Chapter 3
When dawn broke the next day, the ambulance's siren beat my mom to the door.
As my eyes grew hazy, memories spun through my mind like a movie reel.
I dreamed of Samuel.
In my dream, he was drowning, just like it really happened.
But this time, I dove in right away.
I hauled him out of the water.
Samuel didn't get sick, and he didn't end up in the hospital.
Mom was beaming, gently patting my head and calling me her little sweetheart, saying I was the best baby in the whole world.
The pungent scent of disinfectant permeated my entire dream.
Mom kept drifting further away, and no matter how hard I reached for her, my hands just closed on air.
When I finally woke up, three days had already gone by.
A nurse was hooking me up to an IV.
She shook her head with a sigh, chatting with another nurse like I wasn't even there.
"I heard the kid in room 103 was found out in the middle of nowhere. They still haven't been able to reach her family," one nurse said.
"Yeah, they say she's slow, and she's got a heart defect. Honestly, her parents probably just wanted to ditch the burden," the other replied.
I started waving my hands in a panic, refusing to accept what they were saying.
"That's not true. You're lying. I'm not a burden.
"Mom and Dad always said they loved me best," I shouted.
I shoved the nurse aside and bolted out of the room.
Mom and Dad were just mad at me.
They didn't abandon me. They still love me.
My heart twisted with sharp pain, and I couldn't tell if my heart condition was flaring up again.
I went sprawling on the steps, but when I finally reached the front door, Grandma's piercing voice hit my ears, not missing a beat.
Grandma's sharp voice rang out, "My poor baby Samuel, you finally got over your fever."
I headed toward the voice.
I saw Mom and Dad, and Samuel was at the center of attention, with everyone crowding around him.
Samuel was out of the hospital, and Mom had bought him a brand-new toy.
Grandma's words hit my ears again.
"You should've tossed those bad luck charms out ages ago. Samuel's growing up now. If you won't think about yourselves, at least think about him.
"And even if she's cured, she's still just an idiot. You've been stuck with her for years. Are you really gonna look after that burden for the rest of your lives?" Grandma scoffed.
As soon as Grandma said that, Dad just stood there, stunned.
Mom's tears streamed down her face, unstoppable.
"I've already reached out to the orphanage director and sent them Charlotte's whereabouts. After hearing her story, they agreed to take her in. She should be at the orphanage by now.
"If I could, I wish I'd never given birth to Charlotte. I owe her so much, and if I have to pay for it in hell, let me be the one to bear it alone," Mom said.
Even Mom and Dad see me as nothing but dead weight.
I'd already asked the doctor, and she told me that when people die, they end up in another world.
Maybe if I died, Mom could really be happy for once.
Thinking about that suddenly made me feel kind of sad.
That would mean I'd never get to see Mom, Dad, or Samuel ever again.
When I glanced back, they had already left me behind.
Outside the hospital, a few kids were digging a hole to bury a stray cat that had just passed away.
They were sobbing uncontrollably.
I tilted my head and asked, "Do you guys know what it takes to die?"
They all shook their heads and just said that whenever there were mice at home, their families would put out a bottle of poison.
That was how the mice ended up dead.
My eyes lit up. I pleaded with them, begging for a bottle of poison.
As I stuffed a bottle of poison into my pocket, the pearls I'd saved for Mom's birthday slipped out, scattering all over the ground.
I almost forgot it.
'I still hadn't given Mom her birthday present.
If I really died, I'd never get to give it to her.
Maybe I should head home and just tell Mom I was planning to die.
She'd definitely be happy to hear it.
It took me four whole hours to walk back home, and I arrived just as the fire broke out.
Grandma was anxiously pointing toward the center of the second floor, shouting Samuel's name.
"Samuel's still in there," she cried.
Suddenly, I remembered that dream from three days ago.
If I saved Samuel, Mom would finally smile at me and call me her hero, just like in my dream.
So I hurried through the fire escape, grabbed Samuel, and got him out of the flames. But after breathing in all that smoke, I blacked out.
After hearing the commotion, Mom and Dad rushed in and clutched Samuel tightly in their arms.
But Samuel pointed toward my room and shouted, "Charlotte's still in there."