Mimi hadn’t come out all morning, and Elisa had forgotten about it. She had forgotten to ask Mrs. Rugger or Mrs. Protich to take it away. She was going to die, but she didn’t want Mimi to die with her.
“Mimi, be good…”
The ragdoll cat, sensing danger, jumped around in panic. Upon hearing Elisa calling its name, it turned around. Its pair of azure cat eyes dilated as it swiftly ran behind Elisa, cowering and looking towards the front door.
Outside, flames raged, the door cracked open, and smoke billowed in. Elisa’s throat grew increasingly scratchy, and she couldn’t suppress her coughing fits. Tears streamed from her reddened eyes.
Mimi, perplexed, sensed her pain. It licked Elisa’s fingers and then dashed towards the already cracking door, frantically scratching at it.
Although usually timid, cowering behind Elisa in fear, now it raced without hesitation towards the crumbling door, scratching while glancing back at Elisa.
Elisa’s heart tightened, a pang of pain rising within her. She tensed her nerves, her eyes bloodshot.
Mimi was trying to save her.
“Mimi, don’t…” Elisa sniffled, thick smoke invading her lungs, causing her to cough up blood.
Mimi returned to her side. It knew Elisa’s leg was injured, so it didn’t dare to jump onto her lap, only nuzzling her hand for comfort before resolutely running back to the door, frantically scratching and emitting a piercing cry.
The wooden door creaked, on the verge of collapse. The usually delicate ragdoll cat, now recklessly tearing and scratching, its paws coated in blood.
“Mimi, come here,” Elisa, sitting in her wheelchair, unable to move, weakly called out. She watched Mimi’s furry body, tears flowing uncontrollably, blending with the blood at the corner of her mouth.
“Meow…” Suddenly, Mimi leaped backward. The door slammed down with a resounding crash, narrowly missing it.
Elisa’s breath caught as the door fell, flames encircling outside, a wave of heat surging, threatening to scorch her skin.
Terrified, Mimi retreated, inherently fearing fire and water. It dashed towards Elisa, disregarding comfort, biting onto the blanket on Elisa’s knee, wanting her to follow.
Seeing Elisa unmoving, Mimi anxiously paced in place.
Elisa reached out and caressed Mimi’s head, softly saying, “Mimi, go quickly, don’t mind me.”
Watching Elisa’s pained expression, Mimi whimpered and then, as Elisa thought it was obediently trying to escape, it leaped back.
It wasn’t as intelligent as a human, only able to use its own methods to “teach” Elisa to survive. Its fur caught fire, and the ragdoll cat let out a wail, writhing in agony on the ground.
Elisa’s voice chilled, “You silly cat… What are you doing? Why are you so foolish? I want you to leave. Can’t you understand? Leave… I don’t want you to save me, nor do I want you to accompany me…” Her speech became increasingly incomprehensible, choked with sobs.
The once beautifully groomed fur now charred, Mimi’s two ears constantly moving, emitting feeble “meows,” seeming to comfort Elisa.
Elisa’s tears flowed more vigorously. Her legs were useless; she couldn’t let it save her this way! This foolish cat!
She scolded Mimi loudly, “Mimi, get out!”
Ignoring her, Mimi leaped back and forth in the blaze, its fur disheveled, front paws bloodied, hind legs singed. It limped towards Elisa, desperately tugging at her hand, trying to drag her out, but it was too small to move Elisa.
Elisa looked into Mimi’s blue eyes, feeling it was about to cry.
The fire had invaded outside, making escape impossible. Elisa gave up, scratching Mimi’s chin as she usually did, self-mockingly saying, “You silly cat, I asked you to escape before, but now we’re both trapped here. Do you want to accompany me in death?” Elisa’s throat burned, making speaking difficult due to the dense smoke in her lungs.
Mimi, gazing at the roaring fire, its blue pupils illuminated by the flames, turned to Elisa and lightly kissed her on the corner of her mouth.
Not being human, lacking human intelligence, it only knew that the person in front of it was its master, the one who had cared for it as it grew up. Hence, it had to protect her.
Observing its bloodied paws, Elisaforcibly propped herself up, enduring the intense pain, and knelt on the ground, straightening her broken leg with a muffled groan. Then, she slowly crawled toward the window.
It wouldn’t be long before this place exploded and collapsed. She couldn’t let Mimi die with her.
Crawling while pushing the wheelchair, she trembled, grasping the chair back, the armrest, reaching up, and grasping the window handle. She pressed down and pulled, opening a crack just wide enough for the ragdoll cat to slip through.
“Mimi, come quickly, be good, don’t move around,” she coaxed softly.
Mimi tilted its head, hesitated for a moment, then limped over the bloodstains, and Elisa carefully picked it up, lifting it high with its hind legs, shaking and swaying.
Her fingers crippled, she strained to lift the ten-month-old ragdoll cat with all her might, her fingertips trembling, throbbing with pain.
At the window crack, Mimi suddenly understood something. It mewed, wanting to turn back, but Elisa acted faster, forcefully throwing it out and slamming the window shut.
“Bang!”
Outside, there was a ledge, just one story up; even if it fell, Mimi wouldn’t be seriously hurt.
Watching Mimi land safely outside the window, a faint smile finally appeared on Elisa’s face.
Mimi raised its front paws against the glass, scratching frantically, trying to get Elisa out. Its bloodied claws left glaring marks on the glass, but the glass wouldn’t break, and its paws were now bleeding.
After a while, it began to throw itself against the window, trying to shatter the glass.
Outside, the cat’s cries continued. Elisa leaned against the window, feeling the impact behind her. She tightly clenched her trembling hands, staring at her twisted legs, a pallid smile on her face.
She hadn’t expected that, at the moment of her death, a cat would accompany her, doing everything possible to save her.
Mimi knew who had raised it, who had been kind to it, who its master was, and a master was to be protected at all costs. Even if its fur was burnt, its feet bleeding, and its body battered, it had to save Elisa!
It had run out of strength, blood trickling from its head, panting heavily, its body swaying on the window ledge, on the verge of falling.
Its usually lively and beautiful tail was now covered in blood and dust, the bone exposed, as it licked the glass, attempting to get close to Elisa as it always did.
Although the person was right in front of it, it couldn’t reach her. Mimi let out a pained meow, tears brimming in its blue eyes.
It was crying…
“Enough… Mimi…” Elisa dared not look back; she feared regretting her imminent demise.
Elisa, with red-rimmed eyes, watched the vigorous fire opposite her, the smoke stinging her eyes. She endured, refusing to close her eyes, using her last strength to crawl and pick up her phone from the ground.
She dialed the familiar number, it connected, and the countdown began. This time, would Hamish answer? She still needed to give him the engagement gift that had left an indelible mark on him…
Whether it was the amnesiac Elisa or the one who had regained her memories, she could no longer love him. Their relationship was the most familiar yet unfamiliar in the world, that of ex-husband and ex-wife.