They Regretted It After I Gave Up Chapter 03

They Regretted It After I Gave Up Chapter 03

I used to be on the school cross-country team. Eventually, even sitting up in bed was exhausting.

I used to have a 4.0 GPA and was a top contender for the Larkin Scholarship. Eventually, I couldn’t even read a single page. The words just floated in front of my eyes, and I couldn’t focus.

I asked Beckett once, “Why am I getting worse with all this treatment?”

He said, “That’s a normal reaction. It means the medication is working. You just have to push through it.”

I asked Mom, too.

“Mom, when am I going to get better?”

Her eyes immediately turned red, but she didn’t answer.

Dad turned to look out the window, saying nothing.

Eventually, I had no choice but to withdraw from school and rest at home.

I lay in bed all day.

Mom and Dad took turns caring for me, feeding me, bathing me, and keeping me clean.

The gray in Mom’s hair seemed to multiply.

Dad’s shoulders began to stoop.

Once, while Mom was washing my back, she suddenly started crying.

“Katerina, I’m so sorry. I didn’t take good care of you.”

I lifted my hand and wiped her tears away.

“This isn’t your fault. There’s just something wrong with my body.”

She only cried harder.

I held her, patting her back gently.

Back then, I thought she was crying because she felt sorry for me.

Only now did I realize she was crying because she knew perfectly well that I wasn’t sick at all.

She and Dad couldn’t meet my eyes, not because they were sad, but because they knew exactly what they were doing.

The night before the surgery, I made my decision.

I took out all the birthday and holiday money I had saved up, then transferred the funds from my bank account. I gathered it all, a neat sum, and sealed it in a fresh envelope.

Then I sent Mom a text.

*Mom, all the money I saved is in the nightstand drawer. You and Dad should use it.*

After that, I organized all my notes for the Larkin Scholarship, going through them one last time.

I had written those notes from ninth through eleventh grade.

Every subject, every unit was covered. I had marked the key points in red pen and added explanations for the harder material in blue.

I packed them into a cardboard box and stuck a note on top.

*Dad, please donate these to the school library for me. Maybe someone can use them.*

Finally, I wrote a very short letter and tucked it under my pillow.

*Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. I’m just so tired. Take care of yourselves. Please don’t blame me.*