Life After Prison

“You don’t know her?” Maurice frowned when he saw Severin’s puzzled face. He did not believe that anyone would help their family for no apparent reason.

Severin shook his head. “Have you seen what she looks like?”

Judith shook her head and said, “No. Whenever she comes to send us money, she’ll knock twice on the door twice and leave immediately. We’ve never seen her face, and the most we saw is her rear figure as she rode off on an electric bicycle. She doesn’t come at a fixed time either. Sometimes it’s in the morning, sometimes at night, but she’ll generally come around the fifteenth or sixteenth of every month!”

Severin nodded. “Not to worry, I’ll definitely return the favor of those who helped us.”

After assuring them that he would not forget everyone’s kindness, Severin paused for a moment before saying to his parents, “Stop picking up trash to sell, Mom. And stop going to work at the construction site either, Dad. Now that I’m back, I’ll take care of you both from now on!”

Maurice smiled bitterly. “That just won’t do. I’m only fifty now, and I should help earn some money while I still can. There’s plenty of time to rest if I finally can’t do it anymore!”

Judith then said, “He’s right. You need to money after coming out of prison. Where are we going to get money if we don’t work?”

Severin thought for a moment and said with a faint smile, “You can both take it easy from now on. We have money, so there’s really no need for the both of you to keep worrying. There is still a lot of money left behind from what that generous man gave to me! I won’t be happy if you still pick up garbage to sell and work at the construction site.”

Seeing Severin’s slightly chastising look, Judith smiled and said, “Alright, alright. We should relax a little now that you’re back. The money owed to Easton has been paid off too, so we can breathe a sigh of relief now.”

Severin looked at Maurice, and remarked, “Besides, Dad needs to rest. His waist muscles have been strained for the past few days, and he’ll suffer from lower back pain. If this goes on, his health would only continue to worsen! It’s not worth it!”

“How do you know that my back hurts? Or that my muscles are strained?” Maurice had an astonished expression, for he did not even mention his pains to Judith! Indeed, he had been suffering a backache for the past two days, but he did not go to the hospital for fear of having to spend money. In the end, he decided to withstand the pain in the hopes that it would get better on its own.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Maurice?” Judith glared angrily at Maurice and chastised him, “Is money or your health more important? What am I going to do if you collapsed before Severin returned?”

“It’s not that serious. I was planning to get a pain-relieving patch in a couple of days and put it on!” Maurice smiled awkwardly.

“You should stop working at the construction site starting tomorrow. As for your waist, I have some ointment here, which you can just rub it on! I estimate that it’ll take a couple of days to be completely healed!”

Severin smiled, placed his hand into his trouser pocket, and fished out a small bottle of ointment, which he handed to Maurice.

“Is that so? Haha, that’s great, then! I can save money on the pain-relieving patch!” Maurice laughed.

The old couple were both very happy after Severin came back. Maurice drank a lot of wine that night and chatted with Severin for a long time. The next morning, Maurice got up and stretched his waist.

Though it had been painful for him when walking, he discovered that it did not hurt at all anymore.

He pressed his waist a couple of times and confirmed that there really was no pain at all.

“I think my waist is completely healed, Judith! It doesn’t hurt anymore!” Maurice hurriedly woke Judith up.

“Really? That sounds like a miracle. You told me that it hurt when I rubbed the ointment on your waist last night. Did it really heal in just one night?” Judith found it a little hard to believe.

“Severin must’ve met someone really amazing then! We can finally have some rest now!” Maurice smiled, and then said, “I’ll visit the construction site later and tell the foreman to settle my salary, because I won’t be going there anymore!”

“Okay, I’ll go and see if Severin already woke up. Let’s head out and get some bread later. It’s about time we eat something good for breakfast!” When Judith thought of Severin’s return, she seemed to have become several years younger. Her face was full of smiles, and she looked much more energetic than before.

Judith came back to the room after a while. “That boy woke up really early today! He must’ve gone out and went shopping for clothes!”

“Let him be. We can finally rest and relax a little if he can land a good job and keep it!” Maurice sighed and said again, “I’ll take a break for a couple of days before checking to see if I could find a job that doesn’t put so much strain on me.”

At that time, Severin had gone out for a walk at a park that was not too far away from the house. The sight of that familiar park elicited a little chuckle. It was such a shame that he believed Lucy would wait for him, when in the end, life gave him a rude awakening.

As Severin was reminiscing about the past, a beautiful woman in a floral dress let out a cry of surprise from one of the pavilions in the park. “Grandpa! Are you okay?”

Severin looked over and saw an old man lying on the ground. The latter’s face was red, and he had difficulty forming a coherent sentence. A middle-aged man who had been playing chess with the old man was just as startled, and he got down to check on the old man. “You okay there, Mister Henry? Mister Henry? Sir?”

Severin dashed over as soon as he realized what happened.

“He’s suffering a sudden cerebral hemorrhage!” Severin determined after a quick glance.

“That doesn’t sound good. God, what should I do next? Right! I need to call an ambulance!” The woman in the floral dress was very sweet-looking, but as soon as she heard that it was a cerebral hemorrhage, her face turned pale with fright.

“The situation is still under control. Let me examine him!” Severin immediately laid the old man flat on the ground and used his fingers to tap several points on the old man’s body.

The old man, Henry Longhorn, was almost out of breath earlier, but his complexion seemed to have improved by leaps and bounds. He even exhaled heavily, as if a weight had been lifted off him.

“Open your mouth and eat this pill.” Severin took out a pill and placed it in Henry’s mouth.

“Here’s some water!” The woman in the floral dress immediately grabbed a half-full bottle of mineral water from the table and handed it over. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

After Henry swallowed the pill, his condition reverted to normal about a minute later.

“Young man, just a minute ago I…I…I felt like I had one foot in death’s door. My vision was practically disappearing too. Thank you for saving me.” Henry looked at Severin standing before him. Severin’s shirt and trousers were a little too small, and they looked somewhat aged too. That, along with Severin’s slightly long hair, made him look like some homeless man from the street.

Even so, Henry acknowledged that the young man in front of him had saved his life earlier.

“Are you alright, Sir?”

At that time, the bodyguards in black suits that had been waiting by the street had finally decided to come over. Their leader asked if the old man was alright.

“I’m fine now, thanks to this young man’s help!” Henry waved his hand and signaled for his bodyguards to step back.

“Did my grandfather really suffer from a cerebral hemorrhage? What kind of medicine did you give him?” Henry’s granddaughter, Charmaine, frowned and looking suspiciously at the young man in front of her.

She did not know what to do in her panic earlier, so she simply allowed the young man to treat her grandfather. After she had calmed down, she started to worry about them. ‘Could the man be a charlatan? What if Grandpa wasn’t suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage? What if this guy has some kind of other motive?’

After all, the Longhorns had a high status in Brookbourn.

“Are you doubting my medical ability?” Severin frowned, seemingly a little unhappy.