Finding Stardust

Emma couldn't even howl and wail as she should. During the past week, she had cried so much that her eyes hurt, and the tear stain on her cheeks couldn't go away.

The girl just froze like an ice statue. All of her senses were no longer working. She couldn't hear anything. Her vision was also blurred with tears. 

And she simply couldn't feel Therius hugging her waist.

"Maybe ... what happened just now ... was the last flame before the light went out," said Natan sadly.

As a doctor, he had become accustomed to seeing how patients in critical or terminal conditions seemed to improve for a while, but then their condition immediately worsened, and suddenly, they died.

Maybe this was what happened just now, he thought. He really regretted that he had rushed to tell Emma about the progress of the patient. Emma must have walked in, thinking that her friend was making progress and someday he would recover.

But in fact ... when they entered this room, all they saw was the flat line.

Natan felt very sorry. If he had waited and closed his mouth, perhaps the situation would not have been as sad as it was now.

"I'm ... sorry," whispered Natan.

Emma didn't hear the doctor's voice. She couldn't hear anything. Her mind was blank and her brain refused to work. She came to this sanatorium to say goodbye. She thought she could finally let go of Haoran and let him go in peace.

But, as it turned out ... when the flat line appeared to greet her steps, Emma realized she was not as ready as she thought. She still couldn't let him go.

The girl was rooted to the spot, refusing to react.

In her head, she remembered everything she had experienced with Haoran. She could never forget when the young man jumped from the tree and greeted her. Then Haoran took her around the school. Haoran also helped Emma go to Paris.

There, he gave Emma a birthday present in the form of a painting of her father and mother. Emma was still sorrowful that the painting was left on earth.

She and Haoran went through so much together. He was Emma's first love. Haoran was Emma's true love. Emma fought so hard to save Haoran. But in the end, she lost the battle.

And now ... Haoran was finally gone.

Emma didn't feel anything as her body tumbled down. Had Therius not been supporting her, she would have hit the floor very hard.

"Emma ..." Therius hurriedly lifted Emma's body with both arms. His face was filled with grief. He carried Emma's body out of the room. Before he reached the door, he turned to Nathan, who was still rooted in his place. "We'll be back for the funeral. Please prepare everything."

Finally, he just let Therius go while he only stood in his place, thinking about what just happened.

***

Finally, Emma woke up. When she opened her eyes, she immediately got up reflexively from a lying position. It took her a few seconds to remember what happened. 

"Haoran!" she exclaimed with a hoarse voice. Apparently, she had cried long enough that she was exhausted to the point that her voice was gone. Her tears were dry. She could no longer shed anymore. The tear stain on her face was still clearly visible.

"Emma."

Therius' voice came from the end of the bed. The girl saw the prince sitting on the edge of her bed with a dark face. He was wearing a purple attire that reminded Emma that purple was the color of mourning in Akkadia.

She looked down and saw her own clothes. She had been wearing clothes for mourning since a few days ago after she found out her father had passed away. She hadn't finished mourning for Kaoshin... now she also had to mourn for Haoran.

If she knew it would turn out like this, why would she insist on bringing Haoran to Akkadia? Emma felt very selfish.

The people who loved him should now be surrounding Haoran. There was his biological mother, his grandparents, and childhood friends... those boys, they loved him. They must be missing him so deeply and now, they also couldn't even say goodbye.

Haoran finally took his last breath on a foreign planet he never knew about. He only knew the name. Haoran didn't even have the chance to open his eyes and see what Akkadia was like.

"Are you ... awake?" asked Therius in a low voice. He couldn't say anything else because he knew that nothing he said would make Emma feel better.

Emma nodded weakly. She bit her lip and looked away. Seeing Therius by her side made the wound in her heart feel worse.

Emma came to this village to say goodbye and let Haoran go. However, instead of being able to say goodbye as she wanted, Emma was shocked because Haoran left her first.

She didn't even have time to say goodbye. 

Was this a punishment because she accepted Therius? Emma never imagined that losing Haoran forever would be this painful. The grief over her father's death cannot even be compared to her grief when she found out Haoran was finally gone.

"You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. I'll bring you the food here. You should eat a little and muster up your strength," said Therius. He stood up and touched Emma lightly on the cheek and walked out of the room.

After the man left, Emma looked at her surroundings. She was in an elegant room. The colors and furniture were chosen specifically to make the person staying there feel relaxed and at peace. Next to her bed was a large window with dark blue curtains that opened to the sides, framing a beautiful view that looked like a painting from outside the window.

Emma realized that the house she was in was on a hilltop, and from this window, she could see a view of the green valley below. 

What a peaceful place, she thought. For a moment, she froze in place.

"Do you like the view?" asked Therius.

Emma turned toward the voice and found Therius arriving with a tray filled with a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. The man put the tray on the bedside table and then took the bowl of soup and the spoon and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm not hungry," said the girl in a barely audible voice. "And I don't like the view."

Therius sighed. "You have to eat. I insist."

Emma was about to raise her hand to push the bowl away, but somehow her body felt completely devoid of strength. She could barely even move her hand.

"You're stressed and feeling devastated," said Therius. "You have to force yourself to eat something. If not, you can die. I can't let it."

"How long have I been unconscious?" asked Emma, ​​looking closely at Therius.

"It's been more than 20 hours," said Therius. "You cried for a long time and passed out. Yesterday, you missed lunch and dinner, and today you have missed breakfast. Your body has become very weak."

"It's too long," complained Emma. She scolded herself for being too weak. Why couldn't she stay strong when she witnessed Haoran's death?

Shouldn't she have been prepared for this possibility for the past seven months?

Why was she so weak? Why couldn't she toughen up, let Haoran go, then discuss all her terms with Therius, and then go to Thaesi to meet her mother and brother?

Now, because of her weakness, Emma had wasted time again. She had lost twenty precious hours.

"Haoran ..." whispered Emma, ​​covering her face with both hands. Therius let Emma cry again, even though there were no more tears coming out of her eyes. She had cried so much this week that she had no more tears to shed.

After Emma could no longer cry, the young man took her hands away from her face and held them in bed.

"Now you must eat something," said the young man calmly. "We have a lot to do. You have to be strong."

He then took a spoonful of the soup and brought the spoon in front of her lips. The girl raised her face weakly. She finally opened her mouth and took the soup.

"Good," said Therius. "After you finish this soup, Nathan will check your condition and give you some medicine. When you are strong enough, we will discuss what we should do."

"My Mother..." Emma whispered weakly. "We still have to go to Thaesi. I have wasted too much time."

"Don't think about it. Your mother is still there, she's not going anywhere."

"But I want to see my father's funeral," said Emma. "I want ... to.. see him one last time."

Therius nodded. "You will see him. Now eat."

"You promise?" asked Emma, ​​looking closely at Therius.

"I promise."

The man took another spoonful of soup and brought it to her lips. This time Emma accepted it without protest. After she finished the soup, Therius helped Emma drink the hot tea in her cup.