In a quiet suburban neighborhood, a boy sat by the window of his home, his gaze fixed on the children outside. They were playing a simple game, kicking a ball back and forth, laughing, and shouting with carefree joy. His eyes followed them, but his body remained still, separated by the walls of his house.
"Honey, let's go or we'll be late," Loid's mother called out from the kitchen.
He sighed, pushed himself off the sofa. His chest ached even from that. "Yes, Mom. I'm coming."
"Honey, let's go or we'll be late!" his mother called from the kitchen, her voice too bright, too fast.
They drove through empty streets, the trees shedding their last leaves like dying memories.Loid stared at them, wondering if he'd ever see another spring.
After a fifteen-minute drive, they arrived at the hospital. Loid hesitated as he opened the car door. "Mom... I'm scared," he whispered, his voice shaky.
His mother turned to him with a warm, comforting smile. "Don't worry, sweetie. It'll be over so fast, you won't even realize what happened." Her voice was soothing, "Now, let's go inside."
still the fear stayed.
The moment Loid stepped into the hospital, a cold unease settled in his chest. At first it was just a faint tremor, an anxious flutter beneath his ribs. He followed his mother toward the reception desk, his legs stiff and awkward, and when she stopped to speak with the receptionist, he lowered himself onto one of the plastic chairs nearby.
The fear didn't leave him — it grew. It crept under his skin like a slow-burning fire, gnawing at his nerves with invisible teeth. His hands trembled slightly in his lap. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. The sterile smell of antiseptic filled his lungs, making it harder to breathe. Every second stretched longer than the last. His mind raced with visions of surgical blades, masked faces, the unknown.
Without realizing it, his heart began to hammer faster, pushing his already strained body beyond its limits. The pressure built in his chest like a rising tide he couldn't stop. His breaths came quicker, shallower.
He gripped the edge of the chair, but the world tilted anyway. The colors around him dulled, the voices blurred into a distant hum. A single desperate thought surfaced—Mom...—before the fear swallowed him whole, dragging him into unconsciousness.
....................................................
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Loid awoke in an unfamiliar place, hearing subtle beeping in his hears. He couldn't open his eyes, the scent of sterility filling the air. He tried to move but found that he couldn't. 'What's going on? Why can't I move?'
He heard the rustling of movement around him. He attempted to turn his head but couldn't. 'What's happening? Where's Mom?' He tried to shout, but no sound escaped his lips.
"Scalpel," a voice commanded. Loid felt a cold chill run down his spine as the words settled into his mind.
Hello? Is anyone there? he tried to voice the thought, but it was as if his words didn't exist.
A sharp pain suddenly pierced through his chest, making him gasp. His mind screamed, but his body refused to respond. The sensation was too much. 'Mom, Mom!' he tried to call out, but no sound came. The agony in his chest intensified with every passing second.
Scalpel in hand, the lead surgeon began, the sound of the tool in his hand unmistakable. The surgeon's skilled hands made an incision just above Loid's heart. The assistants moved quickly, helping to widen the incision, their motions cold and practiced.
Pain. A sharp, agonizing pain deep inside his chest. Loid's mind swirled with the inability to escape, his body paralyzed by the excruciating feeling. His body refused to obey him, and his silent screams filled his mind, echoing and magnifying the pain.
"sternal saw," the surgeon ordered. The sound of the saw cutting through bone was like a scream of its own. With practiced precision, the surgeon began cutting through Loid's sternum, the retractor opening his ribs to gain access to the heart.
The only thing Loid could think about was the overwhelming pain. His mind was flooded with images of agony, unable to break free from the nightmare that consumed him. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, and could only feel every excruciating second.
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
The beeping of the heart monitor quickened, growing more frantic as Loid's body trembled on the operating table. Undeterred, the surgeons continued, each one focused on the task at hand, oblivious to the suffering that raged within him.