Honestly, Beautiful -- Amber Liu and Eric Nam FF

6. Breathe Again

"Stop it, I can read your mind, you know," he said and with a twinkle in his eye added. "Your support and prayers pulled me through it all. Yours, Eric's, Brad's and the others snapped me out of my depression and self-pity. Not everyone can snap out of it after a talking to...but it worked for me. Brad straight out scolded for doing nothing but complain to him. Only after coming to terms with the fact that I would never play the guitar again; the fact that my surgeries could go wrong and I could die soon; did I ask myself some very important questions. What did I have to show for my life? What could I do with the time I had left?"

"Your solo album, "The Light" is your legacy?" asked Amber and he nodded.

"Well, Eric managed that as well. He left a legacy. His solo album "Honesty."

"And so have you, several times over" said James covering her long fingers with his long palm.

The restaurant owner returned to their table with the food they had ordered. As they ate in silent anticipation, he stared at them for a moment and began his story in half whispered, " Your friend was here late night and ordered almost the same dishes you did. He was wearing this weird shinning clothes so much so that afterwards I wondered if I had seen a angel."

"Yes, Eric has a slightly unreal quality about him. You should see him when he does his ooh ooh." quipped Amber out of habit.

"I had just served his food when he screamed 'get down everyone' as the first shots were heard in the café across the street. 'Keep calm and go out the back now. No screaming okay? I'm going to turn off the lights and lock the front door. Pretend there is no one here.' All of us just listened and obeyed. He just seemed to know what he was doing. He was like....like some commander in the Korean army on the way home from a fancy dress party. The lights went out and the screaming came from outside the restaurant. We were crawling away as fast as we could when the doors rattled and shots came through the window. I was the last to leave I had to lock up after me. Your friend just disappeared. He saved all our lives." His voice faded off and he began sobbing into his open palms.

"Was he here when you came this morning?" asked James. The manager shook his head still covering his face.

"Were the doors unlocked this morning?" asked Amber.

"No, that's why I was sure he wasn't real. I had to make sure you were real," he said almost screaming. "When you took the first bite of food, I knew you are not part of my nightmare." James put his arm around the manager's shoulders and whispered in a calm voice how he should see a trauma counselor.

"Is this the window where the shots came through" asked Amber pointing and examining the floor. There was a faint shadow of a streak of blood running from the front door to the window.

"I replaced it first thing this morning when I got here ..." he answered looking calmer.

"I think that's how Eric got out. Knowing him, he would have wanted to warn more people and somehow stop the gunman."

"Yeah, that sounds like him. What if he was hurt but he still tried to help by confronting the gunman?" asked James.

"Maybe not. He would be weaker than normal from a lack of food and he was injured. So what would he have done to help?"

"Knowing Eric, he would try to head off the killer by using a short cut through some back alley."

The manager's head shot up, "There is a deserted unmarked alley behind the Laundromat that only us locals know about. I'll draw it for you...." He said as he drew on a napkin. Both James and Amber called the search party and shared the drawing on social media.

In two minutes, Eddie called and said, "We've found him and we're heading to the hospital now. He's alive. Thank God. He's breathing."

By the time, James and Amber got to the hospital only his family was left milling outside his room. His parents rushed forward to hug them while Eddie gave them an update.

"He's fine, thanks to you. The bullet grazed the top of his head so there was lots of blood  but no real danger to his head. The doctors were worried about how dehydrated he was. Plus it seems he's been undernourished for a while now. They put him on an IV drip. But..." he said.

James and Amber nodded. They had both been on tour and knew first hand that keeping regular meals was hard amidst all the rushing around.

"He's lost his voice."

"What do you mean?" asked James in disbelief. Eric's gift involved talking and singing what would become of him without his voice. It was as bad as him without his guitar.

"They are trying to figure out if the damage is physical or psychological. Apparently, mutism is common with PTS," explained Eddie.

The doctors came out of Eric's room smiling. They nodded and opened the door for them.

Eric was looking pale and thin sitting up in his hospital bed but he had his characteristic grin plastered over his face.

"Hey, you got us worried for a while there..." said James. "We thought you would never change out of that horrible shinning outfit. I know you are a star but do you have to dress like one?"

Amber's face fell at the sight of the thick bandage around his head. She caught him watching her and pretended to grumble, "If you ever go missing for two days again Eric, I promise I'll hit you myself. Two whole days with no one to Facetime. No one to interrupt my game and make me lose my high score."

Eric laughed a silent laugh and he lifted up his writing pad and grinned.

On it he had writing "I don't miss you, too."

Amber laughed, took the pad off his hands and hit him with it.

"Good. Your twisted comic playfulness is still there. Things should return to normal soon. Please God give Eric back his voice" prayed Amber in her heart silently to herself.

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Miss You (Korean version), Behind the scenes and brother's version.