Chapter 9 The search and rescue team reached us as the first light of dawn began to color the sky. Everett was carried onto a stretcher, still clutching my coat sleeve, refusing to let go. Only when the medical team administered a sedative did his hand slowly relax. I stood at the base of the mountain, watching the helicopter vanish into the clouds. The warmth of his palm lingered on my fingers, but my heart felt frozen by the wind and snow, calm and unmoved. Three days later, I made time to visit the Fort Evergreen Base hospital. The ward was quiet. Sunlight streamed through the window, falling across the white bed. Everett leaned against the headboard, flipping through a mountaineering manual. It was the one I had left at the training base-I hadn't expected him to keep it. At the sound of my footsteps, he glanced up. His eyes ignited instantly, like a beacon flaring to life in a vast, white emptiness. "You're here." He tried to sit up, but I held him down with a raised hand. "Please don't try to get up. The doctors confirmed a minor intracranial bleed. You need absolute rest." I placed the fruits I had brought on the bedside table, pulled up a chair, and sat by the bed, keeping a deliberate distance. After a few seconds of silence, Everett spoke first. His voice clearer than in the cave, but careful, almost tentative. "The things I said to you in the cave...I meant every word." I lowered my gaze to my fingertips, saying nothing. He continued, "About Isabella... I owe you an explanation." "As a boy, I was on a sketching trip in the mountains with my family when I got separated and lost. Isabella found me." "I was nearly unconscious from the cold, and all I remember is her saying, 'You'll marry me someday,' and in my daze, I agreed." He gave a wry, self-mocking smile. "I carried that promise with me, felt it was my duty to fulfill it." "When she went abroad, I even considered proposing when she returned. But when she actually came back, I realized... my feelings for her had long since changed." Chapter 9 90.00% "I'd grown accustomed to her presence, used 'marry her' as a goal, without ever asking what I truly wanted." "Until you left with the divorce agreement. Seeing the empty rooms of Pinecrest Estate, noticing the traces you left behind... that's when panic hit me." "I think I lost the most important person." He looked at me, eyes full of sincerity. "Memories started surfacing-you, discreetly slipping my favorite mints into my uniform pocket before a formal event." "You, burning the midnight oil in the study with coffee, organizing classified briefings for the Base." "You, smiling through the pain of a wounded knee and insisting, 'It's nothing'...The very details I had taken for granted came back to haunt my sleepless nights." I lifted my head to meet his gaze, softly saying, "Everett, I believe you didn't act with malice. But for us, the moment has passed." "In those three years at Pinecrest, I was a shadow with no self of my own. I learned to cook what you dress how you liked, hide my hobbies-just to be noticed by you." "But back then, your eyes never saw me. They only saw Isabella, and your duty." liked, I paused, voice calm but resolute. "When I went to the Republic of Valeria, climbed snow-capped peaks, I finally found myself again." "I love standing on mountaintops to watch the sunrise, the sense of accomplishment leading a team across glaciers. These were things I dared not imagine when I was with you." "We are like two lines that once intersected closely but now extend in different directions." I looked at him, eyes free of resentment, only relief. "I'm grateful you saved me, and I thank you for telling me these things. But we're not right for each other. Being friends-that's enough.' Everett was silent for a long time, so long that I thought he might argue. But then, unexpectedly, he smiled. It was not a smile of loss, but of release, like spring thawing after a long winter. "I see," he said, the acceptance clear in his voice. "I should have known sooner-you were never meant to be kept waiting." "You have your summits to conquer, your own compass to follow. Those were always meant to be your priorities, not me." He picked up the mountaineering manual and handed it to me. "This belongs with you. When you're aiming for those higher summits, remember to pack extra heat packs for your hands and feet-they've always been Chapter 9 90.00% susceptible to the cold." I took the manual, my fingertips brushing his before pulling away quickly. "Everett," I stood up, "I hope you also find the life you truly want." He looked at me, eyes full of warmth. "You too. Serena, you must be happy in the future." I nodded and turned to leave the ward. Sunlight filled the corridor, warm and gentle. I didn't look back, and I felt no regrets. The past, that weight I had carried for so long, was finally laid to rest. Ahead, higher mountains awaited my conquest, and a fuller life awaited my experience. And Everett would remain in my memory as a warm, unentangled chapter of the past. Chapter 9 90.00%