My New Twisted Life

Parental love

Bruno’s eyes darkened to hear his arrogant tone. His blood boiled in a rage. No one dared to talk to him like that. If he was not in Elijah’s body then he would have not delayed punching on his face hard. Just then, he heard Diana Smith’s sweet voice “Greyson… stop scolding my son. If you can’t erase his pain then don’t increase it.” She walked to the sickbed and sitting down on the chair beside the bed, she patted Bruno’s head. She looked at him with her teary eyes and said “Eli… don’t you love your Mom? Don’t you know how much pain I feel whenever I heard that you attempted suicide? Can’t you just forget Jessica and move on?”

Bruno stared at her with wide eyes. He was lost in those deep black eyes that were gazing at him lovingly and he didn’t hear a single word that she said. He lost his parents when he was very young and he almost forgot how his biological mother looked like. But at that moment he thought that his mother might look like this woman. He was feeling overwhelmed by the love that Diana was showering at him. Tears filled his eyes and he hugged her tightly. Diana was taken aback a little. Ever since he met the accident, he became very cold and distanced himself from everyone. This was the first time in those six months, he took the initiative to hug her. She couldn’t control her emotions and broke down into tears. Hugging him and patting his back, she said “Eli… we all are with you. Don’t ever think to leave us.”

“I won’t. This new life is a blessing from heaven. I won’t waste it just like that.”

Bruno’s somewhat emotional voice and words stunned everyone. Phillip and Greyson looked at him incredulously while Diana stopped patting his back. Happiness swept on their faces after a short span of time. Finally, Elijah started valuing his life. That was not less than a miracle. Greyson cleared his throat and said in a fatherly tone “OK, don’t forget your words and stop doing stupid things again.”

Bruno still didn’t like his tone and glancing at him through the corner of his eyes disdainfully, he hid his face in Diana’s shoulder. Greyson and Diana were happy to see the change in Elijah but Phillip was still in shock. He couldn’t close his mouth to see his boss’s sudden change in behavior. He knew that Elijah loved his parents very much and he always shared a good time with them but he never saw him clinging to his mother like a small kid. What on earth had caused such a drastic change in his action? Just as he was pondering, the doctor and a nurse came inside making the ward a little crowded.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” The doctor greeted them warmly with a grin on his face.

Then only Diana and Bruno released each other and looked at the doctor.

“Hello, doctor. I heard that you have done a brain MRI on Eli. Is everything alright?” Greyson was the one who asked this.

“Yes… I had to clear some confusion, so we did the brain MRI, but everything is fine. All his reports are normal and I will discharge him tomorrow.”

Bruno suddenly spoke, “Hey doctor… come here.”

All the five pairs of eyes drifted at Bruno who was staring at the doctor curiously. The doctor walked to Bruno while Diana stood up and stepped back to give him space. Just as the Doctor came closer to the sickbed, Bruno grabbed his white coat around his chest with both hands and pulling towards him, he asked seriously “Is there any chance to improve the condition of my legs?” ‘If you say ‘no’ then I’ll kill you right now.’ This wild thought was running in the back of his mind.

The doctor was trembling under his fierce gaze while the other four people were dumbstruck to witness the scene in front of their eyes and forgot to react. Swallowing his saliva, the doctor said “There is indeed a chance of improvement in your condition, but you need to follow the instructions and stop attempting suicide.” He was shaken from inside in fear but still tried to sound confident.

This was the most pleasant thing Bruno heard ever since he regained his consciousness. He released and patted his chest while saying “Now I will follow each and every instruction of yours. Tell me what I have to do.”

A satisfactory smile lit up the faces of the rest of the people present in the ward. The doctor straightened his body while tidying his creased coat and said “Well… As your nerves are compressed due to the accident, you need to go for physiotherapy and you have to do regular physical exercise. And of course, you must take the medicines properly that you are not taking, making your condition worse. If you had followed all these instructions, your condition would have improved by now.” The doctor was unhappy with his behavior and that was reflected in his tone.

Bruno was stunned now. After facing death so close, he knew how valuable life is. He couldn’t help but feel sad for Elijah who didn’t value his life. He even didn’t try to improve his condition. All these were because of his so-called fiancee. At that moment he couldn’t stop hating that woman and his expression darkened.

The doctor was taken aback to see his grumpy face. He thought that he might be angry because of his words and staggered back a little in horror. Just a few minutes back he met his anger-filled ferocious gaze. He had no idea what action this man would take against him, out of anger. It was better to leave the ward before he got angrier. As he thought this, he looked at Greyson and said “I will give you the details of the physiotherapist. Excuse me.” He lowered his head and exited the ward trailed after by the nurse. Phillip exchanged a meaningful look with Greyson and followed the doctor.

Now, only the three of them left in the ward. Bruno was still engrossed in the thoughts of Elijah and didn’t notice that his parents came closer to him, looking at him lovingly. After a while, Bruno felt their gaze on him and looked up at them. He was startled to see the tenderness in their eyes, especially in Greyson’s gaze. This father of Elijah… a few minutes before he was scolding him and now was looking at him earnestly. Bruno was confused and stared at him skeptically. “Son, I am very happy today. I know my Eli will never accept defeat. He is always a strong and determined boy. I know, you will overcome this difficulty too.”

Bruno caught the word ‘Son’ and his heart thumped loudly. No one had addressed him like this before. He didn’t know what he was feeling at that moment. That feeling was indescribable in words. He wanted to laugh but at the same time, he wanted to cry. He never experienced such emotions and was feeling overwhelmed to get a family all of a sudden that he was lacking in his previous life. But a thought appeared in his mind. He was betrayed and killed by the man whom he trusted the most. Could he trust these unknown people? He looked at them carefully but other than intense love and care he couldn’t find anything else in those two pairs of eyes. ‘Maybe this is called ‘parental love’.’ A smile gradually hooked up his lips as he thought this and he said “I will do my best, D-Dad.” He stuttered a little.

Greyson and Diana were totally enchanted by his words. They always wanted their son to be happy and make great progress in his life. There was no limit to happiness in their hearts. Greyson tapped his back while saying “That’s my boy.”

Then they started chatting, but most of the time Bruno maintained the silence and only listened to them attentively. Greyson and Diana were not surprised by his silence as Elijah also used to speak very little. Unknowingly, Bruno was acting just like Elijah. By the time Phillip came back to the ward, they were ready to go out. After waving at Bruno they left.

The next morning after the checkup, the doctor discharge him and Phillip brought him to the ‘Alpine villa’. This was in the suburb, a little far away from the capital city. After that accident, Elijah started living alone in this villa, accompanied by Phillip, as he didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone. He always avoided meeting with outsiders.

Phillip already arranged for the best physiotherapist in the capital city and by the time they arrived at the villa, the therapist already reached there. Bruno was very excited as he wanted to recover as soon as possible and cooperated with the therapist fully.

After the session, rolling the wheels of his wheelchair, Bruno went to the French window of the study room and looked outside.  He could see the vast area around the villa through the window. As ‘Alpine villa’ was on the top of a small hill, the scenery was picturesque and attractive. Just as he was enjoying the scenic view, an idea popped up in his mind. He called Phillip who came running within a minute.

“Yes, boss.”

“I need my laptop and phone.”

“OK, boss.” Phillip turned and left immediately. After a while, he came back and handed over the laptop and phone to him. Bruno waved his hand signaling him to go out and opening the laptop he started typing something on the keypad. His fingers were moving at a lightning speed on the keypad and gradually a wicked grin appeared on his face. He mumbled “Damian Cox… this is the starting of your downfall. Welcome to hell.”