42

BRANDON

Athens, Greece

“Okay, take a deep breath. This might irritate your skin a little, but it’s normal. You have to be very, very careful.” I looked at Cassius’s eyes as he started to remove my bandage.

The procedure and the medication took four months. I had eleven operations and three plastic surgeries. Cassius said that my cheekbones were dislocated—the reason why the flesh wounds were always raw. It got infected because it wasn’t treated immediately. He said I was lucky it did not spread to the other part of my face. I still had more operations to go for my ribcage and the scars on my chest.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded. “More than ready...”

Cassius started to carefully undo the bandage.

“I was waiting for this moment, buddy—all my life. I waited for this,” he said.

“I know, and I’ve been such a prick to you,” I admitted.

“Heard something from Oliver? Did you talk to Alayna? Do they know about this day?”

“No. I talked to Oliver, and they seemed fine.”

He stopped. “Are you saying y