Chapter 365 The Old Woman’s Intentions


    Not long after the olddy had left Zachary’s room, the nurse came by for another routine check.


    Noticing Zachary still fast asleep in his bed, she tapped him gently on the shoulder to wake him.


    Zachary opened his eyes and blinked a few times dazedly. Did he fall asleep again? It felt like he had


    just woken up not long ago. Was he still dreaming? These days, he could barely differentiate his


    dreams from reality. Things that happened in his dreams happened in real life too, like his rm clock


    ringing and his morning routine which include brushing his teeth and washing his face… It was usually


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    halfway through his dream when he would wake up unexpectedly and realizing it was all a figment of


    his imagination. Sometimes, he would even feel the urgency of needing to use the toilet while stuck in


    his dream, only to find that he had wet the bed.


    Zachary felt that same strange feeling right now, like he was caught in between a dream and reality. He


    recalled waking up to look for his father, but he could not say how he had ended up in bed again.


    Perhaps it was all a dream from the beginning…


    Noticing that Zachary was caught up with his own thoughts in his world again, the nurse shook her


    head sympathetically, thinking the poor child must be going through a lot right now. She said a silent


    prayer for his surgery to be sessful so he could lead a normal life once more before leaving the


    room.


    As the nurse left, Liam entered the room and looked at the time. It was 7.50am. He had left the room


    for barely ten minutes and Zachary had already woken up. Liam wondered why his son had woken up


    so soon after falling asleep just a while ago, but he decided against saying anything. “Have some


    breakfast, Zac. It won’t taste exactly like home, but it’s pretty good,” Liam said as he unpacked a giant


    takeaway food box filled with an egg and cheese burrito, some yogurt and hot cocoa.


    His father was right, Zac thought. Nothing else couldpare against homecooked food, but he ate his


    breakfast obediently anyway. As the father and son ate quietly, the room was so silent that Gilbert


    almost thought there was no one in the room when he dropped by.


    “Zac, your surgery has been set for tomorrow at nine in the morning. Don’t eat too much today,” Gilbert


    reminded his nephew as he looked at his watch. “Don’t worry too much, son. The surgeon is one of my


    mentees. He’s a great, meticulous guy!” Gilbert reassured.


    Zachary swallowed in fear as he automatically tranted his uncle’s words to mean, “Don’t worry too


    much, son. The surgeon has plenty of experience cutting heads wide open”.


    Gilbert was already used to his nephew’sck of response by now. “It’s just a simple procedure to


    remove the blood clot from your brain. There’s a 95% sess rate for the surgery, and my mentee has


    never botched any of his surgeries before!” he added.


    Zachary considered his uncle’s words. That meant that he had to prepare himself for a 5% chance of


    dying. Uncle Gilbert said a few more reassuring words to Zachary and his father before returning to his


    ward rounds.


    After eating breakfast and going through his routine morning check-up by the nurses, Zachary took out


    a pen and paper and began writing his will. Even though he had already stopped gaming, his main


    “crowzee” ount was still worth at least millions. He had a side ount that would easily sell for


    $10,000 since he had bought so many characters and limited-edition skins. He also had about


    $500,000 left in savings. He decided he would leave it all to Lilly, together with any money he made


    once he sold off all his gaming character figurines. He would leave his two unfinished textbooks to


    Hannah.


    Zachary frowned as he realized that was about all the assets he had. He thought about how adults


    usually left their childrennd or houses or cars when they died, but he had none of those at all. Well,


    he could not just die like that with nothing to his name, could he? He had to live for a few more years


    and work hard to buy a house and car for Lilly, along with a few plots ofnd.


    Lilly and her family arrived just as Zachary finished writing his will. Sharp-eyed Josh immediately


    caught sight of the paper Zachary was holding and made a grab for it. “What is this?” he asked


    curiously. “Let me see it!” Zachary quickly pulled back, preventing Josh from grabbing the paper.


    “Fine, I don’t need to see it,” Josh rolled his eyes.


    Lilly tilted her head as she looked at Zachary. “Zac, are you okay?” she asked out of concern.


    Pablo too noticed the defeated look on Zachary’s face and shook his head. “The kid hasn’t even gone


    through the surgery yet and he’s already looking like he’s going to die…”


    Lilly still felt like something was not right. “Master, did Zac get cursed by an evil spirit or something?”


    she whispered.


    “Of course not! Don’t say things like that blindly,” Pablo shook his head. Even though the hospital had a


    bad aura and spirits wandering around, Pablo would have easily been able to tell if Zac was struck by


    an evil spirit. Pablo figured the boy was just more likely overly hopped up on medication, not realizing


    that the olddy had drugged him. Pablo and Lilly were too used to supernatural spirits being the cause


    of trouble that theypletely forgot that human beings were perfectly capable of evil too.


    Lilly climbed onto Zachary’s bed and peered at him curiously. “Zac, did you see anything untoward? Or


    met with any strange incident?”


    Zachary stiffened. “No, why would you say that? Don’t jinx me,” he retorted, havingpletely


    forgotten about his encounter with the olddy.


    Lilly quickly put her hands to her mouth. “That’s not what I meant, Zac!” she said apologetically.


    “Hmph!” Zachary let out an annoyed sound before stuffing the handwritten will into Lilly’s hands. “Keep


    this properly. You can only open it up after the surgery, got it?”


    Lilly looked at the piece of paper curiously. “What is it?” she asked. She wanted nothing more than to


    find out what was written on the inside, but she respected Zac’s wishes and put the piece of paper into


    her little bag pack.


    The very next day, it was almost time for Zachary’s surgery. His nerves began to kick in as he was


    wheeled closer and closer toward the operating theater. A little hand reached out for his as Lilly’s sweet


    voice filled his ears. “You can do this, Zac! You’re the best! You’lle out of the surgery just fine!” she


    said as she tied something around his wrist.


    “I made you a good luck bracelet! Don’t take it off!” Lilly told him. The bracelet had a little triangle charm


    threaded together by a red string. In that moment, Zachary felt all of his fears and nerves dissipate. He


    looked into Lilly’s eyes without saying a word, searching for the calm reassurance she always brought


    him. It was just moments before the anesthesia kicked in and he lost consciousness when he finally


    muttered, “Okay, Lilly…”


    …


    During Zachary’s surgery, the old woman was in thest ward at the end of the corridor. She held a


    small wooden stake in her hands as she chanted some indecipherable gibberish and hopped around


    the room, as if in a trance. There was a little straw man with a piece of paper stuck on it ced in front


    of her, with Zachary’s name and date of birth written on it. Her young grandson had suffered through


    various cmities and bouts of bad luck since his birth. She was performing a ritual to transfer all her


    grandson’s bad luck onto Zachary, so that Zachary would bear all his misfortune instead. Her poor


    grandson was bound to get better very soon…