Michael’s story: The Legacy of Pain
It was so silent in the hospital room that you could hear the monitor ticking like a clock, keeping track of time that didn’t seem to matter to anyone. Michael lay still, his face pale and a small tube in his nose. The machines did the work his body couldn’t, and his chest rose and fell weakly. Some nurses talked quietly, while others sighed, but none of them seemed to care about the patient in front of them. There were no flowers, cards or even a call to check his health.
The doctor once enquired, “Has anyone come to see you?” A nurse then said softly, “They were told, but they never came.” The days stretched into nights, and the nights turned into weeks, but Michael stayed confined in his silent prison of oblivion. He heard voices in his dreams. His mother’s soothing lullabies and his father’s proud laughs… But these were lies that his mind told him while he slept. In actuality, his parents had run away like cowards into the dark, sure that he would never wake up again.
At the same time, Richard and Clare, his parents, were in a law office in another section of town. Their eyes were wide with avarice, and their hands were shaking. Richard remarked in a hushed, almost happy voice, “The will says that the assets will be transferred if he is unable to do so or dies.” Clare didn’t even bother to act sad. “I can’t believe how quickly all of this is happening,” she added as she fanned herself with a legal document. “The house, the business, the savings, everything he worked for…”
Not a word of worry about their son. Not a single thought about how he was doing. They just cared about the money they imagined they would get. They never even came close to the hospital where Michael was struggling for his life and slowly bleeding out with no one to help him. They had made up their minds: the inheritance was more important than the life of their son. Richard shook his head in fake grief and added, “It’s a shame.” “He was a smart kid, but life goes on.” They signed the documents and raised a glass of champagne, sure that they had outlasted their son and gotten something good out of his death.
Michael woke up three months later on a hot Friday afternoon. He blinked slowly, feeling weak and disoriented, and looked around the clean room. He said, “Mom,” but there was no answer. When a nurse saw him awake, she stopped in her tracks. “Michael, thank God you’re awake!” “You did it!” she said as she hurried to hit the call button.
Michael tried to talk again. “Where are my loved ones?” For a moment, the nurse stopped and looked regretfully at the floor. “They haven’t come,” she whispered softly. “I’m so sorry, Michael.”
At that instant, something inside him became numb. The fact that he had fought alone, almost died alone, and that his parents had chosen money over their only son hurt him like broken glass. His heart, which was healing, began to feel the weight of betrayal, and his breathing stopped for a moment. It took a long time for things to get better. It was like he was hauling bricks attached to his legs every time he moved. Michael fought through the anguish and the stillness, knowing that his parents weren’t there for him.
The doctor commented one morning, “It’s a miracle you’re still alive,” and put a hand on his file. “You were gone for so long.” We assumed you wouldn’t be able to do it. Michael gave a feeble smile. He remarked, “Funny, they didn’t think I would make it either.”
The doctor seemed confused and raised an eyebrow. “Your family?”
Michael tightened his jaw. “They left me. They felt I was going to die. I bet they’re using what they thought was mine. The doctor hesitated for a while, not sure what to say, but Michael told him to go away. He turned his face away and replied, “Don’t worry, I’m used to her kind of love.” Tears gathered on his eyelids, a cruel memory of the affection he never got but should have had.
Michael worked hard to get his life back on track, but the mental scars seemed to get worse as the weeks went by. His body was slowly getting better, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of being entirely alone in the world. His parents’ betrayal tormented him. But something inside him had changed. Every day, anger and sadness steadily turned into determination. He had made it through, and now he knew what he had to do.
One day, while he was strolling down the hall of the hospital, he saw a man who seemed familiar, but he couldn’t remember right away who he was. The man looked at him with a serious look on his face.
The man asked in a low voice, “You are Michael, right?”
Michael stared at him more attentively, trying to remember where he had seen him before.
“Yes, who are you?” He answered, trying to seem cool, even though he knew something big was about to happen.
The man took a big breath before speaking.
“Hi, I’m Charles, your mother’s brother. I knew about you before your mother died. She asked me to come find you if you ever woke up. “You have the right to know what really happened.”
Michael stopped talking and opened his eyes wide as he realised how huge what he had just heard was.
“My mother… how?”
Charles said that before she died, his mother informed him about the family she had left behind and how she had lost her inheritance. She also told him how Michael’s parents had controlled his life so they could keep everything. Michael had never heard of Charles before, but after hearing his narrative, he saw that everything he had done in his life had been a lie.
Michael had to face the truth that same afternoon. His parents, Richard and Clare, had caused him a lot of pain. They had taken away his mother’s inheritance, which meant they had taken her life as well. At that moment, everything he believed about his family crumbled.
But the news didn’t break him. Instead, it pushed him to take charge of his life. He made the choice not to let hurt and betrayal define his destiny. His family’s fame, money, and inheritance didn’t matter anymore. What was really important was him, his existence, and the right to a complete life.
Michael took his parents to court. He used everything he learnt from his mother to get justice for both of them. He won the case with Charles’s help and the proof he found. Richard and Clare lost everything they had worked for because of manipulation and abuse. Michael eventually got justice, but the most important thing was that he was free from the emotional pain that had kept him locked up for years.
Michael started to put his life back together over time. He got his parents’ things, but what he really got was the strength to be free from lies and betrayal. He was content to be alone even though he didn’t have the family he desired.
Michael didn’t go back to his parents or to Ogechi, the woman who had lied to him. Instead, he reconnected with those who really cared about him, like Sonia, his loyal friend, and Charles, who became a source of support and advice. Michael learnt to live with the pain, which never fully went away. Instead, it became a force that pushed him to improve every day.
Michael finally realised that real riches don’t come from goods, but from the connections we make with others who care for and respect us. He learnt to live without fear, without the ties of his past, and to take charge of his life.
Epilogue: Michael’s Release
The truth set him free from his family and his own anguish. Michael became a strong and successful guy on his own as the years went by. He never forgot what he learnt from his pain; he learnt to look ahead and establish a life built on respect and real love.
Michael understood that nothing could take away the calm he had discovered within himself, even though the shadows of the past would always be there.