Epilogue
I woke up in the hospital.
But no one here seemed to see me.
I wandered around, trying to get doctors' attention, but they walked past without noticing.
Suddenly, my gaze locked onto something, unable to look away.
The girl in the wheelchair had a face as pale as paper.
She stared quietly at the withered tree outside the window.
I held my breath and approached her inch by inch.
She slowly met my eyes.
She glanced at the woman guarding her nearby, with a furrowed brow.
"Can't she see you?"
I tried to calm myself.
I nodded.
"They can't see me."
Wen Yu lowered her long lashes, her fingers curling slightly.
"Are you here to take me away?"
I was stunned. "Probably not."
She let out a sigh and gave me a bright smile.
"Thank you."
In the days that followed, we became friends.
We chatted at first, but then Wen Yu suddenly fell silent.
Her eyes lingered on the screen, her lips pressed together.
I turned and saw the paragliding ad playing on TV.
The woman screamed her lungs out in the air with her eyes closed.
It was something Shen Le Yue would like, but Wen Yu—
I froze.
Wen Yu suddenly looked at me, her eyes sparkling.
"Do you think people have a next life?"
"If there's a next life, I have to try it!"
It felt like someone punched me hard in the nose.
The sour, painful sensation spread through my body.
I could barely breathe.
Wen Yu had said she didn't like wheelchairs, that she liked walking and traveling, and that she wanted to try paragliding...
And what did I do?
If I had been willing to join her back then, would she have kept loving me?
Wen Yu waved her hand in front of my eyes.
"Are you okay?"
I slowly looked at her.
My voice was hoarse.
"Yes, in your next life, you'll have a healthy body. You'll meet someone who accompanies you in whatever you want to do. You'll be happy forever."
Wen Yu smiled.
After that day, her condition took a sharp turn for the worse.
In the operating room, the doctors shook their heads.
She glanced sideways, as if she had something to say.
I bent down to listen.
She was so weak she could only whisper.
"Will that person be you?"
I froze.
I remembered what the System said before I passed out.
My throat choked up. My vision blurred. I nodded desperately, trembling.
Wen Yu smiled and slowly closed her eyes.
At that moment, in the ICU ward, the heart monitor let out a sharp alarm.
A tear slid from the corner of my eye.
My heartbeat gradually stopped.