Not long after the old lady had left Zachary’s room, the nurse came by for another routine check. Noticing Zachary still fast asleep in his bed, she tapped him gently on the shoulder to wake him.
Zachary opened his eyes and blinked a few times dazedly. Did he fall asleep again? It felt like he had just woken up not long ago. Was he still dreaming? These days, he could barely differentiate his dreams from reality. Things that happened in his dreams happened in real life too, like his alarm clock ringing and his morning routine which include brushing his teeth and washing his face… It was usually halfway through his dream when he would wake up unexpectedly and realizing it was all a figment of his imagination. Sometimes, he would even feel the urgency of needing to use the toilet while stuck in his dream, only to find that he had wet the bed.
Zachary felt that same strange feeling right now, like he was caught in between a dream and reality. He recalled waking up to look for his father, but he could not say how he had ended up in bed again. Perhaps it was all a dream from the beginning…
Noticing that Zachary was caught up with his own thoughts in his world again, the nurse shook her head sympathetically, thinking the poor child must be going through a lot right now. She said a silent prayer for his surgery to be successful so he could lead a normal life once more before leaving the room.
As the nurse left, Liam entered the room and looked at the time. It was 7.50am. He had left the room for barely ten minutes and Zachary had already woken up. Liam wondered why his son had woken up so soon after falling asleep just a while ago, but he decided against saying anything. “Have some breakfast, Zac. It won’t taste exactly like home, but it’s pretty good,” Liam said as he unpacked a giant takeaway food box filled with an egg and cheese burrito, some yogurt and hot cocoa.
His father was right, Zac thought. Nothing else could compare against homecooked food, but he ate his breakfast obediently anyway. As the father and son ate quietly, the room was so silent that Gilbert almost thought there was no one in the room when he dropped by.
“Zac, your surgery has been set for tomorrow at nine in the morning. Don’t eat too much today,” Gilbert reminded his nephew as he looked at his watch. “Don’t worry too much, son. The surgeon is one of my mentees. He’s a great, meticulous guy!” Gilbert reassured.
Zachary swallowed in fear as he automatically translated his uncle’s words to mean, “Don’t worry too much, son. The surgeon has plenty of experience cutting heads wide open”.
Gilbert was already used to his nephew’s lack of response by now. “It’s just a simple procedure to remove the blood clot from your brain. There’s a 95% success rate for the surgery, and my mentee has never botched any of his surgeries before!” he added.
Zachary considered his uncle’s words. That meant that he had to prepare himself for a 5% chance of dying. Uncle Gilbert said a few more reassuring words to Zachary and his father before returning to his ward rounds.
After eating breakfast and going through his routine morning check-up by the nurses, Zachary took out a pen and paper and began writing his will. Even though he had already stopped gaming, his main “crowzee” account was still worth at least millions. He had a side account that would easily sell for $10,000 since he had bought so many characters and limited-edition skins. He also had about $500,000 left in savings. He decided he would leave it all to Lilly, together with any money he made once he sold off all his gaming character figurines. He would leave his two unfinished textbooks to Hannah.
Zachary frowned as he realized that was about all the assets he had. He thought about how adults usually left their children land or houses or cars when they died, but he had none of those at all. Well, he could not just die like that with nothing to his name, could he? He had to live for a few more years and work hard to buy a house and car for Lilly, along with a few plots of land.
Lilly and her family arrived just as Zachary finished writing his will. Sharp-eyed Josh immediately caught sight of the paper Zachary was holding and made a grab for it. “What is this?” he asked curiously. “Let me see it!” Zachary quickly pulled back, preventing Josh from grabbing the paper.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Anyone Dares Bully you, Call Uncles!