| 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗! |

【2】Blossoming Loveliness

  Bruno awoke with a hazy white cloud obliterating his vision. Where was Shmuel? Where were his parents? But more importantly, where was he? Upon taking a better look, Bruno realized that he was inside his bedroom. He was quite surprised to see that some things had clearly been moved around from their original locations, and there was a distinct difference in the number of toys sitting on his shelf from when he first left the house to when he had come back.

"Oh goodness, I can't believe it!" Bruno excitedly turned around and saw Shmuel in a bed of his own, a few metres from his. The young boy was reading a book. An adventure book. Shmuel had taken his advice and was reading Treasure Island!

"Shmuel's reading Treasure Island!" Bruno excitedly blurted out. 

"Oh, my God! Bruno, Bruno!" Mother exclaimed, rushing over to his bedside. Bruno hadn't even noticed her at first, standing in his doorway alongside Ralf. She was very hard to make out, due to her striking resemblance to one of Gretel's dolls.

"Bruno, are you hurt?" Mother stroked his cheeks, which were still ice cold from the events that had happened previously. His coldness didn't take away his natural flush, however, because he could feel his cheeks progressively growing warmer.

"Wh-what? This all happened last night... How did you get my room like this... how is mum up and moving?" Bruno asked.

"Bruno, that wasn't last night. It was over a week ago," Father explained in a concerned tone of voice. "We had to rush you to the ER. You contracted hypothermia. Luckily, Shmuel had a very minor case. You, however, weren't so fortunate. You were injected with sedatives, and then your mother and I... we had to consent to you getting—"

"Getting what?" Bruno asked, wiggling his toes. He couldn't because his toes were now nonexistent.

"What? No, no, no!" Bruno screamed and sat up quickly with tears in his eyes. 

"They had to amputate half of your feet..." Father looked downward, aware of the fact that his son's life would never be the same ever again.

"I'm so sorry, Bruno..." Mother kissed his face sullenly. "I love you so much..."

"Me too," Shmuel admitted, closing his book and standing proudly. "We're best friends for life. I promise I'll help you as much as I can.

"Not that your love for me matters, now..." Bruno said, sadly. "I don't have half of my feet! How in God's name am I supposed to live without—"

"Bruno, Bruno, Bruno! I promise I'll work as hard as I can to get you restorative surgery from the best hospital in Berlin when we move tomorrow. I'll make sure you live normally soon!" Father proclaimed. "Now please, rest. Breakfast is almost prepared, and I'll have your wheelchair ready in a moment."

"But..." Bruno thought to himself. "Why would mum and dad want my feet cut off?"

"Ralf, what can I  do?" Mother asked. "I'm tired of just sitting around all day watching everyone suffer. I've never endured anything myself. Please, just let me empathise with you all!"

"I'm sorry, love," Father murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "All you can do for now is help Bruno out around the house. You know Maria cannot handle this on her own."

"Why don't you want me to get a job?" Mother shouted and hit him. "Goddamnit! I can never live normally!"

Bruno gasped and giggled as he leaned in to hear what vile language Elsa would use next. However, the situation began to escalate as Ralf began to shout loudly at the woman. When he realized the bedroom he was standing in was not his own, he lowered his tone and apologized.