“D-don’t you d-die on me, Nathan,” I sob, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. Someone picks up my phone on the second ring.
“108 Emergency Service, what is the emergency?”
“H-Hello! I need an ambulance!”
The female operator’s soft tone remains cool and collected, while I’m seconds away from hyperventilating. “Can you tell me what happened? Are you injured?”
“M-my boyfriend…. He’s overdosing on some pills. Please… send help! Please.”
“Okay, remain calm. Make sure they’re lying on their side.”
“Already done,” I tell. “Send someone asap. I… I don’t know what to do.”
“Please let me know your location so I can send help.”
“It’s 53-A, Lake Avenue, Pavel East.”
“I’ve dispatched an ambulance. It should be there within 10-15 minutes,” she states. “I’ll stay on call with you until they arrive. Do you know what he took? It’ll help the first responders once they reach.”
I lean over him, grab the bottle to read the name. “They’re sleeping pills. I can’t be sure.”
“Keep it with you.”
“How much longer?” I demand, clutching Nathan’s hand and watching the color of his face turn pale.
“Five minutes out.”
“Tell them to hurry!” My tears soak his shirt as I bawl uncontrollably. Did I push him to take his own life? How could he try to leave me like this? How dare he? “Don’t… don’t leave me. I-I’m sorry. I’ll never push you away. C-come back to me… please… please…. Please.”
The sound of multiple footsteps behind me doesn’t even penetrate until a pair of hands drag me off him. “No!” I roar. “I need to be with him.”
“Ma’am, we need to check on him.”
Two male staff put him on a stretcher. He never stirs, his chest barely moving as they carry him out of the kitchen.
“We’re taking him to Hopewell Hospital,” he informs.
“Let me drive with you,” I grab his jacket. “Please. I have to be with him.”
He takes pity on me and nods.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Arya
“We found this on him.” One of the paramedics hands me a piece of paper in the waiting room.
I know exactly what it is, making me want to throw it away so I don’t have to accept the harrowing reality. With a shaking hand, I take it from him. Staring at me numbly, I contemplate if I have the strength to read Nathan’s suicide letter.
No part of me wants to believe he would take such a drastic step, yet the proof is in front of me.
Ripping my gaze away from the folded paper, I rush after the tall paramedic. “How is he? Is he going to be okay?”
“Sorry, ma’am,” he says regrettably. “I cannot give you any update since you’re not family. We’ve called his emergency contact number.”
Right then, I hear Nova’s petrified voice. “Arya!”
Twisting on my heels, I face him and his wife, along with….Iris.I’m jarred by the sight of her rattled face. The sadness and dread in her eyes.
