Chapter 7 - Questions No One Expected
The atmosphere inside the bus had completely changed.
The angry whispers were gone.
No one looked at Ethan with suspicion anymore.
Instead, they looked at him with curiosity.
The driver switched off the engine completely.
Traffic continued flowing around the stopped bus, but inside, time seemed frozen.
One of the paramedics asked gently,
"Mr. Cole..."
"Ethan."
"Ethan."
He nodded.
"Can we ask you something?"
"If I can answer."
The paramedic glanced at the tattoos.
"Why did you get them?"
Several passengers instinctively looked away.
The question sounded far more personal than anyone else had dared ask.
Ethan surprised them by answering immediately.
"They're reminders."
"Of what?"
"The people I promised never to forget."
He slowly rolled up his sleeve.
The colorful artwork wasn't random.
Every section carried a date.
A name.
A small symbol.
There was a butterfly.
A tiny pair of children's shoes.
A heartbeat line.
A lighthouse.
A violin.
"What do they mean?" the nurse asked.
"The butterfly belonged to a little girl who shared Maya's hospital room."
He touched another tattoo.
"The shoes belonged to a boy who never learned to walk."
Another.
"The violin belonged to an old music teacher."
He smiled faintly.
"He made everyone in the cancer ward laugh."
The passengers listened without interrupting.
"Every time someone lost their battle..."
He paused.
"...their families donated something meaningful."
"They asked local artists to include those memories."
The mother whispered,
"So they're memorials."
Ethan nodded.
"I promised I'd carry them with me."
A teenage boy standing near the exit quietly removed one of his earbuds.
"I thought they were gang tattoos."
Ethan laughed softly.
"So does almost everyone."
The elderly woman who had criticized him earlier slowly approached.
"I'm ashamed."
"You don't need to be."
"No."
She shook her head.
"I judged you before I even saw your face."
Ethan looked at her kindly.
"We all do that sometimes."
The woman lowered her eyes.
"I hope not anymore."
The nurse suddenly noticed another faded scar near Ethan's collarbone.
"This wasn't from surgery."
"No."
"What happened?"
Ethan became quiet.
For the first time since anyone had spoken to him, hesitation filled his face.
"I'd rather not talk about that."
May you like
No one pressed him.
But curiosity had only begun.
