Hamish had a very long dream. He dreamt that the woman married him, cooked for him for four years, took care of his daily life, and all he gave her was a $30 ring and a marriage certificate. She gave blood at least fifty times, why did she have to give blood? Wouldn’t she die without so much blood?
In the dream, he saw that he treated the woman very poorly, he tried to stop himself but couldn’t. He saw the woman bleeding all over, signing the critical condition notice at the hospital for him, kneeling in the rain, bits of paper not yet digested washed out of her stomach, a stillborn baby cut out of her belly, severed legs, hundreds of wounds, broken nails… “Don’t treat her like this, I beg you.” The ‘him’ in the dream couldn’t hear anything, stubbornly committed to his actions, committing one crime after another, until the woman died in a big fire.
“God, if I could exchange her second half of life for happiness, I would be willing to spend my whole life in pursuit.” Later, he saw her in a red wedding dress walking towards her destiny, eventually having two children, there was no better outcome than this. What was the woman’s name? What was her name? He couldn’t seem to remember…
A suffocating feeling in his chest, Hamish suddenly opened his eyes, seeing only white, the smell of disinfectant in the air. “Son, you’re awake… you’re finally awake… look at mommy.” Just waking up, his throat couldn’t make a noise, Hamish opened his mouth and silently coughed out, “Mom.”
A sudden headache, he wanted to hold his head but was stopped, “Don’t move, you have a head injury.” After the brief memory loss from the car accident, Hamish remembered after a while, he should have died, but unexpectedly he was reborn back to when he was seven years old, then the car accident… He saved his parents? Did he really save his parents?
Hamish looked around, reached out to touch, it felt very real, his parents didn’t die in that car accident, they really were there. Hamish slept for half a month, the chance of waking up was very small, after all, head injuries could easily lead to being a vegetable or paralyzed. But Hamish woke up without any discomfort, not even a concussion, his reactions as fast as ever.
“The doctor said you might have amnesia from your head injury, have you forgotten anything?” Hamish looked at his parents, furrowing his brow, he seemed to forget something but also seemed to remember. In his empty mind, a sentence came to him: “May you be safe year after year, never be apart.” His heart suddenly ached, but quickly disappeared.
Word spread quickly about the Burns family’s accident. Anyone who heard the news came to visit, relatives and business partners included. The Powell family, who had a partnership with the Burns family at Bankshire Hospital, also came. Looking at the family of three in front of him, Hamish felt familiar but couldn’t recall.
Ivan was a chatterbox, outgoing, seeing Hamish sitting on the bed seemingly fine, he said, “Wow, you’re really something, with such a long cut on the back of your head, you managed to survive…” This comment lacked emotional intelligence, Mrs. Powell quickly pulled her son back and scolded, “Look after your son properly.” How could he not listen to his wife’s orders.
“We meet again.” “Have we met before?” Mrs. Powell hesitated, looking at the confused look in the child’s eyes, smiled lightly, “Let’s just consider this our first meeting.” “Oh.” Hamish felt familiar and close to the woman in front of him.
The Powell family didn’t stay in the hospital room for long, after a few words with Hamish’s parents, they left after offering their condolences. Ivan discreetly asked Koby, “We have definitely met him before, even at our house, why doesn’t he remember? Did he hit his head?” Koby patted his silly son’s head, “I think your head is the one that’s hit, always making your mom angry, look at you, such a big head, why can’t you think before you speak?”
Mrs. Powell glanced at the father and son fooling around outside the ward, smirked and said, “Mr. Burns, Mrs. Burns, we will leave now, feel free to contact us if you need anything.” Just as Mrs. Powell was about to leave, Hamish suddenly called out to her, “Auntie, have we really met before? I feel like I’ve lost a part of my memory, can you help me remember?” Mrs. Powell paused in her steps, she didn’t turn around because turning around would reveal her tear-stained eyes.”It’s not important to remember what you can’t recall, cherish the unexpected surprises in life, and accept… the sudden farewells.” Mrs. Powell walked out, unable to control her tears, ever since meeting Hamish that day, Mrs. Powell had been having dreams, dreaming of her Elisa being mistreated in a future world. As a mother, she could distinguish between dreams and reality.
After she passed away, the Elisa left behind was not treated well, she was someone who would cry and hide in the bathroom, a sweet child who could be comforted with a piece of candy. How could such a obedient and sensible Elisa end up unloved? She sacrificed everything for her child, only wanting her to live a peaceful, happy, healthy life, yet the person she entrusted Elisa to hurt her the most. A father scolding his daughter over money. A brother calling his sister names. Abandoned time after time, no wonder she wouldn’t come back to this world. Her words of ‘the world is good’ were actually referring to the underworld.
Thankfully… her Elisa was happy for forty years, having people who truly loved her. It was they who wronged her, unworthy of such a good Elisa. A mother couldn’t forgive those who hurt her daughter, but she also didn’t have the right to harbor bitterness from the past life.
Mrs. Powell stumbled out, Koby noticed her distressed expression and reached out to help her, but she pushed him away. “Leave me alone, don’t touch me.” Tears welled up uncontrollably, she walked out of the hospital and couldn’t walk anymore, she kneeled down and cried loudly. Koby was at a loss, Ivan was also standing there, not knowing how to comfort his mother.
Mrs. Powell, choking back sobs, asked, “Why didn’t you treat her well, Koby, you promised me you would take care of her, why didn’t you treat our daughter well, let her suffer so much? And you, Ivan, how could you be a good brother, you said you wanted a sister, why did you keep leaving her? She was so afraid of pain, so afraid of suffering…”
When she was three months pregnant, she had high hopes for her daughter Iris, wishing she would be a pampered princess rather than mistreated. Elisa’s suicide, every surface looked like suicide, but it was actually murder, who pushed her step by step toward death? Even with her daughter having a new life after reincarnation, she still held onto the past with bitterness, unable to forget.
Koby couldn’t express a word of his inner suffering, he had been inexplicably scolded frequently, asked why he didn’t treat his daughter well, even though they didn’t have a daughter, just a son, where did the daughter come from? Seeing his wife heartbroken and crying, at that moment, there was nothing he could say, he could only apologize with a heavy heart, “I’m sorry, I let her down, I hurt our daughter.”
This apology and ‘regret’ came late in life, but it was of no use, the one who truly wanted to hear it couldn’t hear it anymore. Mrs. Powell wiped away the tears, looked up at the sky: Elisa, my darling, are you satisfied with the current outcome. The Powell family was fine, they wouldn’t go bankrupt, your father wouldn’t become a wreck, your brother would become a useful member of society, and that Autumn Louis, the one who spent forty years with you, are you going to find him now? Those entangled with you have forgotten you, is it true that forgetting each other brings safety year after year?
Late affection is cheaper than weeds, a summer blanket won’t wait for winter, a winter fan won’t wait for summer, even a sunflower watered with blood, even if it yearns for the sun, will only be drenched in blood. A gentle breeze blew on her face, the sound of the wind whispered in her ears, a gentle voice appeared in her mind. “Mother, thank you.”
From then on, the Powell family lost a daughter, they no longer had their Miss Powell, Elisa, who had stunned many at Bankshire in a red dress, gradually disappeared in this time and space, from this world.