All Chapters of This Year's Wish: Please Let Me Live: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Bowie's POVFireworks flashed outside the window. They shone in Esther Garcia's gentle eyes. She asked softly, "Bowie, what did you wish for this year?"I looked into her eyes, finding the warmth I had longed for all year.I carefully leaned closer and whispered, "I wished that you'd love me forever."She froze for a moment. Then, she opened her arms and pulled me into her embrace.It was so tight that I could barely breathe.She smelled faintly of perfume. As my cheek pressed against her soft sweater, my eyes stung with tears.Her voice came from above my head, carrying a hint of a smile. "You silly boy. Of course I love you. As long as you're good and Bruce survives, I'll love you forever."I nodded fervently, rubbing my tears against her sweater.Esther only ever hugged me when I made a wish, so I had waited a whole year for this, all the way from last New Year's Day until today.When I reached out to hug her back, she had already let go. Then she cupped my face with both

Chapter 2

Bowie's POVI stood frozen in place, holding the piece of cake Esther had handed me moments ago.The living room fell silent in an instant, leaving only the noisy revelry of the New Year's special on TV. The host was counting down with excitement."Ten minutes left! The New Year is almost here!" he said.Plate in hand, I slowly walked back to my tiny room.The storage room had no windows. Sitting on my small bed, I took small, careful bites of the cake.It was very sweet, so sweet that it tasted bitter.I suddenly remembered the night after my kidney donation surgery when I was seven.When the anesthesia wore off, the wound burned like fire.I cried out for Esther. A nurse came in to check on me and said that Esther was in Bruce's room because he was having a nightmare.That night, I counted the cracks in the ceiling. When I reached the 327th crack, dawn broke.After my liver surgery at eight, I threw up violently.Esther dropped by the ward for a quick glance, frowning. "W

Chapter 3

Bowie's POVI curled up in the freezing corner, my empty stomach aching painfully.The hunger gnawed at me from the inside, leaving me shivering and cold.What was worse was the itching.I couldn't stop scratching, my nails dragging across my skin and leaving red marks behind.Yet the more I scratched, the more unbearable the itch became, until I almost wanted to roll on the ground."Don't be hungry... Mom doesn't want me anymore…" I muttered to myself, digging my fingernails deep into my skin."Once the heart transplant is done… If I scratch it all away, Mom will come back…"My nails broke the skin, and a warm liquid seeped out. The pain finally drowned out the itch.I couldn't see anything in the dark, but it made my other senses painfully sharp.I could hear my own heavy breathing and smell the sweet aroma of cornbread in the air.Every family ate cornbread on New Year's Day. I wanted to eat it so badly.As my consciousness faded, I saw that woman again.On a night of h

Chapter 4

Bowie's POVI trembled violently as I sobbed, practically suffocating.The ward fell silent in an instant.Startled by my breakdown, Bruce shrank into Esther's arms and began coughing uncontrollably. "Mom! Is he backing out? Does he not want to give me his heart anymore?"He continued, "It's all because of him! Ever since he came into our family, I've been sick nonstop, going from one surgery to another. Did he pass his illness on to me? That's right! He stole my cornbread, and now he wants to steal you both too!"Steal?I whipped my head up, screaming like someone who had lost all reason. My tears mingled with the bloodstains on my face as they trickled down. "Then who took my marrow from my spine? Who took my kidney? Who took away part of my liver?"My body, my organs, my life—are they not worth a single thing? Ever since I got here, I've been losing everything, hurting nonstop! I never stole anything from you! I gave you everything I had!" I shouted.Another slap landed, far

Chapter 5

Third-Person POVThose two words dealt a devastating blow to Esther and Philip."From a medical standpoint, yes," Henry replied with certainty as he flipped through the report. "The pre-op HLA matching showed an amazingly high compatibility. "Post-op, there was almost no rejection, and his heart function recovered extraordinarily fast. These signs strongly indicate a blood relationship, and a very close one at that."He raised his head and pushed up his glasses. "To be honest, I've been performing organ transplants for 20 years. I've only seen this level of compatibility between identical twins or parents and their children. When you adopted him, didn't the orphanage provide detailed information about his background?"Esther opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat.She grabbed Philip's arm, trembling uncontrollably.Philip managed to maintain a calm facade, though he was deathly pale.He swallowed hard and asked hoarsely, "Dr. Carter… could there be a mistake? We

