Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

Thinking back to that near-death moment, I felt like my voice had just up and left me. I stared at him, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before managing a weak, "Thanks." "That's it?" His voice went up a notch, clearly not satisfied.

"What else do you want?"

I was struggling to breathe under his weight and tried to push him off, but he was like a freaking statue.

"If you're not gonna offer yourself, at least a kiss, right?"

Even now, Faris was still cracking jokes.

The gratitude I felt a second ago vanished, and I shoved him harder.

"Get off."

Right then, the door got kicked open.

Bobby and the others rushed in, flashlights blinding us.

"Are you guys okay?" They surrounded us in no time.

Bobby shouted, "Faris, your leg!"

A few guys hurried over to lift the wooden beam together.

I had a bad feeling. But Faris seemed chill, still wearing that faint smile.

After they moved the beam, they helped Faris up from on top of me.

Bobby's flashlight hit Faris's leg, and I almost lost it.

His jeans were soaked in blood.

Bobby said, worried, "Faris, your leg looks bad. But we can't get down the mountain now. What do we do?"

One of the guys sighed. "I checked earlier; a tree behind the house fell and hit the roof, breaking this beam. Faris, you have the worst luck!"

Only I knew I was the unlucky one. If Faris hadn't saved me, I'd be the one crushed.

Faris just smiled nonchalantly. "It's nothing, just a scratch."

But seeing his pant leg drenched in blood, it was definitely more than a scratch.

"Bobby, got any hemostatic stuff?" I asked.

Bobby thought for a moment. "I think we have some hemostatic powder."

I nodded. "We need to stop the bleeding first."

Everyone decided to move Faris to the bed in the next room. One guy supported his head, two held his waist, and the others took his legs. Faris couldn't help but chuckle as they carried him. "I can walk, you know. One of my legs is still good."

Bobby said, "We don't know if you broke anything, so we gotta be careful. You're still young."

After Bobby found the hemostatic supplies, he also brought a bottle of hot water and handed me a towel.

I took it without hesitation, ready to clean Faris's wound.

Even if he hadn't been injured saving me, I wouldn't ignore him now.

The jeans were too tight, so I asked, "Bobby, got scissors?"

Bobby nodded quickly and went to get them.

I cut open his pant leg while two guys held flashlights. Pulling back the soaked jeans revealed Faris's bloodied flesh, making it hard to see the injury.

The air reeked of blood. But luckily, my nursing instincts kicked in.

I wrung out the towel to wipe the blood off his leg and said, "I might touch the wound, so bear with it."

But Faris, with his hands behind his head, looked like he was enjoying himself.

"If I make a sound, I'm not a man," he said.

After wiping away most of the blood, I could see a deep wound. It was hard to tell if it reached the bone.

I sprinkled the powder and wrapped the wound with the clean cloth Bobby found. Faris didn't make a sound the whole time.

After everything was done, Bobby prepared a bowl of electrolyte water for Faris to drink.

In the end, everyone gathered in the room, waiting for dawn.

As the sky lightened, the snow stopped.

A few guys went up the mountain with their toolkits, and soon the power was back.

Bobby went to the kitchen, saying he'd make some oatmeal for everyone.

Before long, the sky was fully bright, and light streamed in through the windows.

Faris lay on the bed, wide awake, smiling at me.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked, puzzled.

He tapped the bed frame with his hand outside the blanket, looking content.

"When are you gonna give me that thank-you kiss?"

I was taken aback and, after thinking for a moment, said softly, "I didn't ask you to save me."

Faris seemed to have expected this and smiled bitterly, "I bled so much to save you, and I might not even walk again. Doesn't that make you feel guilty?" He was still joking.

I got up and said, "I'll go check if Bobby's oatmeal is ready."

I opened the door and was stunned to see Ethan, about to knock. He looked serious, glanced past me at Faris on the bed, and stepped inside.

Faris didn't seem surprised. Moments later, a group of Faris's buddies rushed in after Ethan.

"Faris, what happened to you?"

"Faris, is your leg injured? Is it serious?"

