The small town of Karby. A six-hour drive from the big city of Argent, during off-peak hours, of course.
The big bus finally stopped at the small substation of the interconnecting small town. Val finally arrived there after a long journey from this morning. He slept all the way and woke up a couple of times until they arrived.
The small town only had one main road with a bus stop connected to other cities, such as Argent. The hustle and bustle was already visible on the always quite busy street, although not as busy as a big city. Some people were looking back and forth in the station. The big bus was fully loaded, so many people from outside were heading there, whether for traveling or a long stay. Just like him, some of them take a medium-sized suitcase to travel.
Val pulled his bag; he was tired and would sit for a while at the bus stop before heading to the house. The air in Karby was humid, not too hot, but it made him sweat quite a bit. The sky is so beautiful, it's a good day to go home to the town he had left since he was a kid. It had been a long time since he was back there; it felt so strange. So much has changed since then.
Back in the hospital days ago, Val sat on a long chair in front of the garden. After Jason had taken him to get some fresh air outside his room, he ran away from him, sitting alone, enjoying the fresh air in the vast garden behind the main hospital building.
A middle-aged woman pushed her son's wheelchair to his side and stopped beside him. The young man was probably his age; his head was bald with no hair left, his skin was pale, with a gaunt face due to being too thin.
The woman noticed Val's presence there. She smiled.
"Hi sweetie, are you alone here? Can we join you? The view is so beautiful here," the woman said and then sat beside him. Leaving her son sitting in his wheelchair a few steps away from her, looking far into the garden.
Val smiled, and he nodded. Her gaze did not shift from the tired-looking young man, who was almost asleep.
"Is he seriously ill?" Val asked, carefully.
The woman looked at her son. She nodded.
"Yes, but he's much better now. He's allowed out of his room after a month of being bedridden, this boy," said the woman can't stop smiling even with her eyes looking swollen.
"A month?" Val asked.
The woman nodded. Her eyes seemed to be trying to hold back tears; perhaps she had cried so much that it was no longer apparent whether she was crying or not.
"Yes, his disease relapsed. The doctor said his bone marrow isn't working optimally. The transplant two years ago failed." The woman lowered her head, wiping her watery nose.
"Your son had a transplant? Two years ago?" Val repeated.
The woman nodded again.
"That's right, two years ago. But, from the beginning, the doctor explained that the compatibility rate was below sixty percent. For it to succeed, my son had to take medication every day. But the treatment was so harsh. Finally, his kidneys bled, and he had to go in and out of the hospital. Ems, the poor kid, the doctor said that his bone marrow might fail again." The woman seemed to hold her breath for a sec and gasped after that.
Val looked at the woman. She looked so tired, her body thin and her shoulders hunched with burden. She didn't seem very old, perhaps in her fifties, but her hair was almost full of gray, with dull, unkempt skin. Val lowered his head, having stared for too long.
"Forgive me for asking."
The woman wiped her eyes. She smiled as she turned to Val.
"Heh, it's no problem. I often tell this story to anyone who asks. They probably pity me and my son. Especially pity me for taking care of my sick son to the point where I don't have time to take care of myself," said the woman, still with her pretty, warm, wide smile on her face.
"Is it too hard?" Val asked.
The woman looked at Val, gently patted Val's hand.
"It is very hard. Days, time seems to stand still. Everything is like a shadow that keeps moving without end; everything seems meaningless. In the past, Max always thought he would save for his future, buy a house for his mother, take his mother on trips abroad, buy her beautiful clothes, and buy her the most delicious food in the world. He thought about what he would do in the next week, even the next day, but now, just being able to think about what will happen one second later is precious. Everything is so unfair. He is a very good kid. He did everything best for his future, good grades, a scholarship, and got a good job in a good company, but everything seems to have stopped."
Back at the bus station.
Val lifted his head, holding back tears that would fall if he didn't try to be strong. It was better for him to distance himself from everything, to do what he was supposed to do before he became another Max. Val smiled, took a deep breath, and told himself that he would keep smiling. He couldn't show this pathetic face to Miss Jema. She would be sad because of it.
It's better to order a taxi to go to the house. Miss Jema gave him her new address. Hopefully, he could find it. With a cheerful, very sweet face, Val pulled his suitcase and stood by the roadside. Like several other people also carrying suitcases there, he would queue for the taxi.
But the commotion from a taxi, which was already stopped by the roadside, caught everyone's attention.
"Yes, but sir, even if it's your turn, you don't have money, so how will you pay for my taxi? Just let this lady go first. Besides, that city is very far, just take the bus to get there, then get off at the nearest station to take another taxi," the taxi driver argued with a man standing outside his door. A middle-aged woman was also seen vying for the taxi.
"Yes, that's right. If you don't have money, don't take a taxi. You're so handsome, but you don't have any money at all. Such a weirdos." The woman scanned the tall young man from head to toe and pursed her lips in a sneer.
The tall man in the neat suit straightened up; everyone seemed to be cursing him. He looked at himself; indeed, his once clean clothes were splattered with mud, which also dirtied part of his face.
"Pardon me, but I've just been robbed. How about you take me to my branch office? I'll pay you there," the man said. Even with mud on part of his face, he still looked quite handsome, his eyes blue with slightly blond hair. Val tried to see what was happening, why was everyone attacking him?
"No, just step back, that's just an excuse, there are so many scams these days!"
"Yeah, he looks like a scammer!"
Voices get louder and crowder, The young man has no other choice than to push back behind.
He kept pushing back and almost bumped into Val, who was watching him too intently. Val seemed to be enjoying his ice cream and accidentally got it on the man's clothes. The bumping cannot be avoided. The ice cream gets into the man's clothes, another stain after another stains in the rather light brown suit.
"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to." Val's eyes widened, seeing his eyes cream fall off the skewer, and most importantly, him, for being pushed back hard.
The man was startled, he turned around and spontaneously grabbed Val's waist to prevent the young man from falling.
"Whoa." He pulled Val to him.
The big man swallowed hard, seeing a beautiful, large, pair of light blue eyes up close, looking at him in surprise. Fortunately, the man held him, otherwise, Val would have fallen embarrassingly.