All Chapters of She Pretended She Couldn't See Me Die: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I edged the coin forward in my palm, hoping I could reach the lady in front of me and brush her hand. Natalie always said that if we came across anyone pitiful, we had to help them if we could.The lady seemed to be dressed too thin for this weather, and there was a strange perfume clinging to her clothes. She had to be freezing, kneeling in the snow like that.But the next second, she smacked the back of my hand, making pain shoot through me. The coin flew out of my fingers. I heard it bounce on the frozen concrete, each crisp ring echoing in the cold air.Then, it rolled away with a hollow rattle before finally dropping with a sharp ding through the metal grate at the edge of the overpass."My money!"Panic clawed up my throat as I scrambled across the icy ground on my hands and knees. Without that coin, I wasn't getting any hot buns to eat.I groped my way to the drain, forcing my fingers into the narrow gaps of the grate. "My money fell in… That's for my food…"The grate was

I was forced into a suit that didn't fit. It was tight and digging into me, and the sleeves were too short. They exposed the chilblains that covered my hands from years of picking through trash.Andrea and Eugene dragged me to a place that was unbearably loud. All around me were strangers talking over one another, and I was terrified."Sit there and don't move," Andrea warned me, then went off to schmooze with the guests.I curled up on a chair in the corner, hugging my knees. I hadn't eaten all day, and my stomach was growling so loudly it hurt.Just then, the smell of chicken broth drifted into my nose. It smelled amazing and was rich with the scent of meat."Dr. Gibson, you must be starving, huh?" Eugene's voice rang out right above me. "This is chicken broth Andrea made just for you. Drink it while it's hot."The moment I heard it was for me, I immediately stretched out both hands, following the smell, reaching for the bowl. Just as my fingers brushed the rim, Eugene suddenly

When I came to again, the sharp stench of disinfectant hit my nose. I was lying on a rock-hard hospital bed. Both of my hands were wrapped in thick casts, feeling like I had two heavy sandbags dangling from them. I couldn't move them at all."Finally decided to wake up?" Andrea's cold voice sounded right beside the bed. "You went as far as hurting yourself just to make me feel guilty, huh? Your farce can end now, Colin."Fear shot through me on instinct when I heard her voice. I pulled my legs up and shrank back into the corner of the bed. My casts banged against the rail with dull thuds."Don't hit me… I paid the nasty lady back with my hands… Don't hit Natalie…" I kept muttering, too afraid to even turn in Andrea's direction.Just then, I heard the ward door open. Footsteps echoed as a bunch of people walked in. Leading them was the director of a joint consultation between neurology and orthopedics—or so he told me.He slapped a thick stack of reports down on the table in front

The impact led to a severe intracranial infection. By that night, my fever had shot up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and I slipped into a half-conscious state.I lay on the hospital bed, burning up like a furnace. My dreams were filled with scenes from the earthquake years ago."Watch out for the rocks! Run!" My eyes remained shut as my hands flailed in the air, trying to shove away those crushing hallucinations.It was late, and the hallway outside was dead quiet. Then, slowly and silently, the door to my hospital ward was pushed open.Eugene slipped in, dressed in a nurse's uniform. In his hand was a syringe filled with a clear liquid. It was a high-concentration potassium chloride solution.Once pushed into a vein, it would trigger instant cardiac arrest. He wanted to make it look like there'd been a medical accident."Why won't you just die, you blind freak?" He ground out the words as he leaned over my bed. "Andrea's eyes will always be fixed on you for as long as you're alive.

Andrea went into a kind of frantic overdrive trying to make things up to me.She gave the hospital a hard order to buy the best equipment for every department, just so they could treat my hands and legs. She even paid an outrageous amount to hire a top private chef to customize my meals.At lunchtime, she personally brought in a plate of sliced, top-grade beef to my bedside. It was cooked to a perfect medium, tender and dripping with juice."Colin, time to eat," she said.She crouched beside the bed almost humbly and picked up a fork. Then, she speared a piece of beef and held it up to my lips. "Come on, open up. You used to love this beef."I smelled raw meat. In the past, the only time I smelled meat like this was when it was rotting in the trash. I jerked my hand up and slapped the plate away."I don't want it! It's not cooked! I'll get an upset tummy if I eat that!"I covered my nose in disgust. Then, like I was a thief, I reached into the pocket of my hospital gown and pull