The last one to come in was Richard. When he saw me, his quick steps slowed, and he looked all kinds of guilty.

I took two steps forward and slapped Richard hard across the face.

"You?"

Richard stared at me in disbelief, raising a hand to retaliate. But Ethan grabbed his wrist first.

I glared at him with pure hatred. Every word I spat out was dripping with anger.

"Been to jail, a father now, and still acting like a fool? Seems like you didn't learn a damn thing. If we had known, we wouldn't have busted our asses to get you out."

Richard's face tightened, and his jaw moved slightly. He clearly didn't like me. But knowing he was in the wrong, he said nothing.

Bobby, who was cooking oatmeal in the kitchen, probably saw the sudden influx of people and hurried over.

Seeing they were all familiar faces, he said excitedly, "If you can get up the mountain, you can get down. Faris's leg is messed up; you guys need to get him to a hospital, pronto." So, we didn't get to eat any of Bobby's oatmeal.

Faris's buddies carried him down the mountain, and Ethan took my hand.

"Let's go home."

This was the first thing he said to me since he showed up.

I figured Ethan must have a ton of questions. How should I explain it to him so he'd believe me?

After a night of snow and hail, the path down the mountain was super slippery. I slipped several times, but Ethan held me steady, keeping me from falling.

He suddenly let go of my hand and squatted in front of me.

"Get on. I'll carry you."

Staring at his broad back, I hesitated for a moment before climbing on.

Richard and Faris's group walked ahead like he was their real brother.

They took turns carrying Faris, and Ethan carried me, so our pace was slow.

Halfway down the mountain, I finally mustered the courage to say softly, "There's nothing between Faris and me."

I knew it was the weakest explanation.

Ethan responded with a sound. But I couldn't tell if it meant he believed me or if it was just a perfunctory reply.

"Emily, if one day you find out I'm not as good as you think, would you leave me?"

Ethan had been carrying me for a long time, but his voice remained steady.

I found his question strange, like he was hinting that he had a bad side.

"In what way? No one is perfect from head to toe," I said.

He didn't say anything more, carrying me all the way to the foot of the mountain. When he put me down, I saw that his pant legs were half-soaked.

Several cars were parked at the foot of the mountain. Besides a Maybach, the rest were all cars belonging to Faris's buddies.

As Faris was helped into a car, he glanced back at me, his half-smiling eyes seemingly reminding me of that thank-you kiss.

I quickly looked away and got into Ethan's car.

They took Faris to the hospital, and Ethan took me home.

As soon as I walked in the door and changed my shoes, a pair of arms gently wrapped around me from behind.

Ethan kissed my ear, very tenderly.

Leaning into his embrace, I gradually lost my strength.

He suddenly scooped me up and carried me inside, laying me on the couch and then kissing me.

The sudden intimacy caught me off guard. He said nothing, just kissed me. I thought he still cared about what happened last night, but his kisses were not rough; they were gentle, even more so than usual.

He didn't do anything else, just kissed me deeply and with focus.

After a long time, he finally let go of me, staring at me intently, his eyes showing no blame or doubt, just a hint of fatigue.

"Richard took my phone and brought me to that mountain," I said.

"I know."

"I don't know why Faris was there. There's nothing between us."

"I believe you."

I was stunned, looking at him in surprise.

Ethan lay down beside me on the couch, pressing close to me.

His head rested on my shoulder, and his every breath tickled my neck.

He kept touching my face with his fingers, and after a long time, his deep voice sounded in my ear.

"I kept calling you yesterday, but it wouldn't go through. I searched everywhere you might be. I almost called the cops. Richard finally couldn't take it and confessed. Searching for you all night was nothing. I'm just afraid you'll leave me one day, and I'll never find you again."

My heart suddenly ached as if it had split open.

I snuggled closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I won't leave just because of a small issue. If I ever decide to leave, it will be because there's no place for me by your side."

He ruffled my hair and pressed my head to his chest.

That night, while Ethan was showering, I got a call from an unknown number.

"It's me."

As soon as I heard the voice on the other end, I guiltily glanced at the bathroom door.