Chapter 3 - The Moment Everything Stopped
The young man remained standing, but only barely.
His right hand gripped the overhead rail while his left held the seat behind him. His face had turned pale. A thin layer of sweat appeared across his forehead despite the cold rain outside.
The mother immediately guided her children toward the empty seat.
“Sit down,” she told them.
The little boy climbed onto the cushion. The older girl hesitated.
She looked at the young man.
“Are you okay?”
Her voice was quiet, but several passengers heard it.
The young man forced a faint smile.
“I’m fine.”
The girl did not look convinced.
Her mother pulled her closer.
“Don’t bother him. He’s just being dramatic.”
The young man closed his eyes for one second.
The bus moved forward.
When the driver suddenly braked to avoid a delivery van, every standing passenger swayed.
The young man’s left leg folded beneath him.
He crashed against the metal pole, then fell hard into the aisle.
A loud gasp spread through the bus.
The back of his shoulder struck the floor. His head narrowly missed the edge of another seat.
The little girl screamed.
The mother froze.
For two seconds, nobody moved.
Then the young man rolled onto his side, his teeth clenched in agony.
The rigid object beneath his trousers had shifted. The fabric pulled upward, revealing a black mechanical brace running from his thigh to his ankle.
A metal joint near his knee had come loose.
Everyone saw it.
The passengers who had criticized him stared in silence.
The office worker lowered his phone.
The elderly woman covered her mouth.
The mother’s expression changed from triumph to confusion.
“What is that?” she whispered.
The young man did not answer.
He was trying to reach the brace, but his hands were shaking too violently.
A middle-aged nurse seated near the back pushed through the crowd.
“Give him space!”
She knelt beside him.
“Don’t try to stand.”
“I have to fix the lock,” he said through uneven breaths.
“Did you injure your leg?”
He looked away.
The nurse carefully touched the brace.
“This isn’t a simple support.”
The young man swallowed.
“My left leg doesn’t work properly.”
The mother stared at him.
“But you were sitting normally.”
He lifted his eyes toward her.
“What was I supposed to look like?”
The question struck the bus harder than any shout could have.
The driver pulled over and activated the hazard lights.
Rain streaked across the windows while traffic passed outside.
The nurse inspected the metal joint.
“Did you recently have surgery?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“What kind?”
He hesitated.
The tattooed hand gripping the floor tightened.
“Spinal surgery.”
The silver-haired woman who had mocked him slowly lowered her head.
The mother’s daughter began crying quietly.
Her mother whispered, “I didn’t know.”
The young man looked toward the empty seat now occupied by her children.
“You didn’t ask.”
Nobody spoke.
May you like
Then the nurse noticed something dark spreading through the fabric near his hip.
Blood.
