However, whenever I saw other people clinging on to their parents and acting cute, envy coursed through my veins. Afraid that they might notice, I never dared to let my gaze linger for more than a few seconds.
Cameron burst into tears immediately, her body shaking with sobs. Evidently, my question saddened her horribly.
Before she could reply, I continued, “When I was in the third grade, I wrote a composition that won a prize. The title of the composition was ‘My Mother’. Grandma was very pleased and asked me to show her my writing, but I refused to do so. I even refused to show it to Macy, who went to school with me back then. I intended to burn that piece of writing as soon as I could, but I couldn’t bear to do it in the end.”
As Cameron wiped the tears off her face quietly, I sighed. “Actually, you turned out to be completely different from the mother I imagined you to be. When I was a child, I kept wondering how my mother looked like, because I had never seen her before. I thought she would be like Macy’s mother. Macy’s mother liked nagging at her—she used to stand by Macy’s bed and yell at her to wake up, sometimes until Macy got so annoyed that she yelled right back. I also thought my mother would be like my neighbor Wendy’s mother—she liked buying Wendy pretty dresses and accessories. I thought long and hard about how you would be like, but when you finally turned up, you were nothing like what I expected. You never gave me the warmth and comfort I craved—instead, you only brought me suffering and pain.”
Cameron cried even harder. She was so upset that she could hardly draw breath.
She sobbed, “Sienna, I’m sorry. I was wrong, alright? Give me another chance. This time, I’ll do my best to become the mother you have always wanted.”
I felt my heart clench painfully. I had longed for my mother day and night as a child. When I finally grew up, however, I realized that some people were better kept in distant, perfect memories.
I passed her a wad of tissues so she could wipe her tears. “I will never forget the sadness I felt when you abandoned me, but I can understand the love you feel towards your own child. Grandma always said that we must have a bit of sunshine in our hearts no matter how dark the road ahead is. However, I couldn’t keep up that optimism all the time. Honestly, neither of you is to blame—the only thing you ever did wrong was to give birth to me. I used to hate the both of you, but I don’t anymore.”
The world was full of imperfections. Cameron and Zachary weren’t wicked people, but neither were they good ones either. As parents, they had done me a great deal of wrong, but they had also done some right by me, too.
I was a pretty lucky person, I supposed. Anthony had finally opened up his heart to me, and my parents weren’t the heartless monsters I had made them out to be. I was very fortunate indeed.
Isabelle’s mother, however, probably struck hatred and dislike into the hearts of everyone unfortunate enough to meet her.
As for Rachel, her life wasn’t a bed of roses either. Like me, she had been abandoned at birth, and now that she was finally striking it out on her own, her parents had returned to pester her.
Life was never perfect. At some point in their lives, everyone would find themselves at their lowest point, and it was up to them whether or not to put their best foot forward and continue plodding on.
Cameron continued, “Sienna, I know how much you’ve suffered all these years. From now on, we’ll be right beside you. As long as you’re willing to accept us into your life again, we’ll always be there for you.”
I pressed my lips into a thin smile. “Your soup tasted wonderful. Thank you.”
She froze for a second before the tears rolled down her cheeks even more fiercely than before.
I sighed silently to myself. This conversation had been a long time coming. I didn’t want to become a bitter man like Jared.
Opening up to others didn’t mean showing only the best parts of yourself to them. It meant believing in a shared future despite all the hurt you had caused each other.
When Cameron left, it was already past midnight. I didn’t feel very sleepy. Since I had to take care of Anthony through the night, I decided that I might as well remain in the same room.
I dozed off anyway. Suddenly, I felt Anthony stir next to me. When I opened my eyes, I saw him struggling to make his way off the bed.
I sprung out of my bed immediately and ran over to help him, as though in a trance.
He was sweating profusely again, probably because of the injury on his back. Seeing that I was up, he looked at me apologetically and said, “Did I wake you?”
I shook my head, feeling a little sorry for him. As I grabbed hold of his arm, I asked in concern, “Are you alright? The doctor said you aren’t allowed to get off the bed yet.”
He pursed his lips, his fingers tightening around the handrails of his bed. “I’m going to the toilet.”
I froze for a moment before replying, “There’s a bedpan!”
