Biosystem Awakening: From Bastard To Badass

Chapter 5

Everything began to make sense to Tristian. At first, the memories filled his head slowly, then, all at once, everything became clear, with what happened with Lyra, the argument, the heavy feeling in his chest as he saw Damon kiss her, the strong urge to leave and then…the accident.

His breathing stopped for a moment and his face turned pale as the truth hit him hard. His fingers tightened on the bedsheet, and his whole body went still.

It was because of Lyra this happened, because he didn’t want to stay in the same space with her and because he chose to walk away.

His mother saw the change in his look immediately as she had been watching him closely from the moment he woke up. The second his face changed in color, fear filled her eyes.

“Tristian!” she called out, her voice shaking as she rushed closer. “Are you okay? Is something wrong? Are you in pain? Talk to me, please!”

Her hand quickly reached for the emergency button beside the bed, ready to call the nurse.

“Mom, I’m fine,” Tristian said quickly. He didn’t want her to press it out of panic. When he saw how worried and scared his mom looked, he felt bad and guilty at the same time. He knew that he had caused all of this with his own actions, and it hurt him even more that his mom was suffering because of his stupidity.

“Mom…“I’m sorry… “I’m really sorry for making you worry,” he said, softly. “I’m sorry about the accident and I’m sorry you have to go through all this because of me. I promise… I won’t make you worry like this again.”

“It’s fine… it’s fine,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “You don’t have to say sorry. The accident was not your fault.”

She held his hand tightly, as if she was afraid he would disappear again.

“All I care about is that you are alive, and that you are okay,” she said, her voice breaking. “If anything had happened to you… I don’t know what I would have done, Tristian. I don’t think I would survive it.”

Tristian slowly leaned back on the pillow. He stared at the ceiling as he realized that he could have died. He didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened if he had not survived. He didn’t want to imagine his mother hearing the news. 

She had suffered too much for him all through his life and it was stupid of him to put himself in this situation. He couldn’t help but remember everything his mum had done for him just to survive. 

He remembered how his mother carried him on her back when he was younger. She would go from house to house, cleaning for people just to earn money. She washed clothes, cleaned floors, and even took care of other people’s children while still watching over him.

He remembered how tired she looked every day and remembered the times she had to clean very dirty toilets. The smell was terrible, but she still did it. Sometimes, she got sick because of it and sometimes, she had infections and stayed in pain for days but she never stopped working.

At night, when most people were sleeping, she would go to the junkyard and search through scraps, looking for things she could sell, just to earn a little more money.  His mother had lived a very hard life and that was still because of him. 

She worked every single day without rest, just to make sure he could go to school and just to make sure he had a chance at a better life. Slowly, after many years, she managed to open a small fruit shop. It was not big or perfect but it was something. Even then, the money was still not enough. After paying for his school f*e and buying food, there was almost nothing left. Still, she never complained.

That was why Tristian always helped her. After school, he would go straight to her shop and during his free time, he would stand beside her, helping her sell fruits. He would call out to customers, carry baskets, and try his best to support her.

He had always known she suffered but now he almost threw all of that away, just because of Lyra and the breakup. His hand slowly turned into a fist as he hated himself for that moment and  hated how weak he had been.

Slowly, he turned his head and looked at his mother again who was still watching him with a  worried look. It was as if she was scared that something bad might happen to him again.

“Mom,” he said softly and she looked at him immediately.

“From now on… I will not let you suffer because of me again,” he said slowly. “I will work hard. I will make sure you live a good life. I will make sure that all the people who looked down on you before will come back and respect you. I will make you proud. I will make you proud to have me as your son.”

His mum  didn’t fully understand why he was saying all this out of the blue but she didn’t question him because right now to her, nothing else mattered more than the fact that he was alive. She just held his hand and nodded gently.

At that moment, Tristian made up his mind that he was done with Lyra and was not going to let a breakup control his life. From now on, he would think clearly and act like a man.

Suddenly, the door to his ward was suddenly pushed open, making him and his mum jump a bit from the force. 

A nurse walked in with a cold look on her face as she glared at him. She looked annoyed and irritated at the same time. 

“I’m sorry,” she said in a flat voice, “but your time in this ward will expire in ten minutes. If you want to stay longer, go and pay. If not, pack your things and leave immediately.”

Tristian’s mother quickly stood up. “I’m so sorry,” she said politely. “My son just woke up and is still very weak. Can you please give us one hour? That would be enough for us to at least make a decision on what to do and also try to get some money.” 

The nurse looked at her with disgust. “Do you think this place is a hotel?” she said sharply. “Do you think you can just ask for more time and get it? If you can’t afford to stay here, then leave. Don’t come here acting like you have money when you don’t. You struggled to pay when you came in, and now you are begging again. This is very annoying.”

Tristian’s mother’s hands tightened slightly, anger flashing in her eyes, but she forced herself to stay calm. She didn’t want anything to escalate while her son was still weak.

Taking a slow breath, she spoke again. “I’m sorry, nurse but we will pay. We just need a little more time.”

Before the nurse could respond, Tristian slowly sat up on the bed, his eyes cold as he looked straight at her.

“I don’t think it is right for you to talk to us like that,” he said, glaring at her. “We still have ten minutes left. You should only be here when our time is over.”

His voice hardened. “So why are you disturbing us now?”

The nurse blinked in surprise, then let out a short laugh.

“Oh? So now a patient is talking back to me?” she said. “What do you want to do? Beat me? From your face, I can tell you’re thinking about it.”

Her voice became louder. “I’m the one who helped keep you alive, and now you want to act tough?”

“Get out of my ward,” Tristian cut in coldly.

Her eyes widened. “Are you talking to me like that? Do you know who I am?”

“I said get out,” he repeated firmly. “It is not ten minutes yet. I still have the right to be here, so leave. I don’t want you here anymore.”

The nurse clenched her jaw, unable to respond. She knew that he was right and the time had not yet expired.

“You…” she said bitterly, pointing at him.

Then she scoffed. “Fine. I will be watching the time closely. The moment it hits ten minutes, you are leaving. And if you try anything funny, I will call security myself. Also, don’t even think about extending your stay because I will make sure it does not happen.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the ward.