Chapter 29: Chapter 29

There is no greater pain than seeing the one you love most in pain without you able to make the person feel better.

- Grace Chanbee

[Author's POV]

The mastermind bit his fingers nervously. The situation was more of a turmoil than he ever thought it would have been.

Two months had passed by successfully without him achieving anything even though he tried so hard.

He felt terrible and probably even scared but of course, he wouldn't like to admit it. What if things went awry for him? What if he wasn't able to achieve his course at the end of it all? What if he got caught before the plan eventually pulled through?

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"The boy, Justin refused to deliver Amber's head on a platter of gold," He replied, looking worried.

She giggled. "So? He refused to do the job doesn't mean things will be bad for us," She said.

He turned around without warning and it made her heart jump in fear, making her look really terrified.

"For someone who's unusually optimistic, you look really scared," He said.

"You startled me, that's all," She responded with a wry smile.

"Sorry about that, milady. Now, why are you suddenly so confident?" He asked.

"Let's just say that even if you don't get to kill Amber, her drugs will, one way or another," She replied with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, confused.

"I've not been in the house, so you tell me, has anything been happening to my dear cousin lately? Anything strange? Anything unusual?" She asked with a knowing smile.

He thought for a while, looking lost then suddenly, his face lit up like he had won a trophy. "She has been fainting every now and then, her therapy seems to be doing more harm than good," He said to her.

"Actually, the correct statement should be that her drugs seem to be doing more harm than good," She said, a sly smirk still playing around her lips.

"You know something about it, don't you?" He asked, looking at her in admiration.

"Apparently. You see, when Amber came back into our lives, I was scared that she was going to remember what she had seen last before the staged accident which was going to be bad for me seeing that she had caught me red-handed with her ex-boyfriend. Therefore, I changed her drugs to something more harmful. It contains Methanol, it helps to weaken the brain, causes drowsiness, headache and so on. She has only started fainting, soon she won't even be able to create new memories and will be laying every single day of her life like a vegetable, very fragile and useless," She told him.

A broad smile lit up his face. "That means she doesn't even need to die anymore. Gilbert Sanders will never leave anything for a walking dead," He said and cackled haphazardly.

She joined him and shook her head slowly. Amber will never know what hit her, she thought.

[Justin's POV]

I dashed into Amber's bedroom with fear pitching as the highest emotion my mind could feel at that point in time. Her parents weren't around and the servants had just informed me that she had vomited then fainted.

On getting to her room, I saw her lying so peacefully and profoundly just like the princess in the sleeping beauty cartoon, only that she was human and much more beautiful.

I sat beside her on the bed and pushed away the hair in her face. She wore a blank expression on her face as she snored softly while lying on her back.

I couldn't help but panic and wonder what was wrong with her. She had just been collapsing or falling asleep ever since the therapy began. Prior to then, she had been just fine.

I was scared...terribly scared. What if she slept one day and never woke up? What was I to do then? This whole thing was getting scary and messy and it wasn't just about the people after Amber's life anymore, it was about her health.

What if the side effects of the accident had only just started playing out? Was she going to be fine at the end of the day? I wasn't sure how life was going to be like if she kept on falling unconscious time and again.

"God, I really want Amber to be fine," I prayed in a low tone.

I couldn't remember the last time I prayed to God for something, but here I was, feeling more worried than I had ever felt, in a state of depression and fear and I had tried it all, Heaven knew I had; still, Amber was laying here with her eyes closed and the only person I felt could hear me now was God.

I believed he existed somewhere somehow. When your faith is weak and you can't seem to express your emotions to anyone, I believed he always listened and with him, you didn't need to talk or voice out your feelings cause he already knew everything and only needed you to ask after which all your request was going to be granted.

I felt like one of those who only remembered God during trying times, maybe I was one of them, but who else could I really turn to apart from him? There's no one who could actually help you out and believe and really understand you except God.

I didn't know why Amber was this way, she herself didn't know, the so-called doctor I felt owed us an explanation kept on giving flimsy excuses by saying she's okay, the worst were her parents who had no idea things were that bad for her because they felt she was kind of overreacting as they had said that's her usual behaviour even before the alleged accident; they were of the opinion that she always craved attention like a toddler.

They didn't know Amber. One didn't just cry wolf at night for no reason, neither would one choose to purposely puke on herself. It just didn't make sense.

She was going through a lot and it was like I was the only one who believed her and felt her pain even though I didn't understand why stuff like this was suddenly happening.

My phone began to ring and on sighing and taking it out of my pocket, I saw it was Aiden who was calling.

I received the call and placed it on speaker mode, too lazy to bring it all the way up to my ear.

"Hello," I spoke first.

"It's me, Aiden," He said in an excited tone.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm aware. I have your number, remember?"

"Right! Anyways, I have good news."

