Can't I Touch Your Heart?

Chapter 63 The Greedy Sacrifice

Ember's father, Harnston Helberg always wanted to start a business. But he didn't have the right funds since he came from an average Danish family. But he wasn't ready to give up and let that hold him back. He moved to America after his marriage and worked with his American friend, Thomas. He collected a group of American wannabe manga artists to work together on a project. He took a loan from the bank and invested it in their equipment and workplace.

"Harn! Your wife is in the hospital!" Thomas shouted as he entered his office.
"Suzan, take care of the rest," Harnston picked up his hoodie and ran outside. They ran to the hospital and found the three babies in a cradle. He was overjoyed as he looked into Aed's eyes.

But, from there began their downfall. 

"It's about Ember. He might not survive for very long."

He had to be given special medical attention which used up all the loan money Harn had with himself. They had to buy him his medicines, along with other breathing equipment he needed since his lungs were too weak to work independently. Also, he needed to visit the hospital every week. The doctors told them he might develop complications after such a surgery and needed to be kept under check so that everything could be diagnosed and fixed quickly.

"How much will one visit cost?" Harnston asked Aed as they stood in the dingy kitchen.
"$500 for every checkup,"
"...How do I get rid of Ember?"

"What?"
"You know we are already under so much debt. And even the business isn't doing so well. We can't afford such an expensive treatment-"
"Is it Ember's mistake he was born this way?" Aed asked.

"So, who should I blame? You?"
"God makes everyone with something in his mind," She pressed his face. He looked into her eyes, "I'll earn for him,"

"You're so manipulative," Harnston laughed.

Aed worked harder as a doctor. Ember grew up fairly normally. He was strictly asked not to run since his stomach wasn't growing like other kids, so the doctors wanted him to put as little pressure on his core as possible. He would sit and paint his brothers playing in the garden. Harnston's business worsened and he lost all his shares. They slowly went bankrupt and he grew irritated.

Aed was using all her salary on Ember's treatment. Harnston began to hate Ember. And as time went by, his hate towards Ember only increased in intensity.

"Papa!" Ember's said his first word and Aed laughed. She looked at Harn, "See! Ember learnt to speak before Loarine and Maple!"
Ember walked towards Hanston and grabbed her trousers. He had the same Prussian blue eyes as Harnston. Harnston pushed him away and picked Maple into his arms, "Don't call me that," He told Ember.

"Honey, you shouldn't say that to a child,"
"I will say it!" Harnston shouted, "I hate him!"

"Harnston!" Aed shouted. Ember fainted and fell on the floor, "Oh Ember! Where are your medicines?" She picked him up. He usually fainted out of the blue and got himself injured. As he grew, he knew of his father's hatred towards him. He always wanted his father's love and attention, but it was given to Maple and Loraine while Ember was made to sit in a corner.

"Papa! I want to play football too!"
"Nah you weakling, just sit there and watch us play," Harnston would remind him again and again that he was different.

Aed just noticed it silently.

Hanston would ignore him or just talk to him to demotivate him.
"You eat so much-Half of my income is used up in your food, medicines and fucking treatment,"
Ember stopped eating after that and fell severely sick.

"Why did you say that to Ember?!" Aed shouted at him, "Why are you always so hard on him? Are his challenges any less that you have to make his life harder?"
"I just don't want him around!"
Their fights increased.
"Mom and dad are fighting again because of Ember," Maple told Loraine and both of them looked at him.

"Mommy, I'm defected, right?" Ember asked one day.
"No Ember, you are fine,"
"Then, why does dad hate me?"
"He doesn't hate you, Ember. How can anyone ever hate my darling?"

"Do I make you sad?"
"You don't,"
"Then, why are you always crying?" 

That day, Aed wrote a letter to the World Health Organisation about Ember's condition and they agreed to provide all the financial support Ember needed for his treatment since his disease was a rare condition only very unfortunate children suffered from. She went to give that news to Harnston but before she could say anything, he handed her the divorce papers.

"Choose. Me or Ember,"
"... What do I do of Ember?"
"I can get rid of him,"
She signed the papers, "No thanks."

"He'll die before me,"
"It's alright. He has become my everything. All this means nothing if I don't have all my children with me,"
He smirked as he took the papers from her, "You're going to die a sad death with no one around you,"
"I don't need you. Ember's treatment will be supported by the WHO. I'll use my salary to raise the other two. You can leave,"

'WHO Funding?' Harnston thought about it while he sat in a small pub in the evening.
"If you take Ember in," His friend, Thomas suggested, "You can get all the money they send for his treatment,"
"So?"
"We pile that in business,"
"If we use that money in business, how will Ember get his treatment?"

"Why do you care? The worst that can happen is that he dies. And you don't like him either way. It's like killing two birds with one stone."

"You're right."
At the court, his mother and he fought to keep Ember. But he won and kept back Ember.

The last time she saw him, he was very skinny and pale. Almost like a corpse. His veins appeared right beneath his skin. He was dying. The treatment wasn't working. She knew he wouldn't survive with Harnston. She wanted to grab him and run away from the world but she couldn't gather the courage. And so, she left. 

Hanston had Ember with him.
Ember was nothing but a source of money for him.

He'd buy Ember some cheap painkillers whenever his pain grew too much. The money was used upon his business and slowly, it bloomed when he began getting contracts. He paid for all his debts and took Ember to India with him for his first contract. He met Rhea there and finally got away from the pain of losing his mother. Aed passed away by then and Ember knew about it after two years.

He got engaged with the daughter of the president of another company. That would make the two partnerships strong. Ember met Maple, who seemed completely uninterested in him.
"Where's Loraine?" Maple asked.
"I don't know," Ember replied.
"Ember, you're kinda depressing to be around, bror."

He was alone. But a hope kept him going. Hope that he'd meet Rhea again and maybe someday, they'd marry and have kids. And if Rhea gave birth to another Ember, he would never give up on him as his father did. They'd raise him through all the hardships.
"Rhea said she loves guitar," He learnt the guitar. He learnt how to cook so that Rhea won't have to work nonstop like his mother. He believed that he couldn't be a perfect son, but he wanted to become a perfect husband.

He was hoping for something that might never happen. But just the thoughts made him happy and for children like him, the world in their head meant everything to them.

Even more than the real world.

-To be continued

Can't I Touch Your Heart?Teach Me the Art of Living