Ember stood at the podium before the storyboard team and presented the presentation behind him. He explained to them their budgets as Madison pressed few flyers in front of each one of them.

"Now, in this segment," Ember explained as he felt the stabbing pain in his stomach. He pressed his stomach and continued speaking with a smile. The meeting was almost over, he could handle the pain till then, he told himself. Suddenly, Loraine and Maple barged into the room.

Everyone turned towards them and they walked towards Ember. Loraine grabbed Ember's hand and pulled him out of the room with Maple following them.
"What the hell are you doing? That was an important business meeting-"
"Does it look like I care about shit like that?" Loraine turned towards him.
"Leave me!" Ember freed his hand and moved a step back "Can you stop interfering with my work!?"

"Your work will kill you!" Loraine shouted. Ember looked at him as he pressed his stomach. Loraine smirked "It hurts, doesn't it?"
"No, it doesn't. I'm okay,"
"You're not okay," Maple looked at him "Stop lying to yourself, Ember,"
Ember fell on the floor and clenched his stomach tightly.

"Ember!" Maple picked him up in his arms and turned towards Loraine "Call Chuck, we're heading to the hospital. This is serious,"

. . .

What are the disadvantages of having a photographic memory? That you cannot move on. That you can never forget how your past has been. The past that would beat inside you like a second heart that will weaken you before you know it. It isn't an ability, it's a disease and such people need to be treated not used. Because in the end, God has given us the ability to forget because of some reason. Ember didn't have that ability. He couldn't move on from his past and now all that stress was taking its toll on him.

But to think about it, isn't he too young to run out of time?

Ember slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling above him. He was inside an empty room, lying on a white metal bed with a table kept beside him. He was under IV drops. He smiled as he looked at his hand.

Soon, an old doctor came inside the room. He smiled at Ember.
"Hello, Ember. How do you feel now?" He asked in English with a dominant Indian accent.
"What happened to me?"
"You fainted, boy. Not having proper meals, huh. You know that your heart almost collapsed right now. Few seconds late and your family could have lost you,"

"How is that related to me not eating?"
"The muscle mass of your body has fallen tremendously because of your extreme weight loss. This has affected the muscles of your heart too-making them weaker. So, you're basically on the edge of life. But don't worry. I've prescribed you some supplements. Eat this along with your food, have a good diet and drink lots of water,"

'If I could eat, I wouldn't be here,'

The hospital discharged Ember around noon and Maple did all the paperwork. Maple didn't say a word and neither did Ember initiate any conversation. Chuck had been waiting for them outside the hospital. They reached Nason and Maple followed Ember to his room.

Once they were into his room, Ember turned towards him
"Tell me everything," Maple ordered. He looked serious.
"I'm having few digestion problems"
"Like what?" Maple raised his left eyebrow.
"It's a vicious circle. I eat, throw up, faint, regain consciousness, eat and throw up again. Each time I throw, the pain intensifies. I'm scared of that pain. Even the painkillers don't work anymore. So I decided to avoid eating altogether," Ember explained.

"For how has this been going?"
"About two months now,"
"And you didn't feel like telling me?!" Maple shouted and Ember trembled. It wasn't usual for Maple to be angry but he was the worst when he was.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry about me"

"That isn't the damn point!" Maple shouted and took a deep breath "We are your brothers, Ember. It's our duty to be worried about you. We will never feel burdened even if you share a thousand problems with us,"

"You won't understand,"
"We've shared the same placenta and the same womb, Ember. If we won't understand you then who will?"
Loraine entered the room and Ember turned back to look at him. He took a breath of relief,
"How do you feel now?" He asked.
"I think I'm better for now," Ember smiled.
"What is your disease?" Loraine asked.

"I don't know," Ember replied
"It's something related to his underdeveloped stomach. Mom's diary, Loraine,"
"Yeah, you're right,"
"Which diary?" Ember asked.
"I think it's rather time we give it to him," Maple proposed and Loraine expressed his approval by a nod.
"What is going on?" Ember asked.

