“Mom, I’ll definitely study hard from now on and never make you angry again.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Mom and Dad excitedly hugged each other, seemingly envisioning my bright future. I sat numbly on the hospital bed, the metallic taste in my throat lingering.
From that day on, I never touched a paintbrush again. A child’s passion was completely destroyed.
6.38 AM
Mr. Harrison looked at the ER, his voice filled with worry. “They’ve been in there so long, I hope Lily’s okay.”
Mom paused, realizing I’d been inside for a long time. But her anger hadn’t subsided. “She might as well just die in there! That way, she won’t upset me every day!”
The words had barely left her lips when the ER doors opened. The doctor took off his mask and shook his head. “We regret to inform you, we’ve done everything we could.”
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Mom’s body stiffened abruptly.
“Are you kidding me?”
Mom’s voice sounded incredibly dry.
The doctor sighed. “When the patient arrived, three ribs were broken, and the liver was severely ruptured; there was nothing we could do. We also found that the patient had severe gastric lesions, already showing signs of cancer. Early symptoms of this condition include coughing up blood and vomiting blood.”
Mom looked as if she’d been struck by lightning, frozen in place.
Vomiting blood.
Mom suddenly remembered that before the finals, I had symptoms of coughing up blood. But Mom hadn’t paid any attention. After tearing up all my artwork, she sent me to school and joined all the other parents in petitioning for no
breaks.
I endured the stomach illness, pushing through more than a hundred days at school. Finally, one day, I woke up to brush my teeth and found my mouthwash cup filled with blood.
I secretly left school to seek medical attention, but Mom treated it as skipping class and humiliated me in front of the
entire class.
The moment I jumped from the building, the howling wind rushed through my body, and all I felt was relief.
Mom burst into the ER like a madwoman. I lay on the operating table, pale, my face gaunt, emanating the chill of death.
Mom stared at my face for a moment, then suddenly let out a long breath.
“You’ve got it wrong. This isn’t Lily.”
“Lily isn’t this thin, this haggard.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
During the time I was stuck in school before the finals, I had lost thirty pounds. To solve a few more math problems, I skipped lunch and naps, locking myself in the classroom to study. Over time, my stomach condition grew worse and
worse.
6:36 AM
<
Σ
But Mom would only say on the phone, “The finals are approaching. The last three months, give it your all.”
Mom picked up her bag and walked out of the ER. “Lily’s math is weak; I’m going to buy her some study guides and take
them to her.”
Dad followed closely behind Mom, his lips trembling a few times, but he said nothing. As they reached the hospital entrance, Mom turned to Dad and said, “Before the finals, tell Lily to come home for a bit. I’ll cook her something good.”
Dad’s lips trembled. “Okay.”