My ears seemed to suddenly be at alert as I itched to hear the good news. "What is it? Go on," I said.

"Well. You dropped me off at the police station and went to see Amber. I..."

I groaned exasperatedly. "Aiden, just go straight to the point and quit beating about the bush for goodness sake!" I yelled, then flinched, regretting why I had shouted knowing fully well Amber was asleep.

Thankfully, she hadn't woken up at the raised pitch of my tone but only stirred a bit in her sleep.

I heaved a sigh of relief and waited for Aiden to say the exact reason he had called me.

"Well, I submitted my drawing and yours with the plate number of the van you had seen the idiot who had openly tried to terminate Amber's life," He then paused.

I felt slightly annoyed as my curiosity rose to level 100 and impatience rose within me.

"Won't you ask me to go on? Or are you bored already? Don't be bored just yet, this is where the gist gets interesting," He said.

I nearly screamed at him again if not for self control. "Aiden, if you called me to waste my time and let me have a heart attack even before you finally hit the nail on the head, please, hang up. I'm so stressed out. From being abducted to Amber's fainting sickness and trying to get her full recovery, you should know how hard it is for me. Now, you've added your use of suspense to heighten my already tensed mood. I'm not in the mood for all that, don't make me angry, please," I pleaded, not believing that I was actually getting really angry.

"Hey, chill out, what you're yelling for?" He asked.

I snickered. "You use that line everytime just to make me stop being angry," I noted.

"Yeah, 'cause you'd move mountains for Avril Lavigne," He said with a chuckle.

"She will always remain my favourite singer. You just digressed from the major issue here though," I reminded him.

"That's true. So the good news is the police have succeeded in tracking down the exact location of the vehicle. As I'm speaking to you right now, they've dispatched some police officers to go to the location. Hopefully, that insane man or even the original planner of this whole thing will be caught before nightfall," He revealed.

"Really? That's incredible!" I exclaimed with so much joy and excitement.

"I know, right? How about you? How's it going? Have you asked Amber's mum about the tattoo yet?" He asked.

I shook my head like he could see me. "No, her parents aren't home," I responded.

He sighed. "Why don't you ask Amber then?"

"Are you playing with me right now?" I retorted.

"Of course not. Since you show her pictures of certain events that took place before she lost her memory, why can't you show her the tattoo? It may aid her recovery," He explained.

I thought for a while. "No. That sounds like a brilliant idea, but I'm not ready to risk anything again. Amber's health is already unbalanced and I can't afford to worsen how things are for her," I told him.

Before he could give me a reply, I heard her speak.

"Why worry about me? As long as you can find out those monsters who have been trying to take my life and it could probably bring my memory back, why not do what you're to do?" She asked.

I immediately hung up on the call with Aiden and saw that she was awake and sitting up. Pushing aside how I hadn't noticed her waking up, I stared at her with pity seeing how tiny she was looking as if she wasn't eating or resting enough and my heart became swollen with pain.

"You're not saying anything," She said.

I gave a small smile and squeezed her hands. "How are you doing? Heard you collapsed again."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about all that. I'm fine, I promise," She said.

"Yeah. Do you still feel weak?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes again. "Justin, if you're trying to change the topic, it will most definitely not work," She said, understanding where I was playing at.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feigning innocence.

She held out her hands. "Let me see the drawing of the tattoo," She requested.

I looked sideways acting like I wasn't sure she was talking to me.

"Are you talking to me?" I asked, still pretending.

"No, I'm referring to the person behind you," She retorted.

I gave a mild chuckle.

"Done laughing? Now, let me see the tattoo, I may be able to remember something."

"What tattoo?"

"The tattoo you were talking about over the phone," She responded.

I looked like I was dumfounded. "Tattoo? Sure you weren't having a dream or something?"

She groaned, apparently getting offended. "Justin, for once, be reasonable. Don't try to whine me into believing I hadn't heard you clearly. The phone was on speaker mode, I heard virtually almost everything you discussed," I said.

"O..Kay. Everything like?" I requested.

"Like the police are on the tail of one of those bastards who tried to kill me and that you have a tattoo that was on the man who tried to kill me right here," She replied, rather too calmly.

I heaved a sigh knowing there was no escaping this situation. "Listen, Amber, this thing is too dangerous for your health..."

She cut me off by raising a hand. "I don't wanna hear any of that. I'm getting bored of this whole thing already, it has to end."

"What about your health? Isn't that enough reason for you to back out of this silly thing?" I asked, both worried and concerned.

She shrugged. "Justin, even when I don't attempt to remember anything, I always feel like I'm dying. Of what use is my health when it deteriorates no matter the precautions I take?" She asked in a rhetorical manner.

I blinked my eyes to block out tears.

She stood up from the bed and held my face in her palms for the first time.