"Also, call Elford," Maple told Loraine.
"I'll send the message within today,"

Loraine gave the diary to Ember. He decided to sit down and read what his mother wanted him to read. That thin diary might have been the longest book he had ever read. It was just depressing, nothing else.

"Good evening, uncle," Neel walked into their apartment.
"Stop," Mr Laghari stopped him and walked to him, "Why do you come here every day?" He asked.
"To see Rhea, of course,"

"You don't need to come everyday for that, do you?"
"I-...No, uncle,"
"Then, don't come here again. Let her study, don't distract her,"
"...Okay,"

That evening, Ember went to the class and met Rhea. AJ and Meenu were something as usual and staring at them intensely. They looked into Ember's eyes and he turned uncomfortable. He moved away from Rhea and smiled at her.

"Thank you for coming to see me," Rhea said.
"Me? I didn't come to see you,"
"What? Stop lying!"
"I'm not, seriously,"
"But I saw you!"

AJ and Meenu looked at each other and smirked "So," AJ got up "You're seeing hallucinations of Ember now? Oh la la,"
"AJ, this is called being high on love," Meenu smirked.
"Bro, you've won the maiden's heart," AJ tucked Ember's stomach.
"Shut the fuck up!" Rhea shouted as her face turned red,

'A hallucination? It looked so real...'

Rhea pressed the blunt end of her pencil on his cheek and he turned towards her as his cheek squished.
"Tell me, what should I draw for the next round?" She asked. He moved the pencil away, "You have to think of that yourself, Rhea,"

"Whenever I look at the canvas, my mind just goes blank" She complained.
"Isn't that something good?"
"How?"
"This way, even your mind becomes a canvas. You can throw your imagination on it and it will inspire your soul,"

"Easier said than done,"
"Have you ever heard about Chinese painters?"
"No. Is there something special about them?"
"Unlike American painting ideas, the Chinese focus on your core while you paint. They guide you to their paintings through that white canvas. You can see whatever the painter wants you to see. It's a beautiful way of painting, isn't it?"

"But I can't do something like that in a competition. It needs to be something authentic"
"The most beautiful paintings are not always very grand or glamorous,"
Rhea wasn't listening to him at that point. He chipped his fingers before her "Where are you lost?" He smiled.
"In your eyes,"

Ember moved back and turned red. AJ started talking to him again and he began talking to him. He had turned his face away from Rhea but she could see his red neck and ears. She smiled as she looked at him.

She decided to give Ember a treat and he didn't know how to turn her down. They went to a sweet shop and she got him some Gulab Jamun. He smelled them like always. But it was something sweet this time. After all, Ember was a sweet tooth. He ate the Indian delicacy and licked his lips once he was finished.

"You should feed me good stuff like that," He grinned.
"So that you gain some weight?"
"So that I grow thicc, yeah,"
"No thanks," Rhea walked towards her bicycle. He pressed his hands on the handle and looked into her eyes.

"I want to give you a ride someday too,"
"Well, do that today," She looked at him. He smiled but of embarrassment "No, not today. Some other day,"
Rhea laughed and got on her bicycle. She looked at Ember but he suddenly covered her mouth.

"Ember?"

He ran towards the bathroom. Rhea dropped her bicycle and ran after him. He went inside the bathroom and vomited. For other people, this might not be a serious problem, but for him, it was ruining his life. His body wasn't digesting anything anymore. It felt like his gut was not functional.

Every day the pain grew intensely and it became difficult to hold back tears. Something was seriously wrong and needed to be fixed. It felt as if someone was pulling his gut out of his body. He pressed his hands on the toilet seat, as the pain grew stronger, his grip grew tighter.

Rhea stood outside the bathroom, waiting for him. It had been thirty minutes now. He looked at the silver string hanging around his neck and remembered what he read in that diary.

'Honestly, we should call Elford here now,'

-To be continued

Ember Helberg
Can't I Touch Your Heart?