Heal Me or Let Me Die

Chapter - 14

Flashback :

That day, Xiao Zhan, after an emotionally exhausting upheaval and burst into tears in his mother's embrace, was sitting in bed enjoying his favorite sport, which was broadcast live on TV. An ice hockey game! The match was happening. He was fond of this game since childhood. It always drew him when the players ran everywhere with their skating shoes on as they fought to catch the dice to get hold on it and made goals against another team.

Little did others know that because of his passion for the sport. Xiao Zhan tried out once to play it in his high school and signed up to join his school team. But, due to his bad luck, he could not succeed in becoming a player. Due to his clumsiness, he could not learn skating and was dropped from the team. Yet this can never dishearten him and stop him from loving the game.

He still loves the game with the same passion and though not often, but sometimes he watches it as he was watching it now.

Engrossed in watching the game intently, he for a moment forgot as much as possible of all his worries and sorrows. He laughed at the players fighting for passes and cheered for them whenever someone made a good move or scored a goal for his team. Sometimes he was so quiet that his mother had to check on him to see if he was okay. She was relieved every time she saw him enjoying the game.

That time was important and better than the morning, and Mrs. Xiao was grateful for that. Seeing Xiao Zhan in a good mood after several days was a relief for her too.

Yet it couldn’t stay longer.

Working quietly on her laptop, she felt a sense of anxiety when she heard a baby giggle and suddenly felt an eerie silence envelop the room. Looking at the source of the sound, her senses became alert and her gaze turned to Xiao Zhan in an instant.

Xiao Zhan remained fixed in his place, staring at the screen. His eyes, for the moment, were the epitome of emptiness and he was far from understanding what he was thinking or doing. His weary breaths echoed in the room, making the silence all the more terrifying. His ears were ringing and he heard voices in this void that he did not know where they were coming from.

‘Shut up…just shut up!'

‘….please, leave me!’

He wanted to shout these words but nothing came out of his mouth. It was as if someone had sealed his lips and cast such a spell on his mind that he was dazed.

His grip on the remote had tightened to such an extent that his fingers could hurt but he didn't care. His other hand was tightening the sheet to tear it. Tears welled up in his eyes and started wetting his cheeks but his body remained motionless like a statue on the stage to be shown to the audience. But...without sound and movement.

Seeing him in this state, Mrs. Xiao immediately rushed to him. Snatching the remote from his tight grip, she switched off the TV and took him into her motherly embrace, saying comforting words to soothe his thumping heart that was crying silently.

His heart ached at the throbbing sounds in his mind. He was losing his rationality and this made the situation worse. At that time, he was not composed and Mrs. Xiao had to work hard to calm him down. She kept saying words of comfort to him to take his mind off the thoughts that were triggering him.

After his mother's tireless efforts, Xiao Zhan's lucidity begins to return. Just as he calmed down a bit, a nurse came to bathe him.  He thought it would be better to take a hot bath to take his mind off the incident and focus on something for a while.  But little did he know that this would be the beginning of his new torment.