"I care about you, Justin, and I know you care about me as well. What if I finally recollect my lost memories through this means?" She questioned.

I shook my head sadly. "And what if things become worse for you after this? You've been fainting every now and then, what if this time..." I couldn't bring myself to complete the statement.

"What if I die? Is that what you're so scared of?" She asked, making it sound like I was being ridiculous.

"Is dying an ordinary thing to you? You know what your death could do to me? Do you know? I'll be demoralised and traumatised, Amber. I can't let you do something so stupid knowing fully well it could lead you to something like dealth," I told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because.... because...." I didn't say any words again.

She shot me a small smile. "Let's just get over and done with this," She said.

"Let's wait fo your mum to come back," I said, turning her down.

She heaved a sigh. "Okay then, if you insist. Can I just have a peek at the drawing at least?" She requested.

I sighed, staring at her thoughtfully.

"Just two minutes. Please, Justin, please," She requested, pouting and resembling one of those dummies at the mall which were actually kind of cute.

"Fine then, you pressurise me a lot, but I'll let you have it for just two minutes," I said, heeding to her request with a frown then unlocked my phone.

I had taken a picture of the drawing so it was saved to my camera roll. I thought briefly then handed the phone over to her.

She looked at it, showing no emotion nor connection to it.

"You don't remember, do you? Now, hand it over to me," I demanded.

"Wait! We agreed on two minutes, remember?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she stood up, scrutinising the image carefully.

I watched as she placed her hands on her head as she paced around the room, the phone held tightly in her hands, not taking her eyes off the image for a moment.

She leaned heavily on the wall for support as her eyes twitched, still looking at the image. The next thing was that she held on to her reading table, shivering terribly.

There and then, I decided to stop her from doing more harm than good to herself. I stood up from the chair without thinking twice and walked up to her immediately, grabbing the hand she was holding the phone with.

"Jus...Justin... what's the...matter?" She managed to ask in a stutter.

"That's enough, Amber. If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself," I told her.

"Wait a sec, Justin. I think I'm beginning to remember something. Just be patient, please," She said.

I heaved a sigh as she was unrelenting in this pursuit of hers. I wanted to stop her, but there was a part of me that wanted to know if she was going to remember after all.

The phone she was holding clattered to the phone and before I could take that in, she suddenly left my grip and fell to her knees, placing her hands on the floor and it was as if she was swooning.

I ran to her, crouched before her and held her shoulders as she was still in that position, the only difference was that her hands were on her head and her eyes kept on closing and opening.

"Amber, what is it?" I asked.

"The tat...tattoo... I saw it. My... I saw someone. He was...was wearing a mask and I saw this tattoo..."

"And?" I asked her.

"I... I think he betrayed me. He...he said he wants my money... I don't know what to say anymore," She said.

"It's okay, Amber. Don't stress it, please, for my sake," I said, holding her closely in my arms.

She shook her head slowly, not looking up. Her body was hot and she seemed feverish.

"I'm dying, Justin."

"That's because you've overworked your brain. Stop trying to remember anything. It's fine," I said.

"No... I can see...see it..almost..."

"Amber, stop being stubborn. I won't be able to live with myself should anything happen to you," I screamed aloud.

The guards barged into the room, upon hearing me scream.

"Hazy flashes... they're becoming clear..." She said, not relenting.

I was still kneeling while she sat down and I couldn't figure out how to stop her from making a big mistake.

I patted her hair as she shivered, still trying to remember everything that concerned the tattoo.

"What's wrong with her?" One of the guards asked.

Before I could open my mouth to respond, she stopped me.

"Helios...the mastermind is Helios," She said, then crashed to the floor, hitting her head on the foot of the reading table beside her with a yelp and the next minute, she was silent.

I was terrified, perplexed and in a deep mental shock. My heart thumped as the reality of what had just happened dawned on me.

I didn't know how she had left my hold, but thinking of that wasn't enough explanation to why there was blood around the area of her head after she crashed into the table.

I crawled to where she lay with her eyes closed and her body unmoving and shook her hard.

"Amber! Amber!! Please, wake up for my sake. I'm begging of you. Please, Amber, please," I pleaded, still shaking her hard.

"Tell the driver to prepare the car. We need to take her to the hospital," I heard one of the guards say behind me.

Tears streamed down my eyes as I felt helpless because no matter how hard I called her name nor tried to revive her, her eyes remained close as she lay on the floor.

Her pulse was low and it was almost as if she wasn't breathing anymore. How was I to stay alive knowing fully well that it was my fault that she was in a bad position? What was I to do now?

I hadn't told her how much I loved her and how I'd take the same steps my father had taken if she ever died.

"Hold on, Amber. I'm coming with you," I mumbled underneath my breath as a guard lifted her in his arms and proceeded to apparently take her to the car.

If she died, then darn the consequences! I might as well end me too.