Chapter 6

Third-Person POVThe report slipped from Philip's trembling hands and drifted to the floor.Esther had already passed out from crying, and a nurse helped her into the nearby lounge.Philip slowly crouched down and picked up the paper. The words burned deep into his mind.So many memories flooded back to him.He remembered when Bowie first arrived, the hopeful gleam in his eyes as he cautiously called him "Dad".He remembered how before every surgery, Bowie would always obediently say, "I'm willing to do it."He remembered after being locked in the storage room, Bowie said faintly, "Mom, please don't abandon me."He remembered how, just this morning, Bowie knelt on the ground, crying and saying, "I want to survive this year, too.""Mr. Easton." After what felt like an eternity, Henry reappeared, his expression grim. "Bowie's condition isn't looking good," he said.Philip snapped his head up, listening in a numb daze.Henry continued, "The transplant surgery itself was a succe

Chapter 7

Bowie's POVI slept for a very, very long time. When I opened my eyes again, everything felt like it had changed.My heart wasn't mine anymore.Yet why was it beating so strongly, so familiarly, as if it'd been meant for me all along?Esther and Philip had changed, too. It was as if they suddenly loved me.Esther practically lived at the hospital. She stayed by my bedside, her eyes always red and swollen."Bowie, look. This is the tiger plushie you liked best when you were little. I looked everywhere to find one just like it," she said.Holding up a faded old toy, she offered it to me with utmost care.She continued, "And this is the Rubik's Cube from your first birthday. I kept it all this time. As for this suit, your grandmother bought it when you were born. But you never got to wear it even once."How strange. I wasn't their son, so why were there all these things from when I was born?Leaning against the headboard, I watched her in silence.The heart beat steadily inside

Chapter 8

Bowie's POVI started refusing treatment.When the nurse brought the pills over, I turned my head away.Esther was beside herself with anxiety. Holding a glass of warm water, she coaxed me as if I were a baby. "Bowie, open your mouth. Just take one pill, okay? Once you take the medicine, it won't hurt anymore."I finally spoke up. "Why?"She paused for a moment, then asked, "Why what?""Why are you being so good to me now?" I demanded, looking her dead in the eye. "I've already given you my bone marrow, my kidney, my liver, and my heart. I have nothing left. What's so special about an empty shell that's worth all this effort from you?""Bowie, no. You're not an empty shell. You're my son…" she said, as tears streamed down her face again. She tried to touch my hand, but I pulled away.Philip had appeared at the doorway at some point.He'd aged so much over the past few days. The white hair at his temples was painfully glaring, and his back was slightly hunched."Bowie, I… I ha

Chapter 9

Bowie's POVThat night, I had a very, very long dream.In the dream, the sunshine was blindingly bright.There was no smell of hospital disinfectant, no ice-cold needles, and none of those hideous scars across my body.Esther held my hand while Philip carried me on his shoulders. We were walking together to the amusement park.I was dressed in a neat little suit, clutching a colorful pinwheel in my hand. It spun round and round whenever the breeze blew.When I wiggled out of their reach and ran ahead, Esther called out gently behind me, "Bowie, slow down!"The next second, Philip scooped me up onto his shoulders. "Higher, Dad, higher!" I giggled, my tiny hands gripping his hair.Bruce was there too.He was healthy and lively, his cheeks flushed with a rosy glow as he ran over to take my hand."Bowie, let's go ride the carousel! I'll let you have the prettiest white horse!" he said.We rode the carousel together. Then we ate cotton candy and splashed in the water by the fount

Chapter 10

"Bowie, my dearest son, by the time you read this letter, I'll likely be gone."I'm sorry. This is probably the phrase I've said to you the most, yet it's also the most meaningless."I'm a monster who doesn't deserve to be your mother. I gave birth to you, yet I abandoned you. I found you again, yet I destroyed you. I manipulated you in the name of love, deceived you with lies of sacrifice, and never once gave you a single day of real maternal love."I know you hate me, as you should. I hate myself too—so much that I can't sleep at night. I wish I could rip my own heart out to see what it's made of and how it could be so cruel to my own son."The surgeon said my artificial heart might not last very long. That's fine. I owe you a life anyway."There's just one last thing I want to do for you. Bowie, everything I ever gave you was filthy—fake embraces, love laden with conditions, and those bloody organs ripped away from your body."But this heart is clean. It has never hurt you, an

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