“Help me to the bathroom!” he ordered as though he hadn’t heard me. His voice was low and full of authority, and for a moment I thought he was back to the cold, distant Anthony again.
He had his pride, I supposed. Knowing that I wouldn’t win in an argument, I gave in and helped him off the bed.
He was 180cm tall and looked almost absurd next to me. For some reason, I had a distinct feeling that he was consciously not putting any of his weight on me.
We entered the toilet. Since his arm was still attached to the IV drip, I bent down without a second thought to help him unbuckle his belt.
However, he grabbed hold of my hand almost immediately. Looking a little helpless, he said, “Alright, I can do this myself. Go outside and wait for me.”
I felt rather anxious. “How are you going to sit down on the toilet bowl?” The injury was on his back and didn’t affect his walking but sitting down would cause his wound to start bleeding again.
He smiled weakly at me and shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Be a good girl and wait for me outside.”
I looked at him, feeling more worried than ever. Pushing his IV drip aside, I said, “I’ll just help you unbuckle your belt. I won’t look at you, I promise! I’ll help you sit down on the toilet bowl.”
“Just listen to me and wait for me outside!” he said, still smiling. A hint of desperation had crept into his voice. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not a child, you know. I know what I’m capable of. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
He gazed into my eyes, trying to reassure me with an earnest look on his face. I couldn’t help but wonder how there could be such a stubborn person on this planet!
Sighing slightly, I went out of the toilet. I heard the door slide shut behind me.
I pursed my lips in annoyance. Anthony was always so set in his ways.
Because I was so worried about him, I sat outside and waited for a while more. After a long time, I started panicking a little. Turning towards the toilet door, I called loudly, “Anthony, are you alright?”
“I’m fine!” he replied, sounding cool and unbothered.
Around ten minutes later, I heard the toilet flush. I got up and was about to go in to help him. Nonetheless, once I pushed the door open, he was already standing at the door.
Seeing that he was fine, I let out a sigh of relief and helped him back to the bed.
His bandages had to be changed every three hours. The nurse came in shortly afterward with fresh bandages in her hands. This time, she didn’t try and hide the wound—instead, she peeled off the bandages and exposed his wound to the cold air.
Seeing the blistering skin on his back, my heart skipped a beat. An involuntary chill ran down my spine.
“We’ve gotten rid of most of the rotting flesh, and his skin will repair itself eventually. He will need to remain in the hospital for a while more so we can observe his condition. As far as possible, make sure he doesn’t make any big movements that might aggravate his condition. That could slow down the rate of his recovery.” After explaining this to us, the doctor removed the last bits of rotting flesh from Anthony’s back. He then packed his surgical knife away and let the nurse bandage up the wound.
Seeing the horrible wound on Anthony’s back, I shuddered in horror, hardly daring to breathe at all.
The nurse reattached the IV drip to his arm after bandaging his wound. Because of the medication, he fell asleep almost immediately again.
I sat by his bed, unable to fall asleep. His back was going to be scarred for the rest of his life.
After he found Summer, Anthony didn’t let her accompany him to the hospital. Instead, he told her to return to K City with John.
Initially, the plan was to take Anthony to a hospital in K City, too. However, after considering the rough journey and the state of his injuries, he decided to stay here and recuperate before returning home.
Zachary and Cameron dropped by practically every day to visit us. Although our interactions were rather awkward, they could be considered cordial.
Cameron set down a bowl of porridge on the table. Seeing how exhausted I looked, she asked hesitantly, “Why don’t you return to the hotel and have a good rest? Come back when you get your energy back. Your father and I c-can watch over him tonight.”
She sounded very cautious when she said this. I shook my head. “It’s alright. There’s a bed for me here, anyway. I can sleep here if I need to. The both of you still have other business to attend to in K City, so you should probably leave earlier and settle them.”
Cameron shook her head. “It’s alright. I’m getting on in age, so I’ve already assigned most of my work to Nick. No hurry.”
I didn’t try to argue with her again. After all, it was true that I hadn’t slept well last night. In fact, I was practically sleep-walking now.
Besides, I was in a food coma after lunch. Anthony nodded off slowly, while Zachary and Cameron sat quietly in a corner and watched over us.
It was way too quiet in the room. Slowly but surely, I drifted off to sleep.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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