
He staggered slightly, catching himself against the fridge before wrapping his arms around me.
He let out a shaky laugh, voice trembling with emotion.
“Yeah… thank you, Erma.”
My eyes filled with tears as I looked up at him and said softly, “Thank you, too.”
If it hadn’t been for him–if I’d drowned in that river and then survived, only to hear Charley say he wasn’t my brother
anymore-
I probably wouldn’t be standing here now. I probably would’ve given up–again.
For seven years, a voice had haunted me.
A cold, cruel whisper in the back of my mind, “Erma, just end it.
“If you die, the dreams stop. If you die, you won’t have to keep reliving that night.
“If you die, it won’t hurt anymore…”
But now, a new voice had started to surface.
This one was gentler, warmer–like my parents once were.
It told me, “Erma, try saving yourself. Try living.
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“Just like you’re trying to save Nolan.”
Still breathless with emotion, I said, “If the surgery goes well… let’s really live, okay?”
Nolan was quiet for a long time. Then finally, he nodded. “Yeah. Let’s both live–and live well.”
For ourselves. For the people we’d lost.
We started preparing for the trip abroad.
The plan was: if the transplant went smoothly, we’d settle there for a few years.
Charley no longer considered me his sister.
And truthfully, I didn’t have many ties left in this country.
I wanted to see if living somewhere else–somewhere far away–might ease the nightmares.
Maybe I’d stop waking up in the middle of the night wanting everything to end.
Nolan, too, would need years of recovery after the surgery.
Vlaufield was quiet and peaceful–perfect for healing.
ist
Once we made the decision, Nolan wasted no time. He got in touch with a real estate agency and bought us a house.
But even with a matching heart, the surgery carried enormous risk. The success rate wasn’t high.
The best shot we had was finding the most experienced, top–ranked cardiac surgeon to perform the operation.
One of the most renowned experts in the field was a professor named Marlin Huynh, living overseas.
After a lot of effort, I finally learned that Marlin would be returning to around the end of the year.
He was spending a few days in a remote mountain village near Asoson, keeping his elderly mother company for the Christmas. She was too attached to her hometown to leave.
I hadn’t been able to reach him directly, so after thinking it over, I decided to go in person.
When you were asking for something this important, showing up face–to–face meant more.
Asoson had been buried under heavy snow for days. Nolan didn’t feel right letting me go alone, but he couldn’t talk me out of it either.
We compromised. I booked two plane tickets, and he agreed to come with me.
After landing in Asoson, we transferred to a long–distance bus that took us to a small town.
But once we got there, we found out the road to Marlin’s village had been closed off–blocked by thick ice and snow.
No vehicles could make it through.
We had no choice but to find a tiny roadside inn and stay the night.
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Chapter 8
The walls were thin, and late that night, I lay awake listening to the harsh, gut–wrenching sound of Nolan coughing and vomiting in the next room.
He must have coughed up blood again.
That same night, the hospital in Vlaufield reached out to me, urging us to get there as soon as possible to start pre–op prep for the transplant.
Outside, the snow was still falling thick and fast, smothering the town in white.
At first light, I got up, gritted my teeth, and quietly slipped out.
The route to the village wasn’t complicated.
I asked the innkeeper to sketch a simple map, bundled up in layers of thick cotton clothing, and set off on foot.
The road was completely empty, just ice and snow stretching into the distance. I walked toward the village alone.
By the time I finally arrived, it was nearly noon, and I was numb from head to toe.
In the yard of one home, a middle–aged man was out shoveling snow.
I forced myself to approach him, glanced at his face, and pulled out my phone to check the photo I had.
When I confirmed it was him–Marlin–I felt a huge wave of relief.
But my body couldn’t hold out any longer. Shaking all over, my knees buckled and I collapsed into the snow.
Startled, Marlin dropped his broom and rushed over to catch me.
Alarmed, he said, “Who’s this girl? She’s completely frozen!”
Before I could say anything, a few more people stepped out of the house.
I looked up–and froze. Two familiar faces.
Charley. And Elsie, the daughter of one of his business partners.
As Elsie walked out, she called, “Who is it?”
Charley followed behind her, frowning.
“Put on a coat, Elsie. Don’t catch a cold.”
It was strange. Ever since he told me he wasn’t my brother, I’d stayed far away from him.
And yet, somehow, we kept running into each other.
When he saw me collapsed in the snow, his expression darkened instantly.
He strode over, furious, the snow crunching under his boots.
“Erma, are you out of your mind?
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Chapter 8
“I told you–I’m not your brother anymore! The roads are frozen, there’s a snowstorm, and you still followed me all the way out here?”
