In order to shake off Melanie’s pursuit, Credence chose to head down a rugged path and a deserted area. The area was practically uninhabited, so despite all the screeching and screaming, no one came to help.
Below Credence was the bottomless abyss. If he fell, he would certainly meet the same fate as Melanie.
Apart from death, there was no other way out.
Dorothy’s legs were firmly hooked onto the cement railing. The pain burned on her skin. Using the last of her strength, she grabbed Credence’s blood-soaked arm. Her nails pierced into his flesh, as she shouted hoarsely, “Credence, hold on to my hand, hold it! Come on, climb up!”
His fists were shaking faintly, his face was pale, and his breathing was getting more rapid. It was obvious that he had reached his limit, and the muscles all over his body were about to collapse.
However, he didn’t care for his own life anymore. He looked at Dorothy, who had stretched her body out. She was trying to pull him up, and almost pressed against her abdomen. He got so nervous, his face turned extremely pale. “Be careful, don’t hurt our baby.”
Dorothy was flustered from his loving concern for her.
His own life was dangling off an edge. But even at this moment, he still worried about her and the child…
She was speechless at his resolve!
She quickly shrank back to ensure that she wouldn’t hurt her child. Tears gushed out of her eyes and flowed down her face, blurring her vision.
Her hair was a mess, some of it was stuck in her mouth. She choked from her sobbing, and her voice was very faint. “Credence, don’t give up. Use your strength, I’ll use all of mine. Climb up, let’s try again, ok? The child in my womb and me… all of us need you.”
He was very tired. Every cell in his body seemed to have collapsed, leaving him incredibly weak. But as he looked up at Dorothy crying for him, his thin lips trembled. He closed it ever so slightly and stared into her teary eyes. He smiled and sighed softly. “Okay! Honey, I hear you.”
When he called her honey, he used every last bit of love and tenderness he had from the bottom of his heart.
His face had turned purple and blue. He had lost a lot of blood at the places he was stabbed. He was exhausted, and he allowed the wind to sway his body about. He no longer had the strength to pull himself up anymore.
If she continued holding on to him, he would just end up pulling her down into the bottomless abyss.
No matter how strong he was, no matter how much he loved her, he couldn’t do anything at all.
Credence looked up, his short, black hair was being tussled by the wind. His dark eyes stared deeply at Dorothy’s pale, porcelain-like face. He couldn’t hide the tears in his eyes. “Honey, I love you. I’ve loved you for seventeen years. Now, it’s time for me to say goodbye.”
There was a flash of lightning in the sky, accompanied by rumbling thunder that seemed to tear the night sky apart. The atmosphere blended with his words as if to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t accompany you to the end, I’ve broken my promise!”
“No, Credence, I’m not letting you give up! Get up, get up! You promised… You promised! You told me not to be afraid, you said you’d take care of me! Who said you could give up? I won’t allow it, I’m not letting you die! Get up, climb up!”
Dorothy noticed that he was slowly pulling her fingers away. Her voice trembled in disbelief. Her heart was in great pain realizing he was giving up on life. “You haven’t seen our child yet…”
It was a sorrowful and desperate plea.
She looked at him hanging in mid-air, his face was barely recognizable, drenched in blood and dust. Tears rolled down her face, she gritted her teeth and said, “Credence, I’m telling you! If you die, then I’ll jump down with you!”
Her tears fell onto his face one drop after another. It felt like liquid hot iron, which made his face muscles tremble. The corner of his eyes was caked in blood, but warm tears soon penetrated through.
He stopped pulling her fingers away. He held on to her cold hand which had the wedding ring he gave her. He gently stroked the ring, and his heart filled with tenderness. “Okay, I won’t give up! Honey, hold on to my hand, I will try again!”
If he gave up the will to survive, his heart would ache even more.
She was a wonderful and beautiful woman who had a deep attachment to him. He had not loved her enough yet, and he was reluctant to leave her!
So, he would try again for her. He would not give up until he was dead.
Due to the pain, as well as his weak body, he held on tightly to her palm. With her tiny amount of strength, he slowly made his way up the railing bit by bit.
“Credence, keep going, I can see your head, your chin, and now your shoulders. Hurry! Just a little more. You are almost about to cross over.”
She saw that he was almost able to make it up, and completely ignored her own exhaustion. Sweat flowed out of her body, drenching her dress as well as every single strand of her hair. The foul smell made her want to puke.
However, she didn’t care about any of that. The only thing that mattered was Credence. All she wanted to do was use all her strength to pull him up.
At the last second, he raised his head and let out a loud roar. With the force from his shout, he heaved himself up and fell to the ground with a loud thud. His heavy body slammed onto the ground and just passed Dorothy’s delicate body.
Dorothy fell backward. Fortunately, her back fell onto his chest. Nothing bad happened to her belly. The back of her head landed in his firm chest, which stung a little. Coincidentally, she landed on one of his wounds, and he let out a painful groan.
“Oh! Did I accidentally touch your wound?”
Dorothy quickly got off his body. As she was about to check on his wounds, she heard a loud noise behind her. The cement bars suddenly cracked and collapsed, it fell heavily into the deep abyss, making a loud noise.
Had Credence not climbed up from it a few seconds ago, the two of them would have died.
Dorothy’s face turned pale. She clenched her belly which was starting to hurt. She looked at Credence who was lying on the ground and said with her trembling lips, “Credence, can you hold on? I’ll get to the car. You’ve… you’ve lost so much blood. I must take you to a hospital immediately. But our car is gone, and every car that Melanie brought has been destroyed. What should we do?”
She held her breath and quietly waited for Credence to respond.
However, despite waiting for a long time. He still did not reply.
Only the sound of the blowing wind could be heard. It passed her ear and bored into her bones. It was bone-piercingly cold!