Chapter 4

I lowered my eyes and touched the pocket over my chest. Inside was a ten-dollar bill. It was the same one Anna had placed in the plastic bucket.

I did not spend it. Even though that ten dollars could have bought me painkillers, I could not. It was the last connection between Anna and me.

From the moment I first saw Anna, I knew she was someone exceptional.

Over the past four years, I still caught pieces of news about her through other people's conversations and screens in public places even when I did not have a television or a phone.

She was doing great after she left me. In just four years, she had already become the CEO of a publicly traded company, openly displaying her love for Marvin as their wedding date drew closer.

I had thought that I would only be able to see Anna on television or in magazines for the rest of my life… Until I met her again a few days ago.

Seeing her after four years felt like a dream come true. The instant I saw her, all the longing I had suppressed for so long came rushing out.

I missed her terribly.

But...

I looked at my legs, then at the hot dogs in front of me, and gave a helpless, bitter smile. I quickly packed the hot dog skewers into a bag and handed them to the customer.

The customer took the bag, and his expression darkened at once. He snapped, "Look at this garbage! The hot dogs are all burnt! How am I supposed to eat this?!"

Before I could apologize, he threw the bag in my face and stormed off.

The hot skewers burned my skin, and the sharp wooden sticks scratched the corner of my eye.

Feeling the shocked stares of the pedestrians around me, I lowered my head and looked at the food scattered across the ground with an aching heart. I carefully bent down and struggled to pick them up, then cleaned the dust off them. Just as I was about to put the hot dog into my mouth, a hand knocked them from my grasp.

I looked up and saw Anna's tearful eyes.

I did not know what I had looked like to Anna that night when I appeared before her, but I knew what Anna looked like to me now. She was like an angel appearing in the darkness that was my life, bringing me salvation.

Yet, I could see my own reflection in her eyes. I was sitting in a filthy wheelchair, dressed in shabby clothes with messy hair, my body smelled of smoke and grease.

I simply looked too miserable.

Without thinking, I turned around and tried to escape, but I had forgotten for a moment there that I was now a crippled man. I fell heavily to the ground. Rough gravel cut into my palms, and my legs got trapped awkwardly in the wheelchair.

Anna wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and helped me up. I sat in the wheelchair with my head lowered, not daring to look at her. The way she looked at me made me restless.

After a long silence, Anna finally sighed and said, "We haven't seen each other in four years. Have a cup of coffee with me."