Yours, Always....

Chapter 12:A Broken Link

Emily sat at her kitchen table, the slip of paper with the useless phone number in front of her. The phone lay beside it, the call still fresh in her mind. She had hoped this number would lead her to the woman from Daniel's past, but like so many things lately, it had turned into another dead end. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. Everything felt harder than she imagined. The more she searched, the further away the truth seemed to get. Daniel deserved answers, but Emily was struggling to give him any. Her thoughts drifted back to the waterfall, to the closeness she'd felt with him there. She could still feel his touch, the way his skin had felt against hers. She had let herself get lost in those moments, even though she knew it wouldn't last. Now, reality was sinking in. Daniel's heart still belonged to someone else, even if he didn't remember her. Emily shook her head, trying to refocus. She couldn't allow her feelings to get in the way. This wasn't about her. She had to find this woman, no matter how hard it was. She picked up the phone again, determined not to give up. There had to be another way. Maybe the police had overlooked something. Maybe there was more to the accident than they'd found. She decided to go back to the station, hoping for more clues.
At the police station, the same officer from before greeted her with a polite smile. "Back again?" he asked. Emily nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I was wondering if there's anything else in the file. Anything at all. The phone number didn't lead anywhere, but there might be something we missed." The officer frowned, flipping through the file again. "I don't think there's much more here, but I'll double-check for you." Emily waited quietly, her heart heavy with worry. She wanted so badly to find something—anything—that could help. The seconds dragged by as the officer scanned the documents. Finally, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but this is all we have," he said, closing the file. "Maybe you could try visiting the crash site again. Sometimes, people leave things behind, even after the official investigation is done." It wasn't much to go on, but it was a lead. Emily thanked the officer and headed back to her car, feeling a small flicker of hope. If the police couldn't help, she'd have to find the answers herself.
That evening, Emily sat on her couch, staring at the ceiling. The weight of the day pressed down on her. Every time she thought she was getting closer, the trail seemed to disappear. She couldn't stop thinking about Daniel, about the pain she saw in his eyes when he tried to remember. The next morning, she would return to the crash site, hoping for something, anything that could bring her closer to the truth.