Chapter 15
Scarlett froze, staring into Nathaniel’s eyes. “You… you can see me?”
Nathaniel didn’t answer, his gaze passing through her to the rain–soaked ground.[]
Scarlett felt disappointed. It seemed he was just delirious from fever.]
She looked at his thin shirt. “You should get a taxi and go home.“[]
Nathaniel remained silent. He sat in the rain all night, returning home only early the next morning.[]
He placed her ashes next to her parents‘. Scarlett searched the house for her parents‘ spirits but found nothing.
She returned to the ground floor, disappointed, to find Nathaniel lying on the sofa.[]
She touched his face–it was burning hot,[]
She She took his hand and used his phone to text Detective Marcus, asking him to call an ambulance.[]
The ambulance arrived quickly. Just as Scarlett was about to board with him, a chill ran down her spine.[]
She suddenly halted, looking up to meet a pair of dark, fathomless eyes.
It was the man from the plane.[]
Standing in the rain with an umbrella, he watched her silently from across the street.]
His gaze was calm yet somehow invasive, the still surface hiding turbulent depths of darkness.
Scarlett tightened her grip, walking toward him. “Are you following me?”
The man gave her a dismissive glance. “As if you’re worth it.”
His words were cutting. Scarlett flinched as the man turned to leave.[
She blocked his path. “You can see me. You must know what’s happening to me.”
Since spirits existed, why weren’t her parents‘ spirits around? The streets were nearly empty, with only a few floating souls. Why could Nathaniel sometimes see her? And why could this stranger see her too?]
A flood of questions swirled in her mind. The man looked down at her: “Seven days to return. Is that so hard to figure out?”
Seven days to return?
Scarlett paused, calculating. Today was the sixth day, so she only had one day left? That explained why she couldn’t find her parents.
But what happened after that?]
Before she could ask more, the man had walked away, his silhouette disappearing into the curtain of rain.]
Disappointed, she wandered the streets for a while before heading to the hospital.[]
When she arrived, the emergency room was in chaos.[]
She froze, about to look for Nathaniel’s room, when she realized the person being rushed into emergency was Nathaniel himself.
Scarlett stood rooted to the spot, piecing together what happened from the fragments of conversation around her.[]
“Seems like he woke up from his fever and suddenly became disoriented.“]
“Saying something about gone again‘ and just an illusion,‘ then slashed his wrist.“]
“Why would someone so young be suicidal?”
Chapter 15
“Who knows? Seems like he has mental issues…”
Scarlett listened, standing in the hallway watching the emergency room’s red light, feeling a suffocating pressure in her chest.[]
Though she was just a spirit who shouldn’t feel cold, a chill spread through her heart.
ce.]
Nathaniel’s fever had left him weak, so his self–inflicted wound wasn’t deep enough to require intensive care.
Scarlett remained by his bedside, watching over him all night. Nathaniel only woke the next morning.]
He opened his eyes, his gaze instantly fixed on Scarlett’s face.
Scarlett contained her anger: “Do you really want to die that badly?“]
Nathaniel pressed his lips together, then suddenly smiled. “So it’s true–you only appear when I’m near death.”
The first time they met was when he was dying. Later, seeing him attempt suicide, she stayed.[]
Yesterday, waking up from the hospital without seeing Scarlett, he confirmed: when near death, she appeared.]]
Scarlett wanted to curse at him, but seeing his pale face, her heart softened. She gritted her teeth: “I’ve been by your side the whole time! I’m here even when you’re not dying. I just went out for a while yesterday. Why are you so determined to kill yourself?”
Nathaniel stared at her. “The whole time?”
Scarlett fell silent.
Nathaniel asked, “Will you… stay by my side forever?”
Scarlett’s lips twitched, her heart filling with bitterness.
She glanced at the clock on the table, unable to speak.]
9:45 AM.
In fifteen minutes, her seven days would end.[]
She would disappear completely.[]
