Upon hearing these words, Axel put down his golf club and carried Karen away in his arms. Lightning fell in my eyes from the sky and my heart felt as if it was being fiercely squeezed by someone.
I could no longer hold myself up and slowly collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital filled with the smell of disinfectant. In the quiet ward, I could only hear the sound of my breathing and the pain all over my body, which reminded me of what had happened earlier.
I slowly lifted my hands and found that my once long arms were now only stumps. Would I never be able to play the violin again?
I gaped in shock for a long moment, my mind buzzing. It felt like a coarse rope was tightly twisting around my heart, causing a suffocating pain. Just yesterday, I was imagining myself playing the violin in the finals, even envisioning the excitement of giving a speech on stage after winning.
But now, my hands could never play the violin again.
Overwhelming hatred made my eyes nearly bulge out. I gritted my teeth, struggled to get up and rushed towards the door. But before I could reach the nurses' station, several nurses stopped me.
"Patient A18, your body hasn't recovered yet. You can't move around freely. Go back to your room and lie down."
The thought of never playing the violin again filled me with a hellish rage, so I frantically broke free from them. I needed to report this to the police and was determined to make Axel pay for what he had done.
The nurses, terrified by my outburst, started shouting, "Doctor, doctor!" When the doctor arrived, the nurses were holding me down tightly on the bed, preventing me from moving. Moments later, the doctor injected me with a sedative.
The cold sedative coursed through my body, making me instantly fall asleep. In my dreams, I was tormented by my thoughts, with images flashing continuously. In the state between sleep and awake, fear suddenly spread through my entire body. When I finally woke up, a terrified face came into view. It was my brother, Theo.
Theo was my half-brother. When I was very young, my mother was killed by my mentally ill father.
Out of pity for me, Theo persuaded his mother to adopt me. Initially, his mother didn't welcome me. It was only after Theo threatened to sever ties with her that she agreed. Growing up, I was well-protected by Theo.