LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 4: She Only Has Three Months To Live
"We need to stop the car and let the engine cool down for it." Vicky said before parking the car on the side of the road.
As Vicky left the car and opened the bonnet to let the engine cool better, Cat moved in my lap and muttered, "We are stopping." Before opening the door and calmly stepping out.
Seeing Cat wasn't sleeping like I had thought she was, my heart beat increased, and I became a little anxious. But seeing she was behaving as though she hadn't noticed it, I decided to do the same and stepped out.
"Um, Ryan, can you help me out?" Felicity asked. I nodded, carefully carrying my mom out; I let her leave the car before putting my mother on the seat again.
I was getting worried seeing she wasn't waking up. Then suddenly I remembered the skill I got,
When a floating screen appeared in front of me, containing the information about Mom, I nodded in satisfaction.
'It was a good thing I read those novels. Otherwise I would have to keep asking the system questions.' I thought before reading the screen.
[Name: Lori Brown]
[Race: Human]
[Sex: Female]
[Age: 38]
[Physical: 3]*
[Mental: 5]
[Affinity: 90/100 (Loves host dearly)
[Status: Extremely weak, sick, unconscious]*
[* = Expand]
'Hmm? Why is it showing race too? Are there any other species besides humans on earth?' I thought. Of course, there were animals, insects, plants, and others. But I don't know why this thought appeared in my mind when I saw the race mentioned.
Shaking this thought out of my mind, I scanned the entire screen before asking, 'System, what are the normal physical and mental stats for a normal, healthy person?'
[10 each, host.] The system responded.
My face fell when I heard this. Though it came as no surprise because her condition was really too bad, I still didn't like it.
Then I thought of expanding the status, and a smaller screen popped up.
[She is suffering from multiple respiratory and cardiac illnesses, which has made her extremely weak. Currently unconscious due to inhaling too much smoke. Note: She doesn't have long to live if not treated soon.]
'Cardiac illnesses?' I raised my brows in surprise. We only thought she had some respiratory problem, so this came as a surprise. However, when I read the extra note, my heart almost stopped beating, and my face became pale.
'H-How much time did she have left?' I asked despite not wanting to hear the answer.
Immediately, the information about her refreshed, and right below age, another section appeared.
[Lifespan remaining: ~3 months]
'Just three months?' My mind went blank.
[Not exactly 3 months, host. It could be a few days more or less.]
I immediately came back to my senses and asked, hopeful and anxious, 'The Healing Fluids, it can cure her, right? Its description said it could heal any and all illnesses.]
[That's correct, host.] The system responded.
'Why didn't you remind me, then? I was losing my mind in vain.' I grumbled.
[You shouldn't expect the system to take initiative to help you, host. Unless you ask, the system wouldn't tell you anything.]
Reading this, I sighed, 'I have resources. It's up to me to use them. I can't just expect them to be used on their own according to my needs.'
'I understand.' I said to the system.
Right then,
"Big brother?" I heard my sister's voice. When I turned to her, I saw she was looking at me worriedly. She must have thought I was thinking about what we were going to do now.
I smiled at her and patted her head. "I was thinking about something. Also, no need to worry about it. Everything's going to be alright now. I promise you that."
"Mm." Cat nodded, though I could tell she wasn't convinced.
In her opinion, with our house burnt down, we were going to be homeless because we couldn't afford to rebuild it after everything calmed down, let alone buy another house somewhere else. If we had had home insurance, she might have had some hope, but we didn't have one. Besides, even if we had, the chances of us getting our claim were low because the insurance companies were most likely going to refuse payment.
I didn't try to convince her and turned around to look at Vicky and Felicity, who were sitting on the ground on a sheet they had taken out from the car.
"Come, let's rest for a while." I said, taking her hand in mine and walking over to them.
Vicky had a lost expression on her face. She was in our situation, so I could tell she was worrying about the same things.
I placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Everything's going to be fine, Vicky. Don't worry too much."
Vicky was a little surprised seeing I looked completely calm. She took a deep breath and nodded, "I hope so."
In my past life, I think I could call it that since now it really seemed like another life. Not only had Vicky saved me, taken out of the burning city, she had looked after me for several days until I recovered from misery.
Though the memories of that time were foggy because I wasn't in the right state of mind, I vaguely recall that she had struggled to find some work to earn some money to buy enough food to fill our bellies because she didn't have any money with her. She had some in her bank, but she didn't use them for some reason. So, with barely enough money to buy food two times a day and sometimes just one, she couldn't afford to rent any accommodation to stay in either. Hence, during those days, we slept in her old sedan.
After I recovered a little, I had silently left their side, seeing how she was struggling to keep me fed. Afterwards, for years, I wondered where she and Felicity had gone and if they were alright. I even went back to California to see if they had returned and rebuilt their house but found it abandoned, just like mine. So, in the end, I gave up, hoping wherever they were, they were alright, though I knew the chances of this happening weren't too high.
'Since you were so kind to me in my past life, I shall take care of you in this life.' I thought.
Right as I thought this, a message flashed in the corner of my retina.
[Ding! A quest has been issued.]
[Quest:…]
I became excited to see the quest, but when I saw what it was, I was dumbfounded.