Chapter 1: Chapter 1
In a hospital bed, a sickly-looking young man was watching his favorite cartoon.
'Can't believe how Shanks can be evil, it's not possible!' exclaimed Math, excited.
While Math was engrossed in his cartoon, a young woman approached the boy.
"Hey, Mathy! You seem pretty excited, hahaha, for this cartoon. Well, we have some news for you."
Seeing the lovely nurse he had a crush on talking to him, he couldn't help but feel happy. However, seeing her sad expression, he knew this news wouldn't be good.
"How are you, Jenny? When are you going to fulfill my request to go out 😉?"
"Math, you can't even stand up properly. How do you expect to go out?"
"Hahaha, for you, I could run a marathon, and depending on the prize, I might even win."
Seeing the atmosphere lighten up a bit, Math, while still anxious, was happy to talk to his little crush. They chatted while waiting for the doctor to bring the news.
"Well, Mr. Miller, my nurse informed you that we have some news about your situation, right?"
While the doctor spoke, Mathew listened attentively, noticing the sympathetic look from the nurse he had a crush on. All he could think was, did my life really deserve pity? Did my life really have any meaning, any significance?
In the Past
"You useless boy, how dare you? I asked you for one thing, and you can't even do that."
Looking at his mother, the little boy could only cry as he was trampled on. Lying on the floor with purple bruises all over his body, muffled sobs escaped, but the attempt to contain the pain was evident.
"I don't understand, why... Why me? I can't understand. Is this going to be my life forever?"
*...
"No, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no."
"I will be better, I will be the best person I can be."
Some time later, a boy could be seen grinning from ear to ear with a few small bruises on his neck. The boy walked around, greeting everyone with contagious enthusiasm.
"Did you see that boy? He's Barbara's son, right?"
"Hmm, that poor kid, living with that crazy woman."
"Poor thing, did you see those bruises? So young, not even 9 years old."
"I saw him too. He's so thin; he might break if someone sighs too hard near him, kskkk."
The boy, unaware of the murmurs he caused, was now in the public library.
To be a better person, the first thing I must acquire is knowledge.
Some time later, the boy was on the street selling small carvings he had made. It had been a long time since he left home; he couldn't stand being there with his mother's hateful looks and the violence he endured. Now, he fended for himself on the street, doing his own small jobs; here and there, he was now 13 years old.
When he was selling, he suddenly started feeling extremely intense headaches; when he realized it, he was already on the ground. The next time he woke up, he was in a public hospital medical ward, and the only thing he heard was that he had a brain tumor, specifically glioblastoma multiforme.
Time passed so quickly that when he realized, he was 15 years old and was stuck in hospitals. At least, he exceeded medical expectations; usually, people with this type of tumor survive an average of 2 years. Now, what the doctor was saying made sense.
"Your tumor has never been so aggressive in the last 2 years. Well, in less than a month, it has grown more than all those 2 years."
Is this it? My life.
"The expectation is that..."
Is dying so bad?
"You manage to survive."
Will I go to heaven?
"Another 2 to 3 days."
"Okay, doctor. Thank you."
The beautiful nurse said, "It's okay, Mathew. You can cry. Sniff, sniffle."
"Hahaha, you're the one crying, silly," the boy said with the biggest smile he had in his life. "I just need some time to take it in."
In the early morning, the cheerful boy who talked to everyone was no longer there; there was only a child with conflicting feelings, the pain at night was so much. The physical pain, the pain of loss, the pain of loneliness.
And with one last tear, the boy slept to never wake up again, at least not in this world.