---- Chapter 14 Ember froze, the world narrowing to the impossible sight of Julian Copeland, broken and bleeding in the African dust. A nearby wall, weakened by the bombing, began to crumble. She didn't notice. "Ember, look out!" Gael tackled her, pulling her out of the way just as a cascade of bricks and mortar crashed down where she had been standing. "He's alive," she gasped, scrambling back to her feet. "We have to help him." They got him back to the medical tent. He was severely dehydrated, malnourished, and had a serious head injury. As Ember cleaned his wounds, she felt nothing. The man on the cot was a stranger, a ghost from another life. She was a doctor, and he was her patient. Nothing more. She finished her work and left the tent, leaving him to the care of the nurses. As she walked away, she heard him murmur something in his delirious state. "Ember... don't go..." He was trapped in the darkness again, the same lonely prison ---- of his coma. He was terrified, calling her name, begging her not to leave him. He saw her then, a figure of light in the crushing blackness, reaching out her hand to him. He followed her out of the darkness, towards the light. He woke up to the smell of antiseptic and the murmur of a language he didn't recognize. He remembered the search, following a flimsy lead to this war-torn country, the ambush, the pain. He had to find her. He tried to sit up, but his body screamed in protest. He fell back, a wave of dizziness washing over him. Gael King walked into the tent. "You need to rest," Gael said, his voice calm but firm. "I'm looking for someone," Julian rasped, his throat raw. "Her name is Ember. Ember Tucker. Have you seen her?" Gael's expression didn't change. "There is no one here by that name." He helped Julian back into bed and left the tent. Ember was standing just outside, hidden by the canvas flap. She had heard Julian's desperate cries. She couldn't understand. Why was he here? Why, after everything, was he still searching for her? He didn't love her. He had proven that time and time again. ---- "He loves you a great deal, it seems," Gael said softly, coming to stand beside her. "It's not love," Ember said, her voice flat. "It's guilt." She turned to Gael. "He can't stay here. It's not safe. Can you arrange a transfer? Get him to a real hospital?" Gael smiled, a strange, pleased little smile. He had seen the way Julian looked at her, and the way she didn't look back. He had his chance. "Of course," he said. "I'll take care of it."