I Got a Second Chance, So I Stopped Saving My Brother Chapter 04

I Got a Second Chance, So I Stopped Saving My Brother Chapter 04

After Mason was hospitalized, the Bennett family’s world came crashing down.

My father spent every day running between the hospital and the family’s building-supply store, while my mother rarely left Mason’s room. Within days, she looked years older.

Paige came to visit too.

Every time she came, she brought homemade soup and, with her eyes red from crying, said, “Mason, please have a little.”

At first, Mason still comforted her.

“This wasn’t your fault. I chose to save you.”

“Don’t cry, Paige. It hurts me to see you like this.”

I listened from nearby and nearly laughed.

It was all so touching, but sentiment like that never survives the test of time.

Paralysis was not a performance that ended once the tears dried and the curtain fell.

Mason had to be turned, bathed, catheterized, and given regular leg massages.

He had once captained the school basketball team, and girls stole glances at him wherever he went. Now he could not even use the bathroom without help from a nursing aide.

The first time he lost control of his bowels was one afternoon while Paige was visiting.

Paige was telling him about school.

“Mason, my drama teacher said the graduation showcase is still on, and she wants me to close the show.”

She chose her words carefully, trying to lighten the mood.

Mason’s expression, however, grew more strained by the second. He clenched his teeth as sweat gathered on his forehead.

I knew exactly what was happening.

He wanted to call the aide, but he could not bring himself to say anything in front of Paige.

Of course, I had no intention of saying anything.

A few minutes later, an unpleasant odor spread through the room.

The smile on Paige’s face froze.

She instinctively covered her nose.

The movement lasted only a second, but Mason saw it.

A raw, wounded look flashed through his eyes.

“Get out.”

Paige panicked.

“Mason, I’m not disgusted by you. I just—”

“Get the hell out!”

He swept the cup from his bedside table.

It shattered on the floor, splashing water all over Paige.

I immediately took hold of her arm.

“Paige, let’s go outside. Mason isn’t feeling well right now.”

Tears spilled down Paige’s face.

“Mason, I swear I wasn’t disgusted.”

Mason closed his eyes and refused to look at her again.

When the aide came in to clean him up, he kept his face turned toward the wall the entire time.

But I saw tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

In the hallway, Paige sobbed so hard she could barely catch her breath.

“I honestly didn’t mean to react like that. I just reacted before I could stop myself.”

I handed her a tissue.

“I know you didn’t mean it.”

I had said those same words countless times in my last life.

I had told them I never meant to hurt Paige. I had told them I had only been trying to save Mason.

No one had believed me.

Now it was Paige’s turn to find out what it felt like when no one believed a word she said.