Hope

Chapter 1 - A Turn of Happiness

-First Person's POV-

My name was Lucian. I was a senior in high school and I usually got A or A plus in my tests because of how hard I always studied, so my classmates called me 'a nerd'. As a nerd, though, I didn't wear glasses. I only spent most of my break time in the library since I didn't have many friends at school. None, in fact. Even so, I quite enjoyed my time at school since my classmates often asked me questions about the lessons and they gave me the attention I needed.

To repay for all the attention they had given me by asking me questions, I would always help them do something else that they couldn't do. Even if they hadn't done anything good to me, I would still lend them a hand. To help people was something that I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed tutoring my classmates and writing.

I wished that I could go to school every single day to listen to my classmates' questions, but my health wanted it the other way around. I was born with a weak heart, which was caused by an unknown heart disease. Every year, I could get into the hospital at least three times for around a month each. It was boring to see the same view inside the hospital rooms and smell the same scent of medicine at least three times a year. It was money consuming, but it was a good thing that my family was rich enough to pay for my hospital expenses.

My life at home was nice as well. As an only child, I could use the home facilities freely without having to fight them over with a few siblings. It felt a little quiet during the day since my father and mother were out for work, but I was satisfied anyway. I had all their attention and they were always proud of my good grades, which made me feel lucky to have them. I wanted them to live long enough to see me as a successful person, to be a successful novelist.

I was happy with my life and wished that the high school years would last forever, but fate would say it otherwise. My happy life was torn apart with a single incident which happened for only a few seconds, but I could feel that it kept happening over and over again for the past million years. It was the time I lost everything: my family, my school time, my happiness, and my hope to live.

-Normal POV-

"Lucian, honey! Are you done buying your extra notebook? We need to go home now before it's dark!" A woman with long blue hair called from inside a white car. After waiting for a few minutes, the woman turned to the man next to her, who was behind the steering wheel, "What's taking him so long?"

"Well, our son is going to be a promising novelist. He needs a book that he's comfortable enough to write on. As his parents, shouldn't we give him the support he needs?" The blue-haired man assured his wife, who nodded and smiled.

"Yes, we should," A teenage boy with short blue hair came running from the bookstore, heading straight towards the car in the parking lot while carrying a white plastic bag, "Oh, there he is!"

"Mom, Dad! Sorry it took so long!" The teenage boy got into the car, "I remembered that I also needed a new pen to write, so I bought one. And there's the long queue too!"

"But now you've got what you need, let's just go home. I'm making your favorite curry rice tonight!" The woman turned to her son on the back row of the car, brightening his face.

"Wow, really!? Thanks Mom!" The teenage boy, Lucian, said before he pulled out his smartphone to search for something.

The way back to Lucian's home was free of traffic despite the fact that it was almost sundown and many office workers came home from work. To Lucian's parents, the traffic-free streets were good, but Lucian had a bad feeling about it. He would sometimes look up from his smartphone to look at the usually-jammed streets, which increased his worry. His worry soon turned into a sudden pain on his chest around his heart. Lucian began coughing loudly, getting the attention of his worried parents.

"Lucian, are you alright?" His mother asked worriedly.

"Lucian!" His father turned away from the steer, looking at his son worriedly as Lucian continued coughing.

Lucian's mother heard a car horn coming from the front and noticed that her husband had let go of the steering wheel, "Honey, the car! Steer the car!"

Lucian's father quickly turned back to the wheel and got the car away from going the wrong way just in time. He sighed in relief, but he didn't notice that a truck had gone the wrong way instead. When he noticed the truck coming straight at them with high speed, it was already too late and the truck crashed into them. As the truck ran over the car, they all blacked out. Maybe for a while, but maybe forever.

The blue-haired man opened his eyes, but he couldn't see clearly. From his ears, he could hear faint familiar sounds and he could smell blood mixed with the scent of medicine. He tried moving his body, but he couldn't feel like he was moving at all. He was lying motionlessly without feeling any pain until a doctor noticed him.

"S-Sir! You have woken up!" The doctor sounded panicked, "Y-Your wife, she... I-I'm afraid we couldn't help her soon enough..."

"Doctor... Li... I know... your voice..." The man whispered weakly, "My wife... she knew... she would... leave... before me..." The man tried moving his left arm, which was noticed by the doctor and he soon grabbed the weakened man's bloody hand, "Take the letter... for Lucian... in my... wife's bag..." The man let out a smile, his very last smile, "I... am giving... my family heritage... for my son... to use... in his own will..."

The man exhaled his last breath and the heartbeat detector let out a long beeping sound, getting the attention of the whole people in the room. The young doctor, Doctor Li, lowered his head to respect for one of his patients' demise. After a few seconds of praying, the doctor felt someone putting a hand on his left shoulder. He turned to see another doctor who was a little older than him smiling at him.

"Now, doctor... About his family heritage, we should be taking it. After all, his son needs all the money this poor man has to pay for all the hospital bills!" Doctor Li could see that smile was only a fake one to cover for his true desire about the money.

"With all respect, Doctor Harrison, I do not wish to handle the money without Lucian's permission. We have to wait until he wakes up and ask him about what we should do with the money. I will accept it if I am not paid when he says so. It is his right to decide now," Doctor Li bowed a little before letting out his opinion, erasing the smile from the older doctor's face.

"Doctor Li, you really are a rookie. This is not China, not your home country, but you should learn more about your own county's ideals rather than being stuck learning only about being a doctor. This is reality, and reality means money is everything!" Doctor Harrison left angrily, followed by the nurses in the room.

Doctor Li let out a sigh and covered the man's body before walking through the door. Once he got out of the room and closed the door, he kept holding the doorknob and let out another sigh, 'Doctor. Harrison isn't right. In reality, money isn't everything,' Doctor Li looked through the glass and looked at the man's body, 'I hope Lucian can take this news and I hope he gets better soon...'